Luke 7:36-50
"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. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 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," Luke 7:44-47.
God is a saving God. "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour," Isaiah 43:11 (Isaiah 43:10-14). He is the Redeemer. He saves sinners. He delivers all who come to Him through Jesus Christ, our Propitiator. What kind of people does God save? He saves people like this woman in our text. A lady of the street, a lady known for a grievous sinful lifestyle. Aren't you thankful God saves people like this lady? Yes, we are very thankful. We are also thankful He saves people like this pharisee in our text whose name is Simon. We do not know if the Lord saved Simon, but we know of someone like Simon whom the Lord saved. His name is Paul. The woman in our text lived a lascivious lifestyle, but Simon the pharisee did not. Yet he was a greater sinner than the woman, but he did not see it. The difference is that the woman knew she was living in sin, but Simon did not think he was. Some of the worse sinners are those who do not think they are sinners. Simon was a lost religious man. "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief," I Timothy 1:15.
Simon was sure he was right with God based off of those sins he had not done. He was not like this sinful woman. He was not like the publicans (Luke 18:9-14). Simon was also sure he was right with God based off of those good things he had done, and continued to do. Simon's salvation was basically a check list of do's and don'ts. This means he was trusting in himself for salvation. This makes him a worse sinner than the woman. She was not looking for salvation, nor had she made her own way to be saved, but Simon rejected God's plan of salvation and made his own way (Romans 10:1-4). "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God," Romans 10:3. The worse person on earth is the one who thinks they are right with God when they are not. They may not be the worse person in our eyes, but in the eyes of God they have rejected His eternal Son, Jesus Christ by replacing Him with their own way. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost," Titus 3:5. "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified," Galatians 2:16.
Jesus Christ was in Simon's home, but Simon did not recognize Him as the Saviour. He didn't even think Jesus was on the level of a prophet (Luke 7:39). Simon would have loved for Christ to call out this woman in front of all the people and ridicule her for her sinfulness, but instead Christ gave them a parable which would call out Simon. "There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?" Luke 7:41-42. It is interesting that Simon was not confident in his answer, "Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged," Luke 7:43. To suppose is to assume. Jesus Chris put Simon on the spot. Simon assumed correctly. Simon was a learned man, so he would know what it meant to frankly forgive someone. The persons debt would be remitted, canceled, which means the consequences of the debt would also be canceled. It is also obvious that the one who is forgiven most will love the most. This is in the future tense and means at the moment the person is forgiven they will love with strong affection. At the moment they realize they are forgiven they are overcome with strong affection for the One who has forgiven them. This is something they never get over. There is much that we do not know, there is much that we do not get right, but one thing we do know is that we love Him who has forgiven us; and as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our love for Him abounds.
In verses 44-47 Jesus rebukes Simon. "This is an accommodation of the other part of the parable, and has a very special respect to Simon, the Pharisee, whose debts, in his own opinion were few or none, at least ten times less than this woman's; and he had little or no sense of the forgiveness of them, or of any obligation to Christ on that account; and therefore was very sparing of his love and respect, and even of common civilities to him." John Gill.
Christ turns and looks at the woman as he speaks to Simon. This means Simon's attention would have been on the woman also. As Simon would look at her he would know what kind of woman she was. The words of Christ should have cut him to his heart, as would have the woman's actions towards Christ. True faith produces good works out of love for Christ.
"And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace," Luke 7:48-50. Christ, Who is God in the flesh, canceled this woman's sin debt. The people still did not know who Christ is. Bad doctrine will cause you to miss Jesus. This woman had not been infected with bad doctrine, just sin. "Hath saved" means specifically of salvation from eternal death, sin, and the punishment and misery consequent to sin. To save, to give eternal life. It also refers to sick persons, to save from death and (by implication) to heal. Christ saves her soul, and He also healed her. We can only assume what type of disease she had. Christ also tells her to go in peace (Romans 5:1).
Christ openly rebukes Simon the pharisee, and all know that he is guilty. Simon is now known as the unforgiven pharisee. Christ has openly forgiven this woman. This gives her a new identity. Others will remember what she used to be, they may even say "back in the day" but thanks be unto God that those days are over (II Corinthians 5:17). How wonderful it is to know that the Lord has forgiven you of all your sins! Do you have that assurance from the Scriptures? How are you known? What kind of effect are you having on others?
Please send questions and comments to richardsonbaptistchurch@gmail.com. Soli Deo Gloria.
