As Luke describes a meal in Luke 7, two people immediately capture our attention. One is Simon, the Pharisee who invited Jesus into his home. The other is the woman who was known throughout the city as a sinner. Yet Jesus refuses to let the conversation settle on either of them. Instead, He leads Simon to a far deeper question: Why do two people standing before the same Saviour love Him so differently?

After Simon silently condemns the woman in his heart, Jesus tells the parable of two debtors. One owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. Neither of them was able to repay the debt, and both were freely forgiven by the creditor. Then Jesus asks in verse 42, “Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?” Simon answers in verse 43, “I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most.” He gives the right answer, yet he still does not realise that the parable is also about him.

The point of the parable is not that some people owe God only a small debt. Both debtors are bankrupt. Neither of them can pay. The difference is not in the size of their ability, but in their awareness of what has been freely given to them. That is why Jesus comes to the heart of the matter in verse 47 when He says, “But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”

These words are deeply unsettling, because Jesus is not saying that some people truly need only a little forgiveness. He is revealing why Simon’s love for Him is so small. Simon believes that his debt is insignificant. As a result, he believes he needs very little forgiveness. Whenever the need for forgiveness becomes small, love for Christ inevitably becomes small as well.

This explains why Simon cannot understand the woman. He judges her by her past, while judging himself by his own outward righteousness. Compared to her, his life appears respectable and well-ordered. He sees her sin clearly, yet remains blind to his own desperate need.

Jesus does not answer him with a direct accusation. Instead, in verses 44 through 46, He simply reminds Simon of what had taken place in his own house: “Thou gavest me no water for my feet,” yet she had washed His feet with her tears. “Thou gavest me no kiss,” yet she had not ceased to kiss His feet since the moment He entered. “My head with oil thou didst not anoint,” yet she had anointed His feet with ointment.

This comparison reaches far beyond the ordinary duties of a host. Jesus is placing two hearts side by side. Simon welcomed Him with courtesy, but without deep affection. The woman came with nothing except her guilt, and it is precisely for that reason that her love overflowed. She did not try to minimise her past or defend herself. She knew she had nothing to offer God.

It is here that the story examines every reader. The question is not whether our lives resemble Simon’s more than the woman’s, or the woman’s more than Simon’s. The question is whether we truly understand how much forgiveness we ourselves need. A person who believes their sin is small may admire Christ, respect Him, and even serve Him faithfully, yet their love will remain shallow because their need for the Saviour has become small.

The woman does not teach us that great sins produce great love. Jesus does not praise her sinful life; He forgives it. Her love is the fruit of grace received. She loves much because she knows how much has been freely given to her.

That is why the story does not end with her tears or her ointment. In verse 48, Jesus simply says, “Thy sins are forgiven.” Then, in verse 50, He adds, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” Her peace does not rest upon the sincerity of her repentance or the depth of her love. It rests upon the forgiveness that Christ alone can give.

The love Jesus speaks of is never born where people become impressed with their own goodness. It is born where sinners discover that, like the two debtors in the parable, they have nothing with which to pay. Only when we understand the greatness of the gift of forgiveness do we begin to truly love the One who gave it.

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