Responding to God's Graciousness

A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” Luke 7:41-42

A Pharisee named Simon is about to get a wake up call. He has invited Jesus into His home only to be appalled at a sinful woman’s display of emotion. He is uncomfortable with her tears. He is appalled that Jesus would even allow this woman near Him let alone to touch him. The only way he knew how to treat those he considered sinful was to distance himself from them emotionally, physically, and socially. Forgiveness was handed out only upon earning it through enough “make up for it” behavior. But Jesus is about to probe Simon’s heart so he will consider his own condition.

Jesus uses a parable that would be easily understood. Financial obligation with no means to repay. The debts are not equal…not by a long shot. My Bible notes say that a denarii was worth about a day’s wages. So to personalize this, think of what you make in a day. In this parable, one person owed about two years worth of income and the other about two months. Now even though their debts are different, their inability to repay the loan is equal. We are not given the reason for their inability to pay and it really doesn’t matter at this point. The moneylender graciously forgives them both. Can you imagine that happening in a bank today?

Humanly speaking we would answer His question in the same way Simon did. Which loved more? The one who had been forgiven more. What we fail to see though, is that BOTH were graciously forgiven. If they both would digest the truth of that they would both be filled with love and gratitude. So often we compare the depths of our sins with another person instead of the depth of forgiveness granted to us. The magnitude of our sin often helps us to realize the magnitude of God’s forgiveness.

What Jesus wants Simon to understand and in turn for us to understand, is that it is not the NUMBER of forgiven sins that produces a love for Him. It is a full realization of His gracious forgiveness. When we see that we in fact are the debtor who cannot pay we open ourselves up to the full realization that this woman had. May we fully grasp His graciousness to us!

Father, I revel in Your gracious forgiveness of my sin. May I be as expressive in my appreciation as this woman was. Others may called it extreme, I call it radically appropriate! Amen.