“The Two Debtors”

Thursday, June 22, 2017

The parable of the two debtors takes place in the midst of a social interaction between Christ and a Pharisee named Simon (Luke 7:36-50). Jesus was invited into Simon’s home for a meal. It is noteworthy that the Lord often accepted offers of hospitality from others (like Matthew in Matthew 9:9-13).

While at Simon’s house, a woman from the city came into the gathering (their homes were open and most did not have doors back then) and began to wash the Savior’s feet with her tears, wiped them with her hair and then kissed his feet and anointed them with fragrant oil.

Apparently, this woman was well known in the community as “a sinner,” Simon was surprised that Jesus, a prophet, did not realize the woman’s sinful condition and allowed her to touch Him. Jesus knew Simon’s thoughts and took advantage of the opportunity to teach an important spiritual truth.

The parable deals with two men who owed the same creditor. One owed 500 denarii and the other owed 50. A denarius was an average day’s wage, so one man owed about a year and a half of wages, while the other owed about two months of salary. Both were in his debt for a substantial amount of money.

When they were unable to pay, the creditor simply forgave both men for the full amount. This is, of course, a picture of God forgiving us for our sins because we are unable to work them off our record. No amount of human effort will ever be enough to forgive even one sin.

Jesus asks, “Which of them will love him more?” The Pharisee correctly answers, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

And then, Christ makes the application of the parable by contrasting what the woman had done for Him and what Simon should have done but did not. He speaks of a person whose many sins are forgiven as one who loves much. But one who has few sins is inclined to love little.

Simon didn’t see himself as a sinner. It is always easy to see the sins of others, but it is often much harder to recognize and admit our own sins and weaknesses. A person who is acutely aware of his wickedness is much more appreciative of the Lord’s forgiveness than a self-righteous person who may not even realize how God sees him.

This sinful woman was penitent (that’s why she was crying) and understood that Jesus has the power to cleanse her and make her righteous (verse 48). We must see ourselves as sinners in need of forgiveness in order to truly appreciate God’s free gift of salvation (Romans 6:23).

--Roger Hillis

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