Luke 7:36-50
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
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 people 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 forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“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—as her great love has shown. But whoever 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.”
Matthew 18:21-22
Always Be Forgiving
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? 22 Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."
This story is the Great Parable of Forgiveness...Simon, like me, does not understand unfettered forgiveness...When I first read this, I did not understand this great connection between love and forgiveness...Jesus teaches us, if we cannot forgive anyone, and never forgive anyone we can love only a very little...And I doubt if we can love very many people...I think the people in the house of the Pharisee are still missing Jesus point on forgiveness...They are focused on Jesus' words and Him saying to the women with the alabaster jar of perfume, “Your sins are forgiven”...They probably did not learn about forgiveness that day...
And Jesus does not teach us that forgiveness is easy...But He does tell us we must do it often...
When we have learned to forgive, and to forgive a lot, we have learned to love better...When we learn to forgive without blame and resentment, we learn to love better...The more we forgive the better we can love...
We learn so much about forgiveness of our Father...Sometimes after forgiving someone, the thoughts of the original act are rekindled, but not so with our Father...One cannot forgive someone only partly...God has this great ability to completely forgive, and when once forgiven, we are completely forgiven...LOVE seems always to be forgiving...And therefore, our Father must be always forgiving us...He is the only One who forgives infinitely, and who LOVES infinitely...Infinite LOVE forgives infinitely...