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<\/a>You are generous and you have plenty of cash, so you say, \u201cI\u2019ll loan you some money, Sally.\u00a0 How much do you need?\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cI need ten dollars,\u201d Sally answers.\u00a0 \u201cIf you can just loan me ten dollars until next Friday, all my problems will be solved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure,\u201d you reply.\u00a0 \u201cHere\u2019s a ten dollar bill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sally goes on her way and your friend Jack comes to see you.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate to ask,\u201d Jack says, \u201cBut, I really need some money.\u00a0 Can you loan me some?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure,\u201d\u00a0 you answer.\u00a0 \u201cHow much do you need?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI need a million dollars,\u201d Jack answers.\u00a0 \u201cI know that\u2019s an awful lot, but if you\u2019ll just loan me a million dollars I\u2019ll be sure and pay it back on Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo problem,\u201d\u00a0 you say.\u00a0 After all, you have so much money in the bank you won\u2019t miss a measly million.<\/p>\n
Next Friday comes and Sally and Jack both show up at your house.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how to tell you this, \u201d Sally says.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t have ten dollars to pay you back like I promised.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid I can\u2019t pay you the million dollars I owe you either,\u201d Jack says.\u00a0 \u201cI feel just terrible about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all right,\u201d you answer.\u00a0 \u201cBoth of you just forget it.\u00a0 You don\u2019t need to pay me back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can you imagine how grateful Sally and Jack would be?\u00a0 Who do you think would be the most grateful?\u00a0 Who do you think would like you the most?<\/p>\n
Sally would be grateful and would like you a little because you had forgiven her a little debt.\u00a0 Jack would be extremely<\/em> grateful and would like you a whole lot because you had forgiven him of a huge debt.<\/p>\n There was a woman in the Bible\u00a0 who owed a very large debt. She was a sinner.\u00a0 She knew she was\u00a0 bad, and so did everyone else.\u00a0 No one in her village wanted anything to do with her because they knew she was a wicked person.\u00a0 The Bible doesn\u2019t say, but we can guess that she was a prostitute.<\/p>\n She knew she was a sinner, but it didn\u2019t trouble her much.\u00a0 Then one day she met Jesus.\u00a0 The Bible doesn\u2019t tell us about when she first met Him.\u00a0 Maybe He preached in her village.\u00a0 We know that she heard Jesus and that her heart was touched.\u00a0She learned from Jesus that she deserved to be punished forever in hell for her sin.\u00a0 She learned that her sin had made her forever an enemy of God.\u00a0 She began to see herself as God saw her.\u00a0 She was ashamed and wanted to be forgiven.<\/p>\n She watched while Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons.\u00a0 She listened as He spoke about God, His Father.\u00a0 She believed that Jesus was the Messiah, God\u2019s Son whom He had promised to send.<\/p>\n She was surprised to hear Him say that He would be put to death!\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jesus said. \u00a0He told them all plainly that wicked men would nail Him on a cross and He would die for the sins of His people.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means for my sin,\u201d She must have thought.\u00a0 \u201cIf I could only give Jesus something before He dies.\u00a0 If only He would forgive me of my sin!\u201d<\/p>\n She discovered that Jesus was having dinner with a man named Simon.\u00a0 Simon was a wealthy and important man.\u00a0 He was one of the leaders in the synagogue.\u00a0 He also had a terrible disease called leprosy.\u00a0 Everyone called him \u201cSimon the leper.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll I own in all the world is my box of ointment,\u201d she thought.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll give my ointment to Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n In those days ointment was more than just a bottle of perfume.\u00a0 The spikenard she had in her alabaster box was very expensive.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t plan on wearing the sweet-smelling cream.\u00a0 It was her security.\u00a0 If ever she needed money, she could sell it.\u00a0 If she got married, it would be given to her husband.\u00a0 In those times a man didn\u2019t often marry a woman unless she had money or a box of precious ointment.\u00a0 If she gave it to Jesus, she would have nothing at all left to take care of her own need.<\/p>\n She went to Simon\u2019s house and came to the dining room where Jesus was eating with His friends.\u00a0 Tears poured down her cheeks as she knelt at Jesus\u2019 feet.\u00a0 She was so sorry for her sinful life.\u00a0 She cried so hard that tears dripped down all over Jesus\u2019 feet.\u00a0 She wiped them off with her hair.\u00a0 That\u2019s how much she loved Jesus and how sorry she was for her sin.<\/p>\n Then she took her box of ointment and poured it out on Jesus\u2019 head.\u00a0 That was her way of giving to Jesus all that she had.\u00a0 She gave up her security, her hope of having a husband, everything she had, because she knew that Jesus was God.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at that,\u201d the disciples whispered to each other.\u00a0 \u201cWhat a waste!\u00a0 She could have sold that perfume for a lot of money and she could have given the money to the poor.\u00a0 That would have done a lot more good.\u201d<\/p>\n Simon didn\u2019t understand either.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not as smart as everyone seems to think,\u201d Simon said to himself.\u00a0 \u201cIf He was really a prophet He would know that she is a wicked woman.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t have let her touch Him.\u201d<\/p>\n Jesus understood what was in her heart.\u00a0 He understood what the others were thinking, too.<\/p>\n \u201cLet her alone,\u201d Jesus told the disciples.\u00a0 \u201cThere will always be poor people around.\u00a0 You can give to them any time.\u00a0 She has done this because she believes what I say \u2013 that I will soon go to be with My Father.\u00a0 She has done it to prepare me for my burial.\u201d<\/p>\n Then Jesus turned to Simon the leper.<\/p>\n \u201cSimon, I want to tell you a story,\u201d Jesus said.<\/p>\n \u201cTell me,\u201d Simon replied.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo men owed a certain man some money.\u00a0 One owed a lot of money, and one owed a little money.\u00a0 When they couldn\u2019t pay, he forgave both of them their debt.\u00a0 Who loved this man most, the one forgiven of a big debt or the one forgiven of a little debt?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe one with the biggest debt forgiven would love him most,\u201d Simon answered.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are right,\u201d Jesus said.\u00a0 \u201cLook at this woman.\u00a0 When I came into you house, you didn\u2019t even follow the common custom of giving me water to wash my feet.\u00a0 This woman has washed my feet with her tears and has wiped them with her hair.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t shake my hand, and this woman has kissed my feet.\u00a0 You didn\u2019t give me ointment to put on my head, even though you are rich and have lots of ointment.\u00a0 This woman has given me all that she has.<\/p>\n \u201cShe has shown that she loves me very much, because I will forgiver her for her many sins,\u201d Jesus continued.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t think you have much to be forgiven, so you don\u2019t love me much at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Jesus said to the woman, \u201cYour sins are forgiven.\u00a0 Your faith has saved you.\u00a0 Go in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n And she did leave with peace in her heart, because now she was forgiven.\u00a0 All was right between her and God.\u00a0 She loved Jesus so very much because He had forgiven her of such great sin.<\/p>\n Repentance means more than just knowing you have done wrong.\u00a0 It means being brokenhearted like this woman was.\u00a0 She knew she deserved nothing and gave all she had to Jesus to show her repentance and her faith.<\/p>\n Jesus wants you to come to Him truly sorry for your sins.\u00a0 He wants you to surrender to Him all that you have \u2013 your life.\u00a0 He will forgive you like He did the woman when you come to Him in true repentance and faith.<\/p>\n Perhaps you are thinking, \u201cI\u2019ve made such a mess of my life that there is no hope for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Not true!\u00a0 You have a chance to be an extraordinary Christian.\u00a0 When you come to Him in repentance and surrender to Him, He will forgive you\u00a0 — wipe away every sin.\u00a0 That didn\u2019t come easy.\u00a0 It took His own suffering and death.<\/p>\n Perhaps you have a big debt to be paid.\u00a0 You will be one who\u00a0 loves Jesus most.<\/p>\n Check It Out<\/p>\n Read this story in Luke: 7:36-50.<\/p>\n What did Simon the Pharisee think of the woman in this story? (verse 39)<\/p>\n Did Jesus know she was a sinner? (verse 47)<\/p>\n What does Mark 2:17 tell us about how Jesus feels about sinners?<\/p>\n What does Romans 5:8 tell us about what Jesus did for sinners?<\/p>\n What did Jesus tell the woman? (vs. 48)<\/p>\n What did Jesus give the woman? (vs. 50)<\/p>\n Would you like to have forgiveness and peace?\u00a0 Do you want it enough to surrender to Him?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let\u2019s imagine that you are very rich.\u00a0 You have ten billion dollars in the bank.\u00a0Now let\u2019s suppose that\u00a0 your friend Sally comes to you and says, \u201cI\u2019m in a lot of trouble.\u00a0 If I don\u2019t get some money I just don\u2019t know what I\u2019ll do.” You are generous and you have plenty of cash, so…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[22,45,230,229,72],"class_list":["post-871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-special-messages","tag-faith","tag-jesus","tag-love","tag-sin","tag-study"],"yoast_head":"\n