Luke 7:39-43 - In debt

7:39

This verse tells us what the Pharisee was thinking, and he was wrong on two counts. First, Jesus did know “what kind of woman” it was who was touching Him, and secondly He accepted her. In fact Jesus knew more than “what kind of woman” she was. He knew what sort of life she led, but He also saw the longing for change, the humbling within her heart and her trust in Him. Jesus came to save sinners. He knew an awful lot more than any prophet ever knew. It is easy for us to look down on the Pharisees, but we need to recognise that it is just as easy for us to have wrong attitudes or to completely misunderstand Jesus. We should pray to God to see if there is any offensive way in us (Psalm 139:24).

There is a further point we should be aware of. A common attitude in churches can be that we should not judge others but accept everyone. Now the gospel is accepting of all people who come in faith and repentance, but it is not accepting of all lifestyles. In Israel at the time there was no debate over Biblical morality, it was generally accepted. The problems were hypocrisy, and the self-righteousness of certain people, especially the religious leaders. A failure to recognise their own sinfulness. When the gospel spread to the Gentile world it encountered a different situation where there was no general acceptance of Biblical morality. In that situation part of the gospel was teaching people about the futility of their old ways of life (Ephesians 4:17-24). Moreover, the letters in the New Testament are full of warnings against immorality of all sorts, and instructions on living a godly life.

7:40-43

Jesus then uses a parable to bring the point home to Simon. Notice that He does not address the point directly, but uses a parable to get Simon to think. If He had used a direct approach Simon may have just acted defensively. Jesus’ desire was that Simon himself repent, He did not want to destroy Simon. There is a time for a direct approach, there is a time for a more indirect approach. The object is the truth and bringing people to repentance. Notice in the parable that both people were in debt, but to different degrees. The woman may or may not have been the worse sinner. Her actions were almost certainly worse than Simon, but that is not necessarily the same thing. But whatever the case, both Simon and the woman had a debt they could not pay. Both needed to recognise their need for forgiveness, and the woman had done so. Simon thought he loved God more because of his “righteous” life, Jesus says that the woman loved God more because of the forgiveness she recognised she needed and knew she had received in Jesus.