Luke 7–8: Faith & First Love

Christian Life, Faith, Forgiveness, God, Grace, Jesus Christ, Love, Mercy, New Life, Read the Bible in 2023, Repentance, Sin, TruthLeave a comment

Read the Bible in 2023 ◊ Week 22: Saturday

And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 5:1–2 LSB
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Saturday’s Bible reading is Luke 7–8. Watch for the com­passion of the Lord Jesus as He inter­action with people.

In Luke 7, Jesus heals the centurion’s slave, raises the widow of Nain’s son from the dead, and interacts with Simon the Pharisee and an immoral woman. In Luke 8, He tells the parable of the sower, speaks regarding His family, stills a storm, delivers a man in the Gerasenes from demons, heals a woman who has had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and raises the daughter of Jairus from the dead. When you look at all the many things He did that changed people’s lives so completely, it’s no wonder the crowds followed Him.

As you read, notice the words faith and believe and where they are used in these two chapters. Kent Hughes writes,

“Faith is an exercise in reality. He who sees clearly, and not merely as he would like to see, is on safe ground.

“Do you see yourself as deserving of Christ’s grace, as the elders did the cen­turion?… Have you secretly internalized others’ good opinion of your­self, so that despite the persistent teaching of God’s Word that salvation comes through faith and is a gift of God, you imagine that you will some­how make it into the kingdom by your personal virtue?…

“If so, you are not seeing reality…The reality is that you, like the cen­turion, are not worthy. No one is. All your acts of supposed righteousness will not cut it with God. Your only hope is the love and grace of Christ!…

“Biblical faith is an exercise in reality — true seeing. Do you see yourself as you are? Do you see Christ as he is? If so, you see with the eyes of faith.”1

The parable of the sower in Luke 8, is a parable of how people respond to God’s Word. When Jesus explains it to His disciples, He describes those who believe God’s Word and are saved.

But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
Luke 8:15 LSB
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One of my favorite events in the life of Christ is found in Luke 7:36–50, Jesus is eating at the home of Simon the Pharisee. Their meal is interrupted:

And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner. And when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. And standing behind Him at His feet, crying, she began to wet His feet with her tears. And she kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume.
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Now when the Pharisee, who had invited Him, saw this, he said to himself, saying, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”
Luke 7:37–39 LSB
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Hughes believes the woman was a pro­stitute because of “Simon’s revulsion at her actually touching Jesus.” He adds that this is the opinion of most com­mentators.2

Jesus tells Simon a parable of two debtors. If you haven’t read it, go to Luke 7:36–50, and read the passage before reading further here. Jesus has some pointed remarks for Simon, and He tells him:

“For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Luke 7:47 LSB
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Hughes explains:

“The thought is not that her great love for Christ earned her forgiveness. Such a sense is impossible and goes against the entire context [note the parable of the money lender]. The Jerusalem Bible brings out the meaning of Jesus’ words:  “For this reason I tell you that her sins, her many sins, must have been forgiven, or she would not have shown such great love.” Her passionate display of love was a result of Jesus’ forgiveness.”3

This incident in Luke brings to my mind Jesus’ admonition to the church at Ephesus:

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: This is what the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says:
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‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot bear with those who are evil, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, you also have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
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Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first. But if not, I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
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He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’”
Revelation 2:1–7 LSB
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in his book, Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-Up Call to the Church Revelation 2:4, Alexander Strauch interprets it as encompassing all Christian love, for God and for our neighbor.4

I think Luke 7 helps us begin to understand an answer to the question, What does first love for God look like? Compare the heart of Simon the Pharisee with the heart of the immoral woman in their encounter with Jesus. Look at the differences in their approach, their attitudes and their actions.

Their approach:

Simon the Pharisee approaches Jesus with skepticism (v. 39) and with insult (vv. 44–45).

The woman approaches Jesus with humility (v. 38) and with honor for Him (vv. 37–38).

Their attitude:

Simon’s attitude towards the woman is moralistic piety (v. 39), scorn (v. 39) and judgment (v. 39).

The woman’s attitude is repentance (vv. 37–38), gratitude (vv. 37–38) and adoration (vv. 37–38).

Their actions:

Simon’s actions reveal he had no understanding of himself or of who Jesus was (vv. 39, 44–45).

The woman’s actions reveal she knew who she was, and she knew who Jesus was (vv. 37–38).

Hughes has this to say about those who are viewed today as Simon viewed the woman then:

“Some people whom we would not touch with a ten foot pole, if they met Christ, would put us to shame with their fervent love. Such people love much because they have been forgiven much—and they cannot get over it.

“However, this does not mean that unless one falls into the depths of sin he or she cannot love God deeply. What is necessary is a con­sciousness of sin. The depth and passion of our personal Christianity depends on how clearly we see our personal guilt—and then our forgiveness in Christ.”5

Hughes asks:

“Do I, do you, really love him? This is the unfailing test of our faith. Is our love for him growing? This is a sure indicator of our spiritual health.”6

‘First Love’ is a theme in my writing. You’ll find more of my thoughts on it at the Truth For The Heart page, and in “The Mark of a Christian.” I write about it because it’s so important. When Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, He answered:

And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
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This is the great and foremost commandment. And the second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’
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On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:37–40 LSB
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And so:

We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.
1 John 4:19–21 LSB
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First and foremost, the bottom line of our life is knowing and loving God.  Over the years I’ve realized that in the churches and individuals in which that ‘first love’ for God is present, fueled by immense gratitude for God’s grace and forgiveness, I have seen and known the greatest love for others; there has been hunger for His Word and an earnest desire to live in obedience and righteous­ness; there has been a reality of the Christian life that matched the words of the Scripture. Hughes notes that in Luke 7:36–50, “She was there because of gratitude.”7 With ‘first love’ for Christ, the rest follows and falls into place.

“For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
Luke 7:47 LSB
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Love much!

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Silvesterzug Laterne: Bk muc. (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Jesus at the Home of Simon the Pharisee: William Hole. Public Domain.
1,2,3,5,6,7R. Kent Hughes, Luke: That You May Know the Truth, vol. 1 (Crossway Books, Wheaton IL: 1998) 258–259, 276, 283, 281, 283, 276.
4Alexander Strauch, Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-Up Call to the Church Revelation 2:4 (Lewis and Roth Publishers, Littleton CO: 2008) 20–23.
See also my post, “Love Or Die.”

I’m using Michael Coley’s Bible reading plan (one page PDF to print) to read through the Bible in 2023. Each day my posts are on different books because he divides Bible readings into seven categories, one for each day of the week: Epistles, The Law, History, Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy and Gospels. There’s more information on his plan and other ones at Read the Bible in 2023.

Copyright ©2011–2023 Iwana Carpenter

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