Daily Scripture: Luke 7:39 When the Parush who had invited him saw what was going on, he said to himself, “If this man were really a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what sort of woman she is, that she is a sinner.” 40 Yeshua answered, “Shim‘on, I have something to say to you.” “Say it, Rabbi,” he replied. 41 “A certain creditor had two debtors; the one owed ten times as much as the other. 42 When they were unable to pay him back, he canceled both their debts. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Shim‘on answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “Your judgment is right,” Yeshua said to him.
Reflection Questions:
Simon the Pharisee took it as a given that a good person would shun sinners, and that therefore Jesus didn’t know anything about this “sinner” at his feet. That was consistent with the kind of religious training Simon would have had. But he was mistaken—Jesus knew all about the woman’s heart, and about Simon’s. Jesus made that plain by telling a story about the gratitude and love in a person’s heart, rather than the person’s outward rectitude.
- We know Jesus is the “good guy” in the story. But if we’re honest, most of us “get” Simon’s reaction. “If Jesus knew about her,” he thought, “he couldn’t possibly accept having her anywhere near him.” Who are you more like: the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, or the Pharisee who thought he was much better than “her kind”? How does that affect your relationships with others and with God?
- Jesus saw in the woman a beloved child of God, cause for a party in heaven (cf. Luke 15). Simon saw only a “sinner,” a person who didn’t deserve even a little attention or respect, much less love. Jesus specifically directed his story to Simon, to challenge his attitude. Spend a few moments in silence and listen. Does Jesus have anything to say to you today (verse 40)?
Lord Jesus, deliver me from the inner Pharisee who haunts my heart. Remind me of how much I need your grace, and how much of it I receive every day. Amen.Insights from James Cochran
James Cochran serves as Director of Counseling Ministries at The Church of the Resurrection, helping to connect the Resurrection family and community with counseling resources and group programming.
We speak often about the Bible’s quality of being the “Living, Breathing Word of God,” and it is in texts like these where this quality comes through most fully for me. To be sure, today’s passage presents us with a kind of fundamental truth about the role of sin in our lives and how grace can deliver us from it, but in any particular reading we might be moved by the Spirit to identify with a less obvious (and more challenging) aspect of the story.
If you’re like me, you find yourself constantly moving between two perspectives: “Christian” and “sinner.” Note, these are ways of understanding ourselves, not realities about our character. During some chapters of my life, it is easy for me to see my failures. I readily, sometimes too readily, sew on a scarlet letter when I recognize that I have again fallen short. During other chapters, when things seem to be going my way or when I feel I have some moral superiority, I somehow get a sense that I am above sin.
The cold reality is that we, like Simon, are no different than the “sinner.” Our capacity to see ourselves as sinners might change with our circumstances, but when we lose sight of our own brokenness, we usually forget one of the most important roles we have as followers of Christ: loving our neighbors. But it gets worse! Not only can we forget to love our neighbors, we can forget that we have neighbors. We are alone in our perceptual righteousness, blind not only to our own need for grace but to the needs of others who need grace just the same.
In the endless cycle between recognizing our sin while falling to our knees before Jesus and standing in judgement of others while insisting on our own superiority, this story serves as a vehicle to grace. When I see that I am like Simon, I am called to remember that I, too, am the sinner. And if I can allow myself to embrace my imperfection, I know grace waits for me at Christ’s feet.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
We speak often about the Bible’s quality of being the “Living, Breathing Word of God,” and it is in texts like these where this quality comes through most fully for me. To be sure, today’s passage presents us with a kind of fundamental truth about the role of sin in our lives and how grace can deliver us from it, but in any particular reading we might be moved by the Spirit to identify with a less obvious (and more challenging) aspect of the story.
If you’re like me, you find yourself constantly moving between two perspectives: “Christian” and “sinner.” Note, these are ways of understanding ourselves, not realities about our character. During some chapters of my life, it is easy for me to see my failures. I readily, sometimes too readily, sew on a scarlet letter when I recognize that I have again fallen short. During other chapters, when things seem to be going my way or when I feel I have some moral superiority, I somehow get a sense that I am above sin.
The cold reality is that we, like Simon, are no different than the “sinner.” Our capacity to see ourselves as sinners might change with our circumstances, but when we lose sight of our own brokenness, we usually forget one of the most important roles we have as followers of Christ: loving our neighbors. But it gets worse! Not only can we forget to love our neighbors, we can forget that we have neighbors. We are alone in our perceptual righteousness, blind not only to our own need for grace but to the needs of others who need grace just the same.
In the endless cycle between recognizing our sin while falling to our knees before Jesus and standing in judgement of others while insisting on our own superiority, this story serves as a vehicle to grace. When I see that I am like Simon, I am called to remember that I, too, am the sinner. And if I can allow myself to embrace my imperfection, I know grace waits for me at Christ’s feet.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
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