Two Debtors – Luke 7:40-43 [fuller context 7:36-50]

This parable is told by Jesus when He was at the home of a Pharisee named Simon.  Simon had invited Jesus into his home for a meal(hospitality), which was a good thing.  While Jesus was reclining at the table(they did not use chairs like we do today and the tables were much lower to the floor).  While Jesus was reclining at the table, a woman came into Simon’s home.  This woman was a “sinner,” which may have meant that she was a prostitute, but clearly she was known by the people in the village to be a “sinner.”  It is important to note that all people are sinners(Rom. 3:23; 5:12), and the result of sin is death(Rom. 5:12; 6:23).  The death mentioned in Romans is not physical death, but more importantly spiritual death.  I mentioned that all are sinners because the people in the village thinking of this woman as a “sinner” is pivotal to the proper understanding of this parable. 

The woman is at Jesus’ feet; she is crying.  She is crying so much that her tears are getting Jesus’ feet wet.  She eventually dries His feet with her hair, kisses His feet and puts ointment on His feet from an alabaster container she had brought with her.  It is at this point that Simon, the Pharisee who had invited Jesus there into his home to dine with him was thinking that if Jesus really were a prophet, He would know what kind of person this woman was, and He would not allow her to touch Him.  Knowing what Simon was thinking, Jesus then tells Simon the parable.

The Facts

A money lender had two debtors.  One debtor owed him 500 denarii and the other debtor owed him 50 denarii.  Neither debtor was able to pay the money lender back the debt that was owed.  The money lender cancelled the debt of both debtors.  The parable finished, Jesus asked Simon which debtor would love the money lender more.  Simon said that he supposed that the debtor who had owed more money(i.e. the 500 denarii debtor) would love the money lender more.  Jesus told Simon that he had judged(i.e. made a determination) correctly.  It seems pretty straight-forward.

What Does It Mean?

In this case, the money lender is Jesus, Simon is the debtor who owed 50 denarii and the woman is the debtor who owed 500 denarii.  When someone owes a lot, like the woman, she is very appreciative of being forgiven.  However, when someone owes little and is forgiven, that person is less appreciative of the forgiveness that is received.  Simon came to this conclusion when Jesus told him the parable of the two debtors.  Jesus even told Simon that he had judged correctly, meaning that the person who had owed more would be more appreciative, or loving, than the person who had owed less.  But was Jesus saying this is right?  Was He saying this is how it should be, or merely that this is how it typically is?

Jesus had used the parable to draw attention to how He had been treated differently by Simon and by the woman.  Simon had not given Jesus water to wash His feet upon arrival(Judea was a dry, dusty place and people wore sandals or less, so their feet got very dirty).  He did not kiss Jesus(a common greeting in many Middle Eastern countries, even to this day).  And He did not anoint Jesus’ with oil.  By contrast, the woman had washed His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, kissed His feet and put ointment on His feet.  Clearly, the one who is forgiven little(Simon) loves little, but the one who is forgiven much(woman) loves much.  And this is likely where the learning ended for Simon.  Jesus was acknowledging that the woman was a sinner who needed more forgiveness, so she expressed more love(i.e. thankfulness) to Jesus, whereas Simon, a Pharisee(i.e. a pretty good person, at least in his own estimation), expressed less love because he didn’t really need that much forgiveness, if any.  But was that the point Jesus was making?

Jesus is God(John 1:1).  He knows everything about everybody.  And even if He didn’t, He knows that sin, whether it is one sin or a million, separates people from God.  If that is true, then shouldn’t all people, whether they are guilty of one sin or a million sins, love Jesus the same?  The correct answer is “yes.”  This parable is not Jesus illustrating how we should feel, but rather, how we do feel.  Simon should have given Jesus water for His feet(he actually should have washed Jesus’ feet).  Simon should have greeted with a kiss(or more).  Simon should have anointed His head with oil.  But he didn’t.

At the end of this interaction, Jesus tells the woman that her sins are forgiven(He had earlier acknowledged that her sins were many).  Some of the people present wondered who Jesus really was, that He was forgiving sin, since only God can do that.  He never says that Simon’s sins are forgiven, at least not that we have recorded.

Takeaways

Here are some basic things that we can learn from this parable.

It can be really easy to think that some people(i.e. “sinners”) need salvation more than others do.  But the simple fact is that all sin(Rom. 3:23) and all are under the same [spiritual] death sentence(Rom. 6:23).  As such, every person needs salvation just as much as the next person.  We are all in the exact same situation.   Period.

No one is better than anyone else.  Simon thought he was better than the woman.  But Simon was not alone; likely everyone else, except Jesus probably, thought that they were better than she was.  They were all wrong.  We need to be VERY careful when we judge others.  It’s easy to look down on someone because of their sin, especially after we have been saved.   We seem better than them(and we are better off by far, as our sins are forgiven), but we used to be them.  If your sins have been forgiven through the blood of Jesus, then you used to be just like that person.   You are only in a better position because of Jesus(Eph. 2:8).  All you did was accept a gift(the Bible calls that grace).  Please don’t misunderstand me here.  I am not saying that we do nothing, but we do not earn our salvation, we do not merit our salvation.  The only thing we deserve is death(Rom. 6:23).  That is what we earned.  Salvation is a gift from God, freely given to anyone willing to accept it.

In the parable , neither debtor could pay.  It wasn’t that it would take a while to pay; they just could not pay what they owed . . . ever.  That perfectly describes sin.  It is a debt we can never pay, no matter how long we do whatever.  It doesn’t matter what thing we do.  There are no amount of good deeds we can do to have even one sin forgiven.  Only Jesus’ perfect sacrifice could pay for sin(Heb. 9:14, 26).

We need to express our appreciation for being forgiven.  Read Luke 7:37-38.  Do you have any doubts about her appreciation for Jesus?  And this is before He told her that her sins were forgiven.  Do feel this way toward Jesus, either before or after your sins are forgiven?  We all should.

Simon invited Jesus to dine with him(a good thing).  He appears to have invited others, as there were others at the table(7:49).  The “sinner” woman was there, but she was not invited.  But she should have been.  Everybody needs to be invited to listen to Jesus.  It’s important to remember that Simon invited Jesus into his home, but that was for more than just a meal.  Simon wanted to hear what Jesus would teach him(7:40).  The woman needed to hear it, too.  As did everyone else in the village.  We need to think of others this way.  They are like the woman . . . sinners, yes, but that’s exactly why they need to hear from Jesus.  They need her like she did . . . like we do.

The Wrap

Jesus was trying to get people who thought they were more like the Simon, the Pharisee, to realize that they should have realized they were more like the woman.   They needed to realize that they were sinners.  They needed to love Him like she loved Him.   They needed to appreciate Him and express that appreciation like she did.  Instead of being an aloof, distant observer(Simon), they needed to be an impassioned , penitent interactor(the woman).  We need to do that same thing.  We need to see the sinners we are.  We need to see the salvation that Jesus [freely] offers.  We need to accept that gift(i.e. grace).  And we need to share it with others.  But we won’t do any of that until we realize we are a debtor who is incapable of paying the debt we owe.  Until we realize that crucial fact, we will never understand how great the gift is that Jesus is offering(Rom. 5:15).  See yourself for who you are.  See Jesus for Who He is.  And share that gift with others.