One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”
“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; 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 from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
I
have to admit, when I read these verses, one of the first things I always
wonder is exactly how much 50 or 500 denarii would be in our day’s currency.
Don’t you kind of wonder what amount of debt is being forgiven here? Since the
debt in the parable is being compared to sin being forgiven in one’s life, it’s
like my own self-righteousness wants to know how much it is so I can
rationalize my own amount of “sin debt”– as if this makes a difference!!
The
self-righteous Simon the Pharisee is certainly measuring himself in comparison
to the woman who approached Jesus, and in doing so, is unable to see any of the
sin in his own life. He also misses the fact that He who could forgive that sin
is right in front of him. We get a
view into his thought process when he questions the fact that Jesus welcomes
the woman. In Simon’s judgment, if Jesus were a prophet, He’d certainly know
who this sinful person is and would not accept her!
What
does Jesus do? He answers Simon’s thoughts. Proving He knows the (very
self-righteous!) thoughts of Simon, and also proving He knows who this woman
is.
So
I decided not to look up that information on denarii. Today, I don’t want to
know what one or 50 or 500 is worth.
What
I want to focus on is that in this parable the two are both debtors—both
graciously forgiven.
And
in the room with Jesus, both the Pharisee and the sinful woman are debtors in
need of forgiveness. Both in need of Jesus the Messiah. One sees with eyes of
faith and her sins are forgiven and she is free to love and serve her Lord. And
one cannot see past his own blind self-righteousness.
Today
let’s give thanksgiving to God who would send His Son, Jesus, to take the sins
of the world on Himself in order to pay our (my) debt of sin.
Kelli Wick, Guest Blogger
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