Timothy Keller Sermons Podcast by Gospel in Life - With the Powerless

Episode Date: November 27, 2023

In Luke 7, we see a personal encounter Jesus has with two people. They’re both seeking him, but he responds very differently to each of them.  We first see Simon, a member of the religious and cultural elite. He invites Jesus to dinner, which meant inviting someone into relationship. Then we see the women, who’s a sinner and prostitute. She approaches Jesus and anoints his feet with perfume and tears. They’re both serious seekers. But Jesus Christ rejects him and welcomes her. Why is there a difference?  We can see the difference in 3 waves: 1) in the beginning, we see they respond to Jesus in two different ways, 2) in the middle, we see these two responses derive from two different understandings of Jesus, and 3) at the end, we see that these two different understandings of Jesus result in two different responses from Jesus. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on January 26, 1997. Series: The Real Jesus Part 2; His Life. Scripture: Luke 7:36-50. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

Welcome to Gospel in Life. This month, we're looking at stories from the life of Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, we see how the events of Jesus' life, death and resurrection confounded the expectations of the people he encountered. Listen now to today's teaching from Tim Keller on the surprising life of Christ. The passage on which the teaching is based this morning is printed in your bulletin, and it's written there. It's out of the gospel of Luke. Chapter 7, verses 36 to 50, Luke 7.

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him. So he went to the Pharisees' house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisees' house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 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. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is that she is

a sinner. Jesus answered him, Simon, I have something to tell you. Always watch out when this, he says that, by the way. Simon, I have something to tell you. And like an idiot, he says, tell me, teacher. Two men owed money to a certain money lender. One owed him 500-dinnery and the other 50. 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? As Simon replied, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled. You have judged correctly, Jesus said, and 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. He did not give me a kiss, but this woman from the time I entered has not stopped kissing my feet. He did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven for she loved much, but he who has been forgiven little, loves little. And then Jesus said to her, your sins are forgiven. The other guests began to say among themselves, who is this? That who even forgives sins? And Jesus

said to the woman, your faith has saved you, go in peace. This is God's Word. Now we're building a biography of Jesus and you know between the events in the very beginning of his life and the events in the very end of his life, you mainly have a series of personal encounters. And what we have here is an encounter, not so much with just one person. I mean in my Bible, which has headings over various sections, in my particular version of the Bible, it's called, this one's called Jesus anointed by the sinful woman, but this is really not an encounter with just one person. We see in verse 40, he turns to Simon and in verse 48 to 50, he turns to the woman. This is really an encounter of Jesus

with two people, and they're brought into contrast with each other, and in a certain sense, you miss the point otherwise. Let me draw you the picture rather quickly. In fact, there's a couple of little things you have to work on your imagination with from history, or you don't get a good picture in your mind. First of all, we have Simon, who's a Pharisees, he's a member of the religious and cultural elite. And he's invited Jesus to a public banquet, or a major banquet, a formal banquet. And this is a couple of things you have to keep in mind

if you're gonna have a picture of what was really happening. First of all, no one's feet were under the table. Gotta remember that. At a banquet like this, everyone was on a couch, and everyone was laying on a couch up on one elbow, had toward the table where you were eating, feet stretched out away from the table and sandals off.

The second thing you have to know is that when you had a kind of formal banquet like this, there would have been a lot of people walking around, not just the servants waiting on the table, but actually people from the street, the public could come in to a banquet like this at a major home and watch and see what was being served and actually listen to the conversation.

That was all part of the way it was done in that culture. And that's the reason why, from what we can tell, when you read this, you have this situation in which clearly the woman seems to approach Jesus and something happens before she makes a move. She wasn't noticed at first. So you would be very possible for this woman to approach Jesus and not immediately catch a lot of attention until, see, she comes up, who is she? Unlike Simon, a member of the religious and cultural elite,

we're told she was, quote, literally, a woman of the city and a center. Notice the way that they have to translate it to make it a little more easy to understand. It says, when a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating, a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating. A sinful life in that town literally it says she was a woman of the city. What's a woman of the city? And she was a sinner. And every Greek scholar who knows something about how these

these idiomatic expressions came together says that this woman was a prostitute. That's what a woman of the city is. She might have even been a street walker. She approaches Jesus and she's about to do something. She wants to put perfume on his feet. It's actually literally the word would be a perfume deutement. Well, someone says, why? And if you understood something about that climate and that environment, to put perfume on feet would be a comfortable luxury because it would soften

the calloused feet. And of course it cleanses the dirty feet and it certainly sweetens the smelly feet. And it soothes the tired feet. And in those days of course you wore sandals, you didn't wear shoes. And this was a luxury and a comfort. And she wanted to do that. But if you look at the way it tells us the story, we're told that before she could do it, something happened to her. As she stood, she brought an alabastered draper fume, that means she wanted to do something. But before she had a chance to do what she wanted to do with the perfume, she found herself standing there.

And she found herself weeping. She got overwhelmed with emotion as she came up. She couldn't do what she was going to do. And then we're told she began to wet his feet, probably, that would be the first time that he would have noticed her there, because he felt her tears. He felt something soft falling. And he turns and probably left that point everybody turns. And instead of bolting away, she kneels down and she undoes her hair, because as we'll talk in a minute,

no woman would have walked out in public with her hair down. She undoes her hair and she wipes the feet dry with her hair and then kisses the feet and then puts on the perfume. Now, interesting, I noticed, why are we talking about this? Why is that important for us? How does that concern us today? I noticed, usually in an introduction, I have to explain why you need to know this. When I taught preaching used to say, well, you get a crowd together and you need to show them why what you have to say is relevant.

So in the very beginning of a message, you try to explain why you have something to say that they should listen to. But did you notice how quiet you all got? Just a story. It's a vivid story. It's an amazing story. The reason you want to hear the rest is because you want to hear the rest of the story. But there is a meaning to the story.

And there's a meaning to the story and there is a relevance to the story. It's because this is not a story just about the woman, but about Simon. The thing that is missed, we can see that the woman is interested in Christ and the woman wants to meet Christ and the woman is seeking Christ. We don't see how strong the text tells us that Simon the Pharisee wanted Christ. Because we're told in verse 36, one little word, which really should impress us. It says, one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to dinner. Simon was a Pharisee.

The Pharisees was a class of people that were utterly violently opposed to Jesus. And the only other Pharisee we know who came and had a personal interview with Jesus was Nicodemus. And how did he come? Do you remember? At night. Of course, it took incredible bravery for a member of the ruling class to come see Jesus. Simon welcomes him openly and invites him not just to come talk, but to suffer, to

a meal. And in those days, again, you have to get into the culture here, to invite someone to a meal meant you were inviting them into a meal. And in those days again, you have to get into the culture here, to invite someone to a meal meant you were inviting them into a relationship. Simon clearly was willing, so willing, and so interested in meeting Jesus and getting to know his teaching and to find out who he is, that he was braving. He was braving the scorn and the disdain and the opposition, maybe the persecution of his class, of his family, of his friends, of his peers. He was a serious seeker, and she was a serious seeker,

but we see at the end that Jesus Christ rebukes him, rejects him, and welcomes her. You see, we do not have here a contrast between a person who's interested in Christ and someone who's hostile. We don't have here a contrast between a person who is interested in Christ and someone who is hostile. We don't even have a contrast between a person who is interested in Christ and a person who is sort of indifferent. We have two people who are very interested in Christ and are coming to Him and want to

meet Him and are in His presence that are seeking Him. And He smacks one on the muzzle and sends them away and welcomes the other one. Shouldn't that be concerned to you? Isn't that relevant? I mean, I know in the 90s it's popular to say everybody has to find Jesus Christ in his or her own way, and Jesus says, oh, really? What is the difference? Why is there a difference?

And if you read the text, the different comes in three ways, waves, W-A-V-E-S. When, in the very beginning, we see that they respond to Jesus in two different ways. And in the middle, we see through the parable, Jesus explains that the two responses to Jesus derive from two different understandings of Jesus. And then at the very responses to Jesus derive from two different understandings of Jesus. And then at the very end, we see the two different

understandings of Jesus result in two different responses from Him. So you see, they respond differently to Him because they have different understandings of Him. And finally, as a result, they get two different responses from him. Now let's take a look at those in order. And that's the way we all understand the difference.

First of all, first of all, there's two different responses to him, and I can summarize them this way, and I can say it two different ways. First of all, Simon's approach is an intellectual one. It's a detached one. He's coming at Jesus with the head, but the woman comes with a whole life. He's coming impersonally and she's coming personally. Now you can see this and that Simon is thinking.

Notice for example, as soon as she touches Jesus, he is thinking. So he's very concerned about Jesus. He wants to know who he is. In verse 39, we see him say, when the Pharisee saw this, he said, if this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is, that she's a sinner.

Now, what's going on here? He's saying, well, no, wait, if this is a holy divine man, either he doesn't know who she is, which means he's not holy and divine, or he does, and he's letting her touch him, which means he's not pure. Therefore, one way or the other, see, he's thinking it out, and that's good, but that's all he's doing. And what she does when she comes is she immediately gets personal. Her whole self is involved. And you know, it's astonishing that Jesus turns to Simon. Can you imagine what he thought? And he says to Simon, Simon, she wept over me.

She hugged me. She kissed me. She anointed me with oil. And here's Simon sitting here and saying, you want me to weep over you, you want me to hug you, you want me to kiss you, you want me to do all that. And Jesus is saying, yeah, yeah. What he's after is he's after Simon's impersonal religion. And Simon is obviously doesn't expect it to be anything other.

Now if you're going to have trouble relating to this, unless I read you an interesting quote, I came upon this reading a Christian magazine. In the Christian magazine, the editors did I think a very good thing. They went out and found four bright young, they were in the 30s, four people, two couples, two married couples, who didn't believe in Christianity or had real problems with it. And they did an interview and they said, this is a Christian magazine, they said, tell us what your problems are with Christianity. That's very honest and very helpful, very

good idea. And what they say is the sort of thing that I think would be extremely typical in New York, certainly the majority view in New York, and probably therefore representing the view of many people here today. And this is what they said, I just have quotes from two of the four people. One person says,

the problem I have with Christianity is that Christians focus so much on Jesus rather than on the message or example he set. By focusing on Jesus I think it excludes other religions and other people from having a relationship with God and that really bothers me. I'm not sure about Jesus or what level he was, but we should learn from him. See, people can't separate Jesus the message, but Jesus' message from the messenger, but I do. That's the first quote. The second quote, almost the same, but another person.

And she says, the way I perceive Christianity right now is not centered on Christ, the person, but on God and the path that crites outlines for us how we should live. I have a lot of trouble with the interpretation that says, oh, if you don't worship Christ, you're not going to heaven. That's too exclusionary. When he says, I'm the way, the truth, the life,

I think he's talking about my way, the way I'm trying to show you and demonstrate to you. If you live the way he showed us, I think that's the way you can have a relationship with God. Now, listen, let's separate the message from the messenger they say. And this is so typical, and there's sympathetic with it. Many of you certainly are sympathetic.

In fact, many of you say that's what I think. Because they start in the 90s with a given. And the given is, we don't want to exclude anybody. We certainly want to exclude people that don't worship Christ or know about Christ. Therefore, what's really important is not the person of Christ, the messenger. What's really important is not to worship him, though you can if you want. The really vital, the really essential thing, the really irreplaceable thing, is that you live according to his way, according to his example, according to his loving approach. In other words, it doesn't matter what you believe about Christ.

What really matters is that you're a good person. And Jesus Christ right here says exactly the opposite, not a little bit different. He actually says, it doesn't matter what you're a good person. She's not a good person. It doesn't matter if you're a good person. What really matters is that you believe in me, love me, and have a personal, wildly passionate, profound encounter with me. The exact opposite.

Not the way these nice people and the way your average New Yorker says, it doesn't matter what you believe about Christ as long as you're a good person. He says it doesn't matter if you're a good person, but whether you have a wildly passionate personal relationship with me. Now you see, the motivation for separating the message from the messenger is so that we're open-minded, so we don't exclude, but you've excluded something, you've excluded the personal. If you say what's really important is thinking and doing certain things as opposed to loving passionately Jesus Christ, what you've really got, as you're saying, is the essence of religion is an impersonal one.

Religion is impersonal. When you say it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're good, what you really, what you've just created, is a religion without tears, a religion without tears, a religion without letting your hair down. And most of all, a religion without touching. Do you see what really creeps Simon out? She's touching him. You see that? If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him. I don't want a religion, Simon says, a touching. I want a discussion. I want an elevated discussion. I don't want to have to have this personal, passionate relationship with this one individual.

I want to know what is the noble way to live. He wants a detached, remote, impersonal religion, and she comes with a personal, passionate encounter with him. Now look, don't you see you're gonna exclude something. If you don't wanna exclude everybody else in the world, you're gonna exclude the personal. Christians, wrestle. We wrestle a great deal with what about the good person who's never heard.

But we know that if you decide to get rid of that problem, you will have a far more profound problem. A religion without tears, a religion without letting your hair down, a religion without a personal encounter, a detached religion. A Simon religion, is that what you want? That's what you have. It's one or the other. Simon comes intellectually. Simon comes in a detached way. Simon wants a discussion.

She wants a relationship. Second thing, the second response, which is so different, you see, they're both seeking, but the second thing is, she comes without conditions and he has all sorts of conditions. Now how do we know that? It's the little alabaster jar. What was this alabaster jar? We're told she came with an alabaster jar of perfume. That was a very specific thing.

Listen to this. An alabaster jar was a small flask of perfume. It had a very long skinny neck, and that neck made it almost impossible for it to actually be poured out. It was so narrow, but you could smell it. And it was small, and it was most women wore them around their necks. Now, they were very expensive. But they were an incredible accessory of fragrance and beauty because in that culture, the smell, the sight made a woman very attractive and very desirable. But if you ever wanted to pour it out, you had to break the neck. And then once you poured it out, it was useless.

Realize what she's doing. Do you see what she's doing? Yes, many women, especially women with some money, wore these. And occasionally I've found that sermons and commentaries point out the fact that what she was doing at this point was very expensive. And economically it would have been very expensive for probably a single socially marginalized woman, a prostitute, to do something which is probably the most precious thing she had in her life in Laida Jesus' feet, but she was not just making a financial sacrifice. What was she doing? This was the only power she had. What does a prostitute got in a world like that? What does a prostitute got now? Her only capital, her only power, her only leverage in life, was her desirability and her attractiveness. And she takes it off, and she breaks it,

and she pours it out. And what is she saying? She's saying, if you are who you say you are, that changes everything. I come to you without conditions. I give you everything I am. I give you everything I am, I give you everything I have. Take my love, which I pour at thy feet, its treasure store. Take myself, that I may be ever only all for

thee. Remember that? She lays it out and hears why, what she's saying is, if you are who you say you are, that changes everything. I will do nothing to displease you, I will live a holy different life. You tell me what to do. Thank you for listening to the Gospel and Life podcast. Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, and your gift to Gospel and Life will help more people, both here locally and in other parts of the world, discover the life-transforming power of Christ's love

and mercy. As you may remember, gospel and life is now part of Redeemer City to City. Redeemer City to City exists to multiply churches and Christian leaders committed to a shared vision of helping grow gospel movements in the great cities of the world. Gospel and life is excited to share with you that this year when you give, in addition to helping more people receive the teaching and resources of Gospel in Life, your gift will also be used to support the work of Redeemer City to City. Their mission is to grow Gospel movements in cities around the world by helping start and revitalize churches, coach pastors, and train local leaders.

This multiplies the spread of the gospel in cities where God is working to bring renewal. Helping grow gospel movements in global cities around the world was the type of opportunity Tim Keller believed would become a reality when gospel in life became part of Redeemer City to City, in which Tim co-founded. And if he were here today, he would be thrilled to share with you how your partnership with Gospel and Life could have eternal value, not just here in North America, but also for the people and cities in other parts of the world. We ask that you prayerfully consider how God may be calling you to respond tomorrow to

help Gospel and Life and Redeemer city to city spread the Gospel. And know that any gift you give to Gospel in life tomorrow helps shine the light of Christ's love into a world that needs it. Because as we continue to see over and over again, the gospel truly changes everything everywhere. Now, here's Dr. Keller with the rest of today's message. Now, this takes your breath away, but I want to propose to you for a second that it is utterly rational, is the only rational way to approach Christ.

When you first start seeking Jesus, when you first start saying, I'd like to find out more about you. I'd like to find out whether there's anything in Christianity for me. You can either go the slimes way or you can go the woman's way. You can say, well, I'd like to be interested in Jesus, this is the Simon way. I'd like to be interested in Jesus, but I don't want to change my position. I don't want to change my goals. If I come to Jesus, I would like to peace and power, but does that mean I'll have to change

this? Does that mean I'll have to change that? Does that mean I'll have to change that? Does that mean I'll have to give up that? I've got my opinions about that. I hope that doesn't mean I'm going to be this. You know, conservative people are afraid they're going to become liberals and liberal people are going to be afraid they're going to become conservatives, you know. And people who are in law school are afraid they're going to have to become missionaries.

And almost nobody going through the mission feels afraid to be a lawyer, but nevertheless, everybody comes and says, well now, I want my position. I would like help to get to my position. But the only rational way is to say, how in the world can I even be open to finding out whether this person is God, the absolute sovereign, unless I'm willing to say, I'm willing, if you are who you say you are, to let you be who you say you are. I mean, how can you say, before I find out if you are who you say you are, that you can't be who you say you are? Then you'll never find out who

he is. You can't possibly come and say, well, I would like you to be absolute God, you know, but not if, not if, not if. I mean, it's a little bit like a six-year-old boy saying, I want to grow up. I want to play in the NBA. I want to be six foot five, but I don't want to have to like girls. And you know, you laugh when a six-year-old boy says that because you know, a six-year-old boy sits there and says, thinks that being 26 is basically being 6 with a 6 foot 5 body. And we laugh and we know that a six year old can't even imagine what it's going to be

like to be grown up. When somebody sits there and says, before I find out who Jesus Christ is, I already know how my life has to go. Before I find out who Jesus Christ is, I already know how my life has to go. Before I find out who Jesus Christ is, I already know what I want. Jesus says, come back when you're serious. I mean, you have to. He does assignment.

Don't you see? But the woman he welcomes because she says, take my love. At thy feet I pour, you know, my treasure store. All right, now that's the two different responses. One of them comes, detached, the other one realizes this is not academic. One of them comes with conditions, one says, if you are who you say you are, everything goes. Do you understand the difference? who you say you are, everything goes. Do you understand the difference? Do you realize that there's a certain sense

of which those Simon's seeking, he's not. He's not open. He's not ready to see the reality of who Jesus is. Now, why are those two people responding to Jesus so differently, Jesus in a parable? That little tiny parable, beautiful little parable, completely bears the difference between the two people. Because the different actions toward Jesus

come from different understandings of Jesus. And he just, I'll just go through it very briefly because it's so brief. Look, he says, Simon, I have something to tell you. Tell me, two men owed money to the same person, a 1.0 500-dinnery, 1.0 50. Neither had the money to pay him back. He canceled the debts of both, which of them will love him more.

Now, the first thing he's trying to show Simon, and it's really profound, the first thing he's trying to show Simon, is Simon does not understand like the woman understands his need for a savior. And what's so brilliant about this is there's two people. They both owe money. And if they can't pay money, they're going to lose everything. Now in those days, you go into prison. Nowadays you might declare bankruptcy and lose your business.

But here's what's so brilliant about this. It doesn't matter how far in that you are, if you have nothing to pay. See? It doesn't matter how bad a life or how nice a life you have lived. Everybody owes and no one can pay. It doesn't really matter if you owe $10 million to your creditors or $10,000 to your creditors.

If you can't pay, they'll get you. You know, the illustration I like to use very often, if a spider comes in and a poison spider bites you in your sleep, so you never wake up, you die. Or if a lion comes in and mulls you and dismembers you and decapitates you and then you're dead. Which of those two people is more dead? You can ask what Jesus is trying to say, which is more dead? Well, one of them is pretty dead

and the other one is ugly dead, but you're both dead. Now, Simon is pretty dead. Simon is the person with a 50. And the woman is the person with a 500. You say, that's how Jesus is drawing this. Simon has led a nice life, a very moral life, a very respectable life, and the woman has led a very broken life and a very messed up life.

But what is he saying? He says, it doesn't matter, you're both lost. Simon religion says, I don't need a messenger. I don't need a savior. I need a message. I need a path. Show me what to do. I want your teaching, not you.

I want the message, not the messenger. I want an in-person relationship, not a personal, because I can save myself, I can do it, I can do it. And Jesus in this parable says, you have to see that whether you're religious or you're religious, you're lost, you need a savior. How could that be? Well, because the Bible says sin is much more than breaking the rules.

Sin is breaking the rule. What is the rule? You know there's a bottom line rule. Here's the bottom line rule, the Bible. There's a God and you're not him. Yet, some's the whole Bible up. Theology, ethics, everything. Yes, it does. It does. There's a God and you're not him. And what that means is religious people are trying to be their

own savior, trying to control their lives, trying to be their own God by saying, look, I can do it, I can do it, I can be good enough. And irreligious people and pagan people, we would say, you know, are trying to be their own God by flouting the rules, but they both are sinning, and they both are lost. And one is pretty dead and one is ugly dead, but they're both dead. And Jesus says, the trouble with Simon,

the reason he wants an impersonal God. See, when those nice people said, I think you have to separate the message from the messenger, there's a premise under that. And they seem to be unwilling to admit, make conscious the premise or defend it. And that premise is, I'm okay. I'm not that flawed.

I'm not that bad. Human beings are pretty good. Most of us, does the history of the world bear you out? You see, there's the premise. and Jesus goes after it and says, that's the reason for this Simon religion. You don't see your need, you don't see that you cannot pay, you don't see that you are as lost as the other person in a sense.

You don't see that it doesn't matter that she's ten times got more sin in her life in an external kind of way. You don't see that together, you're lost, and you're really no different when it comes right down to it. And then the other thing that he doesn't realize, the other reason that the woman does intuitively, and Simon doesn't, is the cost. Salvation here is seen as forgiveness of a debt. We all know this.

Forgiveness of a debt always means somebody pays. It just means the debtor doesn't pay. It means the creditor pays. Nobody ever forgives anyone. Forgiveness never happens without somebody getting hurt. Do you hear me? If you wrong me and I make you pay your hurt, and if you wrong me and I don't make you pay, then I hurt.

Somebody's gonna be hurt. Somebody's gonna pay it. $1,000 debt doesn't go into air, mid-air. Either the person who owes it pays it, or the person who deserves to get it, has to eat it, has to absorb it. And you see, Jesus is trying to say, the only way for anyone to know God is if I pay your debt.

Cost. Simon has no concept of that. And you see anyone who says, let's separate the message from the messenger in a Simon religion kind of way, shows that you don't have any real concept of the cost. See, I know that some of you, because every time I go through this, I hear from people, some of you have bristled when I said, if you don't come to God through Jesus Christ, then you may have an impersonal religion on a personal.

And I've had people say to me, I have a very personal religion. Even though I don't believe in Jesus, I have a personal relationship with God. I don't need Jesus. And all I can do is I have to come back and say this, what did it cost your God to have that personal relationship with you? What do you mean, you say? Well, let me ask you, where is the agony? Where is the thorns? Where is the nails?

Where is the blood? Well, you say I don't believe that it was necessary for God to go through all that in order to have a relationship with me. Right, that's the reason why. You're me. Right, that's the reason why. You're not weeping, that's the reason why you're not letting your hair down, that's the reason why you're not ripping everything off. The most precious things in your life, and laying all the power before Him.

That's the reason why your religion is far more like Simon's than it is like hers. That's the reason why he is not a personal reality in your life. Because of the cost, That's the reason why he is not a personal reality in your life. Because the cost, you don't see the cost, you don't know the cost. Get rid of the messenger, just have the message, there's no cost and there will not be any personal. Nothing personal. No weep, no tears, no transformation, no joy, no power that comes back, which we'll

see here in a second. So there we have it. Two different understandings. He doesn't see his need and he doesn't see the cost. And as a result, religion is academic and ethical now, last of all, finally. What happens here at the end? What happens at the end is because the two responses, reactions to to Christ and because of the two understandings. Simon gets something and the woman gets something. Well, Simon,

we can deal with him in 15 seconds. Simon gets exactly what he wants. He gets a seminar. Simon, I've got a case study for you. You know, here at Harvard Business School, case study seminar, right? I've got a case for you. You know, here at Harvard Business School, case study seminar, right? I got a case for you. He gets an academic experience. He gets a discussion, and he gets a dig, and he gets an insult, and he gets a cold shoulder, and he gets what he really gets is his back. He turns away.

And what does the woman get? Oh my goodness, it's almost too much. Look, first of all, I made a long list. I'll just do as much as I can until the clock tells me to stop. First of all, there is she gets an ability to love she didn't have before. When he says, she is forgiven because she loves much. Right away, people, if it wasn't for the second clause, that first clause would be very misleading because it looks like it's saying that the reason I've forgiven her is because she's so loving to me. That's not what it's saying.

So look at the second clause. What's the second clause say? He who forgives little loves little. See, what it's really saying is, your love is a response to how deeply forgiven you feel yourself to be. The reason she loves much is not because she's not forgiven because she loves much, it's the opposite. What he's saying is the reason she's got this ability to love now is because she sees that she's forgiven. This is a remarkable principle.

This is saying your ability to love people or love life, let me show you, to love people or love life, let me show you, to love people or love life is completely due to how deeply you see your sin and how deeply you see yourself to be forgiven. If you don't see yourself to be a terrible sinner and a completely forgiven sinner, you will not be able to love people or life like someone as she. So for, let me give you a quick example. What if somebody wrongs you? Okay? If you have too high of yourself, that is you don't see yourself as a terrible sinner, or if you have too low of yourself, which means you see yourself as a

sinner, but not forgiven, you won't be able to forgive. Because if you see how sinful you are, you'll be too humble to keep a grudge. And if you see how forgiven you are, you'll be too joyful to keep a grudge. And if you cannot forgive, he says right here, it's because you do not see yourself this moment as not only deeply sinful, but deeply forgiven.

If you see your debt as little, 50, 500,000 versus 500, 5000, the size of the debt you see your debt as little, 50, 500, verses 500, 5,000, the size of the debt you see that Jesus Christ has covered will determine how much you can forgive and love people. It's a rule. It's a principle. Isn't that amazing? Let me just, I'm talking about life too. If you're like Simon, if you believe I follow the rules and then God owes me and your house burns down, you're going to either be mad at God saying, I have follow the rules and he owes me, or you'll be mad at yourself because you'll say, I tried to follow the rules

and I guess I didn't make it. You won't be able to love life either way. When things go wrong to you, you'll either to be mad at Him or mad at yourself for both. But if you see how incredibly deep your sin was and how absolutely forgiven you are, you won't be either mad at Him because obviously you deserve a lot worse. But you won't be mad at yourself

because you'll know that you're completely forgiven He's not punishing you. Don't you see? He says, the greater you see your debt to be and the greater you see my forgiveness to be, the more you'll be able to love and she has it. She's got this ability to love. Look at this. She gets the ability to love. Here's another thing she gets. She gets the ability to...she gets an absolute and incredible satisfaction. Let me put it to you this way.

Did you read any of the reviews of Arthur Miller, the Crucible? You know, the Crucible was based on the idea that the sale on witch trials and all that religious fanaticism was really sexual repression. You know, the girls were all sexually sort of pent up and it, and this is very typical

since Freud, Arthur Miller, the Crucible. The idea of modern idea is that spirituality is really repressed sexuality. If you're religious, you're just sort of repressed sexually. But the Bible here says explicitly in Romans 7, explicitly in Ephesians 5, and so vividly here, that it's the other way around. Sexuality is really repressed spirituality. It's exactly the opposite. That what you're trying to get in sex is you're trying to find somebody that really loves you and really understands you.

And here's a woman when she poured out her perfume. She says, I finally found a web and looking for all my life. She didn't just get the ability to love, she got a love that filled her up. Do you see that? Spirituality is not repressed sexuality, sexuality is repressed spirituality. Doesn't that make sense? I tell you one more thing she gets, and just one, because the clock said bye. The one is this, she doesn't care what anybody thinks. You see, when everybody turns around, she lets her hair down. Do you know, well, you know, even today,

we know what that means. In those days, to let your hair down, if a woman let her hair down in public, the rabbi said that's grounds for divorce. Why was it a shame? Because it meant vulnerability. It meant openness. Even today, if you watch a movie and you see the woman take her hair down and shake it, we know what that means.

In fact, if there's a man there, that means let's make love. But you know what, if it's the end of the day, and she's kicking off her heels and she's home and she's letting her her down, it means I'm vulnerable, I'm open and it usually means some stranglers around the corner or something like that. You see, the point is letting your hair down means I surrender. That's what it meant in that culture. I'm not trying to say that that's what it means today. Okay. That's what it meant in that culture. I'm not trying to say that that's what it means today. Okay, that's what it meant in that culture.

And when she did it, when she did this outrageous action, at the very same moment that she was surrendering to Christ, she was showing an unbelievable amount of Hutzpah and courage because she did not run. She didn't care what anybody thought. Isn't this ironic? By giving up power, she got power. By surrendering to Jesus, she found that she never again

will ever have to surrender to anyone else. Power. Love. Assurance. Certainty, your faith has saved you. Past tense. Simon, religion, you never have a past. You never say, you hope you're being saved. You hurt your faith has saved you. And he

doesn't just say go in peace. He says go into peace. No translation translates it that way, because the poor reader would say, what? It doesn't say go in peace at the end. He says go into it. Your life will be an adventure of peace. The more you see your debt and the more you see my grace, the more you'll be able to love, the more you let down your hair, the more you open yourself to me, the more you will be able to face anything else in life, the more power you give to me, the more power you will have toward everything else and everyone else, go into peace. Dear friends, do you have Simon religion or do you have her religion? To those of you who know you have Simon religion, what do I say? I would say, follow her.

What does Jesus say to Simon? I say the same thing to you. Look at this woman. Isn't this the gospel? It's not the powerful. It's the marginal who show you how to become a Christian, always. And to those of us who say, I'm a believer, let me ask you a quick question.

Do you love like this woman? Do you have this kind of satisfactory relationship with Christ? But most of all, is there anybody in your life right now you're having trouble loving? Are you having trouble loving life? Let me ask you this. Are you having trouble loving life? Let me ask you this. Is there anything, are you having trouble loving life? It's in your power.

It is in your power. You have forgotten your debt. You have forgotten what he's done. I say that you need to sing from your heart right now, that hymn that I keep trying to say right and I keep forgetting, so I will turn to what I wrote and here it is, take my love, my Lord I pour at-dike feet its treasure store, take myself and I will be ever more only, all for thee, ever only, all for thee. It's in your power. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank You that the powerless are the powerful and the powerful is the

powerless. We thank You for the upside downness of the gospel. We thank You for the inside outness of the gospel. We pray that the hilarity of this might really come into our center and affect us, just as the understanding of who Jesus was affected this woman. We pray that now the understanding of the gospel would affect us. We pray that as we listen to the music, as we sing this last time, we pray that we'll have an experience of your forgiveness. We will say, Lord, I see what you've done. I see what it cost you.

I see what you're worth. And as we do that, we will be changed even as she was changed. Let these things happen to us through Jesus. We pray it for in His name, Amen. Thank you for joining us today. If you were encouraged by today's teaching, please rate and review it so more people can discover this podcast. This month's sermons were recorded in 1996 and 1997. The sermons and talks you hear on the Gospel and Life podcast were preached from 1989 to 2017, while Dr. Keller was senior pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

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