John the Baptist
John the Baptist is the greatest of the
phophets. His style is harsh. He represented the law. He and Jesus are actually
cousins.
Luke
7: 28 I tell you, of
all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person
in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!”
Luke 7: 33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’
Jesus
Calls Levi (Matthew)
Luke
5:27 Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax
collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and
be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. 28 So Levi got
up, left everything, and followed him.
29 Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus
as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests
also ate with them. 30 But the Pharisees and their
teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you
eat and drink with such scum?[e]”
31 Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t
need a doctor—sick people do. 32 I have come to call not
those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and
need to repent.”
Jesus called Levi (Matthew) a tax
collector to be his disciple. A tax collector is a social outcast. They are not
allowed to go to synagogues and are cut off from their family.
Pharisees and Feasts
The pharisees actually sees Jesus as
teacher and often invites him to feast to test him. When you invite Jesus as a teacher, he will talk in
parables. When you invite him as savior, he is most welcomed. When they were at
the feast, each man was actually sitting with one arm rested on table and his
legs laid behind. Here is an account of Simon (Chief Pharisee)'s invitation to
Jesus to one of his feasts. A woman (Harlot) whom Jesus had touched earlier
came with her precious alabaster jar of perfume to wash and kiss Jesus feet. In
Jesus' time, the wages for a day works is 1 denarius. The woman needs to save
up 1-2 years of work for this alabaster jar. In Greek translation, there is a
different between done once for all (perfect tense) and the need to do
regularly (present tense). Friends, do not be deceived! Once you are saved, you do not need to be
saved again and again. Only lies will tell you that you need constant forgiving
to justify yourself. Do not lower the level of Jesus' blood to that of a bull
and animals, where they have to do it regulary every year. Jesus stood outside
time, gathers all your past sins & future sins and paid fully on the cross.
The devil is behaving like the lion and
seeking whomever he may devour. The devil is trying to imitate the lion of
Judah and instil self-condemnation onto you.
Jesus
Anointed by a Sinful Woman
Luke
7: 36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have
dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the
table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life
learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with
an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she
began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed
them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he
said to himself, “If this man were a prophet,he would know who is touching him
and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something
to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender.
One owed him five hundred denarii,[c] and
the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so
he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the
bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus
said.
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.47 Therefore,
I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven (perfect
tense)—as her great love has shown. But
whoever has been forgiven (present tense) little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are
forgiven (perfect tense).”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves,
“Who is this who even forgives (present
tense) sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved
you; go in peace.”
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