"Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven." Luke 7:41-43
Jesus tells this story in light of a sinful woman anointing him. She brought a jar of perfume, cried on His feet and used her own hair to clean his feet. She was also kissing His feet and pouring perfume on them.
She is anointing Him. Anointing is something that happens to kings to declare their kingship. She just does it out of love.
In this particular account, Jesus is at a Pharisees house when this happens. The Pharisee invited Him over for a meal and this woman shows up and does this stuff. The Pharisee is rather surprised that Jesus doesn't make her go away. In response to his thoughts, Jesus tells the story above and elaborates as such.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - as her great love has show. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."
Then Jesus said to her, "You r sins are forgiven." Luke 7 44-48
Jesus is looking at their actions and their lives here. Jesus knows that Simon has sin in his life but it is not as much as the woman's. Jesus is not looking at the type of sin, instead He sees how forgiven they feel. Simon is relieved whereas the woman is overjoyed. Jesus is saying that sin all weighs the same but some people feel more forgiven. Look back at the first thing I wrote.
"One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both."
That is a very practical picture of what Jesus did on the cross. I did not have the ability or the equity to pay back my debts, just as whoever is reading this does not or did not. Jesus forgave all of our debt Himself. He stepped in on our behalf and paid what we could not pay. He wiped the slate clean. Have peace with that. In fact, to close, I will show you what Jesus said to this woman. I think she got it already but He points it out again to her. I just loved Jesus' compassion for this woman and in all reality, all of us who love Him.
Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke 7:50
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