By Faith

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

BY FAITH

Luke 7:39-50

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is — that she is a sinner." 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

As we already noted, Jesus had been invited to dinner by this Pharisee, who is Simon, the leper, and Jesus accepted the invitation. We have looked at the fact we have invited Jesus to sup with us and he has accepted our invitation. Now this exchange between Jesus and the Pharisee brings us to our exchange or conversation with Jesus. However, it is not just a conversation but is centered on a question. First, it stems from the actions of the woman, and second from the non-actions of the Pharisee. Jesus is making a compassion of the actions of a sinful woman, and those of a self-righteous pharisee. Jesus asks the question, who loves him more, the woman or the Pharisee? Of course, he used an illustration to drive that point home, and now we wonder if that could apply to Christians today. Surely all of us love the Lord and want to serve him with our whole being. It would be completely judgmental to think one Christian loves the lord less than any other. But the question that is before us is; is there a difference between, if there is, a righteous, and dare we say, a self-righteous, or at least a religious  Christian and sinful person saved by faith? Because I do not have the wonderful experience of growing up in a righteous home, with believing parents, and accepted Jesus as a small child, but rather lived a sinful life for years, do we have differences in our life or conversations or exchanges with Jesus. Do we have differences in our actions or non-actions toward Jesus? We would hope there is none whatsoever, yet we see how the difference between the sinful woman and the religious pharisee was in their actions toward Jesus. What we know is that some have been forgiven for much, while others may or may not have been forgiven for as much of a sinful life as we once lived, yet we all are sinners saved by our faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, we serve him because we love him, but nothing we can do can save us other than our faith.