Luke Chapter 7

Good morning ☀️

How is two days a week of Bible study going for you? Too much? Too little? Just right?

Let’s get into it.

Where is Capernaum?

Capernaum in the days of Jesus

Capernaum likely had a population of a few thousand people. It was situated in the region of Galilee, known for its diverse population that included both Jewish and Gentile communities. (Note: "Gentiles" refers to non-Jews.)

Judaism was the predominant religion in Capernaum, as in the rest of Judea. Synagogues were central to religious life, serving as places of worship, study, and community gatherings.

In Jesus' time, Judea was under Roman rule, and local leaders in places like Capernaum worked with Roman-appointed rulers. Capernaum had its local leaders or elders who played a role in town affairs, following Roman authority.

Capernaum was well-placed along major trade routes and was a busy center. Fishing, especially because it was close to the Sea of Galilee, was a big industry.

What’s a centurion?

Any ideas? I feel like I’m the only one who didn’t pay attention in history class, but I’ll tell you anyway.

Centurions were leaders of a century, a unit of Roman soldiers typically consisting of around 80 to 100 men. 🤦🏻‍♂️ - “So obvious”

The number of centurions in the Roman army depended on the size and organization of the legions. Each legion, a large military unit, typically had several centurions, each commanding a century.

Faith and Humility

The centurion's faith and humility stood out to me. He acknowledged Jesus' authority and recognized his own unworthiness, demonstrating a profound faith in Jesus' ability to heal.

At the time, daily life between Jews and Romans was often tense. Jews were under Roman occupation, and relationships between the two groups were not always friendly. When Jesus helped the centurion, He went against what people expected, promoting a message of inclusion.

The healing of the centurion's servant becomes an example of Jesus' compassion for humankind, showing that healing and grace are not limited to a specific group or ethnicity but are available to everyone who has faith.

The Widow’s Son

As I read this story, I wondered, “What does this say about Jesus? How can I pray?”

Jesus is compassionate. “Light of the world, give me a compassionate heart. Give me opportunities to comfort those who are suffering or experiencing loss.”

Jesus is our hope in hopeless situations. “King of Kings, in my most desperate times, I fast my eyes on You. You are my hope and my consolation. In You, I place all my faith.”

Jesus is our Savior and our Restorer. “Lord Jesus, our Restorer, renew our hearts daily, that we may reflect your love and mercy to those around us.”

What???

Jesus may be alluding to the fact that some might struggle with accepting Him as the promised Messiah. Those who can overcome doubts and fully embrace His identity are seen as blessed.

Luke 7:27 references Malachi 3":1

What the what???

You’ve read the Gospel of Luke many times. How many times? What does that scripture mean? It seems important.

It's proceeded by Jesus telling us how great John is. No one is greater than him. Yet, the least of the believers in the kingdom of God is greater than John???

So what’s important here? 👉🏽 Believe.

Here’s the thing. It’s EASY to say you believe. Seriously. Just say it…

“I BELIEVE.”

See. Easy.

But it’s another thing to LIVE your life that way.

Take out a sheet of paper (I know… old school) and write down what you think a person of great faith looks like.

What does their time studying scripture look like?
What about their prayer life?
How often do they share their faith?
How much of their finances are allocated for the Kingdom?
What does their marriage look like?

Luke 7 ends with a story about a “Sinful Woman”

I read the book Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman a few years ago. I can remember ONE story, and it’s Kyle’s description of what this scene might have looked like. It’s a little long, but I promise it’s worth it.

Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman

In the Bible, Pharisees knew about Jesus, but they didn’t know him. Jesus said of them in Matthew 15:8, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

You see, you can study God’s word but not surrender your heart. You can have plenty of knowledge about God, but never have surrendered your heart to Him. Pharisees had plenty of knowledge about God, but they didn’t really know God. It’s the difference between knowledge and intimacy.

In Luke 7, Jesus had been invited over for dinner by one of these Pharisees, Simon. For Simon, inviting a guest rabbi was a matter of considerable religious merit. Jesus should have been the guest of honor, but it quickly became apparent that Simon was spending time with him out of duty instead of a desire to honor him.

There were certain rules of etiquette at such dinners. The customary greeting for honored guests would be a kiss. If you were of equal social rank, then it would be a kiss on the cheek. If it were an especially high honor, you would kiss your guest on the hand. To neglect it was the equivalent of openly ignoring that person. It would be like someone coming to your home and not even acknowledging their presence.

More etiquette in the Middle East involved the washing of feet. It was mandatory before meals. If you truly want to honor your guest, you could do it yourself as host. If not, you would have your servant do it, or at the very least, you would give water for them to do it themselves.

Finally, for a very distinguished guest, you might provide olive oil for anointing their head. It was inexpensive, but still, it would be an especially hospitable gesture.

However, when Jesus is at Simon’s house, there’s no kiss, no foot washing, and no oil. These were not accidental oversights, but quite deliberate. Jesus was being ignored and insulted.

Notice the irony of the moment. Simon had spent his whole life studying the Scriptures. By the age of 12, he had memorized the first 12 books of the Bible and by 15, the entire Old Testament, including more than 300 prophecies about the coming Messiah. Yet he doesn’t realize before him is the Messiah whom he hasn’t kissed, whose feet he hasn’t washed, and whose head he hasn’t anointed. He knew all about Jesus Christ but didn’t know him. 

Pharisees confused knowledge for intimacy.

The problem is, like the Pharisee in Luke 7, you could confuse knowledge about Jesus for intimacy with Jesus.

It’s about intimacy. The best biblical word for intimacy is the word ‘know.’ It’s much deeper than knowledge. Genesis 4:1 ‘Adam knew Eve his wife’ (KJV). It’s the Hebrew word ‘yada’ – defined as to know completely and to be completely known.

Now the NIV translates it in modern English as ‘Adam lay with his wife.’ It’s an intimate connection on every level. To know and to be known completely.

So clearly when the Bible uses this word for ‘know’ it means more than knowledge. It describes the most intimate of connections.

If you trace the usage of ‘yada’ through the Old Testament, you find over and over it’s the same word used for God’s relationship with us. ‘Yada’ is used to describe how God wants to be known by you. That’s the way he already knows you. In Psalm 139 – check it out – you see it used five times in the first four verses.

Think about it: it’s the same word as the one used between man and wife! It’s the same word, the same connection, He knows you and wants you to know Him. That might just totally change how you define your relationship with Jesus. Instead of identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus based on what you know about Him, you now understand you’re a follower because/if you ‘yada’ Him.

In Luke 7, the Pharisee knew all about Jesus but didn’t know him. His heart was far from Jesus. He didn’t know that the visiting rabbi sat at his table was the promised Messiah that he’d spent countless hours studying about.

Then Luke tells us a woman comes on the scene while they are still eating. They are likely eating in the courtyard area where people could watch and even listen in on the conversation. Things get awkward as she comes up uninvited to the table. It’s really awkward because verse 37 says she’s a ‘sinner,’ i.e., a known prostitute in the village. Maybe she heard him earlier in the day, and something happened in her heart.

What had he said? Maybe something on forgiveness. Her eyes welled up as she discovered that God actually loved her, wanted to forgive her, to ‘yada’ her in a clean, pure way. Maybe she realized Jesus could put the broken pieces of her life back together. Or maybe it wasn’t his words, but how he looked at her and communicated worth and value. She wasn’t just a ‘sinner’ to him but a beloved daughter. Perhaps when Jesus finished, she knew God still loved her; it’s not too late, even someone like me can follow Him.

So she was desperate to see him again. Maybe she overheard someone saying he’d be having supper at the home of Simon the Pharisee – a dinner she’d never be invited to. She knew it was a place of condemnation and judging. But no, she just had to see Jesus again. And it took real courage to enter that courtyard, but she’s so focused on Jesus she forgets about herself. She’s desperate to express the love and affection she has for him. What she does next is impulsive and reckless – inappropriate even – and in fact it shows she’s just the kind of follower Jesus wants.

Picture the scene: Jesus is reclining at the table. Instead of chairs, people lean on their elbows propped up on a cushion. Their feet are away from the table.

The woman approaches and stands at the filthy feet of Jesus. The table grows silent. Everybody is watching. Everybody knows who she is. What is she doing? She looks around at the guests. She feels from some that familiar glare of condemnation.

Others keep their eyes down, embarrassed by her presence and the awkwardness of the moment. But when she looks at Jesus, he seems to know what has happened in her heart. He gives her a warm smile. He seems delighted that she has come, and he looks at her with the eyes of a loving father watching his beautiful daughter as she enters the room. She has never had a man look at her that way before. She is so undone by this that the tears come, just a few at first, and then more.

She falls to the ground and begins to kiss his feet. Soon, the tears are just pouring down her face. They begin to drip onto the dirty feet of Jesus. As she looks at the muddy streaks, she suddenly realizes that his feet haven’t been washed. She can’t ask for a towel. So she lets down her hair. In those days, women always wore their hair up in public. For a woman to wear her hair down in front of a man who was not her husband was considered to be such an intimate expression that it was literally grounds for divorce. She let her hair down in front of Jesus, and there was likely an audible gasp. She begins washing the feet of Jesus with her tears and drying them with her hair.

Then Luke says she had an alabaster jar of ointment. Most likely, this refers to a flask that was often worn around the neck as a kind of perfume for women. As you might guess, because of her profession, this flask was quite important. She had used it a drop at a time many, many times for many men. But now she empties it. She just empties the whole thing out. She will not need it anymore. She pours this flask – her life – on his feet, and she kisses them over and over. At the end of the story, we read:

44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.”

In the end, the religious leader with all the knowledge is shown to have missed it. The prostitute who intimately expressed her love for Jesus gets it. So, a question for us:

Who am I most like in the story?

When is the last time, if ever, you had a moment with Jesus like this lady in Luke 7? When’s the last time, if ever, that you poured yourself out before him? When was the last time, if ever, that tears streamed down your face as you expressed your love for him? When was the last time, if ever, that you demonstrated your love for Him with reckless abandonment?

Jesus continues:

47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

I hope those 1500 words were as impactful for you as they were for me. The Hebrew word ‘yada’ is defined as to know completely and to be completely known.

That’s my desire. That’s what I want. That’s my prayer.

Have an amazing weekend.

I love you,

George
Searching for intimacy