Thursday, February
12, 2015, 9:44 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Trust Him.” Speak, Lord, your words to
my heart. I read Luke 7:31-50 (ESV).
Of This Generation
“To
what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they
like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one
another,
“‘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,
‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and
sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”
There will always be people in this life who will think that
we, who follow Jesus Christ with our lives, should think and behave just like
them, and who will continually find some way to criticize or persecute us just
because they don’t like something about us – what we stand for, what we do,
and/or what we believe and practice. These are people who judge us by human
standards, by traditions of men, and by worldly culture, philosophy and practice,
and even by religious norms and customs which exist within the church.
They will mock us because we are different, and for the
reason that we are unlike the world, and because we do stand out in a crowd, since
we no longer conform to the ways of this sinful world. They will think us
strange or crazy or disconnected from reality because we don’t do what “normal”
people do. Even fellow Christians will be among those who may be our fiercest
critics and opponents because we have not compromised our faith and we have not
blended in with the society around us just so we can be accepted.
Yet, those who act wisely by God’s standards will one day be
vindicated, if they are not already validated in the eyes of other humans for
their love and devotion to Jesus Christ. What these wise servants do out of
love for Christ and for their fellow humans, if not correctly understood now by
everyone, will one day be confirmed that it had its purpose when the evidence
is revealed by God concerning the lives that were changed for the good because
of these servants’ love and devotion to Christ, and due to their commitment to
following him in obedience to his will for their lives, despite all opposition.
For She Loved Much
One
of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's
house and reclined at the table. And 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 wiped them with the hair
of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 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.”
I love this story! It is one of my favorites in the Bible. This
woman was rejected because she had lived a sinful lifestyle, and probably
because she was a woman, and because she did something that seemed weird,
different, impractical and just plain senseless in the eyes of at least the
host, Simon, the Pharisee. Yet, she did not come into the home of the Pharisee
to cause trouble or to seduce anyone into sinning with her. She came with a
repentant heart and out of love for Jesus – the one she had obviously heard
about, or whom she had heard teach, or whom she had watched heal the blind, the
sick and the lame. I believe she came because she wanted to be healed, too, and
because she wanted to express her love for the Savior of the world, because he
first loved her.
This woman was not concerned in the least what everyone
might think of her, or else if she was at all, she rejected that fear and
stepped out in faith and did what she knew she must do anyway, even knowing the
kind of reception she might receive from some of the people there at that meal.
Yet, she had a divine appointment with her Lord, and so she went, not knowing what
might face her there. She did what she felt prompted to do, even knowing that
her actions might be met with ridicule and with rebuke. Yet, her love for her
Lord and her desire to express her love to him in this way overcame any fears
she may have been feeling at the time.
Jesus’ host, Simon the Pharisee, responded to the woman and
her actions with disdain. He looked down on her because of the sinful lifestyle
she had lived. He obviously didn’t understand that Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, not to reject them and not to turn them away in disgust.
Jesus didn’t think like the Pharisee. Although Jesus was
fully God and fully man when he walked the face of this earth, and he did not
have to come to the earth to save us, he loved us so much that he left his
throne in heaven, took on human flesh and eventually died on the cross for our
sins so that we could be free of the curse of sin. He certainly did not pacify
anyone’s sin, and he did not shy away from confronting sin and calling for
repentance, nor did he avoid the subjects of obedience and judgment. Yet, he
was merciful to the lost, and had compassion on them, and thus called them to
faith in Him.
Jesus Honored Her
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, and the
other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which
of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he
cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then
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 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. 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.” Then those
who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who
even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in
peace.”
Jesus told a parable to Simon in which he taught him that
those who have sinned much and thus have been forgiven much will also love
much, because they have a greater understanding of their true sinful condition (their
debt) and thus a greater appreciation for the true grace and mercy of God in forgiving
them and in saving them.
I love this next part in particular. It says that Jesus
turned toward the woman but he spoke to Simon. He was giving honor to the woman
for her act of faith and for her unadulterated love for her Lord. Basically,
all the things that Simon should have done for the Lord, but did not do, the
woman did.
Sometimes those who think they are so religious look down
upon those who are true servants of the Lord and thus are critical of them and
even reject and discard them as worthless, because they don’t get it. Their
religion is just a bunch of rules and regulations (human-based), and forms and
rituals and going through the motions of religious thought and practice, but
they lack child-like faith as this woman obviously demonstrated. And, this goes
back to the thought expressed early on in this writing concerning people who
think we should be like them and who criticize us for being different, and it
is because they don’t get it. Simon didn’t get it, either.
So, in conclusion, we should be encouraged by both of these
stories to be the people of God whom our Lord created us to be, even in the
face of great opposition, and even if the resistance we face comes from those
within the church who don’t get it, either. We should have the courage and
determination of this woman to do for our Lord what he has called us to do no
matter what kind of response we get in return. Now, we should make certain it
is the Lord we are hearing, and that our actions are consistent with the
teachings of scripture and with the godly examples of Christ, the prophets, the
apostles and other servants of the Lord talked about in scripture. Yet, we
should not be afraid to be different and to do what may seem out of the ordinary
by human standards of what they think is “normal.” We should be bold and
courageous in our service to our Lord, but also humble and merciful to those
who are in need of the Savior and of his saving grace.
Trust Him / An Original Work /
August 15, 2012
Based
off Psalm 27:14
Wait
for the Lord; be of courage;
Be
strong and take heart today.
Do
not fear when foes attack you.
Trust
in God always.
He
will rescue you in times
Of
trouble and distress,
He’ll
comfort you in all ways
As
you trust Him with your life today.
Trust
in Him always.
God
is with you; He’ll not leave you.
You
can always count on Him.
He
will fulfill all He promised
Before
you began.
His
word teaches you
All
that you need for this life.
Let
Him lead you. Open your heart;
Let
his truth envelope you today.
Listen
and obey.
Love
your Lord God; follow Jesus.
Repent
of your sins today.
Make
Him your Lord and your master;
Trust
Him and obey.
Follow
Him where’er He leads you
In
His service; be His witness,
Telling
others about Jesus’
Price
that He did pay
For
your sins always.
No comments:
Post a Comment