LUKE CHAPTER 7 (PART 2): THE IMMORAL WOMAN

I don’t know where to begin
with sharing the rest of Luke chapter 7.
 
Do I start with the story of compassion,
when Jesus saw sorrow in the eyes of a woman
who was getting ready to bury her dead son?
 
Or do I share the story of John’s two disciples
who approached Jesus
to see if he was the Messiah
they were expected?
 
Perhaps I should start with the story of Jesus,
the Pharisee and the immoral woman who desired forgiveness,
since this is really the story that is pulling at me.
 
I mean compassion and glory are stupendous,
but they mean absolutely nothing
without God‘s forgiveness,
and while it’s marvelous
that Jesus can tell a dead man to stand and walk,
its even more miraculous
that the God would forgive us.
 
I mean,
look at what humanity has done to him!
We are constantly rebelling and widening the division.
 
Our ego-centrism
and self-righteousness
has been growing and spreading
since we first betrayed him.
 
Our first rebellion
happened in His Garden -
and this is when we were first separated. 
 
But since then -
he’s given us so many chances to come home -
but we keep walking away and wanting to be on our own.
 
It wasn’t long before we betrayed him again,
by cheating on him with his own sons.
 
According to Genesis Chapter 6,
the daughters of humans mated with God’s sons.
 
While this seems really hard to believe,
I think it’s probably one of God's biggest mysteries!
 
Since there is a heavenly court,
and Satan is known as the prince of this world,
is it possible that we have been interpreting scripture
from a self-centered view?
 What if the words written in Psalm 82 are true
and God has a heavenly court in His Kingdom?
 
What if there are truly
fallen angels who inhabit the earth?
What if Satan is what the scripture says -
and he really is the ruler of this world?
 
Is it possible that God’s first family
was not human,
but angelic hosts who were birthed from him?
 
I mean if he is the God of the universe,
isn’t it possible
that our humanistic view could be wrong?
What if Heaven was created before our world was born?
 
Anyway, I don’t know enough of this larger worldview
but I do know that there is scripture
that leaves me totally confused.

Anyway,
back to Genesis Chapter 6,
when women gave birth to giants.
The scripture says
that every thought that we had
was filled evil intent,
and our disobedience
turned into pure wickedness.
 
It’s in the wilderness
that we truly went astray.
This is when we greatly multiplied
and began to think our own way.
 
This is when God saw that everything was wrong.
He stated he was sorry for even making humans!
 
Corruption and violence was observed everywhere,
there was absolutely no compassion,
no love, or no care.
 
This is when God decided to fully wipe us out -
it’s the second time in history
we completely broke his heart!
 
He sent a flood to cover the earth,
because he done dealing with our hard hearts!
 
But the Lord found favor
with one righteous man,
a man named Noah
who walked in close fellowship with Him.
 
God could not find it
in His heart to destroy him -
his heart is truly filled
with faithfulness and unfailing love.
 
Instead of changing his mind
to allow all evil men to live,
God instructed Noah
to build an ark that would save him.
 
And even though water
had never fallen from the sky,
Noah totally trusted God
and followed His advice.
 
He worked diligently
to construct the boat,
despite being mocked
by his fellow folk.
 
Because Noah
was the only blameless person to exist,
God saved him, and his three sons.
 
Did I not say,
this IS the SECOND time God forgave us.
 
Instead of killing every single human,
he saved humanity through a man of one.
 
You would think that would have been it -
humanity would want to return our hearts to Him.
 
But that is not what happened!
 We broke God’s heart again!
A third time -
when we decided to unite
and build the city of Babylon!
 
How could we do this?
This is the third time we cheated on our God,
by choosing to love ourselves
instead of being obedient to him!
 
Once again,
our pride got in the way.
This time we were united
by our desire for fame.
 
It's just a natural
expression of our sin -
the more we multiply as humans,
the more we divide ourselves from Him.
 
It didn’t take long
for us to walk away from God again -
probably because our egos
feed our sin.
 
I suppose when people multiply
and get in front of themselves,
they become blinded
and forget who God is.
 
But once again,
our God stepped in.
He stopped humans from building
their tower in Babylon.
 
He took away common language,
and separated them!
I think this may have been
when we stopped seeing ourselves
as one race,
and became divided as nations.
 
Instead of serving
the one and true God,
people were given what they wanted -
by serving his illigetimate sons.

Is it possible
the sons of God
we’re given permission
to rule over the the nations of the world?
 Is this why Jesus was tempted
with the option
to have dominion
of a worldly Kingdom?
 
Now I see
why God calls Jesus his beloved son,
the one whom he loves,
is it possible because he is the only faithful one?

Is it possible
that Jesus is the only key
that allows us to enter
the Kingdom of Heaven?
 
Is it only
through his blood
that we can be adopted
into the family of God?

But I know there is a nation
that God claims for himself,
a nation called Israel
that came through a human father
named Abraham.
 
Once again,
we see deliverance through one.
Just like Noah was birth through the flood,
Abraham would give birth to a son.
 
Abram was from the land of Ur
in Mesopotamia,
and because of his faith
he earned God’s favor.

He was willing to leave his home,
to follow the step by step directions
that would be given by the Lord.
 
God told him he would become
the father of many nations,
even though his wife could not have children.
It’s is truly this kind of faith our God loves,
a heart just for him -
with a vow never to divorce!
 
Abraham and Sarah
wavered for a short time,
when Sarah was old and still didn’t have a son.
She encouraged Abraham
to have sex with her slave,
and when he did
he conceived Ishmael.
But Ishmael was not a legitimate son,
so it is not from his line
that our salvation is won.
God promised Sarah a son,
and it is through Abraham's seed
that Isaac was born.
At first,
God tested Abraham’s faith,
by telling him he must sacrifice his son, Issac.
Of course
this is exactly
what Abraham would have done.
He was willing to sacrifice
his legitimate son -
Issac,
the one that he loved.
And only because
he knew God was real.    
But God is so good!
He allowed Abraham
to keep his son,
and from Issac, Jacob was born.
And while Jacob had to wrestle with God,
it was his heart that God truly loved.
So through Jacob,
Israel was named, 
they would be God's children,
his faithful slaves.
I could speak to their wandering
and their foolish falsehoods,
but for now I’ll just say,
it’s through line of Judah,
then David,
that Jesus was born.
If you don’t believe me,
then go to Matthew Chapter 1,
this is where you will find
the genealogy of Jesus
which can be understood.
 
Anyway,
back to the story of forgiveness
found at the end of Luke Chapter 7.
The story of the immoral woman
who longed to be forgiven.  
 
She brought her best perfume
to wash Jesus’s feet
while she knelt before him
feeling shame and defeat.
 
He allowed her tears to fall on his feet, 
and he allowed her to use her hair
to wipe them off.
 
She laid her life down before him,
completely broken -
so that she could be forgiven of sin.
 
Do you not see,
the symbolism in this?
 It’s at the feet of Jesus
that we find true forgiveness.
 
God has never divorced us.
We've only been separated.
He is patiently waiting
for us to come home.

He has always saved humans
through the faith of one.
Nothing has changed -
forgiveness has always been through His son,
the true and faithful one.
 
Our God is monogamous,
and this is why he is so jealous
when he sees us
searching after other loves.

So, stop running
and turn to him,
come to the feet of Jesus,
his beloved son.
 
I think I love this story
so much
because it speaks to the essence
of God’s pure love.
It embeds all the characteristics
of His Kingdom - 
a home of forgiveness and unfailing love.
These are the ground rules
of his home,
and he always has open arms
for his prodigal sons.