Luke 7:37-38
Bow At His Feet
(Outline was copied from Pastor Jeff Owens)
\\#38\\ For this woman to do what she did, she would have had to have
bowed at the feet of Jesus. She came into a room where Jesus was
eating. People did not eat in chairs in that culture, but sat
Japanese style, on cushions on the floor. She could not have gotten
to the feet of Jesus and done what she did in the upright position.
She had to bow.
You have probably never bowed to anyone unless it was when you
proposed to your wife or participated in some type of play. In our
culture, we do not bow. We extend the hand. We dip the head. We
wave, but we do not bow. Why not? in large part because we do not
like what bowing means. However, we should bow to One.
This morning, just two main thoughts; Attitude and Actions
I. Notice the attitude. What does the attitude of bowing mean?
A. Bowing means obedience.
1. Since we do not bow in our culture, I will have to use
other cultures to explain what bowing means.
2. In the days of ancient empires like the Romans, people
bowed to their king.
a. To bow to the king did not mean that you liked the
king.
b. To bow to the king did not mean that you agreed with
him.
c. To bow to the kind did not mean that you respected
him.
d. But to bow to the king did mean that you would obey
him.
3. People would bow both when they entered into the presence
of the king and when they left.
a. When they entered into the king’s presence, they were
both greeting and demonstrating respect to the king.
b. However, when they left, they bowed to say, "Yes,
sir," especially if the king had given a command or
instruction.
4. The closest thing we have in our culture to bowing is
saluting.
a. Contrary to what you learned on Gomer Pyle, a soldier
does not come into the presence of a commanding
officer and say, "Hi." He salutes.
b. But he also salutes when he leaves. Why? He is
acknowledging that he has heard any commands that may
have been given and will carry them out.
B. Bowing means superiority.
1. No one wants to think of themselves as inferior to
another.
2. We prefer to think of ourselves as equals.
3. However, there is One who is superior, God.
4. Indeed, He is not just superior. He is the Creator, the
Sustainer, the Omnipotent, the Almighty.
5. Every human will bow before the Superior One.
6. People today confuse free will with free reign.
a. God has given to every human a free will.
b. They may think what they will and do what they want.
c. However, God has not given to any man a free reign.
d. We will all give an account to God of what we have
done in this body, and we will do it bowed at His
feet.
C. Bowing means surrender.
1. One of my favorite Bible passages is Paul’s conversion.
2. While on the road to Damascus, he met God.
a. Paul had always been a believer in God.
b. Paul had always been a student of the Word.
c. Paul had always been diligent in God’s service.
d. But until Jesus was blinding by that great light and
knocked to his knees, he had never been broken in his
spirit.
e. On that road, Paul saw the light and surrendered
himself to Jesus Christ.
f. He had been kicking against the pricks, but on that
day he ceased.
II. What are the ACTIONS that should accompany our bowing?
A. Salvation accompanies bowing before Jesus.
1. Consider our text.
a. \\#37\\ says a woman who was a sinner entered to wash
Jesus’ feet.
2. While it does not say in the text, I will assure you
that a saint eventually rose and walked out.
2. Something happened to that woman that day.
a. Obviously, it was underway before she came into the
room.
b. There is so much that the Bible leaves out!
(1) What brought this woman to this place? We do not
know.
(2) She had either heard of or met Jesus before.
(3) Perhaps she was the woman taking in adultery, in
the very act.
(4) Perhaps she had already felt the forgiveness of
Jesus concerning one sin and she liked it so
much, she wanted to feel it for all of her sins.
(4) I do not know, but something broke that woman to
the place that she came to obey, to acknowledge
her inferiority and His superiority, and to
surrender herself to Jesus that day.
(5) She got saved!
3. Friend, I may not know who you are or what brought you
here this morning, but if you will bow at the feet of
Jesus, you can leave this placed forgiven, cleansed, and
saved.
4. But another bowed at the feet of Jesus.
B. Transformation accompanies bowing before Jesus.
1. Jesus sailed across the Sea of Galilee and went up into
the mountains where He met a man who, by our standards,
would have been insane.
2. Actually, the man was possessed by demons.
a. He dwelt in the tombs, lived naked, and cut himself.
b. The demons within tormented this man, but Jesus cast
them out.
c. The demons go into a heard of pigs and the pigs run
over a cliff and drown in the sea.
d. It caused such a stir, that the city came out to see
what was happening.
Luke 8:35 Then they went out to see what was
done; and came to Jesus, and found the man,
out of whom the devils were departed, sitting
at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right
mind: and they were afraid.
3. Why was this man still at the feet of Jesus?
a. News had to travel to the city, gain the people’s
attention, and then the people had to travel back to
the cliff.
b. The mad man was saved by that time, but he was still
sitting at the feet of Jesus.
c. Why? He was being transformed, changed, converted.
d. Salvation is like the many faucets of a diamond.
e. We have several terms that we use interchangeable to
describe salvation, but they all actually describe
different aspects of salvation.
(1) To be saved - To be rescued from sin and hell.
(2) To be redeemed - To be bought back, to be
purchased.
(3) To be born again - To have a new life with a
clean slate.
(4) To be converted - To be changed, to be
transformed.
4. Salvation is a work done instantly in heaven but
conversion occurs slowly on earth.
a. This man was being changed.
b. He had already learned how to get dress and sit still.
c. But the transformation was still underway and would
no doubt continue the remainder of the man’s life.
5. According to what people say and then do, I’d have to say
too many people are getting saved and then walking away.
a. Don’t do that.
b. Bow at the feet of Jesus and be transformed.
c. The same salvation that saved you can transform you.
d. Staying bowed can take away your desire for sin.
(1) taste of alcohol
(2) lust
(3) temper
(4) need for drugs
(5) rebellious spirit
(6) angry countenance
C. Healing accompanies bowing before Jesus.
Matthew 15:30 And great multitudes came unto
him, having with them those that were lame,
blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast
them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:
1. I believe in our quest to prove some wrong about miracles,
we have cut God short in the area of healing and helps.
2. God may have quit designating miracle workers but God
never quit working miracles.
3. You get help and healing at the feet of Jesus.
4. Seek Jesus first. Not a doctor.
a. I am not anti-doctor. God uses doctors, but I am very
pro-Jesus.
b. Why pay a feeble but expensive doctor to do what Jesus
can do?
c. Pray first. Pray hard. Pray expecting.
D. Soaking accompanies bowing before Jesus.
Luke 10:39 And she had a sister called Mary,
which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his
word.
1. There were two sisters, Martha and Mary.
a. Martha was the busy one. Mary was the spiritual one.
b. I am not trying to be disrespectful to Martha, but
most of us are either/or in this category.
c. Most of us are either busy for Jesus or spending time
with Jesus. Not both.
d. That is the way these sisters were.
2. What Mary was doing was very rare.
a. She was just sitting at the feet of Jesus, soaking Him
up.
b. In that culture, the men were in one room and the
women in another.
c. The woman served the food but they did not eat with
the men and typically they did not eat until after
the men.
d. But this dinner was being provided by Mary and Martha.
e. Mary’s thought must have been, "My house. My rules.
I am sitting right here."
f. Martha was preparing the food and needed help, but
Mary was not budging. She said, "There’s Jiff in the
cupboard and jelly in the icebox."
3. I am sure that Mary was doing several things there that
day.
a. She was worshipping. It was a passive worship but it
was worship.
b. She was learning. Jesus was probably teaching and
preaching.
c. She was probably praising and thanking God for
blessings.
d. But what she seems to be doing more than anything else
was just soaking up Jesus.
e. When was the last time like a thirsty sponge, you just
bowed before Jesus and soaked Him up?
4. Let me tell you a secret. I had to give up my prayer
list. I started a prayer list years ago, but it just got
so long. I had thousands of names I wanted to pray for
and it eventually became a dreaded task. I was busy
praying but not soaking up Jesus.
E. Worship accompanies bowing before Jesus.
Matthew 28:9 And as they went to tell his
disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All
hail. And they came and held him by the feet,
and worshipped him.
1. This was not passive worship. This was active worship.
2. To worship means to adore, to cherish, to treasure.
3. These women thought they lost Jesus, but there He was.
F. Thanksgiving accompanies bowing before Jesus.
Luke 17:16 And fell down on his face at his
feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
Have you ever bowed at the feet of Jesus? Have you ever deveoloped
the attitudes that would allow you to bow? Aren’t you tired of
fighting yet?
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