DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- FORGIVEN

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – FORGIVEN

"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." (Luke 7:47)

This one of my favorite incidents in Jesus' ministry. To get the impact of this verse, we need to go back and get the context.

Here's the picture. Jesus was invited to the house of a Pharisee for dinner. As they were eating, a woman slipped into the room, hiding in the shadows. She happened to be a woman of disrepute in the city. She moved out of the darkness to stand at Jesus' feet. Weeping, she washed Jesus' feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. She had an alabaster box filled with expensive fragrant oil, which she opened and poured on his feet.

The Pharisee evidently knew the woman – a sinner, perhaps a prostitute. One has to wonder if perhaps he had used her services. He was incensed that Jesus would allow her to touch Him if He was truly a prophet. Jesus spoke a parable to the Pharisee. " 'There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denari (margin: $16,000) and the other fifty ($1,600). And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?' " Simon was caught. He had to answer the obvious – the one who was forgiven more.

The Jesus zeroed in on Simon. Simon had not treated Jesus with the normal respect required in the culture for a guest in his home: of washing Jesus' feet, nor given Him a kiss of greeting, nor anointed Him with oil. But this woman loved Jesus so much that she washed and kissed His feet with tears, and anointed His feet with the oil she had brought. Then Jesus drove the nail home: "She loves much because Her sins, which are many, are forgiven. But the person who loves little thinks he has been forgiven little." Simon must have cringed at the sharp rebuke Jesus gave.

The obvious insight is that the person who is forgiven much loves much, and the person who doesn't understand how much he has been forgiven loves little. How much I love Jesus depends on how well I understand how much I have been forgiven. I confess that I am a dirty rotten sinner, and that I have been forgiven much. I love the Lord Jesus because in His mercy and His grace, He has forgiven all my transgressions and paid the debt for my sin. Oh, what forgiveness!!! Oh, what a Savior!!!

On this Good Friday, let us remember the awful cost the Lord Jesus paid for our Salvation.

Love, Dad