39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” 41 “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”
Jesus told a parable of two debtors who were classified as sinners.
7:39
Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
A Pharisee became indignant that Jesus would allow a sinful woman to anoint Him with her hair. Touching Jesus was socially unacceptable to the Pharisee. This religious leader questioned whether Jesus was a true prophet; otherwise, He would have known the woman was immoral.
The “if” in “if He were a prophet” indicates a contrary-to-fact statement (second class condition). The Pharisee doubted Jesus had prophetic credentials. These thoughts were in Simon’s mind but not in words. Jesus answered his thoughts, indicating He had supernatural knowledge of Simon.
7:40
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
Jesus indicated He wanted to tell a parable to Simon.
7:41
“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.
There were two debtors, both of whom—with vastly differing amounts of debt—had their debts forgiven. A denarius was a daily wage for a laborer. Five hundred denarii would represent a vast amount of money—two years and two months of wages. One owed a debt 10 times greater than the other.
7:42
And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.
The creditor was under no obligation to forgive his debtors; it was an action of the creditor’s mercy.
Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
Neither debtor could repay his debts, but the moneylender forgave them both. Jesus asked which borrower loved the lender more. In the analogy, the moneylender depicts God. The two debtors depict different levels of sin. God is willing and able to forgive the debt of sin. His grace exceeds what people might expect.
7:43
Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.”
There is an inherent relationship between the love of one forgiven and the amount he was forgiven. There is a direct relationship between love and gratitude for grace. This analogy applies to the sinful woman who anointed Jesus. She loved much because she was forgiven much.
PRINCIPLE:
Those forgiven much love more.
APPLICATION:
People stand in deficit and debt to God. To fellowship with Him requires one to recognize one’s need. Repentance is recognizing our need before God. Those who humbly acknowledge themselves as sinful put themselves in a place of acceptance by God. The person forgiven more is inclined to love more.
Simon needed to recognize his spiritual bankruptcy. The first step to fellowship with God is to admit our sins to Him.
Forgiveness is a grace action by God; Jesus paid our debt on the cross (Eph 1:7; 1 Pe 1:18-19).
