Jesus Perfect acceptance

Jesus Perfect acceptance (Luke 7:36

Verse 36 The same story in Matt and Mark identifies the man as Simon the leper.

• It’s somewhat shocking that Jesus would go to the house of a Pharisee, given how much they hated Jesus.
  • And if this man were a leper, then a good Jew didn’t go anywhere near a leper.

Verse 37 The text only identifies her as a sinful woman, but what is most likely meant here is that she was a prostitute or an adulterous.  Luke’s Gospel is the only one of the Four that identifies her in this way.

• Mark and John’s Gospel say her name is Mary. Matt simply says a “woman”

• A little back ground history to help set the stage:
• An Alabaster jar was carved from alabaster and had a long neck that would be broken when the contents were used. The original single use container. The jar itself was of value.
• If the jar contained nard as in the Mark and John accounts indicate then it would have cost a hundred denarii which was a year’s wages for common day laborer.

Verse 38 The term used here in the Greek is not usually used for weeping but more commonly for rain showers.

• It says “she began to weep tears of rain”

• The word for kiss is also a more emphatic for kiss than is used elsewhere is scripture.
• The letting down of her hair would be considered immodest.
• This is actually extravagant worship, nothing held back.
• It says that Jesus was reclining at the table, which would have meant lying down on his side. As she stood behind?
• The perfume was very strong, and would have immediately filled the whole house with the fragrance.

Verse 39 There no doubt would have been a lot of people there, it was this action of Mary that got His attention.

• He is judging the woman in his mind. But the Irony here is that the man is a leper.

Verse 40 The previous verse made it seem as if Simon had only thought those things and not expressed them.

Verse 41-42 Jesus does show that he has knowledge of the women’s past despite the host’s thoughts to the contrary.

• The two debtors depict different levels of sin.

1. The one who owes less depicts the Pharisees.
2. The one with the greater dept depicts the women.

Verse 43 Jesus as he always does, defends the one who is most vulnerable in the situation with no shame.

• Jesus defends Mary by saying her actions were justified because she saw and knew her need for forgiveness.

Verse 44 “In a twist of Irony, In speaking to the Pharisee while turning to the woman, Jesus has the religious leader learn a lesson from the sinner as he draws attention to her.

• • Jesus begins to restore the woman right in front of everyone, to restore her place in society.

Verse 45-46 In all of these instances the point is that Simon did nothing exceptional for Jesus, but acted with relative indifference.

Verse 47 The present tense form of the verb forgiveness used here points to the fact that she is in a state of being forgiven. Not a onetime deal.

Verse 48 According to Jesus’ own words the love response shows that the forgiveness has already taken place.