Luke 7 and 7D in SF!
On Friday night, Klesis 3 of Klesis Berkeley Christian Fellowship continued studying through the book of Luke, chapter 7. This time, Nick led us through the account of the weeping woman who approached Jesus.
The woman, described as "a woman of the city, a sinner" learned that Jesus was having dinner at a Pharisee's house. She sought him out and brought with her a flask of ointment. When she finally found him in the Pharisee's house, she stood behind Jesus, weeping, and began to wet his feet with her tears, wipe them with her hair, kiss them, and anoint them with ointment.
At this point, Nick asked us to imagine attending a dinner with dignitaries similar to the Pharisees (like Martin Luther King Jr, or Obama) with the Pope as the guest of honor. If a woman suddenly entered the room and did the same things to the Pope, how would we feel?
We all answered: "Awkward."
But what drives people do to embarrassing things? Some people do it for love, and this woman clearly showed she loved Jesus.
Because the woman's sins were so publicly known, the Pharisee looked down on the woman with spite. Jesus answered the Pharisee's derision with a parable: “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii, and the other 50. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” The Pharisee answered that the one with 500 would love the moneylender more.
The woman is like the person with a 500 denarii debt, and the Pharisee like the one with 50. Nick pointed out that these debts are not in money, but in sins. The woman knew how sinful she truly was, but the Pharisee thought his sins were little.
The woman and the Pharisee showed how much they loved Jesus and had faith that he was the Son of God. The Pharisee showed little love toward him; he didn't provide Jesus with water to wash his feet. Yet the woman had not ceased to kiss Jesus' feet since Jesus had arrived! The woman showed a faith working by love, and the love proved the faith. Therefore, Jesus says, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Are we the woman, or are we the Pharisee? Do we know the depths of our sins?
Is it right to show a faith working by love to Jesus?
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Afterwards, Klesis 3 took Pier 39 in San Francisco by storm!
We had a great time trying to navigate through an extremely deceptive mirror maze, and fought for the top scores in the 7D Adventure!
(Mary Zheng definitely demolished the competition in 7D that night :O)
