Dinner and Depth of Forgiveness

The politics of the Pharisees and how they related to Jesus are fascinating. Very early in the public ministry of Jesus, Nicodemus, a Pharisee, came to see Jesus by night, seeking further understanding of his purpose and teaching. He got a discussion with Jesus which included the very famous verse for evangelists everywhere, John 3v16. The Pharisee consensus turned more and more against him as time went on, of course, ending with the crucifixion. But some time between these events, in Luke 7v36-50, we see Jesus actually went to dinner with Simon the Pharisee. 

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

(Luke 7:36-50)

Jesus was invited but then when he turned up, he was not honoured. We're not told how much effort was made with the food, which might've been a major interest for me! But nice food or not, his feet were not washed on entry to the house, and he seems to have been generally treated as a second-class visitor. He was not anointed or kissed, as seems to have been the custom. Perhaps some other Pharisees heard about Jesus coming and turned up to check him out. Maybe Simon did not want to honour Jesus if his other guests held him in contempt. He went with the flow of his peers. But another visitor had no such inhibitions.

This visiting woman treated Jesus with great honour. Although she was a sinner in the eyes of the Pharisees, there was no sexual element to her outpouring of love and affection on the Lord. She washed his feet with her tears, probably finding the dishonour from Simon inappropriate. Wishing to correct what Simon had not done, she went further and poured ointment on him and kissed his feet. God is not against intimacy and affection, to the right extent in the right context. Rather, He made them possible and enjoys them. He wants to bless us with true friendships, with Himself and with others. The sexual act does not necessitate real intimacy of relationship. Intimacy, in common usage, is a distorted and largely empty word, just as love is. 

After the Pharisees criticise the woman, Jesus tells a parable about debt. The punchline: Those who love most are those who have been forgiven most. 

Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

(Luke 7:47)

What can we surmise from this encounter? 

Jesus is not saying that the woman's sins were forgiven he as a result of her great love for him. Rather because she exhibited so much flamboyantly-expressed love for Jesus, it was clear her many sins were already abundantly forgiven. The full-on nature of her love and affection were evidence of the forgiveness she was experiencing. Forgiveness makes room for love to abide and for love to flow. It then flows from God to us, and from us to God, and also out to the people we meet. We do not earn God's forgiveness by our love. We can't love our way into being forgiven. Instead we need to realise that both the forgiveness and the love are graciously granted by God! Isn't that amazing! None of us could love our way into being forgiven by God. When fully received, His forgiveness releases us into love. The second half of verse 47 shows the same flow, but there we see everything diminished:  The one who has been forgiven little loves little. 

Forgiveness needs to be received. It must be appropriated. It is freely offered by God. The woman had seen her need deeply and received deeply.

There is a sense of proportionality in what Jesus said. 

".....her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

The woman had been forgiven much. She seems to have had a bit of a reputation. Was this because she actually was an unusually bad sinner in the sight of God? I don't think she was. She certainly looked to the world like a bad sinner, but we are all bad sinners in the heart. Jesus taught this fact. We can see the attitudes of the heart are as indicting for us as the deeds themselves (Matthew 5v21 and 27). The truth is that we are all totally corrupted by sin outside of Christ (Romans 7v18). Every one of us, therefore, needs deep forgiveness. It's not reserved just for obvious 'sinners'. Sometimes obvious sinners are less furtive and devious than the apparently upright, who may be better at hiding what is going on. So we're all the same (Romans 3v23). (This obviously doesn't mean we can't do right at all, because God has granted something theologians call natural grace. Being evil, we can still love our children, see Matthew 7v11. But it does mean no part of us is completely free from the defilement of sin. So we all need much forgiveness). 

This raises a question about proportionality. Why does Jesus say some have been forgiven little? He seems to be referring to Simon and the other Pharisees here, because they showed little love and honour for him. It's certainly not because God has limited capacity or desire to forgive. It is absolutely not God's desire to hold grudges and to have to punish people. God freely forgives all men, because Jesus would die, and now has died, for all the sins of the entire world.

The answer has to be to do with whether we have received of his forgiveness, and how much? God holds out complete forgiveness to every man woman and child on the planet. But how many people have received it? Our ability to receive forgiveness at all depends on whether we accept Christ. Having accepted him, our awareness and experience of forgiveness comes as we see just how much has been forgiven. Paul had a lot of love for God and for people. He also saw the extent of his own sin, 1 Timothy 1v15. It's hard or impossible to gratefully receive something you don't know you need. Paul was not like that. We experience forgiveness to the extent that we become aware of our sinfulness and of the completeness of God's provision for it in Christ's Blood.

If we think we are basically great people who sin occasionally, we will receive a little sense of God's abundant forgiveness into our souls. If, like this woman, we see ourselves as corrupt and despicable to the core, we will receive a huge sense of forgiveness, and a similar sense of gratitude. Surely this is what Jesus is getting at. 

Both love and forgiveness are made for giving as well as receiving. There's a helpful pun in there. For giving. get it? We can only love to the depth we have received love. We can only forgive to the depth we have received forgiveness.

God has complete love for us and complete forgiveness for our sin. There are no grey areas, for he is Light. The only reason we cannot experience the forgiveness of God is if we reject the means of forgiveness, Jesus Christ and his sacrifice of himself. Supposing we accept that forgiveness, I believe there is often a personal journey for each of us. We further need to be aware of just how much He has had to forgive in us. We may not realise this in the first instance, when we first come to have faith in the risen and ascended Christ. When we are filled with the consciousness of how much he loves us, we will love him and others quite naturally and extravagantly. We will abundantly and totally forgive them in the same way. This woman seems to have been very aware of her own sinfulness and God's graciousness.

If we don't forgive, we will not experience the forgiveness of God. Why? Because love and forgiveness are living things, intended to live in you. If we are harbouring bitterness, let God reveal it and repent. Remove the blockage. It is dreadful to be intimate with God and to lose the living intimacy, and unforgiveness is a major reason for that happening. Can you gladly forgive someone who has hurt or harmed you badly? Who has shown callous indifference and contempt for you? Who has neglected and ignored you when they should've taken responsibility for you? We all do these things, at times, and to some degree, even if we tend to notice the occasions when they were done to us most. Can you honestly desire only the very best for people who do bad things to you? If so, and if it is not an act, then you are practicing the forgiveness of God. May we so press in to God that we are routinely able to forgive like this.