Luke 7

7:26  But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.

7:27  This is he of whom it is written¹, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee.

7:28  I say unto you, Among them that are born of women¹ there is none greater than John: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

7:29  And all the people when they heard, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John¹.

7:30  But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected for themselves the counsel of God, being not baptized of him¹.

7:32  They are like unto children that sit in the marketplace, and call one to another¹; who say, We piped unto you, and ye did not dance; we wailed, and ye did not weep.

7:33  For John the Baptist is come¹ eating no bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a demon.

7:36  And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him¹. And he entered into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat².

7:37  And behold, a woman who was in the city¹, a sinner²; and when she knew that he was sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster cruse of ointment³,

¹7:38  and standing behind 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.

"The tears poured down in a flood upon his naked feet, as she bent down to kiss them; and deeming them rather fouled than washed by this, she hastened to wipe them off with the only towel she had, the long tresses of her own hair. She thus placed her glory at his feet ( 1 Corinthians 11:15 ), after which she put the ointment upon them."

7:39  Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet¹, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is² that toucheth him, that she is a sinner³.

7:40  And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee¹. And he saith, Teacher, say on².

7:41  A certain lender had two debtors: the one owed five hundred shillings, and the other fifty¹.

7:42  When they had not [wherewith] to pay, he forgave them both¹. Which of them therefore will love him most²?

7:43  Simon answered and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most¹. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged².

"We must imagine the guests arriving; Simon receiving them with all courtesy, and embracing each in turn; slaves ready to was the dust of the road from their sandaled feet, and to pour sweet olive oil over their heads to soften the parched skin. See Genesis 18:4 ; Genesis 19:2 ; Genesis 24:32 ; Ruth 3:3 ; 1 Samuel 25:41 Psalms 23:5 ; Psalms 141:5 ; Ecclesiastes 9:8 ; Daniel 10:3 ; Amos 6:6 ; Matthew 6:17 ). But there is one of the guests not thus treated. He is but a poor man, invited as an act of condescending patronage. No kiss is offered him; no slave waits upon him; of course a mechanic cannot need the luxuries others are accustomed to!"

7:44  And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman¹? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath wetted my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair².

7:45  Thou gavest me no kiss: but she, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet¹.

7:46  My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but she hath anointed my feet with ointment¹.

7:47  Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven¹; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, [the same] loveth little².

7:48  And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven¹.

7:49  And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves¹, Who is this that even forgiveth sins²?

7:50  And he said unto the woman¹, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace².

Several valuable lessons are taught by this incident ( Luke 7:36-50 ):(1) That the sense of guiltiness may differ in degree, but neverthelessthe absolute inability of man to atone for sin is common to all. (2) Assin is against Christ, to Christ belongs the right and power to forgiveit. (3) That conventional respectability, having no such flagrant andopen sins as are condemned by the public, is not conscious of its awfulneed. (4) That those who have wandered far enough to have felt theworld's censure realize most fully the goodness of God in pardoningthem, and hence are moved to greater expressions of gratitude than aregiven by the self-righteous. But we must not draw the conclusion thatsin produces love, or that much sin produces much love, and thattherefore much sin is a good thing. The blessing which we seek is notproportioned to the quantity of the sins; but is proportioned to thequantity of "sinful sense" which we feel. We all have sin enough todestroy our souls, but many of us fail to love God as we should,through an insufficient sense of sinfulness.