Luke 7:36-50 - Forgiveness

This was the message I prepared for my missions trip to Shepherd's Home in Wisconsin.

Our theme this week is forgiveness. We'll begin by looking at one instance where Christ forgave, and then reflect on how we should forgive others.

Luke 7:36-50

36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat. 37 And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38 and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner."
40 And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." So he said, "Teacher, say it."

41 "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"

43 Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more."
And He said to him, "You have rightly judged." 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."
48 Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."
49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"
50 Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

A Debt Forgiven

So what do we have going on in this passage? Jesus has been invited to eat in the home of a Pharisee. Then this sinful woman, after finding out where Jesus was eating, interrupts the meal by washing His feet with her tears, kissing His feet and then pouring the fragrant oil that she had brought with her on His feet. The man who has invited Jesus to eat with him is now astonished. He begins asking himself, "If Jesus really is a Prophet, he would know how sinful this woman is." So now he is thinking that Jesus isn't really who he says he is. But look at verse 40. "And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." Jesus prepares to answer the question that Simon had been asking himself. What was Simon's reaction? Look again. "So he said, 'Teacher, say it.'" Pay close attention to what Jesus says to Simon. "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?"

The first example of forgiveness in this passage is a story by Jesus involving debt. He tells of two people who had accumulated a lot of debt. One person's debt was five hundred denarii, or more than a year's pay. How many of you would like to work over a year just to pay off a debt? The other person's debt was fifty denarii, close to two months pay. Neither one was able to pay off their debt. But how did the creditor respond? He could have had both of them thrown in jail. Instead, what did he do? "And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both." This brings us to our definition of forgiveness: True forgiveness does not consider one person's sin in relation to another. If that was the case, then what would have likely happened in the story? The creditor would likely have forgiven the person who owned fifty denarii but punished the one who owed five hundred denarii. But that wasn't what happened. Why? Because the creditor demonstrated true forgiveness and did not take into account the sizes of each person's debt. Instead, he freely forgave both of them. I pray that we be like the creditor in this story. Too often we tend to say "Well, I just can't forgive him. What he did was too terrible for me to forgive him." "I can't forgive her. How could she do such a thing? No! I won't forgive her!" True forgiveness works the opposite: Instead of counting sins, it freely forgives.

A Sinner Redeemed

Now let's look at the more immediate situation in the text between Jesus and the woman. After finishing his story about the debts, Jesus asks Simon a question. Look at verse 42. "'Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?' Simon answered and said, "I suppose the one whom he forgave more." And He said to him, "You have rightly judged." Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, 'Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.'"

Remember that this woman was well-known by everyone for her many sins. Why then did she do all these things for Jesus? What caused her to act so humbly? There's a clue in verse 37. "And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil." Do you see it? When she found out where Jesus was eating, she grabbed her flask of oil and went to see Jesus. She didn't even have to think twice about it. "Jesus is eating at Simon's? Oh, I need to go see Him!" And she washes His feet with her tears, and kisses them, and anoints His feet with the oil she had brought with her. Why did she do all this? There was something about Jesus that caused her to do these things. Look at verse 46. "You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much." The woman came to see Jesus because she loved him. That's what moved her to Simon's house. Look at verse 50. "Then He said to the woman, 'Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." So her love for Jesus is what drove her to be near Him. What was the result? Look at verse 48. "Then He said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.'" The woman was forgiven because of her faith in Jesus, and Christ truly forgave her. He didn't count how many sins she had done in the past. He freely forgave her because of her faith. This brings us to a very important conclusion: Faith in Christ is the only way to true forgiveness for our sins. There's no other way.

Conclusion

Why then should we forgive others? The answer is simple. We should forgive others because Christ forgave us. The woman that was forgiven loved Christ much, because her sins were many. Guess what? All of your sins and all of my sins are as many as the stars in the sky. And for those who are believers Christ has forgiven every single one of those sins. Since Christ, like the creditor with the two debts, has forgiven our non-repayable sins, we should forgive others in the same way. Remember that true forgiveness doesn't measure the sin, but freely forgives. I pray that we would all freely forgive each other because of how much Christ has forgiven us.