Broken and Forgiven - The Gospels

In this Bible Story, Jesus accepts a sinful and broken woman who has been scorned by the world, and He rebukes the pharisees for their judgement. This story is inspired by Luke 7:36-50. Go to BibleinaYear.com  and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is Luke 7:43 from the King James Version.

Episode 186: Jesus was sitting among the Pharisees at a feast when a woman of questionable repute came in. She wept at His feet and anointed Him with precious perfume. She knew she needed the healing and wholeness that He could bring. When one of the Pharisees, Simon, began to question Jesus for allowing this, Jesus called him out and revealed the condition of their hearts.

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Executive Producers: Steve Gatena & Max Bard

Producer: Ben Gammon

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Music by: Andrew Morgan Smith

Bible Story narration by: Todd Haberkorn

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. Simon answered and said, I suppose that
he to whom he forgave most. And he said, unto them,
thou hast rightly judged Luke seven forty three. When I
feel the weight and burden of my past, when I

(00:22):
begin to feel the shame and guilt from the abuse
of my past, I will come before you Jesus, then
bring to you whatever strength and worship I have left.
I will pour out my praise and worship to you
like the woman with the alabaster box of oil, because

(00:43):
I know that in your presence is love, acceptance, and forgiveness.
As I bow before you in prayer, I thank you
for forgiving me and redeeming me from any past afflictions.
Even in the midst of scoffers and haters, I know

(01:07):
that you are pleased and touched by my active surrender. Lord,
Use me to help redeem others who may be in
a similar position. Use me to take those who feel
unworthy and to reconnect them to their value and true

(01:27):
worth in Jesus name. Amen. Listening to these daily prayers
strengthens your relationship with God. Continue hearing from the Lord
by listening to today's Bible in a Year brought to
you by Bible in a Year dot.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Com Broken and forgiven. In our last story, Jesus healed
the centurion servant. He was restored because the centurion believed
and clung to the authority of Jesus. He recognized that

(02:10):
Jesus held authority over death and sickness. Now we are
introduced to a woman who had been completely broken by
her past. She approaches Jesus in the den of the
religious leaders and worships him unlike anyone had before, as
inspired by the Gospels.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of the
Bible in a Year. In our last episode, we heard
how Jesus healed in ways that left people speechless and
astounded at this man who was among them. His power
to heal with just a word, even to bring the
dead back to life, brought many followers. Still, they did
not truly understand his purpose or power. Even as they

(02:52):
had heard him speak and watched him heal, they did
not know this was the long awaited messiah who brought
the ultimate and complete healing that they really needed. Today
we'll meet a woman who approached Jesus boldly in her
brokenness to worship at his feet. Her presence would disturb
the legalistic establishment, but Jesus would recognize her sacrifice and

(03:14):
her deep need of him, and honor her for her actions.
Let's listen now to the reading of God's word.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Jesus sat among the Pharisees at a great feast. He
watched as they mingled among themselves. There were laughs and
deep discussions and the things of God. However, there was
something beneath the surface of their smiles. Jesus could see.
Beyond the polished exterior of the religious leaders. They wore
their outward righteousness as a mask to hide their broken

(03:44):
and selfish hearts. Jesus declined at the table, making small
talk with the men to his right and left. He
knew they hated him. He knew he was only invited
because they wanted him comfortable. It broke Jesus's heart to
see such deception underneath kind gestures. As the men spoke,
Jesus saw a woman come in through the back door.

(04:05):
She wore the face of someone who had been abused
her entire life. Judging by the looks of the men
gave her, she was a notorious sinner in the city.
She was equally enticing and revolting to the religious elite.
She was not supposed to be there, but she had
come to see Jesus. Jesus watched as the woman approached him, weeping.

(04:26):
Around her neck was a small alabaster flask filled with
precious ointment. Each woman in the city had one. It
was the most valuable possession and meant to sell in
hard times or give to one's husband. Tears streamed down
the woman's cheeks as she fell before Jesus. She bore
the tears of a broken heart. The tears fell on

(04:47):
the Lord's feet, and the woman began to wash him
with her tears and hair. Then she broke the flask
around her neck and anointed Jesus's hands, head, and feet
with the fragrance. The smell filled the as the Pharisees
watched in uncomfortable silence. Jesus's heart broke for the woman.
She fell at his feet, worshiping him the only way

(05:08):
she knew how she had been used and abused her
whole life. She believed that her identity and love came
from the men she shared her body with. Yet Jesus
offered her something else. He offered purpose. He offered unconditional love.
He offered a healed and clean heart. As the woman
was still kneeling on the floor, one of the pharisees, Simon,

(05:30):
spoke up. If Jesus was truly a prophet, he would
not let this woman anywhere near him. He scoffed. Everyone
knows she is one of those women. Be careful, Jesus,
or she might tempt you Simon. Jesus said sternly as
he stood to his feet. His eyes darted in the
pharisees direction. I have something to say directly to you.

(05:53):
Simon stepped back for a moment. He looked around the room.
Everyone was incredibly tense. They knew that Jesus was a gentleman,
but they had also heard how he single handedly cleared
the temple with a whip. Simon did his best to
feign confidence. He did a poor job. He nodded towards
Jesus and said, yes, of course, say a teacher. Jesus

(06:15):
approached Simon. With each step Jesus took forward, Simon took
a step back. There was a money lender who had
two debaters. One of them ode five hundred and the
other ode fifty. Neither of them could pay so the
money lender forgave them both and canceled their debt. Jesus
got closer to Simon, there was an intense silence. Tell me,

(06:38):
which one of those debaters will love the money lender more?
Simon shrugged, still doing his best to seem confident. The
one who was forgiven more money. I suppose, he answered, correct,
Jesus said. Then he went back to the woman and
helped her to her feet. Do you see this woman, Simon,

(06:58):
I entered your house. You gave me no water to
wash my feet, which is custom for any guest. Yet
this woman washed my feet with her own tears. You
did not welcome me into this home. But this woman
has anointed my head with her finest oil. I tell
you this before all your guests. Her sins will be
forgiven because she loved much. And listen to me closely.

(07:22):
He who forgives little.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Will love little.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
Then Jesus sent the woman on her way, and the
whole house grumbled at their own inadequacy.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
We begin today scripture at a great banquet, where Jesus
is the guest at the home of a pharisee. It
may seem unusual that those who seemed to despise Jesus
so much would invite him to a feast, But their
motives were not pure. They intended to challenge him on
matters of the law. They wanted to gain the upper
hand and expose Jesus in order to restore their own

(07:58):
power among the people. It is a reminder that showiness
and extravagant displays are not always a good indicator of
a person's heart intentions. But as we've heard from Jesus
on teaching, God sees through our outward appearance and perceives
our true motives. So as he reclined at the table,
Jesus would have been well aware of the purpose of

(08:20):
these men. But we should also remember that Jesus's heart
was not too shame or defeat them, but rather to
bring them to repentance and fellowship with God. God's desire
is that all would come to repentance, and that everyone
would turn to him and see Jesus not as a rival,
but as the savior of all sins, including the sins

(08:43):
of self righteousness. As we discover, there was one person
who came into the feast who knew her need for Jesus,
a woman whose reputation preceded her, and that's not in
a good way. She came to the house to see Jesus.
She wasn't a guest, She was a party crisher. It
wasn't welcomed. Her appearance would have angered the righteous leaders.

(09:03):
How dare she think she could be in their presence?
But this woman wasn't afraid, and she wasn't seeking the
approval of the religious crowd. She went straight to Jesus
and fell at his feet in tears. She wept until
her tears moistened the feet of Jesus. His feet would
have been dusty and dirty from walking along the road
that day in his sandals. Having no towel, she used

(09:25):
what she had her hair to wipe his feet dry
before she kissed them and poured perfume all over his feet.
It was such a lavish display of devotion. The perfume
was no chief fragrance from a roadside stand. It was
an expensive perfume, a true sacrifice for this woman, who
surely was not wealthy. Seeing what was going on the host,

(09:47):
a pharisee named Simon began to murmur that Jesus couldn't
be a prophet, otherwise he would have known what kind
of woman this was? She was a sinner, unfit for
their company, and certainly unworthy of touching him. Jesus turned
to Simon and posed a question, supposing two men owe
a lender money, and that neither could repay their debt.

(10:10):
Thelender forgave both debts, so they both were off the hook.
But one owed a very large sum, while the other
a smaller sum. In this story, Jesus asked which man
would love the lender more. Simon correctly judged that it
was the man who owed more. Jesus then turned back
to the woman and compared her to the man who

(10:31):
owed a great deal. Yes, she was a sinner, but
her lavish display demonstrated a depth of love and honor
that Simon the Pharisee had failed to show Jesus his
invited guests. Then Jesus brought it all home for Simon
and for us with these words found in Luke seven
forty seven. Therefore I tell you her many sins have

(10:52):
been forgiven, as her great love has been shown. But
whoever has been forgiven little loves little. He then turned
to the woman and forgave her sins, saying that her
faith had saved her. Here's the great irony in his story.
Neither of the debt ors could repay the debt in
the same way Simon and the other religious leaders could

(11:13):
not repay the debt for their sins. And yet, because
they saw themselves as righteous, not owing much, they felt
entitled for forgiveness. They did not demonstrate true love for
God as this woman did. She was a hopeless sinner
in desperate need of forgiveness. The reality is that everyone

(11:33):
in that room, everyone who has ever walked on this earth,
apart from Jesus himself, is a sinner in need of salvation.
We owed a debt we could not pay, but Jesus
paid the debt on the cross so that we could
be forgiven. It is only those who recognize their deep
need for Jesus who will experience forgiveness and respond with
great love towards the one who has forgiven them. Dear God,

(11:57):
we thank you and praise you for your grace, for
the gift of eternal life and the forgiveness of our
sins that we have in Jesus Christ. Thank you for
today's scripture that reminds us that we owe so much.
May we also lavish our love in devotion and commitment
to you, that you may know of our worship and
our reverence for you. In Jesus' name, Amen, thank you

(12:21):
for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm
Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the pray
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(12:42):
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