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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.
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  Speaker 2: In our last story, Jesus healed the centurion's servant. He
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  Speaker 2: was restored because the centurion believed and clung to the
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  Speaker 2: authority of Jesus. He recognized that Jesus held authority over
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  Speaker 2: death and sickness. Now we are introduced to a woman
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  Speaker 2: who had been completely broken by her past. She approaches
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  Speaker 2: Jesus in the den of the religious leaders and worships
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  Speaker 2: him unlike anyone had before, as inspired by the Gospels.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of The
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year. In our last episode, we heard
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  Speaker 3: how Jesus healed in ways that left people speechless and
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  Speaker 3: astounded at this man who was among them. His power
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  Speaker 3: to heal with just a word, even to bring the
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  Speaker 3: dead back to life, brought many followers. Still, they did
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  Speaker 3: not truly understand his purpose or power, even as they
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  Speaker 3: had heard him speak and watched him heal. They did
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  Speaker 3: not know this was the long-awaited Messiah who brought the
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  Speaker 3: ultimate and complete healing that they really needed. Today, we'll
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  Speaker 3: meet a woman who approached Jesus boldly in her brokenness
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  Speaker 3: to worship at His feet. Her presence would disturb the
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  Speaker 3: legalistic establishment, but Jesus would recognize her sacrifice and her
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  Speaker 3: deep need of Him and honor her for her actions.
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  Speaker 3: Let's listen now to the reading of God's Word.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus sat among the Pharisees at a great feast. He
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  Speaker 2: watched as they mingled among themselves. There were laughs and
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  Speaker 2: deep discussions on the things of God. However, there was
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  Speaker 2: something beneath the surface of their smiles. Jesus could see
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  Speaker 2: beyond the polished exterior of the religious leaders. They wore
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  Speaker 2: their outward righteousness as a mask to hide their broken
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  Speaker 2: and selfish hearts. Jesus declined at the table, making small
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  Speaker 2: talk with the men to his right and left. He
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  Speaker 2: knew they hated him. He knew he was only invited
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  Speaker 2: because they wanted him comfortable. It broke Jesus' heart to
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  Speaker 2: see such deception underneath kind gestures. As the men spoke,
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  Speaker 2: Jesus saw a woman come in through the back door.
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  Speaker 2: She wore the face of someone who had been abused
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  Speaker 2: her entire life. Judging by the looks other men gave her,
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  Speaker 2: she was a notorious sinner in the city. She was
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  Speaker 2: equally enticing and revolting to the religious elite. She was
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  Speaker 2: not supposed to be there, but she had come to
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  Speaker 2: see Jesus. Jesus watched as the woman approached him, weeping.
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  Speaker 2: Around her neck was a small alabaster flask filled with
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  Speaker 2: precious ointment. Each woman in the city had one. It
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  Speaker 2: was their most valuable possession and meant to sell in
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  Speaker 2: hard times or give to one's husband. Tears streamed down
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  Speaker 2: the woman's cheeks as she fell before Jesus. She bore
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  Speaker 2: the tears of a broken heart. The tears fell on
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  Speaker 2: the Lord's feet and the woman began to wash him
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  Speaker 2: with her tears and hair. Then she broke the flask
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  Speaker 2: around her neck and anointed Jesus' hands, head, and feet
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  Speaker 2: with the fragrance. The smell filled the air as the
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  Speaker 2: Pharisees watched in uncomfortable silence. Jesus' heart broke for the woman.
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  Speaker 2: She fell at his feet, worshipping him the only way
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  Speaker 2: she knew how. She had been used and abused her
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  Speaker 2: whole life. She believed that her identity and love came
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  Speaker 2: from the men she shared her body with. Yet Jesus
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  Speaker 2: offered her something else. He offered purpose. He offered unconditional love.
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  Speaker 2: He offered a healed and clean heart. As the woman
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  Speaker 2: was still kneeling on the floor, one of the Pharisees, Simon,
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  Speaker 2: spoke up. If Jesus was truly a prophet, he would
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  Speaker 2: not let this woman anywhere near him, he scoffed. Everyone
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  Speaker 2: knows she is one of those women. Be careful, Jesus,
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  Speaker 2: or she might tempt you. Simon, Jesus said sternly as
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  Speaker 2: he stood to his feet. His eyes darted in the
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  Speaker 2: Pharisee's direction. I have something to say directly to you.
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  Speaker 2: Simon stepped back for a moment. He looked around the room.
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  Speaker 2: Everyone was incredibly tense. They knew that Jesus was a
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  Speaker 2: gentle man, but they had also heard how he single-handedly
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  Speaker 2: cleared the temple with a whip. Simon did his best
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  Speaker 2: to feign confidence. He did a poor job. He nodded
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  Speaker 2: towards Jesus and said, Yes, of course. Say it, teacher.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus approached Simon. With each step Jesus took forward, Simon
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  Speaker 2: took a step back. There was a moneylender who had
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  Speaker 2: two debitors. One of them owed 500 and the other
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  Speaker 2: owed 50. Neither of them could pay, so the moneylender
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  Speaker 2: forgave them both and canceled their debt. Jesus got closer
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  Speaker 2: to Simon. There was an intense silence. Tell me, which
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  Speaker 2: one of those debitors will love the moneylender more? Simon shrugged,
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  Speaker 2: still doing his best to seem confident. The one who
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  Speaker 2: was forgiven more money, I suppose, he answered. Correct, Jesus said.
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  Speaker 2: Then he went back to the woman and helped her
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  Speaker 2: to her feet. Do you see this woman, Simon? I
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  Speaker 2: entered your house. You gave me no water to wash
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  Speaker 2: my feet, which is custom for any guest. Yet this
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  Speaker 2: woman washed my feet with her own tears. You did
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  Speaker 2: not welcome me into this home, but this woman has
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  Speaker 2: anointed my head with her finest oil. I tell you
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  Speaker 2: this before all your guests. Her sins will be forgiven
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  Speaker 2: because she loved much. And listen to me closely. He
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  Speaker 2: who forgives little will love little. Then Jesus sent the
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  Speaker 2: woman on her way, and the whole house grumbled at
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  Speaker 2: their own inadequacy.
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  Speaker 3: We begin today's scripture at a great banquet where Jesus
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  Speaker 3: is the guest at the home of a Pharisee. It
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  Speaker 3: may seem unusual that those who seemed to despise Jesus
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  Speaker 3: so much would invite him to a feast, but their
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  Speaker 3: motives were not pure. They intended to challenge him on
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  Speaker 3: matters of the law. They wanted to gain the upper
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  Speaker 3: hand and expose Jesus in order to restore their own
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  Speaker 3: power among the people. It is a reminder that showiness
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  Speaker 3: and extravagant displays are not always a good indicator of
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  Speaker 3: a person's heart intentions. But as we've heard from Jesus
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  Speaker 3: on teaching, God sees through our outward appearance and perceives
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  Speaker 3: our true motives. So as he reclined at the table,
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  Speaker 3: Jesus would have been well aware of the purpose of
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  Speaker 3: these men. But we should also remember that Jesus' heart
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  Speaker 3: was not to shame or defeat them, but rather to
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  Speaker 3: bring them to repentance and fellowship with God. God's desire
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  Speaker 3: is that all would come to repentance and that everyone
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  Speaker 3: would turn to him and see Jesus not as a rival,
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  Speaker 3: but as the Savior of all sins, including the sins
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  Speaker 3: of self-righteousness. As we discover, there was one person who
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  Speaker 3: came into the feast who knew her need for Jesus,
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  Speaker 3: a woman whose reputation preceded her, and that's not in
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  Speaker 3: a good way. She came to the house to see Jesus.
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  Speaker 3: She wasn't a guest. She was a party crasher. She
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  Speaker 3: wasn't welcomed. Her appearance would have angered the righteous leaders.
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  Speaker 3: How dare she think she could be in their presence?
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  Speaker 3: But this woman wasn't afraid and she wasn't seeking the
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  Speaker 3: approval of the religious crowd. She went straight to Jesus
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  Speaker 3: and fell at his feet in tears. She wept until
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  Speaker 3: her tears moistened the feet of Jesus. His feet would
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  Speaker 3: have been dusty and dirty from walking along the road
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  Speaker 3: that day in his sandals. Having no towel, she used
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  Speaker 3: what she had, her hair, to wipe his feet dry
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  Speaker 3: before she kissed them and poured perfume all over his feet.
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  Speaker 3: It was such a lavish display of devotions. The perfume
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  Speaker 3: was no cheap fragrance from a roadside stand. It was
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  Speaker 3: an expensive perfume, a true sacrifice for this woman who
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  Speaker 3: surely was not wealthy. Seeing what was going on, the host,
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  Speaker 3: a Pharisee named Simon, began to murmur that Jesus couldn't
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  Speaker 3: be a prophet, otherwise he would have known what kind
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  Speaker 3: of woman this was. She was a sinner, unfit for
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  Speaker 3: their company and certainly unworthy of touching him. Jesus turned
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  Speaker 3: to Simon and posed a question. Supposing two men owed
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  Speaker 3: a lender money and that neither could repay their debt.
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  Speaker 3: The lender forgave both debts, so they both were off
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  Speaker 3: the hook. But one owed a very large sum, while
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  Speaker 3: the other a smaller sum. In this story, Jesus asked
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  Speaker 3: which man would love the lender more. Simon correctly judged
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  Speaker 3: that it was the man who owed more. Jesus then
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  Speaker 3: turned back to the woman and compared her to the
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  Speaker 3: man who owed a great deal. Yes, she was a sinner,
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  Speaker 3: but her lavish display demonstrated a depth of love and
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  Speaker 3: honor that Simon, the Pharisee, had failed to show Jesus,
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  Speaker 3: his invited guest. Then Jesus brought it all home for
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  Speaker 3: Simon and for us with these words found in Luke 7, 47.
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  Speaker 3: Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven,
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  Speaker 3: as her great love has been shown. But whoever has
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  Speaker 3: been forgiven little loves little. He then turned to the
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  Speaker 3: woman and forgave her sins, saying that her fate had
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  Speaker 3: saved her. Here's the great irony. In his story, neither
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  Speaker 3: of the debtors could repay the debt. In the same way,
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  Speaker 3: Simon and the other religious leaders could not repay the
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  Speaker 3: debt for their sins, and yet, because they saw themselves
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  Speaker 3: as righteous, not owing much, They felt entitled for forgiveness.
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  Speaker 3: They did not demonstrate true love for God as this
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  Speaker 3: woman did. She was a hopeless sinner in desperate need
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  Speaker 3: of forgiveness. The reality is that everyone in that room,
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  Speaker 3: everyone who has ever walked on this earth, apart from
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  Speaker 3: Jesus himself, is a sinner in need of salvation. We
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  Speaker 3: owed a debt we could not pay, but Jesus paid
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  Speaker 3: the debt on the cross so that we could be forgiven.
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  Speaker 3: It is only those who recognize their deep need for
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  Speaker 3: Jesus who will experience forgiveness and respond with great love
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  Speaker 3: toward the one who has forgiven them. Dear God, we
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  Speaker 3: thank you and praise you for your grace, for the
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  Speaker 3: gift of eternal life and the forgiveness of our sins
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  Speaker 3: that we have in Jesus Christ. Thank you for today's
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  Speaker 3: scripture that reminds us that we owe so much. May
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  Speaker 3: we also lavish our love in devotion and commitment to
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  Speaker 3: you that you may know of our worship, and our
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  Speaker 3: reverence for you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for
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  Speaker 3: listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Jack
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  Speaker 3: Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the Pray.com app
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  Speaker 3: and make prayer and Bible study the priority of your life,
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: and I would encourage you to do it. If you
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  Speaker 3: have enjoyed this podcast, let others know. We're grateful that
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  Speaker 3: over 20 million people have downloaded the Bible in a Year.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: We're thankful that we can get the Word of God
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  Speaker 3: out to so many people. I want to encourage you
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  Speaker 3: to check out jackgram.org. That's jackgram.org, where you will find
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  Speaker 3: resources for Christian living and faith. God bless you, and
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  Speaker 3: have a great day.