Luke – Doors Wide Open!
“My people will know My name; therefore they will know on that day that I am He who speaks. Here I am!” 7 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 52:6-7, Berean Study Bible
Our feet are probably the least beautiful on our physical bodies, at least they are on mine. Feet become calloused from walking, standing and sometimes running. Although not from running for me. In fact, if I’m running by you, then you better run, too, because something terrible is after me!
After years of standing and walking all day long as a teacher, my feet have taken a new form. The bones have stretched and grown a bit deformed but I’m 
thankful for walking still. I am a fast walker, (which is annoying to some). I still walk about two miles a day. Feet are important to get us where we want to go. I’m grateful for my feet. Some have to use other forms to get around.
thankful for walking still. I am a fast walker, (which is annoying to some). I still walk about two miles a day. Feet are important to get us where we want to go. I’m grateful for my feet. Some have to use other forms to get around.But beautiful? Not until I read this story of forgiveness and pure, unconditional love.
Luke 7, New Living Translation
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting 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 what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
THINK ABOUT IT
It is easy to see that more sin that needs forgiving, more forgiveness is given by our Savior. Sin is sin. It doesn’t really matter how much sin, it matters if we have asked forgiveness of all our sins. Grateful are those with great sin to be forgiven. Grateful are those with sin at all to be forgiven.
NO ONE is beyond forgiveness from Jesus. No one.Those same feet that were lavished with expensive perfume, perfume saved for her own burial someday, was broken and spilled out on the feet that would be torn and scarred by being nail to a cross for ALL our sin. All sin for all people. Yours and mine. Let that sink in.
GOING DEEPER…
It was a custom for the host to provide servants to wash the feet of guests who entered their homes. This custom brought refreshment to tired feet. The feet were dirty from walking in sandals on dusty roads. It was also to honor their guests by serving them in this way. This Pharisee who we read were all about the rules of the day did not even honor Jesus with feet washing. How rude. Jesus came in and immediately they ate.
A woman who knew her sin was determined to come to the One and only who could forgive her. She risks coming into the home of a Pharisee. It is such a gutsy thing to do that she is not stopped, only ridiculed as she weeps uncontrollably. She does not care. She throws all caution to the wind. She comes from behind Jesus in humility. She quickly breaks open her life savings and pours out the contents from the once sealed alabaster jar on the beautiful feet who has brought good news! HOLY PAUSE…
What is the extent of our love?
Would we give up our life savings for forgiveness?
Guess what, today, because of Jesus’ work on the cross, the debt of sin is paid in full. We only need to give ourselves to him. ALL of us to all of Him. We need to humbly fall at his beautiful, nail-scared feet and ask for forgiveness. He will do it. He is waiting for us. He will wipe the slate clean. It is done. It is finished. He forgives when we ask with a sincere, repentant heart. Then, like no one else on earth can do, Jesus forgets the sin, never to remind us of it again!
Oh yes, how beautiful is the One who forgives completely because of His relentless, reckless love for us!
HOLY PAUSEHow beautiful are our feet? It depends on what we are carrying…
Are we carrying the Good News to others, pointing the way to Jesus who is Truth and gives Life?
Dear Heavenly Father, Savior and Lord,
How beautiful is this story of your forgiveness and love. How beautiful is the demonstration of the woman’s extreme love for you! I love you, Lord with all that is in me. I feel the woman’s heart for you. I know my sins are forgiven. I know your love for me. And I am grateful. These tears of gratitude are for you. Your were broken and spilled out for us. Oh, how you love us. I will meditate on your love all day long. How beautiful the story of forgiveness and love. Help me to love today like you love us. Unconditionally.
In Jesus Name, Amen
And I’m singing…
How beautiful the hands that served
the wine and the bread
and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful the feet that walked
the long dusty roads
and the hills to the cross.
How beautiful
how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
How beautiful the heart that bled
that took all my sin
and bore it instead.
How beautiful the tender eyes
that chose to forgive
and never despise.
How beautiful
how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
And as He laid down His life
we offer this sacrifice
that we will live just as he died:
willing to pay the price
willing to pay the price.
How beautiful the radiant Bride
who waits for her Groom
with His light in her eyes.
How beautiful when humble hearts give
the fruit of pure lives
so that others may live.
How beautiful
how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
How beautiful the feet that bring
the sound of good news
and the love of the King.
How beautiful the hands that serve
the wine and the bread
and the sons of the earth.
How beautiful
how beautiful
how beautiful is the body of Christ.
Confusion and doubt hits all of us at times. We might be doing what we think God wants but confused by the response of others so that puts us briefly in doubt mode. We wonder if we are doing what God wants. We wonder if we are doing things correctly or in the best way. We are confused by attitudes around us. We are confused when we get stuck in the prison of our doubt. So, we ask God.
21 At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. 22 Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” 23 And he added, “God blesses those who do not fall away because of me.”
It is not unusual for great spiritual leaders to have their days of doubt and uncertainty. Moses was ready to quit on one occasion (Num. 11:10–15), and so were Elijah (1 Kings 19) and Jeremiah (Jer. 20:7–9, 14–18), and even Paul knew the meaning of despair (2 Cor. 1:8–9). 
Jesus did not give the two men a lecture on theology or prophecy. Instead, He invited them to watch as He healed many people of many different afflictions. Certainly these were His credentials as the promised Messiah. He had not established a political kingdom, but the kingdom of God was there in power. 
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior
When I am down, and, oh, my soul, so weary
Nain was about twenty-five miles from Capernaum, a good day’s journey away, yet Jesus went there even though He was not requested to come. Since the Jews buried their dead the same day, it is likely that Jesus and His disciples arrived at the city gate late in the afternoon of the day the boy died. 
the same sense that we are, having been brought into existence by conception and birth. Since Jesus is eternal God, He has always existed. The title Son of God declares Christ’s divine nature and His relationship to the Father, to whom the Son has willingly subjected Himself from all eternity. All the Persons of the Godhead are equal and each has a specific place to fill and task to fulfill. 
“Some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away”…
Jesus was sent from God to seek and to save the lost who do not know God or have turned away from God in their thinking and behaving. John tells us what God fully intended to solidify this mission, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NLT) 
6 So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. 7 I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 8 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept. 36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
You may or may not have heard the expression “Give me a solid” from the 60’s, but what it refers to something real or tangible–solid (as opposed to lip service). It could even be such a thing as a solid handshake which held great meaning. Also around the time of the origin of this phrase, currency was still on the gold standard (as in solid gold and guaranteed 1:1), again, this request or favor is something tangible and that you could count on.
From “The Jacket”, first broadcast 2/6/91:
Building on a Solid Foundation
What is flowing from my heart, cascading into my behavior?
My hope is built on nothing less
We are judgy as we drive to work, church, outings or family gatherings. We know how to drive and all others do not, especially the ones who get in our way or cut us off. We tell them how to drive as if they are hearing us in our closed up car. Our mood on the way to work, school or anywhere is growing more sour by the minute…because of our judgyness. 
Jesus teaches us, “do not judge others”. He teaches that when we judge, we will be judged. I have learned that when we don’t judge, we experience a relief in our souls. Why? Because it is not our job to stand in judgement of others. We really do not want this job. An earthly judge must live with their decisions based on what is presented in evidence. The only, ultimate judge who can see and know all hearts and circumstances is Jesus Christ, our Lord. And how does HE judge? He forgives. We need to retrain our brains.
37 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
What do we teach by our words and body language? To be judgy or forgiving?
Jesus, Son of God, went away to pray. He didn’t want to be away from people He loved. He wanted to be WITH God, to hear from God, His Father. “He prayed to God all night.” What did Jesus ask God? Was it wisdom in choosing the Twelve to be apostles, those who could be His hands of healing so the ministry could be multiplied? Probably, because at daybreak that was the first task of the day.
12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
When the chosen Twelve came down the mountain with Jesus in the lead, they were met with other believers and disciples followers along with crowds of people begging to be healed. “Everyone tried to touch him…” That phrase hits my heart this morning. The world today wanders around seeking to be healed from all kinds of anxieties, brokenness, loneliness, mental issues and physical pain. But they are looking in all the wrong places. They have forgotten, or they never knew, that Jesus is alive, ready to heal broken spirits, is compassionate to save, and willing to love us relentlessly and completely. Who will tell them?
One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of grain, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grain. 2 But some Pharisees said, “Why are you breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
6 On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. 7 The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath.
–The Pharisees “watched Jesus closely”. Jesus knew their thoughts. Jesus also knew the Word. He WAS the Word. He knew how to teach from the Word in a way that would challenge the critics to rethink, exposing how they had manipulated the Law of God for selfish reasons.
“If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. 
I know I am going out on a limb here, so hang on for a few moments. People do not know what Biblical “fasting” really is. It is not just a matter of skipping a few meals for a day, it is stopping, bring life to a slow stop. It is leaving the normal routine to think only of God and what HE wants. It is leaving life’s everyday demands physically (meals), mentally (thinking), emotionally (feelings), and spiritually (faith) and putting all focus on God for a period of time.
I “paused” a couple of days ago to stop the normal to ask God what He thought about people and situations that were affecting my life. I didn’t stop doing the needed tasks for that day but I paused to pray throughout the day. I did skip regular meals to feel physical hunger that reminded me of my spiritual hunger for God’s wisdom. I paused from media to tune my ears and mind to hearing God more clearly. I paused to be still in my mind before God so that HIS will would dissolve my will. I finally stopped thinking altogether and just listened. With all distractions gone, focus on God became much easier. I cannot just grab a little of God, here and there, and be living a life of extreme faith. 
34 Jesus responded, “Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. 35 But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
What about the “garment”? Jesus did not come to patch up the old; He came to give the new. The Pharisees would admit that Judaism was not all it could be, and perhaps they hoped that Jesus would work with them in reviving the old religion. But Jesus showed the foolishness of this approach by contrasting two garments, an old one and a new one. If you take a patch from a new garment and sew it to an old garment, you ruin both of them. The new garment has a hole in it, and the old garment has a patch that does not match and that will tear away when the garment is washed. 
In Scripture, garments are sometimes used to picture character and conduct (Col. 3:8–17). Isaiah wrote about a “robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10; see also 2 Cor. 5:21), and he warned against our trusting our own good works for salvation. Many people have a “patchwork” religion of their own making, instead of trusting Christ for the robe of salvation that He gives by grace. 
Now, about those wineskins...If unfermented wine is put into brittle old wineskins, the gas will burst the skins, and both the skins and the wine will be lost. The new life of the Spirit could not be forced into the old wineskins of Judaism. Jesus was revealing that the ancient Jewish religion was getting old and would soon be replaced (see Heb. 8:13).
The restored to health people are those who know and follow Him. It seems the health of the scribes and Pharisees are at risk and could use a shot in the arm with spiritual medicine to realize Who Jesus is, as the Messiah. The Messiah, whom they have read about, written about and waited for is right before their blinded eyes. But they don’t see Him as God’s Son. They only see themselves.
It appears that those who think they are RIGHTeous and well, are in as much need of the Physician as those who know they are sick and need saving. Mm, if you think you are completely and perfectly well, then you probably won’t go to the Doctor, not even for check ups. 
Don’t let Jesus be your last resort but your first call! We could avoid many consequences of our sicknesses if we call on our Lord, first. Go to the Doctor!
