Who Can Find Forgiveness in the Eyes of God
Shared on July 28, 2024
Can your reputation prevent you from finding forgiveness and being saved by God? Join Pastor McCrary in this week’s lesson as a woman with the reputation of a sinner goes to meet Jesus. While she was mistreated by the religious leaders, we will see what happened when she went to Christ.
Introduction
Can you find forgiveness in God’s eyes or will your reputation hurt you? As you have heard me say all quarter long, whoever you are, God can and will save you. As we saw with Ruth, one must commit themselves to the way of the Lord to find favor in His sight. Regardless of your past sins, you can be saved and find favor in God’s eyes.
In our lesson this week, we are going to take a look at a certain woman, who chose to wash the feet of Christ. In this woman, we will see that the Lord is love and in His love there is mercy and forgiveness. When the world may choose to look down on you, we will see that God will choose to lift you up if you go to Him.
A Sinful Woman Finds Forgiveness
Our lesson this week covers a passage of scripture where Jesus is in the home of a Pharisee named Simon. Simon had invited Jesus to his home to eat (Luke 7:36). This would seem like a warm gesture from the Pharisee, but let’s remember that the Pharisees despised Jesus.
So, why did this Pharisee invite Jesus to his home? The Pharisees were always trying to test Jesus and this was just another occasion to test Him. Little did this Pharisee realize that he would be the one tested and taught a lesson.
Going humbly before Christ
As Jesus and this Pharisee had sat down to eat, the Pharisee’s home began to fill up with guests. It was customary for neighbors to arrive at one’s home on such a big occasion. So, the atmosphere would be cozy as Jesus and the Pharisees sat reclined on couches for dinner.
One of the guests that entered the home was a woman. We are told that she was a sinful woman in the city. What exactly were her sins? Scripture doesn’t tell us but the implication is that she was a known sinner. So much so that this Pharisee would certainly have nothing to do with her as we will see in a few moments.
Now, this woman had heard that Jesus was going to be at Simon’s home and so she came carrying a flask of fragrant oil (Luke 7:37). Right away, we should understand that her coming to Simon’s home was premeditated. I want to be very clear about this: everything this woman does was something she planned on doing!
She went to Simon’s home for the express purpose of seeing Jesus! When she entered Simon’s home she took a position directly behind Jesus! As Jesus was reclined on the couch, she began to wash His feet from behind Him. Scripture tells us that as she did so, tears were falling from her eyes and she cleaned His feet with her hair (Luke 7:38).
The cleaning of feet (not with one’s hair) was also a custom of that day. As Jesus taught the disciples, the washing of feet was a humble gesture of service. So, one who would take time to wash the feet of visiting guests were both humble and grateful. What we learn of this woman through this action is that she has come to Jesus humbly in her heart.
Now, Simon should have been the one to wash Jesus’ feet since Jesus was his guest. Since Simon didn’t bother to wash Jesus’ feet, we actually learn a lot about him and his intentions as well. We learn that he wasn’t so humble, and his inviting of Jesus was not genuine. It’s honestly amazing how much this small gesture is going to come back and teach a valuable lesson.
Simon’s pious misjudgment
After washing Jesus’ feet, the woman kissed them and then anointed them with the fragrant oil (Luke 7:38). Now, Simon, the Pharisee, disapproved of Jesus letting the woman wash His feet. Simon believed that Jesus, if He was a man of God, shouldn’t have been letting that “manner of woman” touch Him (Luke 7:39). Do you agree with Him?
I want to point out some fatal flaws that Simon’s thoughts display in his heart. First and foremost, the man just suggested that he knew better than the Lord. He questions the omniscient one’s knowledge! Who are we to ever question the knowledge of Christ?
Secondly, I repeat to you, scripture does not tell us exactly what her sins were. Yes, she had a reputation but what does that mean? Whether you realize it or not, all of us have some kind of reputation whether good or bad. With that in mind, all of us are also sinners that fall short of the glory of God. The biggest difference today is that the believer is a justified sinner by faith.
With all of this in mind, Jesus certainly knew who the woman was and had no problem. So, the suggestion in SImon’s heart put him at odds with the Lord. Believers have been called to serve all people regardless of their reputation. Simon, just by his thought, is denying the service and calling that he is supposed to be committed to. Simon’s pious judgment of heart has caused him to sin in his heart!
I think this thought is a very interesting one from the standpoint of how many people you and I interact with on a daily basis. From the people we work with, go to school with, or even serve us in a restaurant, we interact with many people! How often do we know the kind of person we are interacting with? A lot less than we think we do.
The biggest problem man has faced throughout history is our predetermined judgment of who someone is. Oftentimes, those predetermined judgements are wrong and only hurt people. What is worse is when those who say they are committed to the way of God act in such a manner. Out of all people, believers should be the ones most willing to open up to others rather than close themselves off!
Learning a very important lesson
So, Jesus had a lesson to teach to the Pharisee and He did so through a parable (Luke 7:40-43). The parable Jesus taught was a parable on forgiveness. Jesus explained there were two debtors where one owed their creditor more than another. Neither of the debtors were able to pay off their debt and their creditor decided to forgive both of them.
So, Jesus asked the Pharisee, “which of them will love [the creditor] more? The Pharisee responded, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more?” Jesus nodded His head in agreement and said, “You have rightly judged.”
Jesus used this parable to equate Simon and the woman to the two debtors while He was the creditor. What’s interesting about this notion is that Simon would never think of himself being in such debt. In fact, none of the religious leaders would have thought themselves to be in debt. Yet, all of us are in debt to the Lord because He gave His only begotten Son for us!
The religious leaders were pious and thought of themselves above folks like the certain woman. There are many believers who think with such a mindset today – they believe themselves better than others. No, all of us are the same! As Paul wrote, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23)”
Jesus then pointed to the Pharisee’s actions and compared them to the woman (Luke 7:44-47). As a visiting guest, the woman humbly washed the feet of another guest where Simon failed to do so. Simon lacked love and humility in his piousness. The woman kissed and anointed Jesus’ feet and Simon sat grumbling and disapproving in his piousness.
Who do you think should earn God’s love and mercy that day? One had professed to be a man of God by mouth and because he wore fancy clothes. The other had humbly come to Christ and confessed her need for Christ through actions of humility.
Jesus said to Simon, “her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much (Luke 7:47). Jesus then added on, “To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” What a very powerful statement this is from Christ! At the end of the day, all the Pharisee had was his verbal profession of faith and show of faith through religious actions. Yet, his religion did little to nothing for him in the eyes of God!
Here is a very powerful lesson many people need to learn today: be careful about how you judge others. You never know who has earned forgiveness in the eyes of the Lord. You can go to church every Sunday but that doesn’t mean anything without true actions of faith. You can be one that sits up high and looks down on others out of your religion but doesn’t mean anything without true faith!
Jesus turned to the woman and said to her, “Your sins are forgiven (Luke 7:48) … Your faith has saved you. Go in peace (Luke 7:50).” Over the years I have had people question me on who can be forgiven. I have heard questions about whether or not several hypothetical sinners can be forgiven. Jesus said it Himself, the only sin that will not be pardoned is blaspheming the Spirit (Mark 3:28-30).
So, I want to repeat what I have been saying throughout this quarter of lessons – never let somebody tell you what God won’t do for you! Yes, you can be the “biggest sinner”, just like Paul, and find forgiveness. You can be just like this woman, a known sinner, and find forgiveness in God’s eyes.
If there is one thing you should always remember about the Lord is that He is love. In Gods’ love there is mercy and there is grace. The Lord desires to take away the burden of your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. If you confess your sins to Him, the Lord is both faithful and just to cleanse you (1 John 1:9).