NEVER man spake like this man," was the testimony of the enemies of the Blessed Lord. Although disappointed, and their dark designs frustrated, they were forced to confess that God had poured grace into His lips, that there was a mighty power in His words, combined with wisdom, which they could not resist. And this being the case, who would not be a learner at the feet of this heavenly man—Jesus, Wisdom personified, from whose lips flowed one unbroken stream of wisdom that mortals never heard before! Wisdom, which proved that he was God as well as man, upon whom the inhabitants of heaven gazed with wonder and amazement. Yea, the mightiest archangel, as he would fly from the throne of Jehovah to perform His will, would stay in his course to gaze. At whom? Jesus the Nazarene God manifest in the flesh! Let us, like Mary of old, sit at His feet a little while, and be learners there; truth and wisdom we shall get in abundance, which will gladden the heart and cheer the soul. What is He saying? Oh listen, how sweet the strain! Power, wisdom, and love find an expression in His words,—" 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" (Luke 7:4141There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. (Luke 7:41)). Cannot we say now, like and with those of old, "Never man spake like this man "? The words which fall from His stainless lips lodge in our souls, and become life and food to the same.
Ah, but methinks I hear my reader say, “But what does He mean? I need an interpreter." Listen awhile then, and I will tell you. Jesus ever sought in His wisdom and love, when down here, to illustrate for our blessing the way of the sinner's salvation. He would often draw a beautiful picture, in order to make the gospel clear and simple to His hearers, to the end that they might embrace it. He did so in Luke 10 by the sweet story of the good Samaritan.
So also here in Luke 7, and by the words He utters we may say He illustrates four facts, First, the creditor, and who he is; secondly, the debtors, and who they are; thirdly, the inability of the debtors to pay their debts; fourthly, the goodness of the creditor in frankly forgiving the debtors. Since Christ was illustrating the way of salvation, it is not very difficult to decide who the creditor is. God undoubtedly is the creditor— that infinitely holy Being whose very nature is light and love; "God is light, and God is love.” He cannot fail in His accounts—He is the God of everlasting truth!
And it is just as easy to determine Who the debtors are. Guilty man unquestionably is meant here by our Blessed Lord, when speaking of the debtors. There is on high, in the account books there, a tremendous score against him. Is he a Jew? he is a debtor! Is he a Gentile? he is a debtor! Is he moral or immoral, rich or poor, high or low, noble or ignoble, learned or unlearned, black or white, refined or unrefined? he stands before God an absolute debtor, charged with sin and guilt, ungodly, a perfect spiritual bankrupt.
But, moreover, Christ said that “they had nothing to pay." This is humbling in the extreme. Human nature cannot for a moment bear this, if not subdued by the grace of God. What, says the good, moral, conscientious church-goer, do you mean to say that I cannot do anything to settle the account between me and God? Have not I been moral and religious all the days of my life; and do I not try to keep the commandments of God? I pay my way; and am a good citizen; I also do as I would be done by; I keep family worship; I support the gospel, and pay my minister; and then, again, I am a great advocate for temperance. In fact I visit the poor, sometimes lead a prayer meeting, sometimes preach, and I always make it a practice to give away tracts whenever I can. Do you not think that this will lessen the score, and give me acceptance with God?
Oh, listen to me, dear deceived friend, your eyes are verily blinded by Satan, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine into your poor deluded soul. Are not the words of Christ positive and conclusive, "there is none good but God;” “they had nothing to pay"? Wilt thou bow to this, O man? All your boasted goodness and doings, are but the expression of your pride, and rejection of the truth of God which informs you of your state before Him! It informs you that you are an absolutely bankrupt sinner. Will you condescend to own that Christ has shown more wisdom than you, poor self-righteous sinner? He there illustrates in this verse what you are exactly before the God of truth; moreover, He states that you have not a single fraction to pay off the mighty score; or in other words, that your sins and guilt rise up like a mighty mountain between you and God, and that all your goodness cannot remove one particle of it.
Are you persistently saying still, in that heart of yours, that you are able to pay the debt? Then you are verily disputing with the Son of God! He tells you that you are verily a bankrupt sinner, with nothing to meet the claims of your creditor—God, and you say that you have. Miserable mistake consummate folly! blinding obstinacy! on the part of any poor sinner thus to act!
But what does the creditor do? Let us read, “And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both." Here we see God acting in the sovereignty of His own grace and love—frankly and eternally forgiving. The poor debtors are the subjects of His own abundant mercy, and the recipients of His goodness. The extremity and absolute ruin of marl as a sinner, is the grand opportunity for God to display what is in His heart—viz., to save sinners.
Ah, but stay, is not God righteous and just in all His ways? How then can He so freely pardon, and at the same time maintain that righteousness? Let us gaze at the Cross of Calvary, and we shall get a divine answer, and the difficulty be solved. God's priceless and spotless Lamb was slain there as the sinner's substitute; God's righteous judgment against sin was poured out upon Him. Forsaken of God, and brought down to the dust of death, the death of the Cross, Jesus laid the imperishable ground of the sinner's pardon and salvation. God has raised Him up, and set Him in brightest majesty at His own right hand; now declaring His righteousness, in freely, fully, and eternally pardoning and justifying those who put their trust in His Son.
Dear reader, are you trusting in the Son of God? If not, the facts of eternity, of having to meet God, urge you to put your trust in Him without delay. Delay may launch your priceless soul into the flames of an ever-burning and yet unconsuming hell. Remember God frankly, fully, and eternally pardons those who simply trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. "To him give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him SHALL receive remission of sins" (Acts 10:4343To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43)). E. A.