Let's pray. Our Father, we give you thanks for all of the gifts that you have given to us, both spiritually and materially. We thank you particularly this evening for those material gifts as we present them before you in an offering. We ask that you would forgive us for being slow and unready to give, as though you could not provide for all of our needs in Jesus Christ in glory. We ask that you would forgive us for thinking that our tithes and offerings are nothing better than but a tax refund. We know, oh Father, that you can use these offerings to build up your kingdom. And so we ask that you would. We ask that you would use this money to support the ministers of the word, that you would use it to support the diaconate, that they might minister to those who do not have enough, and that in so ministering, they would minister the mercy and compassion of Christ. We pray these things in his name. Amen. Our text for this evening comes from Luke chapter 7. And we'll be covering the entire second half of the chapter from verse 24 to the end. So listen carefully to the reading of God's word. When the messengers of John had left, he, that is Jesus, began to speak to the crowds about John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are found in royal palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you. I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John. Yet, he who is leased in the kingdom of God is greater than he. When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God's justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God's purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by John. To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? They're like children who sit in the marketplace and who call to one another, and they say, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a dirge, and you did not weep. For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine. And you say, he has a demon. The son of man has come eating and drinking. And you say, behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children. Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him. And he entered the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner. And when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume. And standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing his feet, and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him, that she is a sinner. And Jesus answered him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he replied, say it, teacher. A money lender had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii and the other 50. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more? Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more. And he said to him, you have judged correctly. Turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, do you see this woman? 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 she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume. For this reason, I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little loves little. Then he said to her, your sins have been forgiven. Those who were reclining at the table with him began to say to themselves, who is this who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Our Father, we ask that as we now contemplate your word, we ask that Christ would be revealed to us, that the veil would be pulled back, that veil which covered Moses' face because the glory which Moses had was fading away, that veil which lay over all of the Old Testament. We ask that that would be removed and that we would behold Christ for who he is in your word this evening. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, over the past several months, we have intermittently been going through Luke chapter 7. And tonight, we're looking at the second half. But before we get into the details of the text, I want to go over the outline of not the sermon, but the outline of the way chapter 7 is structured. And I know this isn't the most attention-grabbing introduction, But once we do get into the details, it is so rich, and it's as though we see the heart of God. And I don't want to have to back up and then awkwardly start talking about the structure of chapter 7. So I want to put that out first, and then use that as the framework for looking at the details of the text. So I'm going to divide the text into three sections. The first is verses 24 through 28, where Jesus puts forth a teaching about the kingdom of God. The second section will be 29 through 35. And the third section will be 36 through the end of the chapter. And what I want to point out is that that second and third section are very similar to each other. They follow an almost identical pattern. And so I think they're linked together. And this is what I want to point out before we get into the details. They both follow a structure that looks like this. Somebody receives the message of Jesus. And then at the very end, Jesus commends that individual or those people. But then in between, you have people who reject the message, and then you have Jesus' response to those who reject. And Jesus' response takes the form of a parable, which he explains. So if you look at that second section, verses 29 through 35, we find that the people and the tax collectors justified God. Then at the end, we find Jesus making a parallel statement that wisdom is justified by her children. But in between that, we have the Pharisees who reject the counsel of God. And then we have the bulk of the text where Jesus uses a parable. He says that the Pharisees are like children in the marketplace. Well, then if we skip down to verses 37 through the end of the chapter, it's the same thing. who comes and she receives the message of Jesus. She perceives who he is and she worships him. But then right after that, there's the Pharisee who rejects the message. He rejects the prophets. If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is. And then again, you have the bulk of the text, which is Jesus' response to the Pharisee. And at the very end, you have Jesus' commendation of the woman. Her sins are forgiven. Now, what I think Luke is doing here is something similar to what you would find in a mathematics textbook. If you can think back to when you were in high school studying geometry, imagine the chapter where they went over the Pythagorean theorem. They presented to you a squared plus b squared equals c squared. And that's rather abstract. It's hard to understand how to apply that in a real-life situation. What do letters have to do with something in the concrete world? And so what they do to help you understand this general formula is they give you an example problem. They give you a word problem. They say there's a bricklayer who wants to get to the top of a 12-foot wall, and he's going to place the ladder five feet away from the wall. How long does his ladder need to be? They substitute in specific values for A, B, and C. Well, I think that's what Luke is doing here. He's giving us a general principle, a general response to the teaching of Jesus. There's either a reception of that teaching or there is a rejection. Either they justify God, or they reject for themselves the counsel of God. But that's kind of abstract, isn't it? It's universally applicable, but it's abstract. What does it mean to justify God? What does it mean to reject the counsel of God? Well, Luke gives us, so to speak, a word problem. He substitutes in specific values. He says, all right, well, here's a picture of somebody who justifies God. And here's a picture of somebody who rejects the counsel of God. So that's the structure, how I perceive that the chapter is laid out, the second half of the chapter is laid out. So with that in mind, let's begin to look at the details. If you want an outline for the sermon, it's the same as the title of the sermon that you'll find in the bulletin. The Savior, the Sinner, and Simon. And so first, the Savior. In verse 24, Jesus begins a teaching about the kingdom of God. But before he can teach his listeners about the kingdom of God, he must teach them something about John the Baptist. He wants his listeners to understand just how great John the Baptist is. And so he asks a series of rhetorical questions. Hey, you didn't go out to look at cattails in the wilderness, did you? No, cattails aren't worth seeing. You went to go see something important. Furthermore, John is not like a reed shaken in the wind. He's solid. He's like a pillar that no matter how hard you press against him, he's not going to budge. And so Jesus asked, well, did you go to see somebody dressed in soft clothing? Again, the answer is obviously no. If you want to go see somebody who's dressed in soft clothing, you go to a king's palace where there will be lots of yes men who will say whatever is politically expedient to get themselves into a privileged position. But obviously, this is not why the people went into the wilderness. So Jesus asks them again, what did you go to see? And perhaps this is something of a dialogue that is taking place. Somebody from the crowd raises their hand and says, a prophet? And Jesus says, a prophet, yes. And I tell you, more than a prophet. And then he quotes Malachi. Jesus wants the people to understand that not only is John a prophet, He's more than a prophet. He himself is the fulfillment of a prophecy. Malachi prophesied that there would be a messenger who would prepare the way before Yahweh, and that John is that messenger. So not only is John a prophet, but he's the prophet who was prophesied by another prophet. He's a rather important figure. How many people can say that they are the fulfillment of a hundreds of years old prophecy? And then Jesus further drives home his point by making the statement that John is greater than anyone born among women. And this is a striking statement. That would mean that John is greater than Moses. John is greater than David. John is greater than any Old Testament figure. And so as a listener of Jesus, you're thinking, wow, John is great. You cannot get any higher than John. And once you realize that, you've come to the point where you're ready to hear Jesus' next statement, that he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. Jesus wants his listeners to understand that the kingdom of God is not just sort of incrementally better than the old administration, where the best of the old are still a little bit above the least of the new. No, no, no, no. The kingdom of God is far and away beyond the old administration. But what does it mean to be greater than John? Is Jesus speaking about a personal greatness here? Personal accomplishment? Is he speaking about the miracles that somebody will accomplish in their lifetime? No, I don't think so. I think the greatness that is in view here is a greatness which is measured by one's proximity to Jesus. It's not a personal greatness, it's how clearly we are able to behold Jesus himself. We could paraphrase it this way, and this doesn't capture everything, but it captures some of it, that among those born of women, there is none better off than John the Baptist. And yet, the least in the kingdom of God is better off than he. Several commentators notice that before Jesus begins this discourse, that the messengers of John have already left. And they ask the question, well, why does Jesus wait until after they leave. And then they give reasons, and I'm not saying that these reasons are incorrect, but they say things like, well, it's because Jesus doesn't want John to become puffed up and filled with pride because he's about to say all of these good things about him. And that may be the case. But could it be that when John's messengers depart, it's a symbolic act? That when John's messengers leave, it's as though John himself is leaving the scene? At this point, John is going to be a non-entity from here on out in the gospel of Luke. He'll be mentioned a couple of times, but only in passing. And so when John's messengers leave, it's like John is leaving, and that whole administration of shadows to which John belonged are leaving the scene. And what is left is Jesus and the kingdom of God. The era of shadows has come to an end, and it is now the era of substance. It is the era of the kingdom of God. Not only does Jesus teach this about the kingdom of God, but he also teaches something about himself. You'll notice he quotes Malachi, and in Malachi, it's Yahweh who's speaking, and he says, I will send my messenger to prepare the way before me. Now, if the messenger from Malachi is preparing the way for Yahweh, and we know from the gospels that John is preparing the way for Jesus, and Jesus says that John is the messenger from Malachi, What's the implication? You see, messenger prepares the way for Yahweh. John prepares the way for Jesus. John is the messenger. Therefore, Jesus is Yahweh. And I think it's this teaching that causes so much division among Jesus hearers. They're immediately split into two groups. There are those who justify God, and then there are those who reject the counsel of God. And this is a universal split. From that time forward to the present day, anybody who has heard the name of Jesus falls into either one of these two categories. They either belong to Luke chapter seven, verse 29, or they belong to Luke chapter seven, verse 30. And so what we're going to do next is look at each of those two groups. And to do that, we're going to look at the word problem. We're going to look at the section with the sinner and with the Pharisee, Simon. And I titled the sermon, The Savior, the Sinner, and Simon. I really could have titled it, The Savior, the Savior, and the Savior, because the text is all about Jesus and how he ministers to each of these groups in a very particular way as each one needs. Yeah, it's a very gracious text. And so let's look at some of those details. In verse 37, we are introduced to a woman. And there are a few things that we can say about her. The first thing that we can say is that she is, in fact, a woman as over against the Pharisee who is male. That's already one checkmark against her as far as status or privilege goes. The second thing that we can say about her is that she is nameless. Now, ordinarily, this wouldn't be worth pointing out, because already in chapter 7, we've seen the centurion, the centurion's servant, the widow, the widow's son, several messengers, none of whom are mentioned by name. And so when we come to this woman and we find that she's unnamed, we shouldn't be ready to make too much of that, except for the fact that the Pharisee is mentioned by name. His name is Simon. And so that's an interesting question. Why does Luke choose to give us the Pharisee's name, but he leaves the woman unnamed? It's an interesting choice on the part of the writer. But what else can we say about her? Well, let's ask Simon. Simon, who and what sort of woman is this? Oh, well, that's easy. Everybody knows that except for apparently Jesus. She's a sinner. But this isn't just Simon's pharisaical opinion. This is Luke's opinion, too. Look at how he introduces her. There was a woman in the city who was a sinner. And this isn't just Luke's opinion. It's also Jesus' opinion. In Jesus' parable, she's the one who owes 500 denarii. That's going on two years' salary. In other words, she's committed a lot of sins in her lifetime. And Jesus plainly states that her sins were many. And so this is, time and again, what is emphasized about this woman. She's a sinner. But that's not just Simon's or Luke's or Jesus' opinion of the woman. That's also her own opinion of herself. Look at what she does. She comes to Jesus, weeping, tears streaming down her face. And she washes his feet, she anoints his feet with oil. She knows that she's a sinner. And so we can say that she's a woman, she's nameless, she's a sinner, and she's penitent. Could we say that she's the least in the kingdom of God? And as the least in the kingdom of God, she's nonetheless able to behold unobstructed who Jesus is. She's able to see with unclouded eye the person and work of Jesus, even if it's just a small measure, the person and work of Jesus Christ. And as such, she beholds a glory which surpasses the glory which Moses beheld on Mount Sinai. And you say, well, how can that be? Moses got to see the hind parts of God's glory. But this woman, in beholding Christ, gets to see the face of God's glory. She gets to see the image of the Father in the son Jesus Christ. The glory of Moses was fading, but this woman belongs to a kingdom in which she is being transformed from glory unto glory. And what I love about this text is Jesus' response to her. Think about the incongruity Jesus as the Son of God who is infinite in holiness infinite in perfection. He is clean. He has no need of cleansing He is cleanliness incarnate And yet he is pleased to have his feet washed by arguably the dirtiest woman in the city She is able to perceive who Christ is and And it's an inarticulate sort of faith and an inarticulate repentance. We don't hear her saying eloquent words. The only thing we hear her saying through the entire thing are sobs and whimpers. But she somehow grasps the idea, even without the cross, that somehow in Jesus Christ, my sins are forgiven. And Jesus is pleased with that. Would I be overstating the case if I said that God is not half so pleased with righteousness as he is with repentance? Now, I would need to nuance that. I'm talking about pharisaical righteousness. We ought not to be licentious, and we ought to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. But far better to be a dirty, vile sinner who has apprehended Christ than to be a Pharisee who has kept the law to a tee. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a contrite heart and a broken spirit you will not despise. But then there's Simon. Simon has a name of his own. He doesn't have time for titles like sinner. He has a righteousness of his own. He's free from sin, or at least that's what he thinks. But throughout the narrative, Luke gives us several ironic details that I find very humorous. In verse 34, Jesus is reminding the Pharisees of everything that they've said about him. Oh, you're a glutton and a drunkard. But then two verses later, Simon invites Jesus over for a meal. They say, you're a friend of sinners. You go to table with tax collectors and sinners. But who does Jesus go to table with in our passage? Simon, sitting at the table, says to himself, oh, if this man were a prophet, he would be able to read the heart of a sinner when he saw one. But whose heart does Jesus read? Simon, I have something to say to you. Simon doesn't get that he's a sinner. And so Jesus has to teach him. He gives him a parable that he can understand. And Simon does begin to understand it. He answers correctly. He recognizes that the person who is going to love the most is the person who's forgiven the most. And then Jesus begins to unfold that for him. The general principle of the parable is this. If you're forgiven a little bit, you're going to love a little bit. And if you're forgiven a whole lot, you're going to love a whole lot. And so he says to Simon, look, if someone is only forgiven a little bit, they might only make an expression of love, which is a small expression. They might only wash my feet or give me water for my feet. They might only greet me with a kiss. They might only anoint my head with oil. But somebody who loves me much would do as this woman has done. But he points out to Simon, look, Simon, you haven't even given me water. You haven't even given me a kiss. You haven't even anointed my head with oil. In the parable, who is Simon, we might be ready to say, oh, well, Simon's the debtor who was forgiven 50 denarii. Well, somebody who's forgiven a little would love a little, as Jesus points out. Simon doesn't love at all. And so what Jesus is doing, I think, is he's pointing to Simon. Simon, look, you don't even love at all. You're still in your sins. Your sins have not been forgiven. But there's good news for Simon. The money lender stands willing to forgive both debtors. Jesus, who is willing to eat with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners, is also willing to eat with stuck-up, arrogant Pharisees. Jesus, who is willing to forgive the debtor of 500 denarii, is willing to forgive the debtor a 50 denarii as well. If Simon would but only acknowledge his guilt. So how does Simon respond to Jesus' teaching? We don't really know. We're given a small hint. In verse 49, we read that those who were reclining with him began to say to themselves, who is this who even forgives sins? But we don't really know how that question was asked. What was the tone of that question? Earlier in Luke's gospel, there's a very similar question, and it's very clear that the Pharisees are outraged that Jesus is forgiving sins. That's blasphemy. Here, it's a little more ambiguous. Maybe there's a hint of sincerity to the question. Who is this who forgives sins? But that's really all we get. We don't know how Simon responds. We don't know if Simon acknowledges his sins. And maybe that's the point. You see, this is an example problem. Remember, there's a more general principle that can be universally applied. And if we're only concerned about with whether or not Simon recognizes the fact that he is a sinner, and we close Luke chapter seven without turning towards ourselves and asking ourselves, are we sinners? Do we recognize that we are sinners too? If we can't do that, we become like Simon. We've become so good at seeing the sin in other people. Oh, sinner. Oh, Simon, he's a sinner. But if we can't turn the mirror towards ourselves and examine ourselves and ask the question, do we have our own sin? Then we are just like Simon. And Jesus has something to say to us. There were two debtors. And so this is the application. Have we acknowledged our sin? Do we recognize that before God's law, we are sinful? What are you proud of? Are you proud of the fact that you don't look at certain things on the internet? Are you proud of the fact that you don't use certain four-letter words? Or that you've never been drunk? No, I'm glad if that's the case. I'm glad of those things. But are you proud of them? Is that your boast? that you have a righteousness of your own? Let us boast in Christ. Let us boast in his cross. That one thing which exposes our sin for what it is, that one thing that we cannot take glory in, our own sin, which is revealed at the cross, is the thing that we must take glory in. We glory in that which reveals our shame. We glory in that which reveals that we do not have a righteousness of our own. And we love it. And so we must acknowledge this. This is not just for unbelievers. It's not just somebody hearing the gospel for the first time who ought to acknowledge their sin before God. The Christian life is one of repentance. And so it doesn't hurt every so often to use the Ten Commandments as a guide during prayer and to go through each commandment to see how we have transgressed God's law. Have we reserved the place of highest reverence in our heart for God alone? Have we worshipped God as he desires to be worshipped? Have we made holy and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word and works? Have we kept the Sabbath day holy? Have we honored those who are in authority over us? Have we harbored resentment and grudges in our hearts against our neighbors? Have we acted with chastity in heart, speech, and behavior? Have we in any way hindered the wealth or outward estate of our neighbor? Have we told the truth with mental reservations? Have we coveted? And if at any point you find yourself saying, Oh, hey, well, I got that commandment. I'm one for 10. I would ask. Contemplate God's law more closely. If you need an exposition of what is demanded by God's law, the catechism, larger and shorter, provide great helps to that in exposing just how far short we fall of keeping God's righteous demands. But we can be confident. that if we do confess our sins before God, that he will forgive us. The Apostle John promises us that if we deny our sin, the truth is not in us and we deceive ourselves. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And if we do so, we will find that Jesus' words for the woman are for us as well. Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Let's pray. Our Father, we give you thanks for the righteousness of your Son, Jesus Christ. There is no hope without it. We ask that we would treasure that righteousness, that we would not make excuses, that we would not try to justify our sins, but that we would plainly acknowledge it before you, and that in so acknowledging it, we would have peace with you. through your Son, Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray, amen.