Grateful Faith

October 27, 2019 Background Scripture: Luke 7:36 – 50 Lesson Passage: Luke 7:37 – 48 True gratitude should provoke one to act. Unfortunately, many who have been delivered in a major way by God shun the public display of gratitude towards God. We would rather not be associated with our past life—not even to give a testimony of God’s goodness towards us. It is much easier to move on to a new life, new social circles, and new outlook on life than it is to be reminded of a not-so-glamorous past. But does this attitude rob the world of a richer revelation of God through our testimony of His dealings with us? The bible does state “And they overcame him (i.e., the dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony”. Some are not talkers but all can demonstrate gratitude through their actions. The woman who is the focus of this lesson is clearly a demonstrator of gratitude. Strangely, she apparently went to the home of a Pharisee who had invited Jesus to eat with him. There is no suggestion in the scriptures that the woman was invited to be there. The bible says she came to the house because she learned that Jesus was sitting at the table in the Pharisee’s house. Because of the local custom of reclining towards the table with feet extended outward, she was able to stand at Jesus’ feet crying on them and wiping them with her hair. Then, she took a bottle of fragrant perfume and anointed Jesus’ feet and kissed them. (This brings to mind the writing of Isaiah when he wrote “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings of good things”.) The Pharisee observed it and considered Jesus to be less than a prophet because he allowed the woman to do what she was doing. The Pharisee knew the woman to be a person of sin and thought that Jesus had not perceived her to be a sinner. Surely a true prophet would be aware of the presence of a sinner and reject that person’s contact. Although the Pharisee only thought this and did not verbalize it, Jesus knew his thoughts. Therefore, Jesus gave the Pharisee a parable about the level of gratitude offered by debtors based on the amount of their debt that is forgiven by their creditor. When Jesus asked which debtor would love the creditor more, the Pharisee answered that the debtor who was forgiven the most debt would love the creditor more. Jesus noted that the Pharisee had answered correctly and then used this to explain his actions towards the woman. Jesus used the parable to explain to the Pharisee that the woman had many sins she needed to be forgiven for, and therefore she showed much love to the one who would forgive her of the same. Meanwhile, other than the invitation to come and dine in his house, the Pharisee had not shown Jesus other common courtesies that would not have even amounted to the same actions demonstrated by the woman. Jesus, then, forgave the woman of her sins and acknowledged to her that her faith had saved her. She trusted Jesus to forgive her and demonstrated her trust by acting as though she had already been forgiven. Her public display of gratitude was an outward expression of her faith in the Lord to forgive her of her sins. Robert C. Hudson September 18, 2019