In Luke 7 we read the account of Jesus’ dinner at a Pharisee’s house – during the dinner, a woman enters the house seeking Jesus. Our text tells us that this woman was well known for being a “sinner.” She is weeping and is at the feet of Jesus – broken by the knowledge of her own sin – now even more pronounced as she is in the presence of the sinless one – but she has come to the one who can heal, restore, forgive, and make new.
We see the Pharisee’s reaction – almost as though this woman is worthless, no hope for her – judging her as beyond reach, he identity is permanently lost, not as holy as they are.
Jesus thinks otherwise.
He tells a story of someone who was owed 20 months wages vs 2 months wages – if the debt were cancelled, which one will show greater love to the one who cancelled the debt? The answer is the one who owed more.
The parallel is clear – this woman had great sin – she was well aware of the depth of her sin – it has broken her – and she is seeking forgiveness – because she has been forgiven much, she loves Jesus much.
How about us? Do we understand the depth of our sin? Do we grasp the magnitude of what we have been forgiven of? This isn’t to say that we need to constantly dwell on our sin, because for those who are in Christ the sin is removed – but we should retain an awareness of how big of a deal that was. Our massive debt was paid – how much more should we love God and others in light of that? Or do we dare be like the Pharisee who completely didn’t see his own sin, and harshly judged this woman as beyond hope.
The cross is the obvious statement that we all sin and we all need a Savior and that NO ONE is beyond hope of restoration in Jesus.
This is received and lived out by faith – like the woman “whose faith has made her well” and we go in peace. (Luke 7:50)
Mike Ruel 