Luke 7:36-43 - "He Freely Forgave Them Both"

Right after Jesus commended John the Baptist and Luke comments that the Pharisees rejected the will of God by not repenting and accepting the baptism of John, he tells us about a Pharisee who invited Jesus to come eat with him. This incident is only recorded in the Gospel of Luke and not found in the other Gospels. We should not confuse this event with a similar one involving Mary of Bethany in John 12:1-8, and also, we should not identify this woman with Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2).   It was customary in that day for outsiders to hover around during banquets so they could watch the "important people" and hear the conversation. Since everything was open, they could even enter the banquet hall and speak to a guest. This explains how this woman had access to Jesus. He was not behind locked doors. In that day women were not invited to banquets.   Jewish rabbis did not speak to women in public, nor did they eat with them in public. A woman of this type would not be welcomed in the house of Simon the Pharisee. Her sins are not named, but we get the impression she was a woman of the streets with a bad reputation. No group of men was more consistently hostile to Christ than the Pharisees. Luke mentions them twenty-eight times and always as being hostile to Jesus. The woman in this instance was daring in the first place to enter the house of a Pharisee. No people were more proud, exclusive, and self-righteous than the Pharisees. They looked with scorn and contempt on the type of woman who now appeared.   The Lord assuredly knew that He was on hostile ground in Simon's house. But the same love for lost people that brought Him down from high heaven above to this hostile world was the love that took Him into Simon's inhospitable house. The Lord held His peace, but He noted the fact that Simon made no attempt to extend to Him the common courtesies that an Oriental host generally offered guests. Once in the house, the Lord was seated for supper. On such occasions, the various ones present reclined on couches arranged around the table. Each one rested his left elbow on the table with his feet pointed away toward the wall.   The woman admitted she was a sinner, and her actions gave evidence that she was a repentant sinner. Her tears, her humble attitude, and her expensive gift all spoke of a changed heart. Simon was embarrassed, both for himself and for his guests. People had been saying that Jesus was a great Prophet (Luke 7:16), but He certainly was not exhibiting much prophetic discernment if He allowed a sinful woman to anoint His feet! He must be a fraud.   Simon's real problem was blindness to his own sinful condition. It was easy for him to say, "She is a sinner!" but impossible for him to say, "I am also a sinner!" (see Luke 18:9-14) Jesus proved that He was indeed a prophet by reading Simon's thoughts and revealing his needs.   This story of the two debtors does not deal with the amount of sin in a person's life but the awareness of that sin in his heart. How much sin must a person commit to be a sinner? Simon and the woman were both sinners. Simon was guilty of sins of the spirit, especially pride, while the woman was guilty of sins of the flesh (see 2 Cor. 7:1). Her sins were known, while Simon's sins were hidden to everyone except God. And both of them were bankrupt and could not pay their debt to God. Simon was just as spiritually bankrupt as the woman, only he did not realize it.   Forgiveness is a gift of God's grace; the debt was paid in full by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19). God "graciously and freely" forgave them both a debt they could not pay. The woman accepted God's free offer of salvation and expressed her love openly. Simon rejected that offer and remained unforgiven. He was not only blind to himself, but he was blind to the woman and to his honored guest!   God bless!