“And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster-box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee, which had bidden him, saw it, he spike within himself, saying, This man, if lie were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. 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? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou halt rightly judged. 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. 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 7:36-5036And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. 37And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, 38And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. 40And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. 41There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. 44And 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. 45Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 46My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 47Wherefore 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. 48And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. 49And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? 50And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. (Luke 7:36‑50).
THE Lord only spoke twelve words to this poor woman at His feet, but these twelve words embraced in themselves the settle, ment of every question that could possibly distress her soul for eternity. They embrace the whole horizon of her soul, whether she looked back upon the past, around on the present, or forward to the future. All was met by these words. Why has the Holy Ghost recorded this? For our profit and help, so that, if any be in a state of soul corresponding to this woman's—and be as simple as she was—the blessing she got will be theirs likewise. If she looked at the past, she was pardoned. If she looked at the future, she was safe. If she looked at the present, she had what the whole riches of the world could not buy—peace.
The Lord had gone into one of the Pharisees' houses, and sat down to meat. The Holy Ghost records these scenes in the life of Jesus that we may know Him. Our thoughts are all so foggy as to what kind of a heart God and His Son have toward us. We think of God as our enemy: God is our friend. Satan is our enemy; but God has shown out His heart to us in the person of His Son. Here is a Man on earth, and that Man the blessed Son of God; and there never was a poor weary sinner in this world, who wanted Jesus, that could not get to Him. Here He is in the house of a Pharisee, who cares but little for Him; but Jesus goes to his house, knowing it will give an opportunity for this poor woman, who was a sinner, to come to Him.
The only difference between the Jesus of that day and of this, is that He has accomplished redemption and risen from the grave, and that it is not in the Pharisee's house that you will find Him, but in the Father's. But you will not find in the Father's house what she found in the Pharisee's. There she found a frown on the Pharisee's brow, but you will find no frown in the Father's house; there is nothing there to repel the worst who comes, but everything to attract.
Here, then, we see the blessed Son of God, the perfect expression of love and holiness, meeting one who was the perfect expression of sin and wretchedness,. She was a sinner-and, my reader, what are you? Are you not a sinner too? Perhaps you have not thought much about being a sinner? She had thought a great deal about it. And God thinks a great deal of your being a sinner. Have you, my friend, learned the truth before God, that you are a sinner? When the soul has learned what sin is in the sight of a God of perfect holiness, it becomes wretched. This woman was miserable in her sin and guilt, but she hears that Jesus is somewhere where she may get at Him. And if you are miserable in your sin, He is somewhere where you may get at Him.
Was this woman invited? We do not hear that she was. You are better off, for you are invited— invited to the Father's house, where Jesus is. When she heard where Jesus was, she came, and she soon found out the One she wanted.
Never was there one in this world who had the countenance which the blessed Lord had, the grace, the moral power, the majesty. Though He was truly man, yet He was God, and as that poor woman came in that day, her eye would light at once upon Christ, and she saw none else. She wanted Jesus, and she drew nearer and nearer, till she got behind Him, and as she got nearer to God's blessed Son she wept. She saw His grace, His beauty, the face in which deepest love and sympathy were expressed—divine majesty too—God, infinite in His holiness, and equally infinite in His love.
She looked at His feet, dusty and travel—stained—she looked, and her heart overflowed—she wept. Has any tear, my friend, fallen front your eyes at the Lord's feet? Perhaps, unsaved one, you say, "I do not believe in tears." Al there is a day coining when multitudes shall see you weep in the place where there is " weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth," when you have trifled, dear soul, with grace too long, and your little span of life is passed, and when you have put off being saved till too late, and have found your abode forever in that place of agony, where, though you weep, no hand can dry your eyes, and no sweet voice say, "Peace," to you. You were ashamed to shed one tear at the feet of Christ on earth, but you will shed millions of tears in the terrible regions of the lost, with your ungodly companions to see them fall, and to mingle theirs with yours. O soul! soul think of it.
When one thinks of the blessed Lord giving His life, His blood for us—dying on the cross for us—submitting to shame and torture from the hand of man—loving us, and giving Himself for us—tears may well fall. Not that your tears can wash your sins away. The tears of the blessed Jesus Himself could not do that. It takes His heart's blood to put away your sins and mine. This poor woman might wash the dust off the Saviour's feet with her tears, but it needed His life-blood to wash her sins away. Still, it is at His feet she weeps, and then she takes her hair—her crown of glory—and wipes His feet, glad to use as a napkin for His blessed feet what was her chief ornament. She lays all she has at His feet; and now that she is so near Him, with the boldness of faith, she kisses His feet.
Her faith in Jesus brought her to Him, and her confidence in His grace and love lead her now to produce her box of ointment, and anoint His feet.
Till now no word has been spoken. Simon might murmur in his heart, and those that sat at meat might look on reprovingly. Heaven too looked on and saw this wondrous sight—a guilty sinner and the holy Saviour so close together Simon says in his heart, "This man, if he were a prophet"—i.e., He is not a prophet. But was He not a prophet Ay, and much more than a prophet. A prophet to reveal to Simon what was in his heart, but to the poor woman a Saviour.
The Lord reads the heart, and now He answers the Pharisee's thoughts, and says, " Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee." Complacently he replies, "Master, say on." But Christ is full of grace, and the first thing He will bring out is the absoluteness of the grace of God. 'Under the figure of the creditor's treatment of the two debtors, we have the most perfect unfolding of the grace of God that is found in all Scripture. He gives us here the very kernel of one side of the Gospel, as meeting the need of man to be forgiven. God was the creditor, the woman and Simon were the debtors, “and when they had nothing to pay, He frankly forgave them both.”
Have you, my friend, woke up to discern that God is your creditor, and you His debtor? Do you think that you have rendered to God, as His creature, what is His due as your Creator and Preserver? You know you have not. We have to own we have “sinned, and come short of the glory of God." In plain language, we are in His debt. Can you pay? Can I? I freely say, No. Nor can you, my friend. “When they had nothing to pay," says Jesus," he frankly forgave them both.” When God forgives, He does it in a style worthy of Himself. When you and I, poor guilty sinners, are unable to present anything in liquidation of our debt, He forgives. But mind, it was “when they had nothing." People often think they have some little bit of something they can bring. They must have so much prayer, or repentance, or amendment of life to merit pardon. But, no, it is God's goodness leads to repentance. "When they had nothing to pay." Mark it well, my reader, "nothing." God forgives not because you have wept, or prayed, but because of the perfect goodness that fills His heart, and He can do it in righteousness, because the whole question of sin has been settled at the cross, where the guiltless, holy Saviour suffered for the sins of the guilty, unholy sinner. Now” grace reigns"— not at the expense of, but —" through righteousness." God can forgive me, and pass over my sins now, because He did not forgive or pass them over when Christ, my substitute, bore them on the cross. It is due to Christ that, if He has borne the judgment which I deserved, I should go free. It is righteousness—God being righteous to Christ. Christ has died my death; I get His life. Christ bore my sins; I get forgiveness and justification.
In the case before us, the Lord says one debtor owed five hundred pence, the other fifty. Which is like your sins? If a person has not a true sense of what his sin is, he does not get a correct sense of what the love of God is either, for " to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”
Simon rightly judged that he to whom most was forgiven would love most, but the Lord tells him he is not that man, saying, " I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water—no kiss—my head with oil thou didst not anoint." Oh you say, Simon was evidently a bad man. I ask you—Have you treated Christ any better? If yet unconverted, you have never drawn near to Him; you have not been at His feet; you have been full of the world, and the things of the world, and Christ has had no place in your heart. He could say to you, " Thou gavest me no kiss—no confidence—no affection.” Oh! what a solemn thing if the Lord has yet to say this to you!
Now Jesus turns to the woman. He had not spoken to her before, and she had been silent too. Now He says to her, "Thy sins are forgiven." Do you think she believed it? Indeed she did. She had taken her right place in His presence in her misery and her need, not daring to ask for a forgiveness she knew she did not deserve. Her need and her misery were the greatest appeal to His heart, and when the fitting moment came, He says to her, "Thy, sins be forgiven." That takes up all her past history and includes every sin. Others might murmur, “Who is this that forgiveth sins also?" He heeds them not. He has more to say to the anxious penitent at His feet. “Thy faith has saved thee," now falls on her ears. Not thy tears, not thy feet-washing, or thy kissing, not thine anointing; no, "thy faith"—" thy faith hath saved thee.”
I look at the future, dark and gloomy as it used to be, and what meets me? “Thy faith hath saved thee." Christ has endured the stroke, the judgment due to me was borne by Him. That little word “saved" takes you right into eternity. "SAVED.”
It is impossible I can be condemned, for Christ has borne the thing that alone could bring me into judgment—my sin. Christ has put it away, and I am clean.
The past is forgiven, the future is secure—she is saved—and now for the present He says to her, “Go in peace." “Thy sins are forgiven;" that's yester-day. "Thy faith hath saved thee;" that illumines to-morrow. "Go in peace;" that is for to-day. The Lord fill you, my reader, with these twelve words, and you will be a bright living witness to Christ all your days down here. The Lord grant you may be. W. T. P. W.