"And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
In today's lesson, Jesus demonstrated the difference between how a repenting "sinner" should be treated as opposed to how His Pharisee host, a respected representative of the Jewish hierarchy, would have her treated.
Jesus welcomed the actions of the woman, a "sinner", and saw her deeds as attempted penance, acts of worship and love. The Pharisee perceived the woman to be nothing more than trash that should have been thrown out and ignored.
Using a metaphor, Jesus explained that the woman, whom the Pharisee had regarded as little more than nothing, had actually expressed much more desire for, and deserved more, acceptance and forgiveness than the hypocrites who were supposed to already know and be abiding by God's law.
Jesus told the woman, your sins are forgiven, your faith has saved you.
We should note that the woman mentioned in today's quote, a "sinner", was saved by her faith alone. Jesus forgave the woman's sins and saved her because she had demonstrated her faith in Him.
Jesus spent much of His ministry condemning the hypocrisy of the Jews. Today's quoted is just a small part of that condemnation.
If we look around now, in our modern times, we see many of those who claim to be "good Christians people", treating some of those around them in the same hypocritical manner the Pharisees treated those they perceived as "sinners".
We must remember that we are not responsible for the sins of others, it is not our responsibility to judge them nor condemn them. We are ONLY to live our lives as examples of the Christians described in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And, we are to teach that gospel to every person who is willing to hear it.
When Jesus sent out His messengers while they were still restricted by the Law of Moses, He gave them explicit instructions as to how to teach His gospel and explicitly to whom they were to teach it, "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet."(Matthew 10:14) That simply meant, don't try to teach those who won't listen.
Today's lesson is about Jesus' willingness to forgive those who believe in Him, and it is also about the hypocrites who set themselves apart from the very people who need to learn about God's grace.~
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