Jesus was invited to dinner by a Pharisee named Simon (it was a popular name, back in Bible times). In other circumstances inviting Jesus to dinner might have been a friendly thing to do, but in this case it was not: we soon find out that Simon had omitted the customary courtesies for welcoming a guest (Luke 7:44-46). That tells us this dinner was not about friendship and welcome. What, then, was Simon’s agenda?

Shortly after Jesus had sat down, a woman “who was a sinner” entered the house: she washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and anointed them with some costly ointment (7:38). Simon muttered to himself that if Jesus were a prophet, he would have known “what kind of woman this is” (7:39). The text never explicitly tells us what kind of sinner the woman was. (Did she sometimes break the Sabbath? Did she sometimes covet her neighbor’s possessions? It doesn’t say.) But Simon the Pharisee knew what kind of sinner she was. (How did he know that?) And it’s clear that his heart condemned the woman for being that kind of sinner: and also condemned Jesus for not condemning her the same way.

Jesus then told the famous parable about the two debtors: one man owed a substantial debt (equal to about two years’ pay for a typical workman), while the other owed a smaller amount (two months’ pay). When the creditor forgave both men their debts, which one would be more grateful? Simon answered that it would be the one who had the larger debt forgiven (7:43). Jesus responded that that’s how everyone could see that the woman had had her large debt forgiven, for she had loved much (7:47). Jesus left Simon – and us – to see that Simon’s own debt may have been small, but since he had loved Jesus little, or perhaps not at all, there remains an unanswered question as to whether he was forgiven.

We often feel uncomfortable with passages like this that seem to indicate that the result of forgiveness needs to be a life that is different from how it was. If forgiveness is free by grace, we suppose, wouldn’t that preclude any requirement of ‘works’ involved? Actually, though, this parable doesn’t present us with that problem. The narrative shows us a clear sequence: the creditor forgives the debt, and then the debtors respond with gratitude. That tells us the woman’s response, expressed as loving gratitude, is the effect, rather than the cause, of her forgiveness.

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Ah Lord! Too often I am like Simon the Pharisee, judgmental of the sinfulness of others and blind to my own need! Too rarely am I like the woman, simply willing to offer deep devotion, no matter what anyone else thinks. Change my heart, that it may overflow with gratitude for all your mercy to me.