Sabbath 3-5-16 Seventh Day BAPTIST of Daytona Beach Pastor Wray sermon “Don’t Be Surprised” Luke 7;36-50, Matt 7;22-23

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Sabbath 3-5-16 Seventh Day BAPTIST of Daytona Beach Pastor Wray sermon “Don’t Be Surprised” Luke 7;36-50, Matt 7;22-23

 

 

There was a car that had been in a wreck and its windows were broken out. The car was still racing down the highway when the police stopped it. It was when the police officer stopped the female driver that she realized that something had happened. She later admitted that she had been drinking booze. She had wrecked her car, rolled it over and was still too drunk to realize that she had been in a car accident.

Many people will be surprised when they stand before the Judgment Seat of God and find out that they are lost. These are the same people that Jesus will say that He never knew and then tell them to depart from Him. God tells us what to do and how to behave. If we don’t do it and instead ignore God, we will be lost and be standing at the Judgment Seat. God has written in His Word what He expects of us.

In our text, the Pharisees invited Jesus to dinner. While He was at the table, a sinful woman came in with a bottle of perfume. She stood next to Jesus and began to cry so much that His feet got wet. She dried His feet with her hair, kissed them and anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume. The Pharisees talked bad about the woman and said if Jesus was a prophet, He would know she was a sinner that touched His feet.

1. Jesus was invited to Simon, the Pharisee’s house.

   The Pharisees saw Jesus as a threat and thought He was an enemy. They resented Jesus’s teaching. The Pharisees all had fancy houses with courtyards that had flowers and greenery. They had a custom that anybody could come to listen in your courtyard if a Rabbi was visiting. The visiting guest’s feet would be washed by a servant with a basin of water. Then the host would greet the guest with a kiss to welcome him. Finally the visiting guest’s head would be anointed with oil. All these things went together to say you are welcome in my home.

   But when Jesus came to visit, the Pharisee Simon didn’t wash Jesus’ feet, didn’t kiss Him or anoint His head. Why did Simon the Pharisee invite Jesus and not do the common courteous things to welcome Him? Maybe Simon just wanted Jesus in his house so he could say he had a celebrity over for dinner. Many think Simon the Pharisee just wanted to expose Jesus as a fraud. He treated Jesus badly because he really hated Him and did not welcome Jesus into his house.

2. As they were eating, an unusual thing happened.

   A prostitute came to their courtyard. She went to Jesus’ feet and washed them with her tears. She dried them with her hair, kissed them and anointed His feet with oil. Simon the Pharisee was watching this with anger because the things he had failed to do on purpose, the woman did herself. Sooo…Simon says Jesus wasn’t a prophet because He let a prostitute touch His feet. Jesus knew more about this woman than Simon did. Jesus saw her as a repentant sinner. She was expressing her love to Jesus. Verse 37 says she had lived a sinful life in that city but she had heard that Jesus was there. She was a sinner and Simon the Pharisee forgot that he used to be a sinner too.

   It is easy for us to forget that we needed forgiveness for our sins too. We are all debtors to Christ. We all owe Him for the forgiveness that He gave us through His blood that was shed on Calvary. We owe a debt to our God who has redeemed us and forgiven us. We all owe a debt to God that we can never repay back to God. He paid a price for our sins when His son died for us. The woman was showing an expression of gratitude and love to Jesus by washing, drying and anointing His feet. We can never pay God back but we can worship, serve and seek to reach others for Christ.

3. Forgiveness is available to everyone.

   All of us are spiritually in debt to God. Since we cannot repay it, we stand in need of forgiveness for the debt we owe to God. Forgiveness cost something. It costs the death on the cross and the resurrection. Jesus was willing to pay the price, the cost of forgiveness of our sins. Jesus paid the price. The price has been paid. Forgiveness is available to all of us. We should all be grateful and thankful to God and Jesus for the price being paid for the forgiveness of our sins. God invites all of us to come and get the forgiveness He has for us. Will you come?

 

AMEN