REMEMBER YOU WERE IN DEBT (LUKE 7:36-50)

 

REMEMBER YOU WERE IN DEBT

BIBLE PASSAGE: LUKE 7:36-50

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

Lesson taken from: dunstablebaptistchurchsermon

 MARCH 20, 2022

MEMORY VERSE

  Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little..

LUKE 7:47

 

INTRODUCTION:

I don’t know if you know the feeling of in debt? Let me start by saying that we had been in situations where we had no choice but to borrow money to pay for an emergency (another debt which was already due). It is extremely difficult. Why I said that? Because not only you’re dealing with that emergency, you're also dealing with the anxiety of having to pay for that new debt with a high-interest  or personal loan because there is no cash to take care of it. It also brought on a lot of anxiety and frustration when we had no salary anymore and we were strapped with debt! I hope my co-workers before won’t get mad upon hearing this; they don’t want me to open up about our debt. Honestly, it was traumatic; I know they would understand. There was a point where I easily got nervous when someone is calling my name at our gate; I foresaw that would be an employee from a barangay where I needed to settle issues. There were so many things I can’t do before: I didn’t to go to the Mall, someone might recognize me, I didn’t want to answer calls, I easily put them in my block list. I was afraid riding in a jeep, some parents would ask me for things I couldn’t answer. I don’t want weekdays to come; I just want Saturday and Sunday because weekdays were the schedules of payment for money lender. I became anxious, worry and paranoid. Until one time, God spoke to me through prayer, while praying, suddenly thoughts came to my mind. “Why not face the problems, don’t run away?” Then that’s the time ideas came to my mind and asked some people including my siblings to help us. I need a very firm budgeting and be faithful in my giving in the church.  SO YOU SEE, BE IN DEBT IS HARD.

How about our sin-debt, is it hard? Is it hard that because of that debt, you’ll go to hell? Let’s answer these questions by the lessons points prepared.

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  THERE WAS AN UNPAYABLE DEBT (LUKE 7:42)

And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

 

Jesus was invited by Simon the Pharisee to come to his house and a woman entered to the house uninvited when she knew that Jesus was there and we know the story we’ve read and what she did to Jesus. I imagine how she washed Jesus feet at the table because in verse 38 says, “And stood at his feet behind him…” So I searched a little and this picture possibly the posture of Jesus and his companions (show the picture). In verse 39 says, “Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.”

 

Simon just spoke to himself, but Jesus heard his heart, and He said in verse 40, “Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. ⁴¹ There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.⁴² And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? The Lord Jesus Christ point out that both have debt. Sometimes people see other sins clearly than their sins. Like the Pharisee, some people think they are more respectable; they think “I’ve never murdered, I’ve never stole something, and I’ve never cheated my spouse.” But whether we are respectable or shameless, WE ARE SINNERS. The Lord wants to say to Simon, “You’re a sinner (debtor) too, you’re just like her.” The amount of debt is not important whether your debt is 500 pence or fifty; all that matters is you both cannot pay. You cannot adequately pay your debt.  Let’s recite Romans 3:23, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of GOD.”  

 

Have you imagined that you were in debt? Remember everyone is in debt and take note WE HAVE NOTHING TO PAY! WE HAVE A SIN DEBT AND NOTHING TO PAY. No matter how old you are; you’re 5 years old, 16 years old, 40 years old, 70 years old, it TOOK THE SAME GRACE, IT TOOK THE SAME BLOOD to save you. Imagine we are saved from hell. God delivered, saved and changed you. Bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

 

2.  REMEMBER THE LORD CANCELED YOUR DEBT (LUKE 7:42)

And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

 

Where can we find forgiveness in our sins? Sins and forgiveness are a picture of…

In verse 48 says, “And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.” In the next verses say, “And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”

 

Jesus in the story and his interaction with the woman compares our sin with being in debt to a money lender and the debt is so great and we are unable to pay it for ourselves. For sure, most people would be kept up at night if you had a large debt that you cannot pay to a money lender. You keep on thinking how you you’re going to pay that debt. Like the feeling I’ve shared a while ago, every knock on the door would cause your stomach to churn and leap inside you because you’ll be worried that the money lender has finally sent the debt collector around to solve the issue but this money lender isn’t evil money lender. The money lender is gracious and rather than sending the debt collectors around, he sees that neither can afford to pay the debt and out of love, he cancels the debt. All the fears and anxieties are canceled along with the money; the debtor is able to live in peace.

 

Have you found forgiveness for your sins in Jesus Christ? Simon the Pharisee could not conceive that the prophet, a man sent from God would accept this sinful woman but Simon didn’t see that Jesus was more than a prophet, He is the saving God who doesn’t back at a distance to hurry to get involved but He’s the One who comes into the world who take on Himself humanity and who goes through all the difficulties and all the trials of life. He doesn’t go to the holy group of the Pharisees who are trying to keep themselves separate from the sinners and in fact he comes close to desperate sinners who know that their sin was so great that they cannot shake them off by themselves. Jesus doesn’t send them away.   We cannot adequately pay the price of our sins of ourselves but Jesus who had no debt of His own has come to pay the debt that we owe. At the cross, Jesus paid that debt with His own blood securing the payment for the forgiveness of the sins of all who would believe on Him. There at the cross, His final words were called out loudly with every breath in His dying body, “IT IS FINISHED” in other words, “IT IS PAID” I can go to bed at night, lay my sweet head down and start sleeping peacefully because I am going to hell no more. AMEN! WE are saved by the grace of GOD!

 

3.  MORE SINS FORGIVEN MEANS MORE LOVE SHOWS TO THE PAYER (LUKE 7:42- 47)

And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? ⁴³ Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

 

What was the cause of this woman’s strange actions? The answer comes to us from Simon himself.  Jesus asked Simon, “Which of the two debtors will love him more? The one who cancelled his debt with 500 pence or fifty? He answered in an obvious question. He answered, “I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most.” Out of his own mouth, comes the answer and in the next verses, Jesus says,

“And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman?  I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.”

Jesus still speaks to Simon; He made a comparison. In the first century, it is customary to wash the feet of the guest with water; Simon didn’t do that. It was customary to give a welcome kiss to the honored guest; Simon didn’t honor his guest with a kiss. It was customary to refresh a guest by pouring oil on their head; Simon gave him no oil. It was customary to give a welcome kiss to the honored guest; Simon gave Him a meal but that’s all He gave Him. Simon the Pharisee, gave Jesus the minimum but this embarrassing woman who dares came in and crash the party, the notorious sinner. What does she give Jesus? The woman washed Jesus’s feet not with water but with her own grateful tears flowing from a forgiven heart. The woman kissed his feet but Simon didn’t want to kiss his face but the woman couldn’t stop kissing feet, the feet which Simon wouldn’t wash. There was no oil offered but the woman brought not just simple oil but a fragrant oil and anointing Jesus with this fragrance. It would come a great cost to herself. Luke 7:47 says, Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.  In Tagalog,

Kaya nga sinasabi ko sa inyo, Ipinatatawad ang kaniyang maraming kasalanan; sapagka't siya ay umibig ng malaki: datapuwa't sa pinatatawad ng kaunti, ay kakaunti ang pagibig.

 

Do you love Jesus the most? What does comparison reveal? Simon’s minimum revealed he hadn’t really experienced the forgiveness of his sins, but this notorious sinner revealed that her sins had been taken far, far away and not just her sins, her many sins. If you’ve received forgiveness of your sins, ask yourselves, “IS THAT OBVIOUS BECAUSE OTHER SEE YOU LOVE JESUS CHRIST?”

 

 

CONCLUSION:

If you remember that you were in debt? What do you feel? Do you stay on your feet and do nothing? Are you grateful and do things to please the payer? If you remember you were in debt, would you also forgive others? To put your feet on the ground, always remember you were a debtor.