As pride and self-sufficiency continue to permeate our culture and even the Church, this week’s sermon in our series The Gospel of Luke, Part II: A Journey through Galilee, presents two contrasting responses to Jesus’s offer of forgiveness. Like the sinful woman weeping at savior’s feet, we are to humbly confess our utter depravity and desperation and place our faith in Jesus Christ.

Newley’s Main Points

• People hear Jesus’s message of forgiveness because He seeks them.

• Humble people receive His message of forgiveness by faith.

• Forgiveness generates love, and love responds with action.

Key Takeaways

• Our God is a seeking God. It’s the nature of God to be a seeker of lost men and women. If He weren’t a seeking God, we would be a doomed to an eternity in hell apart from Him.

• We must break our holy huddle and set out to seek and save the lost like Jesus did.

• In this passage, Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman respond entirely different to Jesus’s free offer of forgiveness. She’s completely overwhelmed by the physical closeness of the terrible sins of her past and her personal savior who forgives them.

• Her response to Jesus is extravagant. She sacrifices her possessions, time, and dignity to honor and worship him. She is poor in spirit, broken over her sins and turns to Jesus as her savior.

• Simon the Pharisee shows no reverence or hospitality towards Jesus. Instead, He scoffs at Jesus’s offer because he turns a blind eye to his own sins and is more concerned about the sins of others.

• When you can’t see your own sin, you’ve probably found it— pride.

• There are two kinds of sins in this passage— sins of commission and sins of omission. The reality is that Simon, the woman, and all of sinful humanity are great debtors in need of forgiveness.

• Our debt to God requires a death penalty, but Jesus was willingly executed in our place.

• Simon the Pharisee got it all wrong. He had a high view of himself and therefore had a small view of Jesus, a small need, and an apathetic response to his Savior.

• Our loving actions should be generated from a heart of gratitude for our great forgiveness.

• Our brokenness becomes more obvious to us the closer we get to Jesus. Let Christ’s holiness shine on your brokenness.

• We can’t out-sin the grace of Jesus Christ.

Discussion Questions/Application

Personal application:

• As Newley suggested, spend time to specifically pray for God to help you understand the true depth of your sinfulness and to help you see His holy character.

• Confess to God any ways that your heart is currently filled with pride rather than gratitude towards God and generosity towards others. Dwell upon and delight in the grace of Romans 6:23.

Discuss with your community group:

• How are you doing at relating to others who are far from Christ, being interruptible, and seeking to save the lost with the hope of the Gospel? Encourage each other with Christ’s humble, compassionate, and purposeful example.

• Has your group given each other the license to point out blind spots or potential sin in each other’s lives? How can you grow in admonishing each other with truth and love?

Passages Referenced

Luke 7:36-50; Luke 19:10; Matthew 9:13; Ezekiel 34:16; Luke 4:43; Luke 15:20, Romans 6:23; Hebrews 11:6.

Worship Set List

Lamb of God, Come Thou Fount (Above All Else), What He’s Done, Mercy