What Jesus Did

Then [Jesus] turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn't offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn't greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. "I tell you, her sins — and they are many —...

 

Then Jesus told [the Pharisee] this story: "A man loaned money to two people — 500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?" Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt." "That's right," Jesus said.

—Luke 7:41-43 NLT

Key Thought


Have you been forgiven much? That's the whole issue with our...

 

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw [the immoral woman anointing Jesus], he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She's a sinner!" Then Jesus answered his thoughts. "Simon," he said to the Pharisee, "I have something to say to you." "Go ahead, Teacher," Simon replied.

—Luke 7:39-40 NLT

Key Thought


I love the way Luke describes this situation: "Jesus answered his thoughts." I'm sure I don't want...

 

When a certain immoral woman from that city heard [Jesus] was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.

—Luke 7:37-38 NLT

Key Thought


This event occurred in the house of a certain Pharisee. This woman was the antithesis of the Pharisee. He was a man. She...

 

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.

—Luke 7:36 NLT

Key Thought


Even though many Pharisees had repeatedly rejected Jesus, opposed his every move, and demonstrated an unwillingness to believe, Jesus went to a Pharisee's home because he loved all people. He didn't rule out anyone or any group from being exposed to God's grace. Let's not let our prejudices or the prejudices of another group or individual...

 

"To what can I compare the people of this generation?" Jesus asked. "How can I describe them? They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, 'We played wedding songs, and you didn't dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn't weep.' For John the Baptist didn't spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, 'He's possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, 'He's a glutton and a...

 

The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, "Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?"

—Luke 7:18-19 NLT

Key Thought


We sometimes exalt key figures in the Scriptures to the legendary status of "Bible characters." We don't allow them to have bad days, doubts, lapses of passion, or faith dilemmas. However, Jesus...

 

Great fear swept the crowd [when Jesus raised the widow's son], and they praised God, saying, "A mighty prophet has risen among us," and "God has visited his people today." And the news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding countryside.

—Luke 7:16-17 NLT

Key Thought


Talk about a mind-blowing experience: Seeing this dead boy raised from the dead was unbelievable. Naturally, there was a holy fear of Jesus and his power by those who witnessed this...

 

[Jesus said,] "I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!" When they heard this, all the people — even the tax collectors — agreed that God's way was right, for they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God's plan for them, for they had refused John's baptism.

—Luke 7:28-30 NLT

Key Thought


"Some are last who will be first...

 

[Jesus said,] "John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, 'Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, and he will prepare your way before you.' I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!"

—Luke 7:27-28 NLT

Key Thought


John was incredible! The voice of God through the prophets had not been heard for hundreds of years in Israel. When John the Baptizer...