Parables of Grace: Embrace God’s Love for YouSample

The Two Debtors: Grace to the Forgiven

Imagine you were invited as a special guest to someone’s home, but no one greeted you at the door, took your coat, or offered you a drink.

That’s essentially what happened to Jesus when Simon the Pharisee invited Him to a special meal. Back in first-century Palestine, the host would greet an honored guest or a rabbi with a kiss. The host or his servant would wash the guest’s feet, or at the very least, provide water for the guest to wash his own feet. Anointing with oil was also common, though not required.

Simon neglects to extend any of these common customs of hospitality to Jesus. His failure to do any of these basic things for Jesus would have been considered unmistakably insulting.

During the dinner, an unexpected visitor arrives. A woman who leads a “sinful life” finds out that Jesus is at the Pharisee’s house and enters the banquet (Luke 7:37). Some commentators believe that this woman was a prostitute because she is referred to as “a woman of the city” (Luke 7:37, ESV), but she may instead be “the wife of someone with a dishonorable occupation, a woman in debt, or an adulteress.”

The woman approaches Jesus and humbly positions herself at Jesus’ feet and then proceeds to give Him the kind of tribute ordinarily reserved for noblemen or royalty. According to theologian Kenneth Bailey, “She is offering her love and trying to compensate for the insult that Jesus has just received.” After witnessing how Simon did not even give Jesus a proper greeting or water to wash His feet, she was overcome. When she could not greet Jesus with a kiss, she kissed His feet. Then she spontaneously washed His feet with her tears. Having no towel, she let down her hair to wipe His feet. It would be too presumptuous for a sinful woman to anoint the head of a rabbi, so she brought a flask of perfume to pour on Jesus’ feet.

Witnessing her actions, Simon thinks that if Jesus were a prophet, he would not allow a “sinful” woman to touch him. He viewed this woman as impure and her actions as defiling Jesus (Luke 7:39). The Pharisee cannot see beyond the woman’s past to appreciate her heart of repentance and acceptance of grace.

As if reading Simon’s mind, Jesus proceeds to tell him a parable about two debtors. One owed the moneylender 500 denarii and the other 50 denarii. A denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer. Neither of them was able to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Jesus then asks Simon, “Which of them will love him more?”

Simon replies, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven” (verse 43).

After Simon answers correctly, Jesus asks if he sees “this woman”? Simon stereotyped her and saw only her reputation, not the woman herself. By comparing the woman’s love and devotion to Simon’s lack of hospitality, Jesus is commending a “sinful” woman and criticizing a “respectable” man (Luke 7:44-46). In a man’s world and at a banquet of men, a despised woman is set forth as a heroine of faith, repentance, and devotion. And she is the recipient of Jesus’ grace.

Prayer: Inhale slowly and pray, “Lord, help me receive your forgiveness.” Then exhale slowly and pray, “And worship you with love and devotion.” Repeat this breath prayer several times, allowing it to become a meditation that you can return to.