Pharisee or Prostitute?

I think I'm more like a prostitute.

Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea. Read Luke 7:36-50:

36Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37When 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, 38and 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.

39When 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."

40Jesus 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. 42Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

43Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled."

"You have judged correctly," Jesus said.

44Then 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. 45You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

49The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"

50Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Today, at our fabulous church, we were taught about forgiveness. Here’s a little background on the story plus some notes I took from Brett’s sermon.

The Pharisees asked Jesus to their house. In the scripture before this, they saw John the Baptist as some crazy guy because he fasted. They thought that he had a demon. And then they saw Jesus as a drunk because He was friend to tax collectors (which were considered evil themselves) and sinners. For them to ask Jesus to join them at their table, they had to have some other plan in mind.

We see Jesus arrive at the Pharisees. During those times, they had no chairs, so they dined on the ground with a very low table, and laid back (“reclined”) to take part in eating. A woman comes in. This woman was known to be a sinner in her town, a prostitute. All her sins were known to everyone. She wanted to praise Jesus, and the only way she knew how was to wash his feet. She had little money, but she still used her most expensive perfume, her alabaster. She brought her best to Jesus.
You see here that God doesn’t play favorites. The Pharisees were disgusted that He would pay attention to this sinner, this prostitute. Jesus took her offering of her tears, her hair, her alabaster. And she was accepted. We are ALL accepted by God, as a human race, we are ALL equal.

As per Brett’s notes:

The person who is forgiven much, loves much.
The person who is forgiven little, loves little.

We need to come to terms with all our sins, and focus on the amount of forgiveness that the Lord of All pours out on us every second of every day. You may say that you don’t have a lot of sins, certainly in comparison to so-n-so. We are taught not to compare ourselves, since in essence we are ALL sinners.

Brett challenged us to explore the depth of our forgiveness. It says in Romans 6:1:

Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

In translation, shall we continue sinning to gain more and more forgiveness? The simple answer is no. We are called to turn from sin and turn to Him, and He will pour forgiveness and His unending grace on us forever.

So, do we want to be like the Pharisees, who thought they were sinless, who thought Jesus was a drunk, who were less forgiven? Or do we want to be like the prostitute who was completely forgiven of her sins, who brought her best to the table and who was blessed beyond measure?

The Pharisees believed that God needed THEM.
The prostitute believed that SHE needed Jesus.

The answer is up to you: Pharisee or Prostitute?

I think, for me in this circumstance and context, I choose prostitute.

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