1.10.21 Huddle: Listen, Do, Repeat Wk2

Zach Below   -   January 10, 2021

1.10.21 HUDDLE—Listen, Do, Repeat Wk 2

 

INTRO

Last week we began a new series called “Listen, Do, Repeat: How Faith Works.” In week 1, Pastor Ryan reminded us that great faith requires managed expectations and that in the gospel view of life, our success is defined by faithful obedience, not the results. This week we are going to look at a story that gives us one of the clearest and most beautiful pictures of Jesus’s personality and priorities.

 

  1. This series is called “Listen, Do, Repeat.” This title alludes to the fact that growing in faith includes both a gaining in knowledge and a life of action. However, often times without meaning to, we raise the value of one over the other. When you think of growing in faith (or the way you perceived faith growing up), are you naturally drawn to think of it more as deepening in the knowledge of God or a lived faith of action?

 

 

BIBLE ENGAGEMENT—LUKE 7:36-50

Context: Pharisees were considered experts of the Law. In fact, they would even add stricter rules to the Jewish laws in an attempt to protect righteousness. A pharisee took their Judaism very seriously and they were looked up to as religious leaders.

Jesus has an interesting relationship with the pharisees. Some of Jesus’s harshest words were aimed at the pharisees yet we often see him dining with them and being invited to spend time with them as well. It’s clear that some pharisees hated Jesus from the start but it wouldn’t be fair to throw all of them in that camp. Jesus had some meaningful and on-going interactions with a number of pharisees and some even ended up becoming followers of Jesus.

 

 

LUKE 7:36-50

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,[c] 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.”

 

FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS

  1. What stands out to you from this text?

 

  1. What questions does it raise?

 

  1. What is something you learn about the personality or character of Jesus from this story?

 

Context:

  • For an idea of the dollar amounts Jesus is talking about in this story, one person owned what would be equivalent to about $8,200 and the other owed what would be equivalent to about $82,000.
  • It helps in understanding the story to know that in the first century there was an odd social norm that doesn’t really make sense to us anymore. When there were dinner parties with prominent people in attendance, the host would allow what could only be described as “spectators.” People from the area were allowed to come and watch/listen to the conversation from a distance. In this story, we see the woman breaking protocol, breaking the social norm to get to Jesus. She steps out of the crowd of spectators and steps into the dinner party.

 

 

BIBLE ENGAGMENET QUESTIONS

  1. Put yourself in the place of Simon. As the host, and a Pharisee, what do you think he is thinking when this woman shows up?

 

  1. Why do you think Jesus lets this happen and why do you think the woman felt safe to approach Jesus in such a situation?

 

 

APPLICATION

Many scholars believe that Simon (the Pharisee) may have became a follower of Jesus and is the source of this story. That would explain how verse 39 could accurately tell us what Simon was thinking.

 

  1. Simon invited Jesus to the party to see if he was the real deal. Look back at verse 39. How do you think Simon expected a true “prophet” to deal with the situation of the woman?

 

  1. It’s pretty clear that Simon viewed himself as better than the sinful woman. And it is fair to say that from a standard of holiness, Simon likely was “better.” As a pharisee he would have placed extreme measures on himself to attempt to live a life of holiness. However, Look back at verse 41-44. How does verse 41-42 speak to Simon’s attempt to attain he own righteousness by living a strict pharisaical lifestyle?

 

Hint: Even though one debtor owed less than the other, the story tells us the BOTH owed a debt, and NEITHER could pay it back.

 

  1. Put yourself in the story. What could Jesus be teaching us through his interaction with Simon? What could Jesus be teaching us through his interaction with the sinful woman?

 

Hint: There is no “right” answer to this question. This is simply to hear how God is speaking to everyone as they listen and process this story.

 

  1. Are there ever times in your life when you see some of the same attitudes of Simon coming out in you? In what way? 

 

  1. One of the main take-aways from this week’s teaching is: “Love proceeds out of forgiveness.” What do you think that means, and do you see it supported anywhere in the story?

 

 

CLOSING THOUGHT

READ the following quote and answer the accompanying questions. “The reason Christ-centered people serve and grow and love is because they recognize they are forgiven. It is not out of some kind of moral superiority or an attempt to earn God’s favor, it is a natural response to the kind of love and forgiveness Christ gives.”

 

  1. When you are at your worst (missing the truth of the gospel), are your actions motivated more by trying to attain some kind of moral superiority or are they geared at trying to earn God’s love and forgiveness?

 

  1. Putting it all together: If someone asked you why you attempt to live some kind of “morally superior life,” how would you summarize the gospel answer?

 

Hint: Think . . . what are we NOT attempting (moral superiority or earning God’s love) but HOW we are RESPONDING to the love God already gives us.

 

3. Putting it all together: If someone said they lived a pretty moral life, that they did more good then bad, or that compared to _______ they were better, how would you summarize the gospel response?

Hint: This story is showing us that no matter how good we are, we ALL owe a debt that we cannot pay back. BUT . . . the beautiful thing that verse 41-42 tells us is that even though they both owed money . . . BOTH of their debts were forgiven. 

 

 

CLOSE IN PRAYER