Luke 7: Appreciating Who Jesus Is

We read Luke 7 and watch Jesus meet outsiders, mourners, doubters, and critics with authority and compassion. We end by wrestling with how repentance and gratitude shape love, and why awareness of sin can lead to deeper joy in forgiveness. 
• Luke’s detailed storytelling and why it helps us relate to Jesus 
• The centurion’s humility and trust in Jesus’ authority 
• Jesus’ compassion for the widow of Nain and the raising of her son 
• John the Baptist’s question and Jesus’ evidence-based answer 
• Jesus’ view of John and the danger of cynical spiritual criticism 
• A Pharisee’s dinner and a “sinful” woman’s costly love 
• The two debtors parable and what it reveals about forgiveness 
• Repenting little as a sign of noticing little 
Take some time today. Take a couple minutes and pray, God, what do you see in my life that does not please you, that does not line up with the way you would have me live? Ask for forgiveness and thank him for forgiving you.

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Transcript

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Hey, this is Mike, and this is the Out Loud Bible Podcast. We're here in the book of Luke, which is Luke's account of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, Luke did not personally walk with and know

Why Luke Writes Differently

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Jesus, but he did get his information from people who did. Luke seems to emphasize what Jesus felt, the humanness of Jesus, that we can relate to him because we're humans with emotions just as Jesus was and is. Luke was genuinely a good writer. He was the most educated of the gospel writers, and uh it shows in his education and his experience that he puts together a really good narrative. Uh he does uh he put a lot of effort into writing this gospel for our benefit. His chapters have a lot of detail in them, and uh, but not too much detail that it weighs you down. And I I it's a really well-written book, and uh consequently, uh his chapters are a bit longer. Now he did not decide when chapter breaks were. That's something that came later, so that's not his decision, but he did do a lot of writing per episode that we see, per uh situation, whereas Mark just breezes right through and gives you like the highlights, kind of the spark notes of it, and moves on to the next thing. And Matthew goes into a lot of detail about what he said, and he really tried to capture every word that Jesus said. He he was one of those that knew him personally. Luke sets this sets the scene and he uh helps us understand what's going on in the different aspects of the people involved, and so uh a more thorough telling of the gospel. And so the stories are a bit longer. So today uh and throughout this week, actually, we're only gonna cover one chapter per episode here. They're longer than average chapters, but uh they're honestly gonna be probably shorter than average episodes. But I hope that is helpful to just take one chapter of Luke this week, each day, and just let it say what it says. And we're gonna take time, like we do every time, to think about what we can do in response to this and and what can we take away from this? Hopefully it's not gonna be information overload because we're only gonna be doing one chapter a day. Take the opportunity to really put yourself in the story. What would it be like to be one of the people sitting around listening to Jesus or watching these things happen? And uh and who do we relate to? It's not always Jesus, it's not always the good guys, uh, but who do we relate to most? And uh and I think then we can start to really crack some of the value in these chapters for ourselves and and how we can be more like Jesus as we read how he interacted with the people around him. Last episode, Jesus just got finished teaching one of his major sermons, the Sermon on the Mount, which is primarily recorded in Matthew 5, 6, and 7, but also recorded for us here in Luke 6. So today we're going to be jumping into Luke chapter 7 as we read the continuation of this story here in the New English Translation. After Jesus had finished teaching all this to the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave who was highly regarded, but who was sick and at the point of death.

Faith Of The Centurion

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When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. And when they came to Jesus, they urged him earnestly, he's worthy to have you do this for him, because he loves our nation and even built our synagogue. So Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. That's why I didn't presume to come to you. Instead, say the word, and my servant must be healed, for I too am a man set under authority with soldiers under me. I say to this one, go and he goes, and to another come and he comes, and to my slave do this and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him. He turned and said to the crowd that followed him, I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. So when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well. And soon afterward Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him, and as he approached the town gate, a man who had died was being carried

Compassion At Nain

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out, the only son of his mother, who was a widow, and a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her he had compassion for her, and said to her, Don't weep. Then he came up and touched the beer, and those who carried it stood still, and he said, Young man, I say to you, get up. So the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they began to glorify God, saying, A great prophet has appeared among us, and God has come to help his people. This report about Jesus circulated throughout Judea and all the surrounding country. John's disciples, this is John the Baptist, informed him about all these things, so John called two of his disciples and sent them to Jesus to ask, Are you the one who is to come or should

John The Baptist Asks

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we look for another? When the men came to Jesus, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, are you the one who is to come or should we look for another? At that very time Jesus cured many people of diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits and granted sight to many who were blind, so he answered them Go tell John what you've seen and heard. The blind see, the lame walk, and lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them. Blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me. When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What did you go out to

Jesus Redefines Greatness

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see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Look, those who wear soft clothing and live in luxury are in the royal palaces. What did you go out to see? A prophet? Hmm, yes. I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it's written, Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you. I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John. And yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he is. Now all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, acknowledged God's justice because they had been baptized with John's baptism. However, the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God's purpose for themselves because they had not been baptized by John. To what then should I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They're like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, We played the flute for you, yet you didn't dance. We wailed in mourning, yet you didn't weep. For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, Oh, he has a demon. And the Son of Man has come, eating and drinking, and you say, Well, look at him, a glutton and a drunk, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom is vindicated by all our children. Now one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And then when a woman of that town, who was a sinner, learned that Jesus

The Woman Who Loved Much

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was dining at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfumed oil, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with a perfumed oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what kind of woman this is who's touching him, that she's a sinner. So Jesus answered him, which is great because he had not actually spoken this out loud, Jesus answered him, Simon I have something to say to you. He replied, Say it, teacher. A certain creditor had two debtors. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. When they couldn't pay, he cancelled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more? Simon answered, I suppose the one who had the bigger debt cancelled. Jesus said to him, you've judged rightly. And then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss of greeting, but from the time I entered she's not stopped kissing my feet. You didn't anoint my head with oil, but she's anointed my feet with perfumed oil. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven. Thus, she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little loves little. Then Jesus said to her, Your sins are forgiven. But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this? Who even forgives sins? He said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Well, this brings up an interesting conversation about sin, forgiveness, and repentance. Jesus was making the point here that this woman who has, yes, granted, she has

Repentance That Fuels Gratitude

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sinned a lot, has been forgiven of her sin, and she recognizes that, and therefore her love and appreciation for the one who cancelled her debt of sin is greater than the one who has not had as much sin forgiven. Yet I have to ask, is there anyone who has less sin than someone else? Someone who has sinned less? Now perhaps if we're counting instances or grievances or severity of sin as we see it, perhaps. But we also know that all sin is grievous before the Lord, and any one sin completely disqualifies us from holiness on our own. Jesus even said, if you break one law, you're guilty of breaking the whole law. So could it be that when Jesus is telling Simon that the one who is forgiven little loves little, is not referring to the fact that Simon or others like him have less sin to forgive. But perhaps they are forgiven little because they have repented little. They are little aware of their sins. And now instead of using they language, let's bring it right back to us. Do we consider ourselves, like Paul says in 1 Timothy 1.15, do we consider ourselves the chief of sinners? Like there are many who sin, and I count myself among the worst of them. Not to have a pity party, not to be self-deprecating, but to recognize my primary responsibility is not to look at other people and see how sinful they are, but to look at myself and see, do I stand up to the holiness of God? No, I do not. And when I compare myself with the holiness of God, I keep seeing more and more ways that I fail to live up to his perfect standard. And boy oh boy, I I can't imagine anyone else sinning more than I do. Again, not to be self-deprecating about it, but to give us plenty of things to repent about, plenty of humility to lean into compared to the holiness of God, and plenty of thanksgiving to give to Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, as many as there may be. Yes, he has forgiven us once and for all with his death on the cross that our sins may not have an eternal consequence of death for us, but we need to keep coming with our sins that we are no longer enslaved to. However, our sin nature keeps drawing us into them, and there are times when we need to repent. When was the last time you repented? And has that driven you to thanksgiving and thankfulness, gratitude for Jesus for forgiving you and what he's done? Maybe you feel like, oh, I don't know, I don't really feel the love that this woman has. Maybe it's because you haven't really wrestled with the forgiveness of your sins, the repentance, the forgiveness, and the gratitude. Take some time today. Take a couple minutes and pray, God, what do you see in my life that does not please you, that does not line up with the way you would have me live? Ask for forgiveness and thank him for forgiving you. And watch to see how your love for Christ grows and grows as you do this more and more. Thanks for joining me today as we've read Luke chapter seven and had a little discussion about it. We'll see you next time for Luke Chapter 8, here on the Out Loud Bible Podcast.