October 16, 2011
Scripture:
Scripture:
Turn back to Exodus 21; it is remarkable to think of this portion, and to realize that it follows the giving of the Ten Commandments. The essence of this law, according to the Lord, is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” (Luke 10:27).
A man couldn’t do it; it wasn’t in him. But here, we have a Hebrew servant, or slave. Of course, we think of Philippians 2, where we are told that the Lord “but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” (v. 7). He so clearly says that He loves His master, God; His wife, the Church (as we saw in Ephesians 5:25); and His children, each Christian individually (Galatians 2:20). Oh, what love, in its amazing display to either the One who sent Him, or the ones to whom He is sent, either collectively or individually. That love has been displayed at Calvary. We are here this morning to remember that work so precious. What love we see in Him; how well it calls a response from our hearts!
Hymn 345 - Jesus loves the little children
Prayer
Genesis 45
Last time, we saw how Joseph made himself known to his brothers. We have been looking at this chapter from the evangelical standpoint, in which Joseph is a picture of Jesus, calling us to come to Him to be saved. Joseph told his brothers to come near to him. Jesus tells people who have offended him to come near and accept the salvation that He offers.
Joseph had just told his brothers to come near and then he tells them to go. Go where? He wanted them to go and get their families and their father, and bring them to Egypt. After we have been saved, we are told to go and tell the good news of salvation to everyone. There is nothing we can do to be saved, but after we are, we have a service to do: to tell everyone.
Before we get to my main point, I would like to point out that in this type, Pharaoh is a picture God. In the parable of the Good Shepherd, when the shepherd found his lost lamb, there was rejoicing in heaven. Similarly, Pharaoh was happy when he heard that Joseph had found his brothers.
Joseph’s family was given the land of Goshen to live in. The meaning of Goshen is drawing near. It is so nice to know that in the world (Egypt), where so much is going wrong, there is a place where we can draw near to the Lord Jesus. We come to the Lord Jesus at first to get saved, but after that, we can come to draw near to Him for communion.
The main thing that I want look at today is the gifts that Joseph gave his brothers. First, he gave them wagons. Today, that would be like giving someone a vehicle, but some of us are old enough to remember the time when the garbage truck was a wagon pulled by horses. Secondly, he gave them provisions, probably corn or something like that. Then, lastly, he gave them another set of clothes. These things typify several gifts that the Lord has given us. Firstly, He had given us His Spirit, to guide us in life. Then, He has given us His word, the Bible, as our provision, our spiritual nourishment. Finally, He has clothed us with the character of God (see Colossians 3). So, being near to the Lord Jesus gives us power to live the Christian life.
Luke 7:41-50
It’s amazing that this woman, uninvited and with a bad reputation, would go into this pharisees’ house. The Pharisees represented the law, and the law condemned her. She was crying and, it seems, oblivious to everyone there but Jesus. She must have heard His teachings before. The sinful heart of man usually wants to hide from God, but she didn’t. Our Lord saw her faith, and she got to see Him dispense grace. He didn’t give her the law, even though they were in a Pharisee’s house.
This brings us to the parable. The Lord didn’t attack the woman, but rather Simon the Pharisee. Both needed the Lord; Simon didn’t recognize this, but the woman went with tears to the One Who could help her. Both of the debtors in the parable were forgiven, and both Simon the Pharisee and the woman could be forgiven as well. Simon’s problem was that he was too proud. He thought that he was fine. When you preach the gospel, you find folks who say, “I’m not so bad.” They don’t realize that they were born with a sin nature.
It’s interesting that the Bible even tells us what was going on in Simon’s mind. The Lord certainly knew. He knows what is in our hearts, too. He has looked at all hearts and made a general verdict: “The heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jesus turned to Simon and said, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” Simon said, “Master, say on.” Jesus then told him the story of the two debtors. Both were in debt, but one owed much more than the other. Furthermore, they were both bankrupt. It didn’t matter how big their debt was, neither could pay theirs back. When the lender saw this, he set them free. They didn’t have to pay anything. God’s forgiveness is free, too, but it was obtained at a high price. Someone had to pay.
We also read that the lender forgave them both frankly. There was no question about it. Finally, his forgiveness was full. He didn’t just pay part of the debt; he canceled the whole thing. God’s forgiveness is also frank and full. There should be a reaction to this forgiveness. Those forgiven debtors should show affection for the one who forgave. Both received free, full, and frank forgiveness, but Jesus implies that their reactions won’t be the same; one will love more than the other. He asked Simon, “Which will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one he forgave more.” Jesus said, “You’re right.”
Jesus turned back to the woman, but He continued talking to Simon. He told him, “When I came in, you didn’t wash my feet; but this woman has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t give me a kiss, but this woman has kissed my feet. You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.” These were all common courtesies that Simon had ignored. In John 12 we see Mary anointing Jesus’ feet and wiping them with her hair. A woman’s hair is her glory. These women were laying their glory at the Lord’s feet. It showed their submission to Him.
The Lord was the center of this drama, Simon watched as a critic, and the woman was devoted to the Lord. Simon didn’t think he needed anything from the Lord, while the woman realized that the Lord was everything that she needed. Now the Lord didn’t go into Simon’s history, but from his behaviour in this one situation He pointed out three ways that Simon had fallen short. He told Simon - in the hearing of the woman - that her sins were forgiven because she loved much. He then told the woman herself, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” Of course this stirred up the guests who said, “Who is this that forgiveth sins also?”, but the Lord went on and told her, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” He had seen her faith, and respected it.
This woman showed repentance. She had looked inside herself and realised that she was a sinner, and so she reached out in faith to the Lord. The concept of repentance often offends people because they don’t like to be told that they’re sinners. They consider it hate language. Maybe the Bible and preaching the Gospel will one day be outlawed on these grounds. The story is told of a tribe in Africa that was reached by white men. These men traded their manufactured trinkets with the people, and one thing that they traded was a mirror. Now the wife of the chief of this tribe thought that she was beautiful, and liked to be told so; even though she really wasn’t. One day she looked with horror at her reflection in the mirror that the traders had brought. The result was that soon mirrors were outlawed in that village; and no one was allowed to own one. Once that happened, the chief’s wife felt better. It might make men feel better to get rid of the Bible, but it doesn’t change anything.
We never hear of any response from Simon. The Lord dispensed grace to this woman, and told her to go in a peace that she had never known before. The children of Israel probably never knew this peace either, because they had to offer a sacrifice for every sin that they committed. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do we value it enough?
The Lord forgave all this woman’s sins. It wasn’t her tears, her kisses, or her ointment that earned this; but rather the faith that God had given her. Salvation is a heart matter, and so is our service. This passage is such a beautiful example.
Hymn 338 - I love my Saviour
Prayer