HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF JESUS!
LUKE 7:36—50 JULY 6, 2003
Luke 7:36-50
36 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. 37 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, 38 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.
39 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."
40 Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you."
"Tell me, teacher," he said.
41 "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 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?"
43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.
44 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. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven -- for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."
48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
50 Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
When was the last time that you thought about your feet? You probably have not thought about them too much, unless you’ve been doing lots of walking or if you’ve got a sore foot or if you’ve stubbed your toe. Sometimes we just take them for granted. We don’t think much about them at all. Yet, how important they are. They are one of the many means of transportation that you and I have in our life today. How very important feet were during the time of Jesus. The people during Jesus’ day were very limited to their means of transportation. They did not have cars or trucks, SUV’s or four-wheelers. They had feet! They were very important. Even during the time of the Old Testament, God’s people knew the importance feet. Feet were important because if people didn’t have feet and weren’t able to walk around, the message of salvation could not advance.
Listen to this from Isaiah. (It becomes the basis for our sermon today.) “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (ISAIAH 52:7) They recognized, not only the importance of the prophet, but also the importance of the feet that God had made for the prophet to bring God’s message. We wholeheartedly agree with the prophet Isaiah as we look at this account of Jesus and use as our theme
HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF JESUS!
I. Jesus’ feet bring good tidings
II. Jesus’ feet proclaim salvation
III. Jesus’ feet also provide peace
I. Jesus’ feet bring good tidings
In a very subtle way, Jesus brings good tidings by His acceptance of an invitation. This invitation seems strange to us since we know about the relationship of the Pharisees and Jesus. Jesus and the Pharisees did not get along. Jesus taught and preached about the gospel and God’s free grace. The Pharisees clung fast to God’s law. Our text tells us 36 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. Jesus brings good tidings by being at the Pharisee’s house. He doesn’t have to say much because by His actions, we see that Jesus’ feet are beautiful when Jesus walks and enters into that Pharisee’s house. Jesus could have easily said, ‘you and I don’t get along. We don’t agree. I’m not going to come.’ But Jesus does accept and so we see how beautiful are the feet of Jesus.
Our text continues, doesn’t it? Someone comes who is not an invited guest, someone who was not invited because of her living in sin. 37 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. She knew and had heard about this Jesus who had done many miracles. She knew and had heard about this Jesus who would bring good tidings to those who led a sinful life. We see how she is overcome with joy at the sight of the Savior. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. (She didn’t bring any water to wash His feet, but her tears were so many and so much that they washed His feet.) Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. She recognized that prophecy of Isaiah that said, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings.’ She saw how beautiful are the feet of Jesus.
We realize too, that here they reclined at the table to eat. They didn’t sit down as you and I do so the feet were more easily accessed. We see how the tears could wash His feet and how she wiped them with her hair. Yet, what is the reaction of the Pharisee who had invited Jesus to come into His house, the Pharisee who wanted this honor of Jesus sitting at His table? 39 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." We get a little flavoring of the Pharisees, don’t we? The Pharisees always thought themselves a little bit better than everyone else, especially those who were sinners. They didn’t consider that they had sinned that much or that they had committed great sins. But others—they were always to be considered worse sinners.
Yet, as we look at Scripture, what are we told? Sin is sin is sin! As we look at Scripture, what are we told? We are told that sin infects each and every one of us, whether we consider ourselves important or not, whether we consider ourselves better than someone else. Yet, from time to time, we are just like the Pharisees aren’t we? We may have thought, ‘Well, I’m not as bad as that person.’ Or, from time to time we might say, ‘we live west of town. We don’t live east of town at the state correctional facility…there’s a bad bunch of people!’ That is pharisaical because Scripture tells us, “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (ROMANS 3:22b, 23)
You and I and everyone who lives in this world falls short of God’s glory. We sin day in and day out but we turn to the example of Jesus and realize how beautiful are the feet of Jesus because He brings us good tidings. God doesn’t let us wallow in our sins. God doesn’t let us walk down the path with our ‘non-beautiful’ feet into the depths of hell itself. Rather, He reminds us that our sins are forgiven. From LAMENTATIONS 3:25, 26 we read, “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” We see that in our text, don’t we? The Lord is good to this woman who waited quietly for the salvation of the Lord. How beautiful are the feet of Jesus because the feet of Jesus bring good tidings. Even more than that
II. Jesus’ feet proclaim salvation
The Pharisee invites Jesus to his house and does it for an ulterior motive. He wants others to see that “Look here! I’ve had Jesus, the leader of that ‘new religion’, eat at my table.” That’s all he’s concerned about. He’s so concerned about it that he doesn’t even show Jesus, his invited guest, the common hospitality of the day. Jesus is not going to let him forget that. In fact, Jesus is going to teach him with a parable so easily understood, that this Pharisee is not going to mistake it’s meaning.
40 Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. Jesus goes on: 41 "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. So, one owed lots of money, ten times the amount of the other. He cancelled the debt because they couldn’t pay him back. Then the question Jesus asked, “Now which of them will love him more?" Easy answer! Even you and I would know that. 43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." If you look at his answer, you would see that he’s still not willing to say the one who had the bigger debt canceled loved more. The Pharisee said, ‘I suppose.’ He says, ‘Well, if that’s the correct answer, then I suppose that would be right.’ Again, he didn’t want to agree with Jesus because they were opposed theologically. They did not teach and believe the same things. Jesus was only there as ‘window dressing’ at this dinner.
"You have judged correctly," Jesus said. He could have said, ‘You have supposed right’ but Jesus didn’t. He now puts the Pharisee in a place of judgement. He judged correctly when before he had judged incorrectly, didn’t he, saying, “Well, this Jesus as a prophet let this sinful woman touch him. He can’t be all that he’s cracked up to be.” Jesus goes on: 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?” We picture Jesus reclining at the table, the woman behind him, Simon somewhere else. He looks at the woman and speaks to Simon. He looks at the woman so that Simon would get the full point of his message…that here is the woman that is going to understand salvation.
"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.” It was common courtesy to provide water to wash off their dusty feet. Simon did not do it but the woman did with her tears. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Again, all common practices of the day; you greet your guests with a kiss, provide oil for their hair to anoint them. Simon didn’t do any of those things, but this woman did; she anointed His feet and even kissed them. So Jesus said, 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven -- for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." Simon hears these words, he sees Jesus looking at the woman and he can take the meaning of these words for what Jesus meant them to be. Simon loved little; he was forgiven little. After all, he didn’t sin much, did he? He only sinned a little, if at all. That was the philosophy of the Pharisee.
Sadly, today we wouldn’t call it the philosophy of the Pharisee; we would call it the philosophy of the world. We know how the world all around us tries to dismiss sin. Some sins have turned into sicknesses and that makes them better because then they can be healed by medicine. Sin is still sin no matter if people call it a sickness. Many have dismissed some sins by saying, ‘Well everyone is doing it.’ True, in our society there are many sins that everybody does. There is no feeling of guilt or shame or remorse because many different sins are no longer looked at as sin. We know people living together without the benefit of marriage. We lie a little bit on our taxes or whatever the case may be. We drive above the speed limit because everyone else is driving faster too. All these sins are often winked at and forgotten about.
What does the Lord tell us? He says be careful when we fall into those traps! If we would ever completely fall into the same trap the world does = ‘Well, we don’t even want to hear about sin.’ Woe to us! In Titus, Paul wrote these words. “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” (TITUS 1:16). This describes the Pharisee exactly. They claim to know God but by their actions they do just the opposite.
The world around us claims that they want to get to heaven but they live their lives as if there is heaven here on earth and nothing for the future. At times, we may fall into that same category. The philosophy in scripture is the Pharisees, but today it is the philosophy of the world. This philosophy is to be successful and happy in this life and content—so content that we are not concerned about heaven, which is far greater. Then you and I are like the sinful world. When you and I realize that our mountain of sins stands between God, and us then we appreciate God’s proclamation of salvation. He forgives our many sins—and they are many!
Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. He wasn’t born into the Israelite nation. When he came to see him (at VBS we studied this), a short man climbed a tree. He was a tax collector and therefore wealthy because he took extra money for himself from the people. Then he came to Jesus, just to see Him. Jesus went to Zacchaeus’ house and had dinner with him. Zacchaeus said, ‘I want to live my faith. I will give back those that I cheated four times the amount. I will give my possessions to the poor.’ He not only claimed to know God but his actions reflected that. “Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.’” (LUKE 19:9, 10). You and I are like Zacchaeus. We don’t belong to the house of Israel, we weren’t born into the Jewish nation, but today, salvation has come to this house—to the house of the Gentiles, to this house of worship because you and I are now children of Abraham. Jesus came to seek and to save us.
How beautiful are the feet of Jesus who brings good tidings, who proclaims salvation and finally who also provides peace!
III. Jesus’ feet also provides peace
We know what’s going to happen next in our text. Jesus is sitting in the Pharisee’s house. Who else is there? We know the sinful woman comes. She’s not invited. The Pharisee’s friends are also there. There are probably not too many other Jewish people except for those who believe like the Pharisees. We know what’s going to happen. Jesus forgives this lady her sins. The other guests begin to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ They are like the Pharisee who is saying, ‘He can’t be a prophet. He doesn’t even know anything about this sinful woman.’ Then when Jesus forgives her sins, he thinks, ‘Who does he think he is?’ You can imagine this sinful woman thinking, ‘Well, are my sins forgiven? Or not?’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The people complained. She heard them murmuring. She knew what they were thinking because she heard what they were saying. At the end of our text, 50 Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." He told her, ‘Do not listen to those Pharisees. Don’t listen to those who think they are better than you. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ He provided peace for a sin-troubled soul.
The Lord provides us with the same peace today. As we listen to the news and we hear all around us: usually at the top of the hour the newscast is about Iraq or Israel or Liberia or any other place of war and fighting. There is no peace but the Lord goes beyond that doesn’t He? He doesn’t talk about an earthly peace. He talks about a peace for ourselves, peace inside of us. We come today, at the beginning of the month, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper where the Lord reminds us of His peace which you and I have because of the forgiveness of sins…not because we sought Him out but because He sought us out. We have peace, which comes to us knowing that time and again the Lord forgives us. Listen to those familiar words from the book of Acts that says, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (ACTS 3:19). These hot days that we’ve had, we’ve known the times of refreshing that we receive by just drinking water. The Lord reminds us that He’s the water of life, the water of life for our souls. Jesus is the water of life for eternity for each and every one of us. The fact is that we were brought into the kingdom by the water of life, through baptism, through the washing of water with the Word.
The gospel of John describes that peace for us, a peace which only our Savior could give to us; a peace which puts us right with God even though we don’t deserve it; a peace which covers up our sins. Jesus came to the disciples in the upper room as He comes to us today and says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (JOHN 14:27). In a world that likes to fill people with fear, you and I are not afraid. In a world, which seems like it’s constantly at war with one another, you and I have peace; peace which the world cannot give us and a comfort, not to be afraid again. The world cannot and does not give us that.
We go back to what Isaiah says and say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of Jesus!’ We think of the many miles that He walked and yet never left His country. How beautiful are the feet of Jesus because they brought good tidings to those who needed to hear them. How beautiful are the feet of Jesus because He went from town to town and synagogue to synagogue to proclaim salvation. How beautiful are the feet of Jesus because they provided peace for sin-sick souls. Now -- Jesus doesn’t walk the earth anymore physically, but you and I do. He reminds us then as Isaiah said, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ You and I walk in the footsteps of Jesus. You and I know the good example that He left.
From 1 PETER 2:21 we read, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” We are the ones to bring good tidings. We are the ones to proclaim salvation and we are the ones to provide peace so that each day of our life there would be rejoicing in heaven. Each day around us, may the world of humanity say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who brought me good news, who proclaimed salvation and provided peace.’ Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
