Luke chapter 07 - The feet of Jesus - His walk

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Chapter 7 is a symbolic chapter in which Luke refers us to clues that show that God was planning to turn to the Gentiles during the seven church ages.

But then Luke also has to stress the point that the Jews would first reject Jesus.

Luke writes about a Roman centurion or officer had great faith. This man was a Gentile. He had authority as an officer and ordered soldiers around simply by speaking. So he said to Jesus that He did not have to come to his house to heal his servant because Jesus had such authority, that He could just speak the word and the demon that caused the sickness would have to leave. This duly happened.

LUKE 7:9   When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

Luke now mentions how Jesus praises this Gentile's faith as being better than any Jew's faith.

This is like a look into the future where the faith of God would spread through the Gentile churches.

Jesus then goes to the city of Nain where a burial of a widow's son was taking place. Jesus is eternal Life, so death could not be in His presence any more than darkness can exist in the presence of a bright light. So the dead man came to life.

The Jews were God the Father's children so they regarded the pagan Gentiles as being spiritually dead since God was not their Father.  So Jesus went to a widow's dead son, as this boy had no natural father. Jesus raised him from the dead indicating that Jesus would resurrect the spiritually dead pagan Gentiles, who did not have God as their Father, into the realm of eternal life during the seven church ages.

Then John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the Messiah. The Jews thought that Messiah would chase all the Romans out of Israel, and then Messiah would rule Israel. Jesus was not doing this, and thus He did not seem to be the Jewish deliverer from Rome. Our big mistake is thinking that we know what God is going to do.

But Jesus had bigger plans. He was not interested in saving the  Jews from the tyranny of Rome. He wanted to save mankind from sin, and as such He intended to convert the Gentiles all around the world during the 2 000 years of church history.

Jesus then complimented John for being a great prophet.

LUKE 7:26   But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet

:27   This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

By baptizing Jesus John the Baptist had

a)   washed Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb in the same way that the priests had to wash their sacrifices

b)   washed Jesus as the High Priest before He was anointed by the Holy Ghost that came down and settled upon Him. Moses had to wash Aaron and anoint him with oil when he became high priest.

Thus John had prepared the way for Jesus to be the Saviour and the High Priest of the heavenly Tabernacle, which is built from the  living stones of born again believers who made up the Christian church during the seven church ages.

LUKE 7:29   And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

The ordinary Jews and the sinners (publicans) accepted John's baptism of repentance.

LUKE 7:30   But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

The Jewish leaders rejected John's baptism.

The people accept John as a prophet but the Jewish leaders rejected John's teachings. The problems basically lay with the religious leaders who were not interested in truth, but wanted to retain their power and influence, their fame, and their money.

This is just like what happened at the end of the ministry of Jesus. The ordinary Jews praised Him on Palm Sunday when He rode in on a donkey. But by the next Thursday the Jewish leaders had persuaded those same Jews to demand His crucifixion.

The religious leaders caused the downfall of the Jews.

First they rejected the baptism of John. Then later they demanded the crucifixion of Jesus.

Having been rejected by the Jews, Jesus would then have to turn to the Gentiles.

LUKE 7:31   And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

:32   They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.

Luke tells us how Jesus had foretold that the Jews would reject Him.

Jesus said that when people are determined to reject truth it does not matter whether it is presented to them with cheerful music or in a sad manner. They will reject it anyhow.

LUKE 7:33   For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.

LUKE 7:34   The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

John was a very strict wilderness man who did not socialize and the Jews rejected him. Jesus was not as strict and did socialize, but the Jews also rejected Him as well.

Luke emphasizes the Jews rejecting both John and Jesus as this opens the door to Jesus turning the disciples to the Gentiles when they established the New Testament church during the first church age.

LUKE 7:35    But wisdom is justified of all her children.

The Gentiles would accept the wisdom of the Gospel plan which most of the Jews rejected. The Gentiles appreciated the salvation plan of God which had made no sense to the majority of the Jews.

Jesus then went to eat in a Pharisee's house and a sinner woman washed His feet and anointed them with ointment. Just like the baptism of Jesus, where He was washed as the Sacrifice and both washed and anointed as High Priest of the order of Melchizadek for the seven church ages.

Peter on the day of Pentecost said the same.

ACTS 2: 38   Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Washed in the waters of baptism, anointed by the Holy Spirit.

That is how we get saved from hell.

LUKE 7:37   And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

:38   And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

Why was this done by a woman? Why did she only wash and anoint His feet?

A woman represents a church. Paul wants the church as a pure virgin to be engaged (espoused) to Jesus as her husband.
II CORINTHIANS 11:2   For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

So Luke is using her as an excuse to zoom into the future church ages of the Gentile church. Nebuchadnezzar saw a vision of a Gentile image. The head was Babylon, the arms were the Medes and Persians. The belly and thighs were Greece. The legs represented the Roman empire. The feet then represented the 2 000 years of church history that end with the Coming of the Lord as a stone that demolished the whole image.

So the feet represent the seven church ages where the Gentiles are washed in the water of the Word and the church is anointed by the Holy Ghost.
EPHESIANS 5:25   Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

:26   That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

The tears speak of repentance as the Gentiles repent of their sins. A woman's long hair speaks of her submission to her husband. Using her long hair implied that the repentant church would be in subjection to the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, Who is the Word.

Christian women today cut their hair short so they would not be able to do what Jesus complimented this woman for doing. And she was a sinner! Have our standards dropped? Does a modern day woman with short hair symbolize a church that is no longer submissive to the Bible?

LUKE 7:39   Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

The self righteous Jews had no time for sinners, much less Gentile sinners.

LUKE 7:40   And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

:41   There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.

:42    And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

:43   Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

The Jews were closer to God than the pagan Gentiles. Thus the Jews were more righteous than the Gentiles. So God had less to forgive a Jew for, because they were doing a lot right.

But the Gentiles were far from God and did far more wrong than the Jews. So God had far more to forgive the Gentiles for.

So during the church ages the Gentiles would have far more love for God than the Jews had. Thus the Gentile church would become the Bride of Christ because, having been forgiven for all their paganism, the Gentiles would love God more.

LUKE 7:44   And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

The law-abiding Jew did not treat Jesus well. The sinful woman (church) did. So this is an obvious clue that Jesus would turn to sinners (the Gentiles) to form His New Testament church.

When a man looks for a bride, he looks for the person who will love him the most.

LUKE 7:45   Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

The sinner woman (sinful Gentiles who would form the  church) was deeply attached to Jesus. She was forgiven a lot and deeply loved him.

Being at the feet of Jesus symbolizes both humility and obedience to Him. These are the attributes of the Gentile church of the New Testament.

LUKE 7:46   My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

The Jew who was far more righteous than the sinner woman was reasonably indifferent towards Jesus.

Jesus came very simply and humbly. The Jews were not too impressed. They wanted a material kingdom of Israel with the Romans kicked out. God's plan of dying at Calvary to save all of mankind was not an idea that they really liked.

The Jew did not even regard the head of Jesus. The sinner woman humbled herself at His feet.

LUKE 7:47   Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

The Jews lived a better and cleaner life, and had fewer sins to be forgiven. So they did not love God that much. They preferred the short term political kingdom of Israel to the long term kingdom of God, which is the Holy Ghost baptism.
LUKE 17:21   Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

God's Holy Spirit inside us makes each of us a living stone in His spiritual kingdom.

LUKE 7:48   And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

The woman represented the church. The Gentile church, holding onto Jesus, the Word, and in tears of repentance, would be forgiven of her sins.

LUKE 7:49   And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

The Jews could not accept that Jesus could forgive sins. But when Jesus turned to the Gentiles and offered them salvation in the first church age, they were keen to accept.

LUKE 7:50   And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

Jesus sees this woman as a symbol of the future Gentile church. We are saved by grace through faith.

The Holy Ghost baptism is our inner rest from sin. Only then do we find peace and comfort with God.
EPHESIANS 2:8   For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
JOHN 14:26   But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

JOHN 14:27   Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.