TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little. Luke 7:47
Read: Luke 7:44-50
Listen: Luke 7
TODAY’S MESSAGE
An uninvited woman enters the home of a Pharisee where Jesus is a dinner guest. She approaches Jesus, bows down, washes his feet with tears of gratitude, wipes them clean with her hair, anoints them with perfume and kisses his feet. This woman is known for living a sinful life and what she does offends the Pharisee. But Jesus knows the Pharisee’s heart and tells a story of two men who have debts with a moneylender they can’t pay back. One a huge debt, the other much smaller. Since neither can pay, the lender forgives both debts. Jesus asks the Pharisee who will love the moneylender the most. He replies, “The one who had the bigger debt,” which is correct.
There is something important to notice here. The custom is to wash a guest’s feet before reclining at the table. The Pharisee doesn’t respect Jesus and, against custom, hadn’t had Jesus’s dirty feet washed before dinner. Though she has lived a sinful life, the woman believes Jesus is the Messiah who forgives her sins. She blesses Jesus, with heartbreaking tenderness, with all she has by completing the custom neglected by his host. Jesus removes the woman’s guilt and shame by telling her in front of the Pharisee, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
This women’s complete trust in Jesus is a visual reversal of what was broken by Adam and Eve when they didn’t trust God. The woman’s story is our story when we accept what Jesus did for us on the cross and experience God’s forgiveness and peace. It’s why we celebrate Christmas.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Take some time to thank God for pursuing you by becoming human and dying for your sins. If you’d like to discuss more what it means to experience God’s forgiveness and peace, email us at btw@adabible.org. If you have done this already, take steps this holiday season to bless God by honoring him with your complete trust.
NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN
Join us this year as we read through the New Testament.
Today’s reading is Revelation 12.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
