“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 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. 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 there 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. 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 eat 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).
AT the close of a large and interesting gospel meeting one Lord’s Day evening in Glasgow, many years ago, I came in contact with two earnest inquirers after God’s way of salvation. They were young women, sisters, between twenty and twenty-five years of age. The passage quoted at the head of this paper had been before us, and I had endeavored to show how free and full is God’s salvation—that all is wrapped up in the person of Christ, and the blessing of the soul really lies in getting into contact with Him.
We had, in spirit, gone into the Pharisee’s house, and seen “a woman of the city, which was a sinner,” lowly bowed in tears at His blessed feet, conscious that she was a sinner, and nothing but a sinner. What the particular nature of her sins may have been, Scripture tells us nothing; she was a sinner. So is every other soul of man, you and I included, reader. And sin brings its consequences, death and judgment by-and-by, while misery, unrest, and ofttimes fear, oppress the heart and conscience now. With sin unforgiven this should always be the case. She had heard of Jesus, and what she had heard of His grace and tenderness, coupled with the need of her own heart, drew her to Him. Whatever prayer may have been in her heart, no words appear to have escaped her lips; she was silenced by her sin, her mouth was closed by her guilt. Tears of contrition, penitence, repentance, and self-judgment flowed fast and warm, till they sufficed to wash the Saviour’s feet.
Then, emboldened as faith ever is when the soul draws near to Jesus, she used her long tresses—a woman’s glory—as a napkin to wipe the feet of that blessed compassionate Saviour, and, while thus putting her very glory at His feet, the affection which His grace produced in her heart showed itself by the kisses with which she covered those feet, without refusal on His part. Doubtless she had heard and pondered well the counsel of ages gone by, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him” (Psa. 2:1212Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psalm 2:12)). She trusted Him, she kissed His feet, and was blessed. She was wisdom’s child. The alabaster box of ointment which she brought with her attested the sincerity of her affection, as she anointed those well-washed, tenderly-wiped, and lovingly-kissed feet.
Need on the sinner’s part was met by grace on the Saviour’s part, but grace is a principle that self-righteousness does not apprehend. Simon the Pharisee reasons in his heart thus, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who or what manner of woman this is that touches him, for she is a sinner.” Poor Simon, he neither knew his own heart nor the heart of God; full of self-righteousness he was blind alike to the evil of his cold and callous heart, and to the beauties of the grace of God manifested in Jesus. He must be taught what God is, revealed in grace, and then learn that man, debased by sin, and callous of that grace, by his own self-importance and fancied righteousness ever stands in the way of his own blessing.
The two debtors, one owing fifty pence, and the other five hundred, were himself and the woman; he profoundly unconscious of the depth of his indebtedness to God, she fully alive thereto; he, cold, callous, heartless, and careless, and hence had neither water for the feet, ointment for the head, nor the courteous kiss of welcome for Jesus which every host should give his guest. In plain language he had no heart for God. Reader, have you?
On the other hand the woman had just that for the Lord which suited the occasion; but whatever man may be, God is always the same; and however deep the debt of man may be, grace delights in forgiving, hence Jesus says, “And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.” This is God’s present attitude to man. On the ground of redemption accomplished, and atonement having been effected—Christ having borne sins on the cross and the judgment attached to them—God is now able to righteously pardon the vilest and the worst.
We saw that not only could He forgive, but frankly forgive, for there is a style about God’s forgiveness that is absolutely charming; but Simon, profoundly unaffected by grace, thought his sins were only fifty, if indeed they were as many as that, and receives the timeous rebuke which the state of his soul demanded. “Thou gavest me not” is a terrible word for God to say to the soul. “Thou gavest me no water, no kiss, no ointment,” was a terrible thing for Christ to say to him, yet indeed was it true. On the other hand the woman, deeply conscious of her need and her guilt, had shown the love that tilled her heart by the actions we have been describing.
To her the Lord turns, so that she saw in His face the blessed love that filled His heart, as, first of all, He says to Simon, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven.” How thrilling must it have been to her to hear Jesus say of her, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven.” Without one bit doubting His words, I am persuaded she deeply longed to hear Him say similar words to herself, nor had she long to wait, for grace delights to put the heart of its object at perfect rest in its presence, and within a moment the blessed words fell on her ears that removed the guilt of the past, lit up the future with joy, and sent her on her way home in rest and peace with God.
Mark the glorious words which the Saviour said to that sinner then, and in blessed grace says to any troubled sinner now, “Thy sins are forgiven, thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” These twelve words filled up her whole history. Pardoned as regards the past; saved as regards the future; and in peace for the present, she left the Pharisee’s house.
My two young friends had listened with the deepest interest to the address I had given as above related, but had not yet believed the gospel. Getting into conversation with them, I inquired were not they the two to which the words of the Lord about the debtors applied. They immediately replied in the affirmative, and then I asked them:
“Which of you is it that owes the fifty, and which the five hundred?”
The elder of the two taking the lead immediately said, “Mine is the live hundred,” to which in an instant the younger replied, “No, Maria, the five hundred are mine, I am sure, you are a much better girl than I, and I am a far greater sinner than you.”
“No, my sister, that is not so, the five hundred are mine,” and for a moment or two they altercated on the subject I had no objection, because it is always a good thing when a person sees how deep is their sin, and the truly convicted soul is always conscious of this, that there is not such another sinner in the world as it is. I was glad, therefore, that each claimed the five hundred.
I then said, “But which of them was it the creditor forgave? which of you two girls is it that God forgives?” The answer was beautiful, “He frankly forgave them both.”
“Well,” I said, “it is good to see that God forgives you both: do you both believe it?” I think, they did; but now I said, “If He forgives you, tell me how He does it? What does that mean, ‘He frankly forgave them both’?” There was a little pause, and then the younger sister said, “It seems to me that He forgave them without a grudge.”
“Yes, that is exactly the way God forgives a pair of poor, guilty, self-condemned sinners like you, without a grudge; He has His joy and delights in pardoning any poor sinner that takes his or her true place before Him. And have you nothing to pay?”
“Nothing, nothing,” was the answer that fell from each lip. “And when you have nothing, what does God do?” “Frankly forgave them both,” was the answer.
Now, my reader, do you believe this tale of the grace of God? You well may. If I were you I would take my place at once as a bankrupt sinner in the presence of the Lord, and, conscious that you can bring nothing, do nothing, and be nothing, I would listen to His voice. I believe if you take that attitude you will hear Him say, “Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace.” And if asked whether you know that you are forgiven, and saved, and whether you have peace with God, you will be able to honestly answer “Yes,” and answer intelligently on this ground that, when you had nothing to pay, God frankly forgave you. You will be able to say with truth, “He has forgiven me without a grudge.”
To walk in the assurance of present pardon and future glory with Christ is the divinely given privilege of every believer in Him.
W. T. P. W.