In The Footsteps Of The Master:In The Footsteps Of The Master:The Life and Times of Jesus ChristThe Life and Times of Jesus Christ

The Anointing of Christ's Feet

July 19, 2009

Luke 7:36-50

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Washing of Jesus’ feet by a woman

• The accounts of Matthew, Mark and John all deal with the same incident, but the one recorded in Luke is a unique incident, recorded only in his gospel

• “while we were yet sinners, (at our worst), Christ died for us.”

• Visualize the setting of the text

• Think kind of round table, on the floor, lounging, probably talking about the Torah.

Luke 7:36-50• Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman

•  36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume,

Luke 7:38-39• 38 and as she stood behind him at his feet

weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.  39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner."  

Continued….• 40Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have

something to tell you."       "Tell me, teacher," he said.

•  41"Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii (2 years wages), and the other fifty (2 months wages). 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

•  43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."       "You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

Turning to the Woman• He's at a round table, sitting with men, the

woman is behind Him washing His feet with her tears and hair.

• Jesus turns around, looks at the woman but starts talking to Simon.

weeping uncontrollably•  44Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon,

"Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

•  48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." •  49The other guests began to say among themselves,

"Who is this who even forgives sins?" •  50Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you;

go in peace."

Common Courtesy• Common courtesy for the day would have been

that as soon as Jesus entered the house of Simon, he would have been greeted with a kiss, His feet would have been washed and His head anointed with oil.

• The absence of such normal hospitality suggests an underlying animosity on the part of Simon which Jesus addressed in verses 44-46.

• Simon seems to have purposefully omitted the common courtesies accorded to any honored guest

Well-to-do• Houses of well-to-do people were built

round an open courtyard.• The courtyard often had a garden and

some sort of fountain.• During warm weather they would eat

outside in the courtyard• It was also custom when a Rabbi was at a

meal like this, all kinds of people were free to come and listen.

• Laying on low couches, resting on left elbow with feet stretched out behind.

Going through her mind..• Get your mind around the range of emotions

this woman must have been feeling • You can tell even in the Pharisee's thoughts

to himself what sort of woman this is. – This woman shouldn't even touch Jesus. – She's defiling Him by even being near Him.– For a woman to appear with her hair down was

an act of gravest immodesty.– After wedding day hair was always up!

• This is the mindset, this is the religious mindset in the first century

Risk?• No doubt she had listened to Jesus from

the edge pf a crowd before.

• What's this woman risking by coming into that room?

• Do you know that by the law, they could just pelt her with rocks until she died.

• She knew that the majority of the room thinks she's less than human?

Mercy and Grace• There's a type of shame and a type of pain

and a type of difficulty that will weigh so heavily upon us that we'll run to Him and throw ourselves at His mercy.

• In Scripture, anytime anyone's done that, Christ has extended freedom, mercy, grace.

• But it's the secret stuff that wore Christ out.

• It's why He constantly spoke out against the Pharisees

Whitewashed Tombs• You're like a tomb with flowers all around

it, but inside you're just full of dead, rotting bones.”

• But anyone who would come clean, even a woman who was considered the lowest of lows society,

• Jesus says, “No, no, no. Come to Me. Come to Me.”

• This is the good news of the gospel, that there's room at the cross.

Unpack this for today• We ALL need to be honest about where we

are!!! • Sometimes we feel like we shouldn't struggle or

wrestle with that, and shouldn't have those kinds of doubts because we've been in church all these years.

• We talk about walking openly with one another, confessing our sins to one another, doing life deeply together.

• But those of us who have been in church the longest are much more apt to say, “I can't do that, how would other people look at me?

• Pride is a powerful enemy

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Next WeekNext Week• TBD (Pulled from official class website)