SERIES: “DISCOVER FORGIVENESS: Finding Freedom Through Forgiveness”
TEXT: LUKE 7:36-50
TITLE: “COMING TO CHRIST FOR FORGIVENESS”
OPEN: A. A young couple was engaged to be married. The wedding day was rapidly approaching and
both of them began to get worried. They both had problems they had never shared with each other.
The groom-to-be decided to talk his problem over with his father. He said, “Dad, I’m worried.
I love my wife-to-be very much but I’ve got smelly feet. I’m afraid that she’s going to find me and
my smelly feet disgusting.”
Dad said, “No problem, son. All you have to do is wash your feet as often as possible. Always
wear socks, even to bed. But remember, you always have to be the first one out of bed in the
morning. Go right into the bathroom, wash your feet, put on fresh socks, and she’ll never know.”
The groom-to-be thought that was a good idea.
The bride-to-be took her problem to her mother. She said, “Mom, when I wake up in the
morning, my breath smells truly awful. I’m afraid that if he ever gets a whiff of my morning
breath, he’ll not want anything to do with me ever again.”
Her mother advised, “In the morning, just get straight up out of bed, head for the bathroom, and
brush your teeth. Don’t say a word until you’ve brushed them. Not a word. He’ll never know.”
The bride-to-be thought it was certainly worth a try.
The couple was finally married in a beautiful ceremony. Not forgetting the advice they had
received – he with his socks and she with her morning silence – they managed quite well.
About six months into the marriage, shortly before dawn, the husband woke up horrified to
discover that one of his sock had come off during the night. Fearful of the consequences, he
frantically started searched the bed, Of course, his search woke up his wife.
Without thinking she blurted out, “What on earth are you doing?” The husband recoiled in
shock and gasped, “Oh, no! You’ve swallowed my sock!”
1. Maybe you don’t have stinky feet or smelly breath, but chances are that you have something
you’ve done in your life that you hope nobody ever learns about.
2. Scripture teaches us about ourselves:
a. “There is none righteous, not even one.”
b. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
B. We’re going to finish our series “Discover Forgiveness” this morning
1. I want to conclude by telling about the availability for forgiveness through Jesus Christ
2. It’s an important message for us to hear, because like the bride and groom in the story, we’re
all in the same boat
a. As we’ll see in our scripture passage this morning, we may look different from each other
but we all have the same need
b. We all have the same problems
1). We all feel a sense of shame
2). We all carry a sense of guilt
3). We all lack the power to change
--But Christ offers us victory when we trust in Him
C. Lk. 7:36-50 – “Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the
Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When 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,
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. 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.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Simon,
I have something to tell you.’ ‘Tell me, teacher,’ he said. ‘Two men owed money to certain
moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the
money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him
more?’ Simon replied, ‘I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.’ ‘You have judged
correctly,’ Jesus said. Then 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. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from
the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has
poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she
loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins
are forgiven.’ The other guests began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives
sins?’ Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’”
D. Here’s a little background to the story
1. The events described take place in the home of a man named Simon
--Simon is a Pharisee
a. Pharisees were a group of people in that day who were very strict and religious
b. They voluntarily agreed to a lifestyle of prayer, purity, Sabbath observance, and tithing
c. They tended to be very zealous, very proud, and very dogmatic in their approach to life
2. In that day, it was considered good manners and good religion to invite a visiting rabbi over for
supper
--It put another “feather in their cap” and gave them more points on the “I’m better than you”
scale
3. It sounds kind of strange to us now, but supper in a prominent home in that day could be
somewhat of a public affair
--Needy people were allowed to visit the house and to sit around the walls. They did this for two
reasons:
a. First reason is that when the guests were done with dinner, then the needy people could eat the
leftovers
b. Second reason is that while the guests were eating dinner, the needy people could hear the
conversation and could benefit from what was said
E. What can this encounter at Simon the Pharisees house teach us?
--Simply this: No matter who you are, in what category you place yourself in, Jesus can meet
your three deepest needs:
I. JESUS CAN ERASE YOUR SHAME
A. Imagine this scene
1. The room is full of people
2. Jesus is reclining on a couch, with his feet out behind him
3. People in that room begin to hear quiet sobbing, and they look to the back of the room and see a
woman
--but not just any woman
a. We don’t know what she has done, but she’s identified as a sinner
--Some think she might have been a prostitute
b. We don’t know for sure, but we do know that she’s somebody with a reputation
--She was definitely not somebody that would have been well-received in this Pharisee’s home
4. But then this woman does something shocking
a. She breaks open a beautiful jar filled with perfume, kneels behind Jesus, anoints his feet, and then
wipes them off with her hair
b. She’s just broken two taboos of that day:
1). Women don’t let down their hair in public
2). Women don’t touch men in public
c. She’s even taken an incredible risk be even appearing in the Pharisee’s house, and now she’s
breaking all sorts of taboos and drawing attention to herself
B. How would you have felt if you were this woman?
--what would you have been thinking as everyone turned around and stared?
1. You’d probably feel fearful and anxious
2. You’d wonder whether you were about to get kicked out of the house or not
3. I probably would have been scared that somebody was going to get up and tell Jesus all the things that
I’d done
4. The host, in fact, was thinking pretty negative thoughts about this woman
--He thought 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.”
a. But Jesus knew his thought and addressed his prideful and prejudiced attitude
b. Jesus confronted Simon’s self-righteousness and told a story that completely erased her shame
1). Jesus wanted to erase her shame, to put her at ease, to let this Pharisee know that he needed
forgiveness just like she did
2). When we come to Jesus, He wants to erase our shame
C. Jesus told a story about a man who loaned money to two people
1. He loaned one man 500 pieces of silver (denarii)
--A piece of silver was worth about one day’s wage, so this would amount to tens of thousands of
dollars
2. To the other man, he loaned fifty pieces of silver
--amount to a few thousand dollars
3. Neither of the two could repay what they owed
4. At this point, the man who was owed the money had several options:
a. He could have had both of them thrown into prison
--But he didn’t do that
b. Jesus said that he forgave them their debts
5. Then Jesus asks the clincher question: “Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
a. The answer’s obvious. The more you’re forgiven, the more you’re grateful
b. Simon the Pharisee responded: “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
1). Don’t you just love the “I suppose….” part?
2). Simon knew that Jesus had him
6. Jesus then does something beautiful
a. Right in front of all the guests, He turns to the woman and eases her shame
b. Jesus did that because he wanted to teach Simon that he wasn’t any different from this
1). Both needed forgiveness
2). Both owed a sin debt they could not repay
7. Simon refused to acknowledge his position and responsibilities:
a. He refused to wash Jesus’ feet
--It was common courtesy to wash the feet of guests at your house in Jesus’ day
1). Simon might have thought that he was to good to offer Jesus even common hospitality
2). But the woman washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair
b. He refused to give Jesus a kiss of greeting
1). It would be like refusing to shake someone’s hand today
2). But the woman kissed Jesus’ feet again and again
c. He refused to anoint Jesus with inexpensive olive oil
1). That was the custom when you received guests in your house in the 1st century
2). The woman anointed Jesus with a very costly perfume
D. What happened in this incident is so important that I want us to look at some principles based on what
Jesus did
1. Jesus can look past my past
a. There’s nothing you’ve done in your past that could make Jesus reject you
--We all have stuff in our past that we’re ashamed of but it doesn’t matter to Jesus
b. Jesus did not come to point His finer at you. He came to offer you His love and grace
--Jn. 3:17 – “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him.”
2. Jesus can look past my situation
a. This woman had nothing going for her
--She had a bad reputation and she was in a culture that looked down on her
b. She shouldn’t even have been at this party but Jesus looked past all of that
c. Sometimes we feel like we’re in an impossible situation
--Impossible relationships and impossible circumstances
d. but that doesn’t matter to Jesus
--He’s looking at what you can be through His power and love; not what you’ve been or what you
are
e. Jesus looked past this woman’s situation and He can look past yours
3. Jesus can look past my religion
a. Simon was religious to the extreme
1). He would have fit well in any synagogue
2). He would be like the guy I church who’s never missed a Sunday since his mother took home
from the hospital
b. This woman would be like one of my friends who showed up at church in a T-shirt with a pack of
cigarettes under one sleeve and a case of beer in the car.
c. Jesus look at both of them: a religious nut and somebody who had never darkened the door of a
church
1). Jesus looked at Simon, who was a professional religious person
--When people asked Simon what he did for a living, he could say, “I’m religious. I’m full-time.
I spend all my time being good.”
2). And Jesus looked at this woman, who was known as a sinner
--She couldn’t claim any goodness in her life
d. Religious or not, we still need the righteousness of Jesus Christ
--None of us can be forgiven without a relationship with Him (no matter how good we think we are)
II. JESUS CAN ELIMINATE YOUR GUILT
A, Jesus tells this woman in v. 48 – “Your sins are forgiven.”
1. What a shock for Simon the Pharisee
a. Only God can forgive sins
b. And he did not recognize Jesus as God
B. Then in v. 50, Jesus says something that takes on a whole new meaning when God forgives you: “Your
faith has saved you; go in peace.”
1. Everyone in the world needs to hear those four words:
--“Your sins are forgiven.”
2. Why?
a. We’ve all blown it
--There’s not a person in the world who doesn’t need to be forgiven
b. A lot of us spend our time paralyzed by guilt
--We feel overwhelmed because we’ve let God down, we’ve let others down, and we’ve let
ourselves down
c. None of us is perfect
--We don’t measure up to our own standards; never mind God’s standards
d. So, we all need forgiveness
C. The amazing thing is that God can look at you, no matter what you’ve done, and say, “It’s not a
problem. It’s been forgiven. Don’t even think about it. Go in peace.”
1. I did a bit of research into the words that Jesus used
--When he said, “Your sins are forgiven,” he used the perfect tense
2. That means that her forgiveness was an accomplished fact
a. It wasn’t conditional. It wasn’t in process. It had been done
b. It would be like saying, “Your debts have been cancelled. You owe nothing.”
c. That’s what it’s all about
1). It’s like your banker walking up to you when you can’t pay your mortgage and rather than
foreclosing, he writes off the debt.
2). It’s cancelled. You owe nothing!
D. Tony Sullivan tells about Kevin Yeager who was preaching in McConnesville, Ohio. A woman
began attending the church there and overtime accepted Christ and was baptized. During this same time
period, she was seeking treatment with a psychiatrist. One day, after she gave her life to the Lord, the
psychiatrist told her that he had seen a noticeable change in her. The doctor wanted to know what had
made the change in her life. She told him about how she had committed her life to Christ.
After finding out the church where she attended and the minister’s name, he gave Kevin a call. He
told Kevin, “I have three other people I want you to see. Now, I don’t really believe what you’re
preaching there at that church but I have found that there is one problem I can’t address in my practice.
That problem is guilt.”
--Why is that? Because only Jesus can eliminate guilt!
E. The Bible is very clear on this issue:
1. Jesus forgives you instantly
--Jesus is quick to forgive. He doesn’t sulk first or give you the silent treatment. He doesn’t let you
suffer a while. That’s the way that you and I forgive, but it’s not the way that Jesus forgives. Jesus
doesn’t delay. He doesn’t have to think about it. The moment you ask for forgiveness, He
answers.
2. Jesus forgives you completely
a. Hear that word again – completely
--That means every sin that you ever commit in your life – past, present, and future
b. Col. 2:13b-14 – “He forgave all our sins, having canceled the written cod, with its regulations,
that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he too it way, nailing it to the cross.”
1). When Jesus was nailed to the cross, your sins were nailed to the cross as well
2). It’s forgiven. It’s instantaneous and complete
c. I love these words from It Is Well With My Soul: “My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought;
my sins, not in part, but the whole; is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more – Praise the Lord,
praise the Lord, oh my soul.”
--Jesus doesn’t say, “I’ll forgive you this much, but you’re on your own for the rest.”
d. Ps. 103:12 – “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from
us…”
--Think for just a minute about a globe
1). You’re traveling north, up through Canada, and up to the Arctic Circle.
--At what point do you begin going? When you get to the North Pole.
2). Now think about going west through California, to Hawaii, on to Japan, then China, through
to Africa, across the Atlantic Ocean and then back to the United States.
--At what point do you begin going east? You don’t, do you? You can keep going west
forever. The same with going east.
3). That’s how complete God’s forgiveness is
**Jesus forgives you instantly, completely, and …
3. Jesus forgives you freely
a. You’ll never be able to earn it
b. You’ll never be able to deserve it
c. It’s a gift from God
1). You’ll never be able to get it any other way
--but you can get it for free- just for asking
2). Rom. 3:22 – “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who
believe.”
--The NLT translates it this way: “We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus
Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this way, no matter who we are or
what we have done.”
d. How can we receive this forgiveness?
1). It doesn’t matter how good or bad you’ve been
2). It only matters that you’ve trusted Christ for forgiveness
F. When you understand that God’s forgiveness is instant, complete, and free, there’s only one logical
response: Utter amazement and gratitude that God would love you that much
1. When I think about myself, knowing me as I do and knowing my past, I’m amazed that God would
love a forgive a heart like mine
2. If you come to Jesus Christ honestly and say, “I don’t want to stay the same anymore, “I want to be a
different person,” He’ll first erase your shame. Then second, He’ll eliminate your guilt.
**Jesus can also meet another one of your needs…
III. JESUS CAN ENABLE YOU TO CHANGE
A. If you’ve ever tried to change by yourself, you know it’s impossible
1. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried to be more loving, more patient, more gracious, …
--I’ve got a whole list of qualities that I want fixed, but some seem hopeless
2. It’s like what Paul wrote in Rom. 7:15-19 – “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I
do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As
it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in
me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”
a. We try and we try but it seems impossible to change
b. At times, you even feel like giving up
3. But what is impossible to me is possible with God
a. God can change you from the inside out
--That’s what Jesus does
b. Walking with Jesus is all about changed lives
--Jesus takes people who are in hopeless situations, people who are discouraged and weighed
down with guilt and shame, and he changes them
c. It’s not a just a bit of tinkering here and there
--Jesus changes the very core of who you are
4. Imagine that you have an old wreck for a car
a. The doors are falling off. The transmission is shot. The muffler is broken. It takes you ten
minutes to start it up
b. Imagine that I gave you a choice: we can fix up that old beater. We can replace the muffler. We
can fix the door. We can put in a new transmission. You’ll have a fixed-up old beater.
--but it will still be an old beater
c. Or, I can give you a brand new car
--never driven, fully-loaded, and brand-spanking new
5. Sometime we make the mistake of thinking that we have to get our act together before we come to
Jesus
1. But you don’t have to change before you come to Jesus
--The woman mentioned in this story didn’t
2. She believed and then Jesus changed her
3. She wasn’t forgiven because she changed. She changed because she was forgiven
--A cleaned up life comes after the forgiveness
4. 2 Cor. 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come.”
CLOSE: a. I don’t know who wrote this poem. I do know it’s beautiful and clearly describes the peace that
you find when you come to Christ for forgiveness:
Don’t struggle alone, in fear and distress
As if there’s no hope, just your ugliness.
Our Lord offers grace, jut judgment deserving,
He longs for your and your soon returning.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
It’s tough cutting through the darkness of sin
Striving for answers, His favor to win.
He stands with His arms outstretched and extended
To hold and restore you, just mercy intended.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
Why search other places your answers to fine
To fill the vast void and touch the divine.
Lay down your excuses and learn to confess
Your sins and your shame to His holiness.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
There’s healing and fellowship waiting for you
The moment you turn, His face to pursue.
You are the temple, His place for abiding,
The only thing missing is your mind deciding.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
Don’t wait for a feeling or mystical lar,
Just bow down in quietness, open your heart.
Be honest, and tell Him – no secret to keep
From there He restores you to fellowship sweet.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
His promise is certain, “I will forgive,”
Cleansing and freedom, it’s yours to live.
From no other source full joy will you find
He is your victory, your peace so sublime.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
To humble yourself before Him in prayer
Is your first step in unloading you care.
There look Him squarely, straight in the face
And tell Him all of the ways you disgrace.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
Refreshment and fullness He will restore
The moment you sincerely open the door
He is the life you thought you could win
By going your way and living in sin.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
There’s no one beyond the reach of His arm
To pick up and pardon, to rescue from har.
Return to the Master of your faith’s beginning
Give Him your all, and you’ll find yourself winning.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
What wonderful love eternity holds,
For those who are willing to be in the fold
The Savior is waiting, Oh come to Him now
At His nail-scarred feet, In humility bow.
THERE’S FORGIVENESS
B. You have a choice to make this morning:
1. Do you choose to come to Christ for forgiveness?
2. Or do you choose to avoid Him and trust in your own efforts?
