When Jesus Sees Beyond Your Past

1. 0:05 Now that I have your attention, good morning, Martha Taft, the great-granddaughter of William Howard Taft, our 27th president, was asked to introduce herself to her new class in elementary school in Cincinnati, Ohio.
2. 0:26 This is what she said, my name is Martha Bowers Taft. My great-grandfather was president of the United States. My grandfather was United States senator. My daddy is ambassador to Ireland, and I am a brownie.
3. 0:43 This is a young lady who was very proud of who and what she was. This morning, we're looking at a story from Luke chapter 7 of a woman who's anything but proud of who and what she was. Reading from Luke chapter 7, verses 36 to 50.
4. 1:00 It's a long passage, so I won't ask you to stand, but if you've got a Bible, you're going to read along with me. If not, we'll have it up here on the screens for you. Luke chapter 7, verses 36 to 50. One of the Pharisees asked him, and that's Jesus, to eat with him.
5. 1:16 And he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. Behold, a woman of the city who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointing them with the ointment.
6. 1:44 Now, when the Pharisee saw, now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, if this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.
7. 1:59 And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, say it, teacher. A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debt for both.
8. 2:17 Now, which of them will love him more? Simon answered, the one, I suppose, for whom he canceled the larger debt. And he said to him, you have judged rightly. Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, you see this woman?
9. 2:35 I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
10. 2:54 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven. And those who are at table with him began to say among themselves, who is this who even forgives sins?
11. 3:14 He said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Will you pray with me? Our Lord and our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it's good to be here together in this place of worship, gathered as a family of God here at Christ Church Miami.
12. 3:31 We're grateful that you are pleased to dwell here in the midst of your people and to be here with us. And Lord, that's really all we could ask for, is that you would meet with us in this place. And Lord, use now the preaching and the hearing, the receiving and the application of the Word of God to do in us the work that only you can do.
13. 3:52 Lord, that where the sins we've committed and others have committed against us have broken us, we ask you to heal us. Where our pride has caused us to be stiff-necked, then Lord, break us gently so that we're more and more conformed into the image of your Son, Jesus, when we leave here than we were we got here.
14. 4:12 I make this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen. I mean, Luke, let me just give you a context. Luke paints a portrait of Jesus the Messiah as Lord over various things. We've seen him in Luke's Gospel as Lord over nature. He's Lord over disease.
15. 4:29 He's Lord even over death. Now this morning, we're going to see Jesus as Lord over sin itself. Jesus demonstrating his power over sin and having a redeeming love for sinners. As the religious elite have been troubled by him in the past, they're going to totally lose their mind over what he's going to do this morning.
16. 4:49 In studying this passage, I see four aspects of it I want to point out to you. First one I want you to see is a surprising invitation. A surprising invitation. Verse 36, one of the Pharisees, we learned his name is Simon, asked Jesus to come to dinner with him, and he accepts. Now why is this surprising?
17. 5:06 Because Jesus has had some very harsh things to say about the Pharisees. He's called them out for their lack of care for other people, for their lack of love for one another. He's called them out for their poor understanding of the scripture, which is the thing they pride themselves on the most.
18. 5:25 He's called them out for their hypocrisy. And so for a Pharisee to ask Jesus to come to dinner is, like I say, a rather unusual and surprising invitation. The word Pharisee means separated one. Separated one.
19. 5:41 And the Pharisees very much take this to heart, some more than others. The Pharisees like to separate themselves from the common man and the common woman. They like to stay at least a notch above the common folks. And those who don't want to stay two notches above the common folks.
20. 5:57 The ordinary sinful man or woman, especially, especially sinful women. A number of years ago, before I ever came here, I was asked to be a character witness for a couple that were involved in those nasty custody visitation cases downtown.
21. 6:14 It's a family courtroom. Nothing, no law situation nastier than family law. But I knew this couple. She had been married and had a daughter. They divorced. The husband had moved away. And now there was this nasty tug of war over visitation and custody with his daughter.
22. 6:32 So the couple that I knew asked if I would be a character witness for them, and especially for her second husband, the stepfather. I said yes. The day of the hearing, I was sworn in. And the opposing counsel began by painting a portrait of a person who was just, I mean, might as well have been the illegitimate offspring of Satan.
23. 6:53 This person was a terrible person. Did all these horrible things. Without saying it, he was implicitly painting a portrait of the man I was there to be the character reference for. And after painting this portrait, this horrible human being, opposing counsel said to me, now, Pastor Keller, this condescending tone you'd use for a puppy or a kitten, Pastor Keller, would you willingly associate with a person like that?
24. 7:19 You attorneys all know the first rule of cross-examination, never ask a question you don't know the answer to. Pastor Keller, would you willingly associate with a person like that? I involuntarily chuckled. I said, sir, as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you'd be amazed at the people I willingly associate with.
25. 7:40 I follow one who is willing to associate with the lowliest and the least likely. So yes, sir, I willingly associate with people like that. He's willing to associate with me. I'm willing to associate with him.
26. 7:56 And you could just see all the air going out of that attorney's balloon right on the spot, losing the will to live right there in the courtroom. And he immediately had to change tactics, not a good thing, and then just started going after me and what qualifications I had. And finally, the judge had had enough of it.
27. 8:12 She said, really, that's enough. Pastor Keller, thank you for coming in. I was dismissed. Now, why did that happen? Because I'm just so much smarter than the average attorney? Well, it had nothing to do with who was smarter.
28. 8:31 It really didn't. The problem he had was he had no real understanding of who Jesus is and what he's about and what the gospel is about. He had this idea that church, Christianity, the gospel is for good people, to make good people better.
29. 8:46 That's not the gospel. And that's Simon's problem, too. Simon thinks it's about being religious, doing some good things, and maybe a few tweaks around the edges and make good people even better. That's not the gospel. And Jesus had to upbraid him for his misunderstanding, his poor understanding of the gospel.
30. 9:07 You know, it's kind of like when we listen to political candidates, you can hear one who's got an impressive resume, maybe all the right academic credentials, speaks well, at least reads a teleprompter well, right? As opposed to one who's not nearly so impressive, doesn't have all the same credentials, maybe isn't as polished, but he really likes people.
31. 9:28 He really likes the common folks. He likes to shake hands and kiss babies and be around people. And we, the commoners, we can see through which one really loves people and which one really doesn't. Well, unlike the Pharisees, Jesus isn't picky about who he eats with.
32. 9:46 He's eaten with a tax collector, now he's eaten with a Pharisee, and he's not bothered at all by this woman who's come in behind him. So, raises the question, why did Simon invite him to dinner anyway? We're not totally. may have been simple curiosity.
33. 10:02 He may have been genuinely interested in what Jesus had to say. He may have been looking for something to criticize, maybe bring Jesus up on charges later on. We don't really know for sure, but what we read later in the chapter, later in this passage, indicates he wasn't really all that interested in finding out what Jesus was really all about.
34. 10:22 His response to Jesus shows he has, at best, mixed motives for hanging out with Jesus. He's not the first, certainly not the last, to come to Jesus with mixed motivations. My guess is, like me, a lot of you, your favorite author outside the Bible is C.S.
35. 10:40 Lewis. C.S. Lewis came to Christ not because he just heard the gospel and loved it, but because the gospel just wore him down. And finally, he just had to submit his will and his intellect and his pride to Jesus as Lord.
36. 10:56 And here's what he said. He said, You must picture me alone in my room in Oxford, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet, that which I greatly feared had at last come upon me.
37. 11:17 Finally, one night in 1929, I gave in and admitted that God was God and knelt and prayed. Perhaps that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England. I did not then see what is now the most shining and obvious thing, the divine humility which will accept a convert even on such terms.
38. 11:39 Praise God we can go to him even with the best, at best, mixed motivations. So there's a surprising invitation. Then there's a scandalous demonstration. A scandalous demonstration. This woman comes in, described as a woman of the city, a sinner.
39. 11:55 Due to the presence of young ears, I'll be circumspect in my language, but she is what we would call a streetwalker. She is a woman of loose morals, to say the least. And she's come in, and it's well known. We're not told what town this is, whether it's Capernaum or some other small town.
40. 12:11 But it's small enough where everybody knows everybody, and everybody knows each other's business. And this Pharisee knows enough about this woman to know she's a sinner. He knows enough about her business that she's scandalous just coming in the house.
41. 12:26 And this is a time when women are supposed to be seen and not heard. And as far as he's concerned, this woman should neither be seen nor heard. And here she comes into the home of this Jewish leader, carrying with her or wearing a jar, an alabaster flask, a very, very precious perfume and ointment.
42. 12:47 And it's probably cost her everything she made for the last month or more. It's extremely expensive. And Jesus is reclining at the table. Let me describe this for you. Forget what you might have seen if you've seen Da Vinci's magnificent The Last Supper, what there's left of it.
43. 13:04 And you see the disciples sitting around Jesus at a table. That's not how they did that in the ancient Near East. The men were all been seated at a low table and actually reclined, leaning to their left with their bodies propped up by their left arms on a cushion, and with their feet curled behind them so they're all propped up that way so they could eat with their right hands.
44. 13:24 This woman then comes in behind him and has no problem getting to the feet of Jesus. And she comes in to express her love and her appreciation and her devotion. Now, we don't know if she's ever met Jesus before.
45. 13:41 If she's ever heard him preach. She's heard about him. Maybe she's heard how he dealt with the woman that Pastor James talked about a few weeks ago, the woman in Samaria, John chapter 4. Or maybe he's heard the way he dealt with the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8.
46. 13:59 We don't know for sure, but something has told her she needs to go to get with Jesus and express her love and her adoration for Him. Now, again, we don't know this because the Scripture doesn't say, but somehow she knew the address where Jesus was going to be.
47. 14:18 Somehow that Pharisee knew what her business was. I'm just saying, maybe it's not her first visit there. We don't know. But look what she does in order to get to Jesus. She endures the scorn, the sideways glances, the humiliation of coming into a place like that.
48. 14:37 Maybe the way people whispered about her in town as she walked through town to go to this house. Look what she's willing to go through to get to Jesus. Which makes me ask the question, what does it take to stop us? Now, you're here. God bless you for being here.
49. 14:53 And those of you joining us online, thank you so much for doing that. We all know people that it doesn't take much to dissuade them from worshiping with their church families. A late night on Saturday night, an offer of brunch on Sunday morning, or a child's birthday party, or the NFL starting their coverage at 9.30 a.m., not that it bothers me or anything.
50. 15:15 Used to be Sunday was a Sabbath. Now it's NFL day. What does it take to stop us from getting with Jesus and the people of God? Look what it takes for this woman. Nothing is going to stop her from getting there.
51. 15:30 And I want to say this. To all those of you who are basically the walking wounded who get here on Sundays, for some of you, it's really difficult to get here. You have physical disabilities. You have transportation problems. You're a single parent with small kids, and it's really hard to get those little skulls full of mush out of bed on a Sunday morning.
52. 15:51 Some of you know what I'm talking about. Some of you just have emotional and mental and spiritual baggage that's just so heavy to drag into church. God bless you for doing that. Thank you so much for making those efforts. We salute you for it. I want you to know that Luke says more about women than any of the other gospel writers, and there's not a single instance in any of the gospels of a woman ever saying or doing anything negative toward Jesus.
53. 16:17 All women's interactions with Jesus in the gospels are positive and kind and sympathetic. I'm going to make a sexist observation here. What? That's right. I'm going to make a sexist observation right here, and I'll stand by it too. In general, women seem to be more open to spiritual things than men.
54. 16:35 Women tend to be more more responsive to spiritual things than men. I don't know if it's because we think we're too important. We're too proud. We've got other things to do. We're too easily distracted. Squirrel. I don't know what it is, but women tend to be more open to spiritual things.
55. 16:52 God bless you ladies for that. So here's this woman, even a sinner like her, attracted to Jesus, and she comes and she opens this very expensive flask of perfumed ointment. It begins to pour it on Jesus' feet.
56. 17:10 Imagine that. Imagine her just totally casting all other cares to the wind and anointing the feet of Jesus, and then her tears falling on his feet, and then she lets her hair down. Jewish women did not let their hair down in public.
57. 17:27 She doesn't care about that. She lets her hair down, begins to wipe his feet with her hair. Such an act of utter devotion, totally abandoned into that act of worship at the feet of her master.
58. 17:43 Philip Yancey is another one of my favorite writers. He tells a story about a man who's working in a mission downtown that reaches out and helps the homeless in the down and out. The man said one day a hooker came to him in desperate straits.
59. 18:00 She's homeless. Her own health was in ruins. She had a two-year-old daughter. She didn't know how to feed. She came in for help. And the man said, well, have you thought about going to the church and ask for help? Her exact words were, the church? That's the last place I'd go for help.
60. 18:18 They'd only make me feel worse than I already do. This is what Yancey writes in his great book, The Jesus I Never Knew. The more ungodly, unrighteous, undesirable a person was, the more that person felt drawn to Jesus. And the more righteous, together, and desirable a person was, the more that person felt threatened by Jesus.
61. 18:38 Just the opposite of what most people think. How did Jesus, the only perfect person in history, manage to attract the notoriously imperfect? And what keeps us from following in his steps today? Tears on his feet, wiping his feet with her hair, all just to express how much she appreciates and loves Jesus for accepting her as she is.
62. 19:06 And you contrast that with the all too typical stories of conversion today. I make no presumption on any of you. You're probably a Christian, or you wouldn't be here, but maybe you're not. Maybe this is your first time in a church like this. Maybe it's your first time hearing the gospel. And so, we're so glad you're here.
63. 19:23 You're not here by accident. You're here by divine appointment. Maybe it's your first time hearing this, and you're wondering what it takes to come to Jesus. And so often, what we hear is just a little tweak around the edges here and there. Maybe just a little mid-flight correction, and you're good with God. I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that's not it.
64. 19:41 Coming to Jesus requires something called repentance, a total change of heart and mind and will and attitude and way of life. We come to Jesus, and we confess before him we've sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we're sorry for our sins.
65. 19:56 And a lot of times, there's tears. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for our sins. We're sorry for of the mess we've made of our own lives. And then comes the laughter of the redeemed, knowing we've been forgiven for all we've done before. And Simon says to himself, well, if this man were a prophet, he'd know who this woman is and what kind of a woman she really is, touching him.
66. 20:14 Simon can't see the woman for who she is because he can't get past what she was. Simon's not willing to give her a break. We better have a new start. Jesus says, news bulletin, Simon. I know all about her.
67. 20:31 And guess what? I know all about you, too. I know everything about you, too, Simon. I got a story I want to tell you. Jesus says to him, as referred to early on in Luke chapter 5, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
68. 20:49 I haven't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And they still come. They come today in all ways, shapes, manners, and form. Just to come to Jesus for that forgiveness and acceptance that only he can give. So there's a surprising invitation, a scandalous demonstration, and now a stinging repudiation.
69. 21:10 Simon, I've got something to say to you. And Simon says, say it, teacher. Be careful what you ask for, Simon. Simon. He says, a certain money lender lends that money to two debtors. He loans one $500, and he loans the other $50.
70. 21:26 Neither one can pay, so the man forgives them both. Now, Simon, which one of those do you think will love the creditor more? And Simon says, well, I suppose. That's the ancient Near Eastern version of whatever. However, I suppose it's the one who he forgave the most.
71. 21:46 Jesus says, you're right, Simon. This woman, her sins are many. She's been forgiven. That's why she loves so much. You, Simon, on the other hand, maybe not so much. Custom dictated that when a guest came into your home, you'd do three things.
72. 22:04 You'd greet them with a kiss on their cheek. You'd give them water to wash the dust off their feet. And then a small amount of scented ointment to put on their heads. Simon's 0 for 3. He hasn't done any of that for Jesus. This woman, she's done all of it.
73. 22:19 Simon, which one loves me more? You or this poor woman? Simon isn't conscious of his need for forgiveness for God's grace. And so, what's he going to be thankful for? There's no sense of gratitude in him.
74. 22:34 And William Sloan Coffin, a pastor of last century, made this comment. He said, there's no smaller package in the world than a man wrapped up in himself. And that's Simon. There's no sugar coating it. He says, Jesus says, her sins are many.
75. 22:50 Her sins are many. But by God's grace, her sins are forgiven. Because God's grace is greater than your sins. Let me say that again. God's grace is greater than your sins. In case you didn't hear me, God's grace is greater than your sins.
76. 23:08 So, whatever it is you're carrying around behind you that you think keeps you being unfit, tell me, God, His grace is greater than your sins. This woman couldn't have articulated it like this, but the Apostle Paul did. These words should be familiar to a lot of us from Romans 5.
77. 23:24 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
78. 23:40 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that's the gospel, ladies and gentlemen.
79. 23:57 There's a fourth aspect of this story I want you to see. There's a surprising invitation, a scandalous demonstration, a stinging repudiation, and now a stunning proclamation. Jesus says to her, your sins are forgiven.
80. 24:13 His acceptance produces her love, not the other way around. He accepts her, which causes her to love Him. He doesn't wait for her to love Him, so that He'll accept her. His acceptance produces her love for Him.
81. 24:30 And the people at the table start going, who does this guy think he is to forgive sins? Jesus just looks at him and says, go in peace. Literally, go into peace. A peace this woman has not known for many years. It's easy for us, it's easy for me anyway, to be critical of Simon.
82. 24:49 To see him as a Pharisee, a hypocrite. But I wonder how many times we've done the same. I wonder what would happen if one Sunday, a notorious sinner, a prostitute, a drug dealer, a politician, just seeing if you're with me.
83. 25:05 What if one of them came right in the middle of service, stumbling down the aisle, fell down here and said, I need the grace of God in my life. What would we do? I'll tell you what I hope we'd do.
84. 25:20 I hope we'd stop everything else, gather around him and say, Brother, sister, you've come to the right place. Salvation has come to this house today. Don't judge people by what they look like or what they've done. Judge them by what God sees in them. And this woman is a beautiful miniature portrait of the grace of God.
85. 25:38 Let me ask you this. Everybody in here, it's rhetorical, don't answer out loud. Everybody in here probably has something in your life. An episode, an event, an action, a chapter of your life, a period of your life, where you did something or said something, or you didn't do something or didn't say something, that you should have.
86. 26:02 That if we were to have a video of it and put it up on these beautiful screens, you would leave in haste and never come back again. If you're older than maybe, I don't know, three, we've all got something in our lives that would be so humiliating that if everybody in here knew it, we'd probably leave and never want to show our faces again.
87. 26:21 I want you to use your imagination now. Go back with me 2,000 years. I want you to imagine you're standing a little distance away from this awful, horrid, ghastly hill, a place called Golgotha, just outside the city of Jerusalem.
88. 26:39 And you're looking at three crosses. And on the middle cross, there's a man dying for sins he never committed, convicted of crimes of which he is not guilty. And he is the most holy, most perfect, most sinless person who's ever lived.
89. 27:00 And yet he's dying on a middle cross. And you are standing there wearing that guilt, that shame. It's on you like an ugly black cloak. And all you can feel, all you can see about yourself is the ugliness of your sin. And all you see about him is this gleaming white, spotless, sacrificial lamb of God.
90. 27:21 And as he dies, as his blood is flowing out of his body, you feel, you see, you sense your sins, your guilt, your shame, dissipating from you and being drawn into him.
91. 27:42 And the holiest person who ever lived is being transformed before your eyes into the ugliest, darkest, blackest, filthiest, most vile object in the universe as he takes into himself your sins and my sins and the sins of the whole world resting on those battered and broken, bloody shoulders.
92. 28:06 And he not only bears our sins, he becomes our sins on that cross. As his blood is shed and his person is becoming darker and darker, the filthiest thing in the universe, you're becoming cleansed.
93. 28:24 You're becoming white as snow because he takes your sin and you get his righteousness. He takes your guilt and you get his perfection. He takes your shame and gives you his holiness.
94. 28:41 And that's what Jesus did on the cross for you and for me. If you've never experienced that transformation, that transaction from Christ to you before, I would invite you now, just as I close, to say a prayer with me. If you already know Jesus as Lord, would you pray for someone here who doesn't know him or someone watching us online, I just want to offer a simple prayer.
95. 29:02 And if you've never received the payment Christ made for you on the cross and yielded your life to him, would you just pray along with me something like this? Lord God, I believe that you created me in your image and you love me. I believe you have a plan for my life.
96. 29:20 And I admit that my sins have separated me from you and deserve your punishment and your judgment. I acknowledge my need for your forgiveness. I turn from my rebellious lifestyle apart from you and look to you and you alone for my salvation.
97. 29:37 By faith, I receive the payment Jesus made on the cross for my sins. I trust in Jesus and him alone to be made right and acceptable in your sight. Your mercy, in your mercy and grace, come into my life and make me a new person.
98. 29:55 Forgiven, cleansed, called, adopted in your family forever. as you've forgiven me help me to forgive others as you have loved me help me to love others and from this day forth by your grace help me to live as you would have me live following Jesus as Lord each and every day until my earthly journey is over and you call me home to be with you forever and I make that prayer in Jesus name amen amen listen if you prayed that prayer would you please either get with me right after the service or Pastor James or I'm gonna elders would you guys stand very quickly all of our elders just so people know who they can go to would you our ruling elders would you guys stand okay if you want to talk to somebody we'd like to talk with you and show you how you can take your next steps but Jesus come to lunch with us too we'll help you there but as you leave this place please remember you were made for more than shame you were made for more than guilt and if Jesus has taken away your guilt and your shame and given you his righteousness then you leave this place in a whole new way of life amen and if you want to talk to somebody

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