Accepted in the Beloved

ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED - Luke 7:36-50  Part 1, Scenes 1 and 2

                                       Study by Para-chaplain Leona Kidd

SCENE 1

READ:  LUKE  7:36

  Jesus was into the home of the Pharisees.  The Pharisees were a Jewish sect, upholders of tradition, lovers of display (show n tell), they were cruel persecutors; they perverted scripture, were blind to spiritual things and refused to accept Christ.         Jesus later described them in

                        Matt.12:34, 34, as SNAKES

                        Matt 15:12-14, as BLIND

                         Matt. 23:13-19, as HYPOCRITES

                         Matt. 23:33, as SONS OF VIPERS

                         John 8:13,44 as CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL

YET - JESUS WENT IN AND DINED WITH THEM.

WHY would Jesus who knew all of these things about them willingly go into the home of Simon the Pharisee?

 Because Jesus is a “FRIEND to the worst sort of sinners, and he was also willing to be a friend to the Pharisees who would LISTEN to Him

JESUS ACCEPTS ALL WHO WILL COME TO HIM.  THATS WHEN WE ARE ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED

SCENE 2

READ Verses (Luke 7:37-39)

Close your eyes - picture a small room - Several men stretched out around a low table covered with food.  Their feet point away from the table. They are talking - when a woman enters the room - she is a known prostitute.

Yet  No one chases her out, which would have been customary, as a prophet did not allow a sinful woman to touch them.

This immoral, sinful woman begins anointing Jesus’ feet. Her tears fall on His feet; she takes her hair and begins wiping them with her long hair.  (proper women did not undo their hair in public) But she doesn’t care. 

Then she breaks the Alabaster jar of expensive oil and fills the room with its sweet fragrance.  She breaks the jar – symbolic of breaking away from her sins.  Her actions are an expression of her deep devotion to Jesus.

DID YOU GET THE PICTURE -

This woman was a prostitute.  We all know the definition of a prostitute.  You might be thinking WELL I’M NOT A PROSTITUTE But did you know that it also means someone devoted to corrupt or unworthy purposes.  Or a person who deliberately debases his or her talents. 

If we confess our sins and ask for forgiveness - Jesus will forgive us -  in the Greek forgiveness is  (Salach - saw-lakh)   He “Blots them out”, “Pardons us” and “Heals us from wounding”

 He removes our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.  (NOT NORTH TO SOUTH - EARTH REVOLVES IN THAT DIRECTION- BUT FROM EAST TO WEST - NEVER TO MEET UP WITH YOU AGAIN)

ROMAN 4:8 “…WHAT JOY FOR THOSE WHOSE SIN IS NO LONGER COUNTED AGAINST THEM BY THE LORD.”

God does not continue to credit unrighteousness to the sinner who repents, but forgives him.

I JOHN 1:8-9, “IF WE SAY WE HAVE NOT SIN, WE ARE ONLY FOOLING OURSELVES AND REFUSING TO ACCEPT THE TRUTH.  BUT IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS TO HIM HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US AND TO CLEANSE US FROM EVERY WRONG.”

Asking for forgiveness provides us with a forgiveness that restores our communion with God. 

There is an old saying that says, “If you feel like God is not near, Guess who moved?” 

If you want to FEEL close to Jesus - STAY close to Jesus. 

When we have believed that Jesus is the Son of God, that he lived, died on the cross, and on the third day rose again, removing the bondage of our sins, and today sits at the right hand of God —– then WE ARE ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED. 

    (To be continued)