EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/2/2026
9:22 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The
Self-Righteous Man”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference:
Luke
7:39-50
Message of the verses: “39 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 sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a
sinner!” 40 And Jesus responded and said to him, “Simon, I have something to
say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A moneylender had two
debtors: the one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they
were unable to repay, he canceled the debts of both. So which of them will love
him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I assume the one for whom he canceled
the greater debt.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44 And
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 her
tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave Me no kiss; but she has not
stopped kissing My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head
with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 For this reason I say to
you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but the
one who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And He said to her, “Your sins
have been forgiven.” 49 And then those who were reclining at the table with Him
began saying to themselves, “Who is this Man who even forgives sins?” 50 And He
said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
I will begin looking at these verses in this evening’s
SD and then hopefully be able to finish this section in tomorrow morning’s SD.
John MacArthur writes “The woman’s
actions could have put Jesus in a very bad light. After all, she was a notorious sinner. Letting down her hair, washing, kissing,
embracing, and anointing His feet was a serious breach of propriety. That may have led some to wonder why she felt
the freedom to be so familiar with Him and reach an obvious, but wrong,
conclusion. The Lord’s sinless,
unblemished character (John 8:46) precluded any thoughts of impropriety on His
part, even on the part of His enemies.”
(John 8:46)
“46 ¶ Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I
tell the truth, why do you not believe me?”
“The Pharisee drew an equally false
conclusion: he chalked up the Lord’s
reaction not to evil, but to ignorance. That, however, was proof to him that Jesus
could not be who He claimed to be because, the Pharisee reasoned, ‘If this
man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who
is touching Him, that she is a sinner.’ How could Jesus tell them things
they did not know if He did not even know what they themselves knew about this
woman? After all no sensible religious
teacher, let along one claiming to be the Messiah, would ever allow such a
woman to touch Him. The pharisee was both
disgusted by the scene he was witnessing, and at the same time satisfied,
because it confirmed his belief that Jesus’ ignorance of this woman’s
wickedness was proof that He was not a true prophet.
“Our Lord’s words to the Pharisee,
now introduced as Simon, inject a touch of irony into the story. Simon had assumed that Jesus did not know the
woman’s true character and hence was not a true prophet. But although Simon had not verbalized his
question, He answered him. His knowledge
of Simon’s thoughts proved that Jesus was in fact a true prophet (cf. Luke
5:22).”
(cf. Luke 5:22)
“22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he
answered them, "Why do you question in your hearts?”
“Interrupting
any conversation that may have been taking place, Jesus said to him, Simon,
I have something to say to you.’
Respectfully polite but cold, Simon replied, ‘Say it, Teacher.’ The Lord communicated the point He intended
to make by means of a simple parable or analogy: A moneylender had two
debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Their debts differed dramatically (five hundred
denarii was about a year and half’s wages for a common laborer; fifty about two
month’s wages), but neither could repay their debt. Fortunately for both the
moneylender had mercy on them, and when they were unable to repay, he
graciously forgave them both. In
addition to its use here in a business sense, (graciously forgave) charizomai,
is used in a theological sense to describe the forgiveness that God grants
believers in Christ (Rom. 8:32; Eph. 4:32; Col. 2:13; 3:13).”
(Rom. 8:32; Eph. 4:32; Col. 2:13; 3:13)
“32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him
up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”
“32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
“13 ¶ And you, who were dead in your trespasses and
the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having
forgiven us all our trespasses,”
“13 bearing with one another and, if one has a
complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you,
so you also must forgive.”
“What made the moneylender’s act so
generous is that by forgiveness the debts of the two individuals, he incurred
those debts in full. Paul understood
that principle when he magnanimously offered to take on the debt Philemon would
otherwise have incurred when he forgave his runaway slave Onesimus: “But if he
was wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account; I
Paul, am writing this with my own hand, I will repay it’ (Philem. 18-19). Similarly, when God forgives believers’ sin
He incurs their debt, and Jesus Christ died to pay it.
“Then the Lord got to the point of
His illustration by asking Simon, ‘So which of them will love him more?’ Hesitating to give a straightforward
reply Simon answered and said, ‘I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’ He may have been being sarcastic, since
the answer to the Lord’s question was obvious, or cautious, suspecting that somehow
Jesus intended to embarrass him if he gave the wrong answer. But he got it right, and Jesus said to
him, ‘You have judged correctly.’ The
principle was simple and obvious:
whoever is forgiven the most will love the forgiver the most; great love
comes from great forgiveness.
“Turning toward the woman, Jesus
then applied the principle illustrated in the parable to her and Simon. Addressing Simon, the Lord contrasted her
obvious love for Him with his cold indifference. ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water
for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her
hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she,
since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she
anointed My feet with perfume.’ Her
demonstration of love for Jesus gave clear evidence of her transformed life;
she love much because she had been forgiven much. In contrast, Simon had insulted Jesus by
failing to offer the normal courtesy of providing water for His feet (cf.
Gen. 18:4; 19:2; 24:32; 43:24; Judg. 19:21; John 13:4-5) or greeting Him with
the customary kiss (cf. Gen. 29:13; 45:15; Ex. 4:27; 18:7; Rom.
16:16). And while he had failed to anoint
the Lord’s head with inexpensive
olive oil she had anointed His feet with costly perfume.”
(cf. Gen. 18:4; 19:2; 24:32; 43:24;
Judg. 19:21; John 13:4-5)
“4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your
feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,”
“2 and said, "My lords, please turn aside
to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may
rise up early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will spend the
night in the town square.’’
“32 So the man came to the house and unharnessed
the camels, and gave straw and fodder to the camels, and there was water to
wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him.”
“24 And when the man had brought the men into
Joseph’s house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when
he had given their donkeys fodder,”
21 So he brought him into his house and gave the
donkeys feed. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.”
“4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer
garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began
to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped
around him.”
(cf. Gen. 29:13; 45:15; Ex. 4:27; 18:7;
Rom. 16:16)
“13 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob,
his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and
brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things,”
“15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon
them. After that his brothers talked with him.”
“27 The LORD said to Aaron, "Go into the
wilderness to meet Moses." So he went and met him at the mountain of God
and kissed him.”
“7 ¶ Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and
bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went
into the tent.”
“16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the
churches of Christ greet you.”
9/2/2026
10:11 PM
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