Kerry Shook - Table of Grace
I have here a table and this is the kind of table Jesus would have eaten at. You know, it's a low table, it's more like a coffee table. In the first century in the Middle East, you would come to the dinner table and you would recline like this. And it feels a little strange to me to do that, but that's the way they would eat. They would each have a cushion. Instead of chairs, you would lie on cushions. You would relax and enjoy a good meal.
Now, Chris and I said last week that Jesus ate a diet that was similar to the Mediterranean diet. He had figs and olives and dates and some vegetables, sometimes there would be fish, but at every meal there would be bread. It wasn't the kind of flour that we have today. It was a richer flour with protein, a lot of times, for the poor, it was barley, which is really good for them, and flatbread, pita bread pretty much. But can you imagine eating dinner with Jesus Christ? I mean, reclining at a table like this with the Son of God. Hey, this would also have been the kind of table that Jesus would have made as he was growing up being a carpenter in his father Joseph's carpenter shop.
I'm sure there were residents in Nazareth who actually ate at a table made by Jesus. That'd be the ultimate conversation piece, wouldn't it? When someone came over for dinner and said, "I really love your table. Who made it"? "God. Yeah, the Son of God made our table. He did a really good job, didn't he? Yeah, he made the table and the tree that the table was made with". And I feel sorry for Jesus's half brothers who also worked with him in the carpenter shop as Jesus must have crafted perfect after perfect table. I can just see them going, "Jesus just finished another one, and it's perfect".
They probably wanted to sneak over and just cut off about 1/4 of an inch of one of the legs on the table. "Jesus, looks like you made a wobbly one there". You know? I mean, that'd be pretty tough. But we just started this new series that I'm calling "Dinner with Jesus". And so many of the stories in the Gospels revolve around Jesus at the dinner table. One reason why Jesus did a lot of his life-changing teaching while he was reclining at the dinner table is because dinner is every day. Dinner is an everyday occurrence. And Jesus wants to be the focal point of your everyday life, not just at church, but every day.
In the simple things, in the big things, in everyday mundane life. And the Bible is real clear, Jesus wasn't religious. With Jesus, it was all about relationships. And Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship with Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus wasn't a stick in the mud, no-fun religious leader who was really boring. No, people loved to be around Jesus. They loved to be around Jesus at the dinner table. He was fun to be around. Except for the prideful religious leaders, they didn't have much fun when they were around Christ, because he always called them out. But Jesus loved to recline at the dinner table with ordinary, broken, imperfect people like you and me. And that encourages me.
With Jesus it would start as dinner, but then it would go deeper. It always would start dinner and fun and relax, enjoyment, all good things. He would start his dinner, but Jesus would take it deeper. He would start with a table set with food, but then it would turn into nourishment for starving souls. And today I want us to look at a dinner party Jesus went to. Jesus at a dinner party. It started as a dinner party, but Jesus took it deeper. It started as a social event, but Jesus turned it into a saving event.
And so I want you to open your Bibles to Luke chapter 7. And would you stand in honor of God's Word? Just look at it with me, and it's a pretty long passage, but just stay with it because there's so many important things I want you to get from this. This amazing passage of scripture, an amazing account of Jesus at a dinner table as it starts at dinner, but it goes deeper. Just follow along in verse 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". So you can just picture Jesus at the table. Now, I believe it was probably a much bigger table. And all these guests are there, and Jesus though is reclining at the table. He's relaxed. He knows why he's there. He knows what he's doing. He's following his Father's will. But it says:
"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. 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. 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 that she's a sinner.' And Jesus answered him, 'Simon, I have something to tell you.' 'Tell me, teacher,' he said. 'Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 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?' And Simon replied, 'I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.' 'You have judged correctly,' Jesus said. 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. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven, as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.' Then Jesus said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.' The other guests begin to say among themselves, 'Who is this who even forgives sins?' But He said to the woman, 'Your faith has cured you: go, and be at peace.'"
You can be seated. Jesus was invited to the home of Simon the Pharisee. Now Simon was this prominent but prideful religious leader who held this big dinner party. He invites people over to his house, throws was a big dinner party, and it must have been the social event of the year. Everyone wanted a seat at that table, because they wanted to get an up close look at this guy named Jesus. They were all curious to find out who Jesus was. Jesus was the talk of the town because of his amazing teaching and the miracles they'd heard about. When all the wealthy and influential community leaders were all in their places reclining around the table, the party was crashed. The town prostitute walks right in the door, and everybody sits in stunned silence as she walks right up to Jesus, and she bowed at his feet.
And with tears streaming down her face, she opened up a bottle of expensive perfume and she poured it all on Jesus's feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. Everyone looked at the woman and Jesus with critical, judgmental eyes, but no one dared to say a word until Jesus broke the silence. And he looked at the judgmental Pharisee, and then he spoke truth to him. And then he turned to the woman and he said, "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has cured you".
You see, Simon came to the table that night because he thought Jesus needed his endorsement, Jesus needed his approval. Simon came to the table because he thought Jesus needed him. But this woman came to the table because she knew she needed Jesus, and Jesus forgave her sins. And it says that she was cured. The woman experienced a deep healing. She was healed spiritually, she was healed emotionally, she was healed relationally. And then Jesus said, "Go and be at peace. Go and be at peace". She received peace from her past. She received peace in place of all her fears. She experienced peace of mind and heart. She experienced peace and healing from all her brokenness. She received forgiveness, healing, and peace, and that's what you find when you come to the table of grace.
This story is really about the contrast between two people and two tables. The religious guy, the guy who hosted the dinner but refused to sit at the table of Grace, because he was firmly planted at his table of pride. And the prostitute who came humbly to the table of grace. Only one of them experienced forgiveness, healing, and peace that night. And that was the one who came to the table of grace.
Now, I want us to look at this passage closer, so look with me at verse 39 in Luke 7. "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.'" So Simon looked at the situation and he summed it up. He thought, "Jesus can't be the Son of God. He can't even be a prophet, because if he were a prophet, he would know this woman who is touching him is a sinner. She's a terrible sinner, and if Jesus was a prophet, he would know that, he wouldn't let her anoint him, and he would kick her out of the house".
Simon just looked at the surface level, he made his judgment. But Jesus looked deeper. Simon and the others at the dinner party were all about the surface level of life, that's all they saw on the table, that's all they saw around them, was what was on the outside. And to them, it was all about looking good on the outside. They looked great on the outside, but they were terminally sick and diseased on the inside. And until you see your deep need for forgiveness, you'll never experience forgiveness. Until you see your deep brokenness, you will never experience deep healing.
Well, Simon didn't think he needed drastic and deep healing from his sins. He was relationally clueless. He was clueless about his brokenness. I'm sure he thought, "Well, I'm not perfect. I've got a few little mistakes, but I'm better than almost everyone in the village. Maybe I need a few Band-Aids at times". But Jesus isn't into Band-Aids. Jesus doesn't use Band-Aids for deep wounds. He won't pretend all you need is a Band-Aid to cover up the soul-rotting disease of sin that we all need healing from. So I want you to look at what Jesus tells Simon, because Jesus knows what Simon is thinking. It's in verse 44 of Luke 7.
Now, I have to admit, that's one of the things that would scare me about being at a dinner table with Jesus. I mean, it would be fun, I would have so many questions to ask him. I would want to get to know him, but I probably would be thinking, "He knows what I'm thinking right now. He knows everything I'm thinking". So I would probably only be thinking about the fact that he knows everything I'm thinking if I were at dinner with Jesus. Well, he knew exactly what Simon was thinking. And so in verse 44 it says, "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. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.'"
See, Simon's real issue was pride. Simon not only judged the woman, but he judged Jesus. He thought he was better than Jesus. He didn't wash Jesus's feet. He didn't offer Jesus water to wash his feet. In that day washing a guest's feet was an essential formality. If you didn't wash your guest's feet, at least you would offer them a bowl of water so they could wash their own feet. Simon didn't even do that. Not offering a bowl of water so a guest could at least wash their own feet before they ate was an extreme insult.
You see, Simon was basically thinking, "Jesus, you're so lucky I invited you to my home. I'm so influential, if I give my seal of approval on you, you got it made, but I've got a lot of questions. You're so lucky I decided to invite you to my house so we could question you. You're so fortunate to be in my house, because I'm a prominent leader. I'm very religious. I'm very pious. I'm very intelligent. Everyone wants a seat at my table, and I'm inviting you". Simon was so proud that he didn't even offer to wash Jesus's feet. He didn't even offer to give Jesus a bowl of water so he could wash his own feet. He was sitting firmly at the table of pride.
You see, the woman knew she needed a miracle healing for her desperately broken life. She realized how much she needed forgiveness. She knew that she was a sinner. You know, she knew that everyone looked at her as filthy, as dirty, as broken. She was the town prostitute. Now, it may not have been her choice, she may have been pushed into it. Maybe it was human trafficking. Maybe it was men who really pushed her into that so that she could provide for her family, we don't know. But we know that she needed a miracle healing for a desperately broken life. And she realized how much she needed deep healing for the sickness of her sins. And she didn't want a Band-Aid solution, she wanted a cure.
Aren't you tired of putting up with Band-Aid solutions for your deepest wounds and hurts? Aren't you tired of just using Band-Aids to cover up the problems in your life or in your marriage or in your family? Aren't you tired of just using Band-Aid solutions? Aren't you tired of just trying to find the next self-help book to help cure your deepest hurts? Aren't you tired of trying to fix the problem by doing it yourself, by focusing on what's on the surface and what you see? Or do you want a cure? Don't you want a cure, a deep cure? You'll find it when you come to Jesus at the table of grace. But Simon missed it, because he was firmly seated at the table of pride.
If you looked at Simon from the outside, you would say, "He's got it all together. He's wealthy. He has status. He's successful. He's religious. He does a lot of great things in the community. He's a good person. He's respected. Simon's got it all together". But Jesus looked right past the surface and right into Simon's heart, and he saw a cold, dark heart that was desperately in need of forgiveness and healing. You see, Simon was really in a more desperate place than this woman because he didn't recognize how desperate he really was. And the most desperately needy people of all are those who don't realize how desperately needy they are, because we all are so desperately in need of a deeper cure for the sickness of our sins.
You see, the first step to healing is to admit your desperate need for healing. The second step is come to Jesus at the table of grace because it's a free gift. And when you come to the table of grace because you know how desperately you need forgiveness, Jesus will look at you and say, "Treasure, beautiful, priceless. You're so valuable that I paid for you with my life. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about you or anyone else labels you, you are priceless, you are my treasure". And it changed her worth right there. She didn't care what everyone else was thinking, because they didn't matter. She cared what the Son of God said because that was truth.
I want you again to look at Luke in verse 37. It says, "When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them". She opened up this very expensive jar of perfume, probably her most valuable possession in the world. And she came up to Jesus, and you're gonna see how it happened. His feet are already right there. She didn't come up to him while he was in a chair, she came up to him, he was right there, and it says, "She poured out the perfume all on Jesus," and as it splashed on Jesus's feet, it mixed with something even more precious: her tears of repentance.
She was accused of being wasteful. She was accused of being extravagant. She wasn't wasteful, but she was extravagant. Yes, she was extravagant in her gratitude for Christ. But she experienced extravagant forgiveness, extravagant healing, and extravagant peace that would change her life forever! And that's what you find at the table of grace. You find fulfillment. Your starving soul is filled with extravagant grace, extravagant peace, extravagant healing, extravagant forgiveness. She didn't give extravagantly to earn Christ's forgiveness and healing, she gave extravagantly because of her gratitude. She realized how much she had been forgiven. She realized how amazing grace is, and the table of grace is available to everyone.
The table of grace is a table of extravagance. It's a table where you experience extravagant and undeserved grace, undeserved forgiveness, extravagant and undeserved love, and peace, and healing, but I'm so grateful that the table of grace is set with extravagance for anyone who will come hungry and empty, and you'll be filled. The table set that day, the long table, the big impressive table filled with all these extravagant dishes. They probably had meat, which was rare. And it was set so nicely, and everything looked so good; it was extravagant. The meal was extravagant. But that food that day may have filled their physical bodies, but it left their souls starving. But this woman, her soul was fulfilled.
Now, let's look at Luke again, but a different chapter. Luke 14:21 because this passage talks about a future dinner with Jesus. Do you know if you're a Christ follower, you didn't get a chance to eat dinner with Jesus in the New Testament. But you get a chance to eat with Jesus. You will eat with Jesus one day at the wedding feast of the Lamb. You will have dinner with Jesus, isn't that amazing?
And Chris and I are gonna speak on that the last weekend of the series, about what that means and what that's gonna be all about. It's gonna be really powerful, but I want you to see in this passage that Jesus told a parable about a man who owned a great house and he wanted to provide a banquet for all of his friends and have a big feast, big dinner party. And so, he invites all his friends, and everybody says, "No, don't wanna come". Too busy, don't realize how amazing it's gonna be.
And so then this happens: it says, "The servant went back and told the master what had happened. He was outraged and told the servant, 'Quickly, get out into the city streets and alleys. Collect all who look like they need a square meal, all the misfits and homeless and down-and-out that you can lay your hands on, and bring them here.'"
I love that because... what is he saying? The only people that will get to eat at the big family dinner in heaven are those misfits and messed up and sinful and broken who have come to the table of grace, who've realized their need and come to Jesus at the table of grace. I am so thankful that the table of grace is for everyone who'll come. Everyone who sees their need and comes to the table of grace, there's no bragging at the table of grace, because it's all grace and it's undeserved. I'm so glad it's from misfits and people who screw up and people who've sinned and they're broken and messed up. People like me, people like you, that's the table of grace.
You know, maybe the reason the tables that Jesus ate at were so low to the ground is because what a perfect symbol of the table of grace. It's the perfect symbol of the table of grace. You've got to lower yourself and humble yourself to come to the table of grace. I want you to look at Ephesians 1:6, it says, "To the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace".
If you come to the table of grace, if you've already come to the table of grace, do you realize the riches that are there for you? I think a lot of Christ followers come to the table of grace and eat from the table of grace, but then they forget about it. And then they let the enemy bring condemnation and guilt on them. And they don't live in victory, they just pick up shame along the way. When God wants you to live in his grace and just breathe in his grace and fill yourself every day with his grace, but to do that, you got to humble yourself to admit that you need his grace every day. To stay at the table of grace and just know that you're no longer condemned, because you're in Christ. You don't have to carry that guilt because of Christ.