36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50
Dear God, I think I’ve ever only spent time thinking about Simon when reading this story. His arrogance. His insensitivity. His judgment. His self-righteousness. I don’t know that I’ve ever just sat with this woman. What was she experiencing? What was her hopelessness of heart? What did she expect her adoration of this man to produce? Had he already had the forgiveness talk with her earlier, but he was letting Simon and the others know about it? Now that I think about it, she would have almost had to have already experienced Jesus’s forgiveness before this dinner even happened. I don’t think she was trying to glatter him in order to get forgiveness. I think she was trying to love and adore him for what he had already done.
I don’t want to say that I haven’t been forgiven much because 1.) I have confessed some things to you that I am completely ashamed of and 2.) I know that all the sins are equal. But when I think about the levels to which I have hit “rock bottom,” my bottom is probably closer to Simon’s than it is this woman’s. And I know my gratitude isn’t even close to her level. It’s much closer to Simon’s.
I was at a men’s meeting the other night, and one of the men started talking about all of the things he thanks you for every day. He grew up in great need. He grew up in a neglectful, abusive environment. He went down a wrong path. He has been to state prison. And so when he sits there are expresses gratitude for your forgiveness, your provision, your love, etc., I’ll be frank, it comes from a deeper place of appreciation than where mine comes from. There’s a line from a Steven Curtis Chapman song where he says, “There’s no one more thankful to sit at the table than the one who best remembers hunger’s pain.” Well, this man grew up knowing hunger and not only trying to scrounge for food for himself, but also his younger siblings as well. “Give us this day our daily bread” means a completely different thing to him than it does to me.
Father, I think there’s only so much love and thankfulness than I can will myself to manufacture. First, I need to remember that you have forgiven me of much and you have provided for me beyond what it reasonable. Thank you. I love you. I offer myself to you. Second, I need to look with mercy on others. On those who have come to you and repentance and are now my brothers and sisters and for those who have not yet come. Give me love for them. Give me words for them. Use them to teach me and draw me closer to yourself. You are God. I want it to be all about you.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
