Reflective Bible Study

As we continue reading Luke’s gospel, we come to an event that may be in the other gospels, or it may not be. From the details, it is difficult to be certain. This is because one of the big details of this event is found in the other three gospels, but that is about the only thing this event shares. The events in Matthew, Mark, and John almost certainly describe the same event, but Luke’s version takes a completely different direction.

The event in question is when a woman comes and anoints Jesus’ feet shortly before His crucifixion. While the other three gospels place this event near the cross, Luke places a very similar sounding event early on in Jesus’ ministry and Luke draws our attention onto a very different set of details from this event which prompts me to lean towards the event in Luke being a different event than the other gospels.

Let’s read what happened and discover what we can learn from Luke’s gospel describing Jesus’ feet being anointed. Our passage is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 7, and we will read from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 36, Luke tells us:

³⁶ When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. ³⁷ A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. ³⁸ 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.

³⁹ When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

⁴⁰ Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

⁴¹ “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

⁴³ Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

⁴⁴ 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. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

One of the big reasons I see this event being a separate event from the event Matthew, Mark, and John include is that nothing is even hinted at in Jesus’ response about the woman’s gift preparing Him for burial. Instead, the big context of Luke’s version of this event teaches on forgiveness, and on how we shouldn’t judge others. It also isn’t a great stretch in my mind to think that two different women would want to honor Jesus by pouring perfume on Him.

It also isn’t a stretch in my mind to think that Jesus visited Simon’s home more than one time either.

However, it also isn’t difficult for me to think that this was one event and Luke’s gospel focused on one theme Jesus wanted us to learn from this event, while the other gospel writers use this event to foreshadow Jesus’ death, burial, and to give context for Judas deciding to be the betrayer.

With that said, what can we learn from Luke’s unique details?

As I shared earlier, Luke’s version of this event focuses on how it is unwise for us to judge or look down on others, and to emphasize forgiveness. While we don’t know what prompted Simon the Pharisee to invite Jesus to his home, if this is the same Simon of the other gospels, Matthew and Mark describe him as a leper, implying that Jesus cured him of his leprosy.

If this is the same Simon, then it is interesting to see his response when the woman comes and pours the perfume on Jesus’ feet. The first thing we see Simon do is subtly judge or look down on Jesus because of His interaction with this woman. Verse 39 describes this by saying Simon said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

While more people than just Simon appeared to look down on this gift, or a gift very similar to this as the other gospel writers emphasize, Simon’s first angle of judging is judging Jesus by association.

Judging someone by association is something that is common in this culture, and while there is a level of validity in thinking this way, Luke’s event and Jesus’ counter message to Simon push back saying that context matters.

The reason we know context matters is God associates with sinners. Jesus came into this world because God loves sinners. While God doesn’t love the sin, that isn’t going to stop Him from seeking out the sinner.

While it is a cliché to say that God loves the sinner but He hates the sin, this is true. However, too often, this phrase is shared is a less than ideal way, or it is heard in a judgmental way. It is entirely possible for someone to hear this phrase and think “God will only love me when I don’t sin”.

This phrase, while easy to remember and share, has another angle where it is challenging. In our world today, though perhaps this has been the case for every generation and culture in history, a person’s actions gets connected with their identity. We see this most clearly and innocently when we identify a person with their occupation, such as a builder, a baker, or an engineer. It also extends to physical attributes, like having long or short hair, black or blonde hair, being shorter or tall, being of a certain ethnicity, and other things like this. A person’s occupation and physical characteristics becomes a part of what identifies them.

However, it doesn’t stop there, if a person has a tendency to act a certain way, then that could become a part of their identity as well. This could include lying, stealing, bullying, or a host of other negative characteristics. If a person has accepted and views their identity as being simply what they do, then if what they do is considered a sin, saying that God loves sinners but hates the sin sounds just as judgmental as simply saying God hates those who sin. For many people, the identity of a sinner is wrapped up in the sin because our identities are most often focused on what we do.

What is rarely ever acknowledged in this phrase, while it really should be is that God sees everyone as being infinitely more than what they do or how they look. God looks past your physical characteristics, past your genes, and past your actions and He sees a child of God – or in other words, someone He helped create! God loves you regardless of who you are or what you do. However, God is never going to join you in doing something He would consider sinful.

The other angle of this theme of forgiveness is that forgiveness erases the debt imbalance. If two people have sins in their lives, and one person’s sins are significantly greater in number than the other person’s sins, forgiveness erases the debt and they are on the exact same level. Both debts have been erased. When God forgives our sin, it is like He erases our debt and all that is left is the essence of who we are that He loves. What we do, what we look like, or what is in our genes is not relevant when discussing God’s love.

Jesus assured this woman that her sins were forgiven, because He wanted her to move forward in a new life with God without the cloud of her past weighing her down. Jesus wants us to know that God has forgiven us because He wants us to begin or continue our lives with Him without the sins of our past weighing us down. God wants to redeem us out of sin and into new, eternal lives, with Him!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, continue seeking God first and know that when God looks at you, He loves who He sees you as over who you see yourself as. God sees you through His eyes, and His eyes look past the sin you have wrapped up into your identity. God’s desire is to help you see you as He sees you, and to fall in love with Him like He has fallen in love with you!

Discover who God really is by praying and studying the Bible for yourself. In the pages of the Bible, discover just how much God loves you. Don’t let anyone get between you and God because God wants a personal relationship with you, and for a relationship to be personal, it doesn’t include other people.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or let yourself be tricked into leaving where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

As we continue moving forward on our journey through prophecies Jesus fulfilled, we come to an Old Testament reference that could be said to point towards Jesus, though, in the context that it is used, I could easily understand how some might doubt this.

However, when we stop to look more closely at the words that were written, it is clear that even if these words were not used in the New Testament event we will look at as prophecy being fulfilled, the context these words are used only allows for these words to be prophecy for the event itself to make sense.

With that as our foundation, let’s take a look at the Psalm that is quoted, and discover why this message is important for us to pay attention to. Our passage is found in Psalm 91, and we will read it using the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 1, the psalmist writes:

¹ He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
³ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

⁵ You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
⁶ Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
⁷ A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
⁸ You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
⁹ For you have made the Lord, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
¹⁰ No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

¹¹ For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
¹² They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
¹³ You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.

¹⁴ “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵ “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶ “With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”

On the surface, nothing in this psalm speaks directly to these words being prophetic. At its core, this psalm is simply a prayer of encouragement, and a reminder, that God is with those who take refuge in Him.

However, one set of lines in this psalm show up in Jesus’ life in a powerful way, and when looking at when they show up, and specifically who speaks them, we are left with the impression that this psalm was at least applicable to Jesus and His mission to this earth.

With this in mind, let’s transition to the New Testament and discover what we can learn from the event where these words show up. This event is found in Luke, chapter 4, and we will begin reading in verse 1:

¹ Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness ² for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. ³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” ⁴ And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

⁵ And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” ⁸ Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

⁹ And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; ¹⁰ for it is written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’

¹¹ and,

‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

¹³ When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

In the temptations that Satan, also known as the devil, brought against Jesus, we find Satan quoting this particular psalm. The minor detail that Satan used scripture to tempt Jesus is fascinating in itself. However, the promise of protection that this psalm speaks to is amazing.

It is interesting that in essence, Satan turns this psalm into being prophetic, or at least he tries to. While I don’t know the extent of how we should understand the protection that is promised or looked for in this psalm, Jesus’ life and ministry were not 100% protected.

I have no idea whether Jesus ever got sick like we might consider sickness, or whether Jesus ever stubbed His toe, which could be thought of in a similar way as striking your foot against a stone.

However, when we look at Jesus’ life and ministry, there was clearly some level of protection present, but the protection we see present in Jesus’ life was protection on a macro scale, or in other words, protection from the highest level.

We can know and understand that Jesus’ life was protected during the time leading up to the cross, because there are plenty of examples of people trying to take Jesus’ life before crucifixion weekend. Three examples of this that jump to mind are Herod killing the babies, which we looked at earlier this year; those in the Nazareth synagogue early in Jesus’ ministry when they try to run Him off a cliff; and Satan himself when the flash storm hits the boat while Jesus slept in the back. While I am sure there are other examples, these three are clear indicators that Jesus was being protected.

However, the protection that we see present in Jesus’ life did not extend to protection that didn’t allow for problems to be present. On more occasions than we have time to go over, Jesus’ pushed back against His mission and ministry being undermined by the popular culture’s opinion of what Jesus’ ministry should have been. If Jesus was being protected from problems, then we wouldn’t have the passage we just read, because Jesus wouldn’t have gone in to the wilderness, wouldn’t have fasted for 40 days, wouldn’t have became hungry, and definitely wouldn’t have been tempted by Satan.

We can learn from this psalm and how it applies to Jesus’ life that in our own lives, we won’t be spared from experiencing problems, trials, or challenges. However, when we lean on Jesus and focus on giving Him glory while moving forward through life, we can know that with whatever happens in our lives on this earth, our eternity has been assured, and our eternal life has been protected.

Jesus ultimately faced the cross so that we wouldn’t have to face it ourselves. Jesus gave up His own life at the time the crucifixion was prophesied. Jesus didn’t shy away from challenges. Let’s learn from Jesus’ example and press forward in life, living it for God!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Choose to lean on Him for strength, purpose, and guidance to live in this life, and trust in Jesus that when we live for God, our future, eternal lives are protected. When we ally with Jesus, Jesus has promised us that our eternal lives are protected.

Also, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn and grow closer to God. Through the pages of the Bible, discover a God who loves you more than you can imagine and a God who will not stop trying to redeem you while you still have breath!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!