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BURIED TREASURE: Exploring The Parables Of Jesus

by J. W. Jepson, D.Min.

Copyright © 1997 by J. W. Jepson

All rights reserved, including the right to grant the following permission and to prohibit the misuse thereof:

The Author hereby grants permission to reproduce the text of this article, without changes or alterations*, as a ministry, but not for commercial or non-ministry purposes.

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2. NOTHING TO PAY

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. 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

NOTHING TO PAY

Sometimes this is called the parable of the two debtors. Luke alone records it. The parable itself is very short, but the setting brings out the richness of its meaning. This makes the parable and its context inseparable. For that reason they must be considered together.

A local Pharisee had invited Jesus home for dinner. We do not know the Pharisee's motive, but it must not have been good because, according to the social code of the day, he treated his guest in a manner that bordered on insult. He withheld the common courtesies of a welcome kiss, oil to anoint the head and water to wash the feet.

As they ate, a woman who was the "town sinner" came in and stood at Jesus' feet, weeping and holding an alabaster box of ointment.

Walking in on a dinner was not unusual in that culture. Access was easy and it was common for people to come in and talk with the guests.

Suddenly a drama began to unfold, a drama with three characters: Simon the Pharisee, a woman of ill repute, and Jesus the Christ.

Repeatedly and with deep affection the woman kissed the Master's feet, wetting them with her gushing tears and wiping them with her hair. Then she took the precious ointment and anointed the feet that she had bathed from the fountain of her deep devotion.

Why did she do this? The Bible does not say. Perhaps Jesus had recently saved her from her sins. Or perhaps this was itself her moment of repentance and faith. What else would change a hard, cynical woman of the streets into a person of such deep, tender devotion? In the past she had used her hair and lips for immoral purposes. Perhaps she had not shed a tear in years. Now she offered all of these in holy adoration at the feet of the Messiah. It is one of the most tender scenes of the Bible, one that brings out the wonderful grace of our blessed Lord.

But what was Simon the Pharisee doing while the redeemed sinner worshiped her Savior? He was behaving like the cold, loveless, self-righteous hypocrite that he was. He felt smug, convinced that his suspicions about Jesus had been confirmed. Silently he was thinking, "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" (verse 39).

Notice the attitude: "She is the sinner, not I. Certainly Jesus must recognize my righteousness. If this Galilean were of God, he would know sinners when he met them and he would treat them with the same holy disgust that we who are righteous do. He would share our high moral attitude."

Simon was merely following the common course pursued by all who seek to be justified by their own works. So they can reinforce their "what-a-good-boy-am-I" self image, they must have some scandalous sinners around just for contrast. "Comparative morality" is the name of the game. You can spot the people who play this game by their "holier-than-thou" disdain and verbalized contempt for "people who live like that." Nothing shakes a Pharisee's comfortable ethical security more quickly than to look around and find nobody behaving worse than he does!

Of course, Jesus knew the hollow heart of His host. So He set a parable before him:

"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?" (verses 41,42).

Simon answered superciliously, "I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most" (verse 43).

Then Jesus nailed him: "Thou hast rightly judged." By his own admission Simon saw the point and had thrown himself open for it to be applied to himself.

Next, the Lord forced him to face himself by insisting that he face the woman. "Seest thou this woman?" Do you really see her, Simon? He did not. He only thought he did. His prejudiced eye saw only a sinful woman weeping and perfuming the feet of a man whom the crowds regarded as a prophet.

Simon did not see the real people there in his house that day. His spiritual blindness would not permit him to see the significance of those gushing tears and tender acts of worship. He did not recognize the redeemed because he refused to recognize the Redeemer.

Now let us go back for a moment to the parable itself.

Notice that two people owed the same creditor some money, the one ten times as much as the other. The one owed five hundred days' wages; the other owed fifty days' wages. Neither could pay; so the creditor freely forgave both.

In each case, forgiveness was an act of free grace. The one who owed the lesser amount could not claim any merit or advantage on the ground that his debt was not as large. He was just as unable to pay as was the other. Clearing his debt was as much an act of mercy as was clearing the other's.

This should have stung Simon, because in effect Jesus was saying to him, "Simon, you are also a sinner. If you are to be forgiven, you also must admit your need and your dependence on God's mercy. God owes you nothing."

We must be careful to avoid making this parable teach something that it does not teach. It does not teach that we must sin a lot in order to love God a lot. Some of God's most devoted saints never lived scandalous lives before their conversion; yet they are so sensitive to the holiness of God and the gracious mercies of Christ that they sense also the great sinfulness of sin. They view themselves as having been the chiefest of sinners. And now as Christians if they find anything in their lives that displeases God in the least, they are quick to fall on their knees in humble contrition.

The woman was forgiven, a fact evidenced by her great love for Jesus. Simon was not forgiven, a fact evidenced by the absence of love.

The others who were present showed no joy over the woman's salvation. Their unbelieving hearts only questioned, "Who is this that forgiveth sins also?" (verse 49). Ah, if they had only known!

Look at the difference that saving faith makes. To the believing woman Jesus declared, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."

Peace! That was something she had not experienced in a long, long time. Those were the sweetest, kindest words that anyone had ever said to her. She heard them because she put her trust completely in Jesus.

Today they who believe will hear the same words and experience the same peace. The same Christ who transformed that woman's life now lives to transform all who come to Him.

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3. An Honest And Good Heart

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