YES, HE is Talking to YOU! (continued)
Love is the Fulfilling of the Law
Today we begin with the Parable of the Two Debtors which is relatively short and has no real substance without combining it with the preceding verses about the woman who washed the Master’s feet with her hair. We combine them below:
“And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace” (Luke 7:36-50).
A similar story of the woman is found in all four of the gospels though in 3 different versions (for lack of a better word). Only in Luke is it tied to the Parable of the Two Debtors; in Matthew and in Mark it is a similar circumstance but it occurs in the house of Simon the Leper. Matthew and Mark also tell of the anointing of Jesus’ head while above in Luke Simon is one of the Pharisees and the woman anoints Jesus’ feet as she does also in the Gospel of John. In the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John the story of the woman is seems to be given with relation to the value of the box and the ointment and the disciples comments. Also, in John’s Gospel the woman is Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, and there is no mention of Simon, neither as a Pharisee nor a leper. It is assumed by some that these are all the same event told from different perspectives and remembering different facts while others see these as three different events. I mention this only for its information value as regards ideas on the infallibility of the Bible. It has no bearing on the thoughts we will put forth regarding the version we have chosen from Luke.
The story of the woman and the story of the Pharisee start the same. Both have some understanding of who Jesus is and what Jesus is and this likely based on His teaching and His miracles before them. So the one, the Pharisee, invites the Master to dine so that he an learn and understand better and the other, the woman, goes to the house because she knows that the Master is there and she seeks to serve Him; perhaps she is seeking His healing power as well. The Pharisee knows this woman is a ‘sinner’ and thinks to himself that Jesus ought to have known as well and, by His answer, the Master confirms to Simon that He did. This is the idea of this parable more than the idea of the two debtors. Knowing the woman’s past and knowing her heart, Jesus lets her do as she desired; knowing that she is seeking forgiveness and healing. In an outburst of Love the woman risked all to do this for the Master not knowing what would be the reaction and in a response of Love the Master healed her and showed her forgiveness. Jesus tells Simon “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much” which, translated this way, says that the Love that brought her there and caused her to do this for Jesus was rewarded by the forgiveness of “Her sins, which are many”.
Now this translation is rather literal and there have been moves to alter it in some translations of this scripture; before we get to this we should note that this idea in Jesus’ words is the opposite of the idea we get from the actual parable. The parable says that who is forgiven much will love much while, in the dialogue with Simon, the Master says that the woman is forgiven much because she loved much. There is of course truth in the saying of the parable in the general course of life and perhaps the Master was trying to point out that the story and the response of Simon to the question posed was based on thoughts living in the flesh and not in the Spirit. Some translations change this idea of the literal translation to apparently fit the idea of the parable embedded in the whole story. Below are some other translations that put forth the idea that the woman was already forgiven or at least knew that she would be. These are reportedly based on Calvin’s interpretation:
- Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love (New Revised Standard).
- Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much (Holman Christian Standard).
- I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven (Good News Translation).
- So I tell you that all her sins are forgiven, and that is why she has shown great love (Contemporary English Version).
For us the original text and idea will suffice as they show again the depth of the Master’s teaching; that He could be showing us the higher and the lower aspects of Love, forgiveness and appreciation. In the parable itself the issue is clear and it is an issue that is based on ‘what did you do for me?’ which we know is not what Jesus teaches. In the story of the woman is Love and Faith. Love for the Master that enabled her to put herself into that circumstance, risking being repudiated and demeaned by the Pharisees and perhaps even not be allowed to reach Jesus; Love that caused her to use what other gospels say is a valuable ointment in a valuable box to serve the Master and wash His feet. We should remember what Jesus tells us regarding serving Him: “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John 12:26) and regarding the washing of feet: “ye also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). This woman, this sinner, had Faith also which allowed her to care about nothing else but what she had thought to do; to see the Master, to wash and anoint His feet, and to accept the forgiveness that her Faith told her was hers and of which, in the end, Jesus says: “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace“.
The ending of what to us is the key line in this story cited above is also one that does not fit into the whole of the story. Jesus says: “but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little“. This line is saying what the actual parable says in the ‘what is in it for me?’ attitude and this is an announcement to those there. Combined they say that this woman came here and showed that she loved much and so she is forgiven much and that any who have been forgiven little will love little. We should see here the basis for confusion and for the changing of words. We should remember that the Master tells us that the parables and the stories and the teachings are such that many people will not understand them and here we have just that case. Men will take from this what we hear and see and this is not necessarily what He meant. If we leave this in the light of the main parable then in itself it is rather meaningless to us spiritually but, if we see the Love and the Faith of the woman and the Love of the Master plus the attitude of flesh from the Pharisee then we can see it a bit more clearly.
On this ending part of the whole saying that we are using as the meaning of this parable; that is “but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little“, there is much insight from one of the translations that can put this into a better and more understandable perspective. The Bible in Basic English says it this way: “but he who has small need of forgiveness gives little love“. This puts the ending of the saying into the same context as the beginning by framing the whole thing as the woman needed much forgiveness and she showed much Love and Faith and received that forgiveness and a person who requires less forgiveness will need to show less Love and Faith to receive that lesser forgiveness. Is this a right way to view this? We do not and will not know. We only will know what this means to each of us individually. The verse with the redeeming value, from this whole story and embedded parable, is the one we have discussed here. To this add the lead up to it in the woman coming to Jesus and Jesus allowing her to serve. The entirety of the message rests in the Faith and the Love and the Forgiveness found in our one saying. If we look at ourselves in this same light we see that from the perspective of man we give based on what we can get; little for little and much for much. On the spiritual side however, when we are focused on the Kingdom we see the value of Love and giving and serving in Love and receiving reward, not because we seek it but because of the depth of our Love and Faith.
Many parables give us teaching on what we should do, how we should act. Here, in the Parable of the Two Debtors, we see teaching on what we should not do; how we should not act but without any comment from Jesus regarding such. It is only in the carnal life of man that he sees the world as the two debtors will after their forgiveness or, we should say, as Simon perceives that they will. The Master agrees with Simon on his wise decision as a man not living a truly spiritual life. With the help of the story of the woman we see that our offering to the Lord in Love has its own reward; she did not go asking for anything, she went to give.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14)
Today’s Quote of the Day is a saying by the Apostle Paul that tells us in New Testament language what we have been reading and writing in this blog. The natural man is the man living life in the flesh unaware of or ignoring the promptings of the Inner Man and content to live an unenlightened life as a personality. Now this is neither good nor bad insofar as right and wrong are concerned; he is living as millions upon millions do, unaware of the the reality of God in their lives. Paul says that for these people things of the Spirit are foolishness and the man cannot know them. This is only corrected by heeding the call of the Spirit. When this is done a new awareness overcomes the man and then begin the choices of which way to go. This is the beginning of the long process which can end in what is the reality of being Born Again, in staying in the same place as the natural man or in the ultimate confusion of the double minded man. It is a choice.
