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Broken and Forgiven - The Gospels · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. Simon answered and said, I suppose that
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  Speaker 1: he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto them,
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  Speaker 1: Thou hast rightly judged. Luke 7.43 When I feel the
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  Speaker 1: weight and burden of my past, when I begin to
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  Speaker 1: feel the shame and guilt from the abuse of my past,
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  Speaker 1: I will come before you, Jesus, and bring to you
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  Speaker 1: whatever strength and worship I have left. I will pour
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  Speaker 1: out my praise and worship to you like the woman
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  Speaker 1: with the alabaster box of oil, because I know that
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  Speaker 1: in your presence is love, acceptance, and forgiveness. As I
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  Speaker 1: bow before you in prayer, I thank you for forgiving
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  Speaker 1: me and redeeming me. from any past afflictions. Even in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of scoffers and haters, I know that you
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  Speaker 1: are pleased and touched by my act of surrender. Lord,
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  Speaker 1: use me to help redeem others who may be in
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  Speaker 1: a similar position. Use me to take those who feel
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  Speaker 1: unworthy and to reconnect them to their value and true worth.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, amen. Listening to these daily prayers strengthens
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  Speaker 1: your relationship with God. Continue hearing from the Lord by
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  Speaker 1: listening to today's Bible in a Year. Brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by Bibleinayear.com.
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  Speaker 3: In our last story, Jesus healed the centurion's servant. He
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  Speaker 3: was restored because the centurion believed and clung to the
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  Speaker 3: authority of Jesus. He recognized that Jesus held authority over
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  Speaker 3: death and sickness. Now we are introduced to a woman
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  Speaker 3: who had been completely broken by her past. She approaches
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  Speaker 3: Jesus in the den of the religious leaders and worships
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  Speaker 3: him unlike anyone had before. as inspired by the Gospels.
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  Speaker 4: Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 4: Bible in a Year. In our last episode, we heard
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  Speaker 4: how Jesus healed in ways that left people speechless and
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  Speaker 4: astounded at this man who was among them. His power
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  Speaker 4: to heal with just a word, even to bring the
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  Speaker 4: dead back to life, brought many followers. Still, they did
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  Speaker 4: not truly understand his purpose or power, even as they
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  Speaker 4: had heard him speak and watched him heal. They did
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  Speaker 4: not know this was the long-awaited Messiah who brought the
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  Speaker 4: ultimate and complete healing that they really needed. Today, we'll
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  Speaker 4: meet a woman who approached Jesus boldly in her brokenness
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  Speaker 4: to worship at His feet. Her presence would disturb the
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  Speaker 4: legalistic establishment, but Jesus would recognize her sacrifice and her
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  Speaker 4: deep need of Him and honor her for her actions.
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  Speaker 4: Let's listen now to the reading of God's Word.
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  Speaker 3: Jesus sat among the Pharisees at a great feast. He
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  Speaker 3: watched as they mingled among themselves. There were laughs and
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  Speaker 3: deep discussions on the things of God. However, there was
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  Speaker 3: something beneath the surface of their smiles. Jesus could see
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  Speaker 3: beyond the polished exterior of the religious leaders. They wore
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  Speaker 3: their outward righteousness as a mask to hide their broken
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  Speaker 3: and selfish hearts. Jesus declined at the table, making small
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  Speaker 3: talk with the men to his right and left. He
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  Speaker 3: knew they hated him. He knew he was only invited
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  Speaker 3: because they wanted him comfortable. It broke Jesus' heart to
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  Speaker 3: see such deception underneath kind gestures. As the men spoke,
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  Speaker 3: Jesus saw a woman come in through the back door.
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  Speaker 3: She wore the face of someone who had been abused
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  Speaker 3: her entire life. Judging by the looks other men gave her,
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  Speaker 3: she was a notorious sinner in the city. She was
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  Speaker 3: equally enticing and revolting to the religious elite. She was
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  Speaker 3: not supposed to be there, but she had come to
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  Speaker 3: see Jesus. Jesus watched as the woman approached him, weeping.
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  Speaker 3: Around her neck was a small alabaster flask filled with
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  Speaker 3: precious ointment. Each woman in the city had one. It
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  Speaker 3: was their most valuable possession and meant to sell in
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  Speaker 3: hard times or give to one's husband. Tears streamed down
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  Speaker 3: the woman's cheeks as she fell before Jesus. She bore
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  Speaker 3: the tears of a broken heart. The tears fell on
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  Speaker 3: the Lord's feet and the woman began to wash him
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  Speaker 3: with her tears and hair. Then she broke the flask
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  Speaker 3: around her neck and anointed Jesus' hands, head, and feet
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  Speaker 3: with the fragrance. The smell filled the air as the
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  Speaker 3: Pharisees watched in uncomfortable silence. Jesus' heart broke for the woman.
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  Speaker 3: She fell at his feet, worshipping him the only way
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  Speaker 3: she knew how. She had been used and abused her
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  Speaker 3: whole life. She believed that her identity and love came
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  Speaker 3: from the men she shared her body with. Yet Jesus
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  Speaker 3: offered her something else. He offered purpose. He offered unconditional love.
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  Speaker 3: He offered a healed and clean heart. As the woman
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  Speaker 3: was still kneeling on the floor, one of the Pharisees, Simon,
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  Speaker 3: spoke up. If Jesus was truly a prophet, he would
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  Speaker 3: not let this woman anywhere near him, he scoffed. Everyone
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  Speaker 3: knows she is one of those women. Be careful, Jesus,
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  Speaker 3: or she might tempt you. Simon, Jesus said sternly as
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  Speaker 3: he stood to his feet. His eyes darted in the
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  Speaker 3: Pharisee's direction. I have something to say directly to you.
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  Speaker 3: Simon stepped back for a moment. He looked around the room.
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  Speaker 3: Everyone was incredibly tense. They knew that Jesus was a
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  Speaker 3: gentle man, but they had also heard how he single-handedly
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  Speaker 3: cleared the temple with a whip. Simon did his best
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  Speaker 3: to feign confidence. He did a poor job. He nodded
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  Speaker 3: towards Jesus and said, Yes, of course. Say it, teacher.
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  Speaker 3: Jesus approached Simon. With each step Jesus took forward, Simon
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  Speaker 3: took a step back. There was a moneylender who had
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  Speaker 3: two debitors. One of them owed 500 and the other
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  Speaker 3: owed 50. Neither of them could pay, so the moneylender
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  Speaker 3: forgave them both and canceled their debt. Jesus got closer
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  Speaker 3: to Simon. There was an intense silence. Tell me, which
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  Speaker 3: one of those debitors will love the moneylender more? Simon shrugged,
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  Speaker 3: still doing his best to seem confident. The one who
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  Speaker 3: was forgiven more money, I suppose, he answered. Correct, Jesus said.
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  Speaker 3: Then he went back to the woman and helped her
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  Speaker 3: to her feet. Do you see this woman, Simon? I
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  Speaker 3: entered your house. You gave me no water to wash
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  Speaker 3: my feet, which is custom for any guest. Yet this
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  Speaker 3: woman washed my feet with her own tears. You did
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  Speaker 3: not welcome me into this home, but this woman has
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  Speaker 3: anointed my head with her finest oil. I tell you
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  Speaker 3: this before all your guests. Her sins will be forgiven
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  Speaker 3: because she loved much. And listen to me closely. He
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  Speaker 3: who forgives little will love little. Then Jesus sent the
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  Speaker 3: woman on her way, and the whole house grumbled at
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  Speaker 3: their own inadequacy.
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  Speaker 4: We begin today's scripture at a great banquet where Jesus
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  Speaker 4: is the guest at the home of a Pharisee. It
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  Speaker 4: may seem unusual that those who seemed to despise Jesus
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  Speaker 4: so much would invite him to a feast, but their
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  Speaker 4: motives were not pure. They intended to challenge him on
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  Speaker 4: matters of the law. They wanted to gain the upper
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  Speaker 4: hand and expose Jesus in order to restore their own
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  Speaker 4: power among the people. It is a reminder that showiness
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  Speaker 4: and extravagant displays are not always a good indicator of
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  Speaker 4: a person's heart intentions. But as we've heard from Jesus
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  Speaker 4: on teaching, God sees through our outward appearance and perceives
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  Speaker 4: our true motives. So as he reclined at the table,
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  Speaker 4: Jesus would have been well aware of the purpose of
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  Speaker 4: these men. But we should also remember that Jesus' heart
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  Speaker 4: was not to shame or defeat them, but rather to
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  Speaker 4: bring them to repentance and fellowship with God. God's desire
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  Speaker 4: is that all would come to repentance and that everyone
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  Speaker 4: would turn to him and see Jesus not as a rival,
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  Speaker 4: but as the Savior of all sins, including the sins
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  Speaker 4: of self-righteousness. As we discover, there was one person who
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  Speaker 4: came into the feast who knew her need for Jesus,
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  Speaker 4: a woman whose reputation preceded her, and that's not in
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  Speaker 4: a good way. She came to the house to see Jesus.
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  Speaker 4: She wasn't a guest. She was a party crasher. She
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  Speaker 4: wasn't welcomed. Her appearance would have angered the righteous leaders.
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  Speaker 4: How dare she think she could be in their presence?
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  Speaker 4: But this woman wasn't afraid and she wasn't seeking the
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  Speaker 4: approval of the religious crowd. She went straight to Jesus
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  Speaker 4: and fell at his feet in tears. She wept until
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  Speaker 4: her tears moistened the feet of Jesus. His feet would
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  Speaker 4: have been dusty and dirty from walking along the road
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  Speaker 4: that day in his sandals. Having no towel, she used
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  Speaker 4: what she had, her hair, to wipe his feet dry
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  Speaker 4: before she kissed them and poured perfume all over his feet.
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  Speaker 4: It was such a lavish display of devotion. The perfume
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  Speaker 4: was no cheap fragrance from a roadside stand. It was
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  Speaker 4: an expensive perfume, a true sacrifice for this woman who
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  Speaker 4: surely was not wealthy. Seeing what was going on, the host,
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  Speaker 4: a Pharisee named Simon, began to murmur that Jesus couldn't
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  Speaker 4: be a prophet, otherwise he would have known what kind
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  Speaker 4: of woman this was. She was a sinner, unfit for
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  Speaker 4: their company and certainly unworthy of touching him. Jesus turned
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  Speaker 4: to Simon and posed a question. Supposing two men owed
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  Speaker 4: a lender money and that neither could repay their debt.
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  Speaker 4: The lender forgave both debts, so they both were off
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  Speaker 4: the hook. But one owed a very large sum, while
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  Speaker 4: the other a smaller sum. In this story, Jesus asked
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  Speaker 4: which man would love the lender more. Simon correctly judged
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  Speaker 4: that it was the man who owed more. Jesus then
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  Speaker 4: turned back to the woman and compared her to the
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  Speaker 4: man who owed a great deal. Yes, she was a sinner,
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  Speaker 4: but her lavish display demonstrated a depth of love and
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  Speaker 4: honor that Simon, the Pharisee, had failed to show Jesus,
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  Speaker 4: his invited guest. Then Jesus brought it all home for
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  Speaker 4: Simon and for us with these words found in Luke 7, 47.
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  Speaker 4: Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven,
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  Speaker 4: as her great love has been shown. But whoever has
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  Speaker 4: been forgiven little loves little. He then turned to the
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  Speaker 4: woman and forgave her sins, saying that her faith had
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  Speaker 4: saved her. Here's the great irony. In his story, neither
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  Speaker 4: of the debtors could repay the debt. In the same way,
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  Speaker 4: Simon and the other religious leaders could not repay the
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  Speaker 4: debt for their sins, and yet, because they saw themselves
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  Speaker 4: as righteous, not owing much, they felt entitled for forgiveness.
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  Speaker 4: They did not demonstrate true love for God as this
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  Speaker 4: woman did. She was a hopeless sinner in desperate need
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  Speaker 4: of forgiveness. The reality is that everyone in that room,
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  Speaker 4: everyone who has ever walked on this earth, apart from
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  Speaker 4: Jesus himself, is a sinner in need of salvation. We
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  Speaker 4: owed a debt we could not pay, but Jesus paid
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  Speaker 4: the debt on the cross so that we could be forgiven.
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  Speaker 4: It is only those who recognize their deep need for
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  Speaker 4: Jesus who will experience forgiveness and respond with great love
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  Speaker 4: toward the one who has forgiven them. Dear God, we
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  Speaker 4: thank you and praise you for your grace, for the
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  Speaker 4: gift of eternal life and the forgiveness of our sins
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  Speaker 4: that we have in Jesus Christ. Thank you for today's
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  Speaker 4: scripture that reminds us that we owe so much. May
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  Speaker 4: we also lavish our love in devotion and commitment to you,
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  Speaker 4: that you may know of our worship and our reverence
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  Speaker 4: for you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening
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  Speaker 4: to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Jack Graham
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  Speaker 4: from Dallas, Texas. You can download the Pray.com app and
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  Speaker 4: make prayer and Bible study the priority of your life,
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  Speaker 4: and I would encourage you to do it. If you
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  Speaker 4: have enjoyed this podcast, let others know. We're grateful that
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  Speaker 4: over 20 million people have downloaded the Bible in a Year.
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  Speaker 4: We're thankful that we can get the Word of God
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  Speaker 4: out to so many people. I want to encourage you
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  Speaker 4: to check out jackgram.org, that's jackgram.org, where you will find
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  Speaker 4: resources for Christian living and faith. God bless you and
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  Speaker 4: have a great day.