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DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

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Luke 7:40-50

40 Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Tell me, teacher," he said. 41 "Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"  43 Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled." "You have judged correctly," Jesus said. 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.   46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."  48 Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  49 The other guests began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50 Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." 

NIV

Here we have the second part of the narrative between Jesus and the Pharisee who invited him to his home for dinner. There are several issues within this conversation which could be considered as life lessons, but the main issue is course the idea of who loves Jesus more, the person who was an outright sinner, or the one who has lived a rather upright life, at least in their own eyes. The Pharisee though he was a righteous man, but this woman knew in her heart she was a sinner, she has no pretense of being anything but who she was. Without judgment, it might seem at times we who think we live a rather righteous life could be identified with this Pharisee. There are people who have come from the depths of sin who have such a love for God in their hearts because they have been saved. Some of us have come from that lifestyle and the question we must ask ourselves is if our passion for the Lord has become stale or waned from when we first were saved. There is no doubt that it appears, at least, there are those who have been born into Christianity, raised in the church who consider themselves almost without sin, and certainly would be identified with this Pharisee. But for those of us who once lived a more open sinful life, without regard for Jesus at all, and then hearing the voice of the Spirit convicting us of our sin and need of repentance and God proving his power in our lives, forgiving our sin, cleansing us in the blood of Jesus, we must never allow our passion for Jesus to diminish. We have been forgiven of much, and therefore we should always love him much. What does loving him much look like? Was this woman weeping because of her sin? Is that why her tears came? Once she was forgiven did her love for Jesus decease? Jesus explained to this Pharisee the difference how he acted toward Jesus and how she acted toward him. The Pharisee invited him to dinner, but did not host Jesus in the manner or custom of those days, but washing his feet, or even having a servant to such. We can invite Jesus into our heart but not host him in the manner he desires. We should be washing his feet, so to speak. We should be loving him with all our heart, mind, spirit and body, if for no other reason than he forgave and continues to forgive our sin. We can never think ourselves righteous, like that Pharisee, for we are but a sinner saved by the grace of God. If anything, our love for Jesus should be growing more and more.