Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. The text for the sermon is the Gospel, which was read earlier.
Whenever you deal with a Pharisee, you have to be on your toes. They are ruthless and are only concerned about keeping the Law according to their own standards. No one else is able to keep it as perfectly as they can and they will be the first ones to tell you that. Our Lord had His fair share of run-ins with the Pharisees and they never turned out the way that the Pharisees had intended it to turn out. Today’s Gospel account from St. Luke shows once again the type of people the Pharisees were and where their intentions lie.
Everything begins rather innocently in our text. Jesus receives an invitation to a meal. It seems that Jesus did not turn down many invitations to a meal. He went to the wedding at Cana. He accepted the invitation of the tax collector Levi to attend the banquet in his home. At that banquet, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law found fault with Jesus for eating with tax collectors and sinners. This was the complaint against Jesus voiced by many of the people of His generation. What makes this one unusual is that the invitation comes from a Pharisee. If you are receiving an invitation from a Pharisee, all sorts of red flags should be going up.
It does not surprise us that Jesus was willing to have dinner at the house of Simon the Pharisee. Rather, one is more surprised that Simon would extend such an invitation. There is the likelihood that it was not out of love for Jesus or with the desire to learn from Him. Rather, he may have wanted to add to that list of items for which Jesus might be criticized. The unsocial reception that Jesus received from Simon indicates that he felt no deep affection for Jesus.
Instead of giving us more of a glimpse at Simon’s real reason for inviting Jesus, Luke tells us that a “woman of the city,” after hearing that Jesus was going to be at Simon’s house, decides to crash the party. Rather than immediately throw out this woman, Simon uses this to his advantage. Don’t forget, Simon is a Pharisee and trapping Jesus in word or deed is at the top of the list.
Luke identifies her for who she is, a sinner. If Jesus were smart, He would have insisted that Simon kick her out of his house right away for her lifestyle. Instead, Jesus does nothing except sit there. As far as Simon is concerned, that’s strike one against Jesus. She proceeds to cry and wash the feet of Jesus with her tears and anoint them with expensive oil. Simon knows that Jesus will surely act now, perhaps in rage because a sinner touches Jesus. Instead of going off in a violent rage, Jesus wants to tell Simon something. This is the second strike against Jesus. One more and He’s out.
Knowing what Simon was thinking, Jesus tells him a story of two men who owed money, one five hundred denarii and the other fifty denarii. Both men shared the same problem: they couldn’t afford to pay off their debts. While the amounts might not sound so bad, you have to know what a denarii represented. This was the equivalent to a day’s wage. So for the man who owed 500 denarii, this was about a year and half’s salary and the man who owed 50 denarii owed nearly two month’s salary. Do any of you guys have an extra year and a half’s salary laying around collecting dust? Yeah, me either.
Fortunately for these men, they weren’t dealing with the modern day Las Vegas loan shark who demanded their debt be paid or else. The moneylender was a compassionate man and forgave both men their debts with no questions asked. Jesus asks Simon a simple question: “Now which of them will love him more?” This was a no-brainer. Obviously the man who owed the larger debt. Simon caught the point of the parable, but missed its application to his own life.
Jesus now addresses the sinful woman in the room. Up until now, Jesus makes no acknowledgment of her. He tells Simon of the loving acts that this sinful woman did to Him while highlighting the fact that Simon has failed to show any act of love toward Jesus. By her love she demonstrated the abundance of the forgiveness that she had received.
Jesus is beginning to grow even more unpopular with Simon and the other guests, presumably other Pharisees. So to drive home the point to Simon and the other gathered guests, Jesus tells them, that even though her sins are many, she has been forgiven much. Here it comes. This is going to be the nail in Jesus’ coffin. He says to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” There it is, strike three! Jesus is out! Those gathered begin to argue amongst themselves, saying, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” Jesus isn’t anyone except a rebel rouser. Only the priest has the authority to forgive and Jesus isn’t a priest. But Jesus isn’t done yet. He adds insult to injury for the Pharisees. He tells the woman, who is a sinner, lest we forget, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” That’s strike four. Jesus was already out but he’s not ready to leave just yet.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has granted forgiveness to all persons, not some as the Pharisees thought. Jesus granted forgiveness to the rich and the poor, the young and the old, those who have sinned a little and those who have sinned a lot. Our sins are many, just as are the sins of the woman at Simon’s house.
Jesus left His throne and took on our humanity because, even though we are sinners, He still loves us and extends to us His forgiveness. He knows that if He were to do nothing, we would all suffer the condemnation required by God’s justice. Because He loves us, He took all of our sin onto Himself. He took the punishment of God’s justice onto Himself as He suffered and died for us on the cross. With His suffering and death, He took away all of our sins. This is the Gospel for all sinners. This is the Gospel for the sinful woman and this is the Gospel for you and for me. It is the message of a forgiveness that far exceeds and surpasses anything we could ever imagine.It is the message of a loving Father who His one and Son to die so that you would have life and have it abundantly.
The message of Jesus is most important: “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” It is not our faith in ourselves that saves us. It is not our faith in our works that saves us. It is solely our faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us: namely His saving act on the cross for the forgiveness of sins.
You sins have been forgiven. The act of forgiveness has already been declared in heaven and applies to you now. The free gift of forgiveness is there. You receive it by faith that has been granted to you. Christ’s word of absolution makes you sure of that. This has already been done and given to you. You may now go in peace, knowing that your sins do not separate you from God.No greater words can be spoken than knowing that our sins have been forgiven, and because of that, you have I have peace with God forever. In the name of Jesus, amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through faith in Christ Jesus, amen.