He Who Is Forgiven Little, Loves Little

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at the 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 ESV)

I love this text! It is a quick picture of the gospel in contrast to self-righteousness. The Pharisee looks down on the woman as a sinner. He views himself as not someone who is equally sinful. We often times do the same thing when we look at a drug dealer or prostitute or even people inside our own churches, and think that we have better morals than they. We place them and ourselves on a ladder of morality to see who is higher, and we always come out on top. Then we may look at older Christians or missionaries and see them as higher than us on that same ladder, causing us to feel that we need to emulate their example. In the midst of all this is our forgetfulness of Jesus. He is the only rule by which our actions are to be gauged. He is the Word of God in living flesh. When we analyze our moral behaviors, we should compare ourselves with Christ in order to see how holy we truly are. If we are found wanting, then we can begin to understand our true moral state. If we see anything good in ourselves, then our love for Christ and His gospel begins to fade away. However, when we perceive ourselves accurately, realizing the never ending depth of our sinful nature, then we are inclined to love Him as we ought. The woman cried and wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair because her sins were great. She knew what she was in the presence of Him, but the Pharisee felt he was better than the woman and closer to Jesus on the morality ladder. In fact, if the Pharisee understood the sinfulness of his own heart, he too would have been alongside the woman, washing Jesus’ feet with his tears. If ever there is a time in your day where you don’t see your need to cry at Jesus’ feet for your consistent sinfulness, then you have lost sight of your sinful nature and have put too much faith in your own goodness, even if you call that goodness “sanctification.” We need to always “cry at His feet”-- not because we receive mercy through our tears, but because your sins are truly forgiven in Him, and our joy and shame oftentimes manifest through our emotions. Only when we understand how much we are forgiven can our love for the Savior increase.