Now
when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner.”
Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
He said, “Teacher, say on.”
“A certain lender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they couldn’t pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?”
Simon answered, “He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most.”
He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”
Luke 7:39-43
Luke 7 [31.] “To what then will I liken the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace, and call to one another, saying, ‘We piped to you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned, and you didn’t weep.’ For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard; a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Wisdom is justified by all her children.”
Luke 7 [36.] One of the Pharisees invited him to eat with him. He entered into the Pharisee’s house, and sat at the table. Behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that he was reclining in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of ointment. Standing behind at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and she wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner.”
Luke 7 [40.] Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
He said, “Teacher, say on.”
Luke 7 [41.] “A certain lender had two debtors. The one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they couldn’t pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most?”
Luke 7 [43.] Simon answered, “He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most.”
He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” Turning to the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered into your house, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You didn’t 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 to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
Luke 7 [49.] Those who sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Meaning:
Jesus was a guest at the house of a Pharisee named Simon when a woman known in the town as a sinner came in, wept at his feet, wiped them with her hair, kissed them and anointed them with ointment (Luke 7:38). These verses record what Simon thought and how Jesus answered him with a short parable about two debtors.
- “This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived”
Simon said nothing aloud. He thought it. In his mind the scene proved that Jesus was no prophet. A real prophet would know what kind of woman she was and would never let her touch him, because contact with a sinner was thought to make a religious man unclean. The crowd at Nain had just called Jesus “a great prophet” (Luke 7:16). Simon was not convinced.
The irony is rich. Jesus knew exactly who the woman was, and he also knew what Simon was thinking. As the Lord told Samuel, “man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Simon judged by appearance; Jesus saw both hearts.
- “Simon, I have something to tell you”
Jesus answers the unspoken thought. Simon replies politely, “Teacher, say on.” He gives Jesus a title of respect but has already decided against him. Jesus does not shame his host in public. He tells a story and lets Simon reach the conclusion himself.
- “A certain lender had two debtors”
A denarius was a day’s wage for a labourer. One man owed five hundred denarii, well over a year’s wages; the other owed fifty, less than two months’. Both debts were real, and neither man could pay. In an act of pure generosity the lender “forgave them both”. The word for forgave means to grant freely, as a gift.
Jesus often pictured sin as a debt owed to God. He taught his disciples to pray, “Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us” (Luke 11:4), and he told of a servant forgiven a vast debt by his king (Matthew 18:23-35).
- “Which of them therefore will love him most?”
The answer is obvious, and Simon gives it cautiously: “He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most.” Jesus replies, “You have judged correctly.” Simon has judged rightly about the story but wrongly about himself and the woman. In the verses that follow Jesus contrasts Simon’s cool welcome with her extravagant love and declares, “her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much” (Luke 7:44-48). Her love did not earn her forgiveness; it was the fruit of the forgiveness she had received.
Simon may have thought of himself as the small debtor. But the parable makes clear that neither debtor could pay. Simon too needed forgiveness, and his little love showed how little he understood his need.
The Significance of Luke 7:39-43
- Everyone is a debtor
Some people’s sins are public and others are hidden, but all of us owe a debt to God that we cannot pay. The first step to forgiveness is admitting our need.
- Forgiveness produces love
Those who understand how much they have been forgiven respond with gratitude and devotion. Cold religion often comes from forgetting how much grace we have received.
- Jesus sees the heart
Jesus saw through Simon’s polite welcome and through the woman’s reputation. He is not fooled by appearances, and he welcomes anyone who comes to him in repentance and faith.
Cross-References:
Luke 7:47: "her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." Jesus applies the parable.
1 Samuel 16:7: "man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart." God sees beyond reputation.
Luke 11:4: "Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us." Sin pictured as debt.
Matthew 18:23-35: The parable of the servant forgiven a great debt.
Conclusion: At Simon’s table a sinful woman anointed Jesus’ feet, and Simon concluded that Jesus could not be a prophet. Jesus, who knew both her life and Simon’s thoughts, told of a lender who forgave two debtors who could not pay, one a large debt and one a small. Simon agreed that the one forgiven more would love more. The parable shows that all people are debtors before God, that forgiveness is a free gift, and that those who know they have been forgiven much love much.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible