“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 hast rightly judged.” — Luke 7:41-4341There 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. (Luke 7:41‑43).
This parable had been called forth by the remark of the Pharisee in whose house our Lord sat at meat. A woman, who had been forgiven much, came and washed His feet, wiped them with her hair, and anointed them with ointment. This led the Pharisee to say within himself, “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.”
Yes, she was a sinner, and our Lord knew it well; but the love and attention she bestowed upon Him was more precious in His eyes than all the cold hospitality of the Pharisee. And it was a lesson the Pharisee had yet to learn, that, though sin abounded, there was grace that much more abounded, and that could freely forgive the debtor that owed the five hundred pence, as much as the one that owed but fifty.
Our Lord goes on to explain the parable. It was quite right to suppose that he who had been forgiven the more, should love the more. The Pharisee had then to hear what he had not done, placed in comparison with what the sinful woman had done. One short sentence explained it all: “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.” She was not forgiven because she loved much, but, as is clearly stated, she loved much because she was forgiven much.
This brings out the power and value of grace in a wonderful manner; it exalts the forgiven one into a loving one, and the one who feels more deeply the many sins he has been forgiven, is given to love the more. Like Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus: His disciples had gone away to their own homes, but her love binds her to the spot; she would take His dead body, rather than be without Him she loved.
There is one sentence we must not overlook. There was something that equally characterized the two debtors: whether they owed much or little, they had nothing wherewith to pay. What a bringing down of the proud Pharisee to the level of the poor sinful woman! For him to have nothing, when he thought he had so much that he could despise the woman as a sinner. Ah, this is one of the hardest lessons men have to learn, especially those who cannot take the place of lost ones, so well satisfied with themselves and their own righteousness, as to despise others — a lesson that we all need to learn — that the grace of God can cleanse the vilest, and can raise him up into a loving one now, and who shall by-and-by be a “jewel” in the Redeemer’s crown to all eternity.