The Importance of the Resurrection

In his sermon "The Importance of the Resurrection," Robert Gunnels emphasizes the centrality of Christ's resurrection in the Christian faith. He begins by referencing the story in Luke 7:36-50, where a sinful woman anoints Jesus' feet with her tears and perfume. This act of devotion highlights the transformative power of Jesus' forgiveness and love.

Gunnels asserts that the resurrection of Christ is the pivotal event in history, underscoring its significance through various scriptural references, such as 1 Corinthians 15:7, which states that without the resurrection, faith is futile. He stresses that Jesus' resurrection assures believers of eternal life and empowers them to live in the strength of Christ daily.

The sermon delves into the story of the woman who, despite being a sinner, is forgiven by Jesus, demonstrating her profound love and gratitude. Gunnels contrasts her actions with the Pharisee Simon's lack of hospitality and understanding of his own need for forgiveness. Through a parable, Jesus illustrates that those who are forgiven much love much, highlighting the woman's deep appreciation for her redemption.

Gunnels reflects on the significance of recognizing one's sinfulness and the need for a Savior, as emphasized by Jesus' mission to call sinners to repentance. He points out that God's love and forgiveness are extended to all, regardless of past sins, as long as they turn to Christ in faith.

The sermon concludes with an application of the resurrection's importance in believers' lives, encouraging them to live in the power of Christ's forgiveness, extend forgiveness to others, and reject feelings of shame and guilt over past sins. Gunnels prays for believers to be transformed by the resurrection, live as new creations in Christ, and embrace God's grace and love.

Transcript

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Good evening. It's a pleasure to be here this evening, thankful for the opportunity to preach God's Word. So if you would turn to Luke chapter 7 and verse 36. Luke 7 and verse 36, why the resurrection is important. Luke chapter 7 and verse 36 and we will read through verse 50. Luke 7 starting at verse 36. Now one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him and he entered the Pharisees house and reclined at the table and there was a woman in the city who was a sinner and when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisees house she brought an alabaster vial, a perfume and standing behind him at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears and kept wiping them with the hair of her head and kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to him is this if this man were a prophet he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him that she is a sinner. Jesus answered him Simon I have something to say to you and he replied say it teacher a moneylender had two debtors one owed 500 to Nerei the other 50 and when they were unable to repay he graciously forgave them both so which of them will love him more and Simon answered and said I suppose the one whom he forgave more and he said to him you have judged correctly turning toward the woman he said to Simon do you see this woman I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair or wiped them with her hair you gave me no kiss but since but she since the time I came in is that ceased to kiss my feet you did not anoint my head with oil but she has anointed my feet with perfume for this reason I say to you her sins which are many have been forgiven for she loved much but he who is forgiven little loves little and he said to her your sins have been forgiven and those who were reclining at the table with him began to say to themselves who is this man that even forgives sins and he said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace a pastor has said that the that we should never forget that the resurrection of Christ is in many ways the central event of all of history can you think of any other event in the history of mankind that is greater than the resurrection of Christ the Apostle Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 15 7 if Christ has not been raised your faith is worthless and you are still in your sins and so without the resurrection the cross is meaningless what's the point of celebrating his birth and even his death without the resurrection but Jesus said in John 14 19 because I live you will live also and in Colossians 1 18 we are told that he is the firstborn of the dead Jesus is the preeminent one the foremost one the dominant one and in the book of Acts 26 and verse 23 it says that the Christ was to suffer and that by reason of his resurrection from the dead he would be the first to proclaim both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles and so because Christ lives we have the hope of heaven we have the witness of God the Holy Spirit within us that this world is not our whole we have God's Word that teaches us of a future with a new body and a new mind and a new home in his presence forever then because he lives we have the power to live each day in the power of Christ we have that hope that blessed assurance that one day will be in his presence and so what I want us to see this evening as we ask the question or see the point why the resurrection is important I want us to look at an unexpected guest a woman whose name we do not know but all we know is that she was a sinner so let's dig deeper into this passage an unexpected action look in verse 36 it says that one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him so he's asking Jesus to come over for supper and Jesus entered the Pharisees house and reclined at the table why did the Pharisee invite him what was his motivation for this invitation why do you think Jesus was invited by this Pharisee into his home I mean was he genuinely interested in Jesus as Savior like Nicodemus was like Zacchaeus was or was he looking for a way to condemn him I think we'll answer that question as we get further into the passage but here at this dinner you have Jesus you have the Pharisee that we learned whose name is Simon and we have guests and they're reclining at the table and I know you understand this the tables were low and they would lay on their side on cushions and reach over to the table to eat and their feet would be pointing out but then we're introduced to this uninvited guest I want you to notice who she was verse 37 says and there was a woman in the city who was a sinner now I believe this is an indication that she's a believer a follower of Jesus Christ because Luke states her past the fact that she was a sinner somewhere she had encountered Jesus somewhere she had believed in him probably not met him personally but she had heard the message and notice what the scripture says about this woman it goes on verse 37 and says and when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisees house she brought an alabaster vial or alabaster box of ointment and standing behind him at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears and kept wiping them with the hair of her head and kissing his feet and anointing them with the perfume who is this woman she is somebody who is compelled by love because when she heard that Jesus was going to be at the Pharisees house she was single-minded nothing was going to stop her she was going to be there also although uninvited she's compelled by love but you also see in verse 38 she's overwhelmed by love notice this humble position that she takes she's standing behind him at his feet that's the position of a slave and she doesn't speak she just wants to be near her Lord and to worship and not only humble position but you see an humble heart because it says she's weeping and understand it doesn't mean that there was a tear rolling down her cheek it means that she was boo-hooing she was convulsing it was coming from deep down inside of her she was weeping and the tears were flowing so much so that she was wetting his feet with her tear and wiping them with her hair either not wanting to defile his precious feet or desiring to wash the feet of her precious Savior but you need to understand the fact that her hair was down is an indication of what she used to do for a living this was considered immodest this was considered indecent for a woman to have her hair down and she's kissing his feet and she's anointing them with this precious ointment this precious perfume she's also overwhelmed by the fact that Jesus loves her she's so overwhelmed by the fact that he has forgiven her she's so overwhelmed that he has saved her that the reality of his love engulfs her and the floodgates of Thanksgiving open and she wets his feet with her tear and amazingly Jesus doesn't stop her why because he knows her heart he knows why she's there she knows or he knows how he has changed her life and so there in front of his host and all of these guests Jesus doesn't pull his feet up away from her but he allows her to honor and to bless him with her worship all of us one day will worship and kneel before the feet of Jesus the Bible says that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father both saved and unsaved and it's in this life whether you accept or reject Christ that will determine whether you kneel before your Savior or whether you kneel before your judge but you will kneel before priced I believe this woman would agree with what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 107 verses 10 through 16 listen to these words the psalmist writes some sat in darkness in utter darkness prisoners suffering in iron chains and I believe that's a great picture of the bondage of sin because they rebelled against God's commands and despised the plans of the Most High so he subjected them to bitter labor they stumbled and there was no one to help then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them from their distress he brought them out of the darkness the utter darkness he broke away their chains let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and for his wonderful deeds for mankind for he breaks the gates of bronze and he cuts through the bars of iron there at the feet of Jesus through her tears as she wiped his feet with her hair I think she could have sung that song my chains are gone I've been set free my God my Savior has ransomed me and like a flood his mercy reigns an ending love amazing bracelets see she knew what she used to be she was a sinner but now she is a new creation in Jesus Christ and so Jesus in response to this unexpected action Jesus tells an unexpected story you see the Pharisee wasn't as impressed by this woman as Jesus was and as we read verse 39 you're gonna see the word if and the word if is a word of unbelief let's read verse 39 now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself if this man were a prophet he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him that she is a sinner that is a lie see the Pharisee thinks if he knew but Jesus didn't know Jesus knew everything about this woman he he knew he also knew that this thought from the Pharisee that she's that she is a sinner that it was a lie she was a sinner but now she's been redeemed now she's been washed now she's been sanctified now she's been justified and today as you and I said here she's glorified in heaven still at the feet of Jesus you know I'm glad that you don't know everything about me and to be honest I'm glad I don't know everything about you but Jesus knows everything about all of us and he still loves us isn't that amazing in Luke 532 Jesus said I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance and in Mark 217 Jesus said it is not those who are healthy who need a physician but those who are sick I did not come to call the righteous but sinners the greatest thing that could ever happen to you is for you to come to the understanding that you are sick you are sin sick and you need a Savior and what's amazing again about salvation is that God doesn't wait for us to get things together then we can be saved but he demonstrated his love toward us in that while we're yet what sinners that Christ died for us I believe the theme verse of this whole gospel of Luke is found in Luke 19 and verse 10 where it says for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost heaven rejoiced over this woman Luke 15 and 7 I tell you these are the words of Jesus I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance heaven rejoiced over this woman but there was no rejoicing for the Pharisee why because heaven rejoices over the one who repents there was no sense of sin in the Pharisee he was so full of himself so full of his own self-righteousness he could not see that he needed the very same thing that this woman needed which was forgiveness you see people who believe they are not lost and think they do not need redemption cannot be saved so Jesus tells an unexpected story verse 40 and Jesus answered him Simon I have something to say to you he replied say it teacher so here's the Pharisee Simon a doctor of the scriptures he knows the Old Testament frontways and back ways and yet Jesus doesn't go into some deep theological argument about sin and salvation and about repentance instead the master teacher uses a very simple parable to teach an eternal truth verse 41 a money lender a creditor had two debtors one owed him 500 in their eye a large large sum of money and the other 50 when they were unable to repay he graciously forgave them both so which of them will love him more and Simon answered and said I suppose the one whom he forgave more and he said to him you have judged correctly who would you love more who would you be more grateful to someone who buys your lunch after church this Sunday or somebody who pays off your mortgage or pays off your debt see Jesus paid a debt he did not owe I owe to debt I could not pay I needed someone to wash my sins away and now I sing a brand new song amazing grace all day long Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay what you see here in these verses is the power of God's word piercing the heart of Simon Hebrews 4 12 teaches us that God's word is piercing it judges the thoughts and intents of the heart there is power in God's word it is God's word that has the power to convict the sinners heart it's God's word that has the power to expose the ugliness of our heart it's God's word that has the power to cause us to understand that we are enemies of God and it's God's word that tells us that forgiveness and salvation are possible through faith in Jesus Christ alone and if Simon didn't fully understand that truth from the parable now Jesus is going to be very direct verse 44 turning toward the woman he said to Simon do you see this woman I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair you gave me no kiss but she since the time I can't came in has not ceased to kiss my feet you did not anoint my head with oil but she has anointed my feet with perfume for this reason I say to you her sins which are many Jesus doesn't overlook them he doesn't downplay her sins but they're many but they have been forgiven for she loved much but he who is forgiven little loves little Jesus says Simon do you see Simon do you understand that the reason this woman is kneeling at my feet boo-booing the reason she is drenching my feet with her tears the reason she's wiping them with her hair the reason she's kissing them over and over again and anointing them with perfume is because she knows who she was but now she knows who she's it who she is in Christ but Simon do you see do you understand that the reason you did not wash my feet now understand Simon invited Jesus to his house and then showed great disrespect to Jesus but not washing his feet or greeting him with a kiss or anointing his head with oil so Simon do you see the reason you did not wash my feet and the reason you did not welcome me with a kiss and the reason you did not anoint my head with oil is because you don't see who you are a great sinner in need of a great Savior and he says to the woman in verse 48 your sins have been forgiven and those who were reclining at the table with him began to say to themselves who is this man who even forgives sins can you imagine this woman hearing anything greater than those words your sin your guilt your punishment has all been dismissed the power of sin over your life has been broken and you who are known as a sinner are now a child of God a new creation in Jesus Christ and in verse 50 he simply says to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace her faith in what in the life in the death and in the barrel and resurrection of Jesus Christ and even though his death and his burial and his resurrection were still future she was saved the same way you and I are saved and that is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone Paul writes in Romans 5 and verse 1 therefore having been justified by faith we have what peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ you see without the resurrection the cross is meaningless if Christ had not been raised your faith is worthless and you are still in your sins but Jesus says because I live you will live also the resurrection is important because it means that a woman who was known for her sin can be made into a new creation in Jesus Christ the resurrection is important because you and I who may or may not be known for our sin and yet we're still sinners can be made into new creations in Jesus Christ it's the fact that God's grace is greater than our sin and because as it says the old things have passed away and new things have come because Christ has put the old things our sins as far as the east is from the west you and I do not have the right to wallow in shame and in the guilt and despair of past sins and when those feelings come back to you and you're reminded of what you've done or Satan puts somebody in your life to bring up the past you take those things you own them but you take them back to the cross where they were paid for and instead of letting that moment become a moment of shame and guilt and despair and depression you turn it into a moment of praise as you worship at the feet of your Savior who has saved you but it also means that you and I do not have the right to hold on to hurt and unforgiveness because Christ has forgiven us we are to extend forgiveness to those who've hurt us and when we hold on to hurt and when we hold on to unforgiveness what we are saying is that what that person has done to me how that person has offended me is greater than how I offended Christ and my sins required Christ to go to the cross and so that hurt and that unforgiveness that you're feeling again you take those feelings you go back to the cross where he's paid for them and you might have to do that multiple times a day but you make the choice to be obedient to God's Word and to extend forgiveness to the person who's offended you and as you are obedient to the Word of God God will begin to change your heart and to begin to change your emotions and set you free from that hurt that somebody has offended you with what has happened to the old things God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son has taken his eraser of grace and wiped away our sin and because he lives you and I will live also amen let's pray father we thank you that as believers in Christ one day since we have all eternity in heaven maybe one day we'll meet this woman who is kneeling at Jesus feet crying so much that he she was wetting his feet with her tears father thank you that your grace is greater than our sin may we live in the power of the resurrection may we live in the power of your forgiveness may it transform us so that we can love and forgive other and live as new creations in Christ thank you for your love it's in the name and through the blood of Christ I pray. Amen.[BLANK_AUDIO]