“The Friend of Sinners”
Luke 7:36-50
September 21, 2025
The Bible is filled with deeply profound statements — life-changing statements. You know many of them and have been guided and helped by them. It is a temptation for us to say, “this is the most important statement in the Bible” or “this is the most important statement about Jesus Christ.” I won’t say that.
But this morning we come to a section that demonstrates one of those great statements about Christ: “Jesus is a friend of sinners.” The Son of Man who is over all, stoops to love sinners, His enemies. And not only does He love them, but He forgives them and then makes them His friends. His friends.
What is your friendship quotient? It has been observed that “Most people have friends. But few of us know true friendship. Many of us don’t know we’re missing two of the greatest joys in life: walking with others in true friendship and knowing Jesus as the great Friend.” [Hunter and Ortlund, Made for Friendship.]
What is Jesus like as a friend?
“What if you had a friend at the center of the bull’s-eye of your relationship circle, whom you knew would never raise his eyebrows at what you share with him, even the worst parts of you? All our human friendships have a limit to what they can withstand. But what if there were a friend with no limit? No ceiling on what he would put up with and still want to be with you? ‘All the kinds and degrees of friendship meet in Christ,’ wrote Sibbes.” [Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly.]
What is Jesus like as a friend? He is a friend of sinners (5:20; 7:34). He begins friendship with us by forgiving us of our sin. All our sin (when we repent). And when we know that friendship, how can we not love Him? That’s what Luke reveals to us about Jesus in the account of Jesus’ dinner at Simon’s house at the end of Luke 7 —
Every sinner can come to Jesus. Forgiven sinners will love Jesus.
We will see this morning that our sin doesn’t keep us from accessing God; in fact only when we acknowledge our sin will we have access to Him. And experiencing the grace we receive when we come to Him, we will love Him. In this account Jesus (as the Son of Man) demonstrates His authority to heal sin and provides two implications for us and our sin.
- If You are a Sinner, Come to Jesus (vv. 36-39)
- If You are a Forgiven Sinner, Love Jesus (vv. 40-50)
- A Parable (vv. 40-43)
- An Explanation (vv. 44-47)
- An Exclamation Point (vv. 48-50)
Download the rest of this sermon on Luke 7:36-50.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday
Alabaster flasks; Hecht Museum, Haifa.
Words of Grace 