03/08 – Luke 7:36-50 – Red Letter Challenge: Forgiveness

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 58:1-10

Cry aloud! Don’t hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Tell my people about their rebellion and the descendants of Jacob about their sins. They look for me every day and want to know my ways. They act as if they were a nation that has done what is right, and as if they haven’t disregarded God’s judgment on them.

They ask me for just decrees. They want God to be near them. [They ask] “Why have we fasted if you are not aware of it? Why have we inflicted pain on ourselves if you don’t pay attention?”

Don’t you see that on the days you fast, you do what you want to do? You mistreat all your workers. Don’t you see that when you fast, you quarrel and fight and beat your workers? The way you fast today keeps you from being heard in heaven. Is this the kind of fasting I have chosen? Should people humble themselves for only a day? Is fasting just bowing your head like a cattail and making your bed from sackcloth and ashes? Is this what you call fasting? Is this an acceptable day to the Lord?

This is the kind of fasting I have chosen: Loosen the chains of wickedness, untie the straps of the yoke, let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke. Share your food with the hungry, take the poor and homeless into your house, and cover them with clothes when you see them naked. Don’t refuse to help your relatives.

Then your light will break through like the dawn, and you will heal quickly. Your righteousness will go ahead of you, and the glory of the Lord will guard you from behind. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am!”

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

Don’t you know that wicked people won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Stop deceiving yourselves! People who continue to commit sexual sins, who worship false gods, those who commit adultery, homosexuals, or thieves, those who are greedy or drunk, who use abusive language, or who rob people will not inherit God’s kingdom. That’s what some of you were! But you have been washed and made holy, and you have received God’s approval in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Holy Gospel Reading: Luke 7:36-50

One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went to the Pharisee’s house and was eating at the table. A woman who lived a sinful life in that city found out that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she took a bottle of perfume and knelt at his feet. She was crying and washed his feet with her tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them over and over again, and poured the perfume on them.

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and thought, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know what sort of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner.”

Jesus spoke up, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”

Simon replied, “Teacher, you’re free to speak.”

So Jesus said, “Two men owed a moneylender some money. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. When they couldn’t pay it back, he was kind enough to cancel their debts. Now, who do you think will love him the most?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one who had the largest debt canceled.”

Jesus said to him, “You are right!” Then, turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “You see this woman, don’t you? I came into your house. You didn’t wash my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn’t give me a kiss, but ever since I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. You didn’t put any olive oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. That is why I am telling you that her many sins have been forgiven. Her great love proves that, but whoever receives little forgiveness loves very little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”

The other guests thought, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace!”