Jesus is Anointed and The Parable of the Two Debtors
Story telling is an art, and no one was better at it than Jesus, our Saviour. Follow Stephen’s series drawn from a selection of parables Jesus told.
The First Parable Takes Place When Jesus is Anointed
The first parable of Jesus that we are going to look at in this series is found in Luke’s gospel, chapter 7. The parable itself is quite short, taking up only two verses in the Bible, but as with most of the parables Jesus told, the context and setting in which he speaks it help to reveal the deeper meaning. In this one, known as the parable of the debtors, Jesus deals with the major themes of pride, forgiveness, and salvation.
The Story in Luke 7:36-50
Here is what is found in Luke 7:36-50
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him 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. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:36-50
The Purpose of Parables
In the first part of this series, we looked at the purpose of the parables, one was to reveal things that had been hidden, the other was to obscure deeper spiritual truth from those who refused to believe. This event that we just read involves a Pharisee, one of the religious leaders or influencers of the day. They were known for strict adherence to the law of Moses, and were very quick to call out those who violated the law as they saw it.
Jesus Healed on a Sabbath
A chapter earlier, Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath, which actually wasn’t against the law even though the Pharisees thought it was, when Jesus corrected and instructed them, rather then accept his teaching, the Bible says they were “filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.” Now they weren’t all like that, but this is the usual portrayal of the Pharisees that we find in the Scriptures.
Simon the Pharisee’s Home
So here we have a Pharisee named Simon, who invites Jesus into his home to eat with him. The Bible does not tell us of his motives, but they seem to be of genuine intrigue. It is still early on in Jesus’s ministry, and while Jesus has irreversibly offended many of the Pharisees, there were still some, like Nicodemus in John 3, who were curious, and wanted to learn more about who this man called Jesus was.
A look into the culture of Jesus’s day shows us the significance of inviting someone into your home to eat, and with Simon referring to the Lord as “teacher” in verse 40, it seems this is most likely the case. That said, Simon may be curious, but the text also suggests he does not believe Jesus is who he said he was.
A Woman Enters the Room
So, the group is reclining at the table enjoying their meal and in walks a woman, described simply as a sinner. Speculation seems to suggest she was a prostitute, the Bible doesn’t actually say, but it was clear from the reactions of Simon, and the wording of Luke’s gospel that this woman had a reputation for wicked living. Given that she had what seemed to be an expensive perfume, or ointment, the chances are whatever she was involved in was fairly lucrative.
What’s interesting here, is that Luke tells us the woman learned that Jesus was there, and that’s why she went to him. She sought him out. And as she washes his feet with her tears, and puts the ointment on Jesus feet, Simon becomes indignant and whether he mumbles this out loud to himself or simply thought it we don’t know, but he said to himself “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” If it sounds condescending, it is, it was meant to be, both to the woman and to Jesus. In a way, Simon is thinking himself to be more righteous than Jesus, because he is offended at the presence of this sinner, whereas Jesus is not. Simon also reveals here that he does not believe Jesus to be the Son of God, or the Christ, in fact, he doesn’t even think this man could be a prophet of God.
A Sinful Woman
So, here we have a woman, who everyone acknowledges as a sinner, including herself, coming to the Lord, we have a Pharisee, who believes he is righteous inviting the Lord to come to him, though he doesn’t believe it is the Lord. Jesus is fully aware of everything that is going on, and he knows the hearts of everyone involved, and he has a lesson that everyone there needs to learn, so he shares a parable.
“A certain moneylender had two debtors, one owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which one will love him more?”
The answer seems pretty obvious, even Simon was able to figure it out. What Simon did not get out of this parable, was that he wasn’t represented in it at all. A common reaction to this parable is to say that the debtor who owed 500 denarii represents the woman, that’s correct. Many would then assume that the debtor who owed 50 denarii represents Simon, and that’s where it gets a little trickier. Even though Jesus tried to spell it out for him.
The Woman’s Love For Jesus
The woman had come in and immediately started to show great love to Jesus, washing his feet, kissing them, anointing them with perfume. She knew who she was, but she also seemed to know who Jesus was. To this point there had been several occasions of Jesus indicating who he was and why he had come, he had already told others that their sins were forgiven, that he came to call sinners to repentance.
Perhaps this woman was there for some of those signs, or had just heard of them, but somehow, she knew who Jesus was. Her actions were not a petition to be forgiven, but recognition that he had the power to forgive. Notice she never says a word, she just throws herself at Jesus’s feet in act of love fuelled worship, and she receives her reward. Not only does Jesus tell her, “Your sins are forgiven,” but he also says, “your faith has saved you, go in peace.” It wasn’t her actions that saved her, it was her belief in Jesus Christ, her faith.
What About Simon?
So what about Simon? If he isn’t the other person in the parable, who is, and where does he fit in. The other person represents even who Simon could be. If Simon were to have recognized that he too had sin in his life, even though not as grievous as the woman’s sin, and if he believed in who Jesus was, his sin would have been forgiven also, and Simon would have shown love to Christ in return. But Jesus contrasts the acts of love the woman showed, with the fact that Simon didn’t show any love at all. In Simon’s eyes, he had no sin to forgive.
Therefore, since Simon was not forgiven any of his debt, he showed no love to the one who was ready to forgive him. Even when Jesus said to the woman “Your sins are forgiven,” Simon and the others at the table wondered among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” They had no faith, no willingness to believe that this man who ate with them was indeed the Messiah, the Christ they had supposedly been waiting for.
Jesus Wants to Forgive
If you are listening to this today, know this. No matter how small or how large your catalog of sin or wrongdoing may be, Jesus Christ is not only willing to forgive you, he wants to. God wants us all to recognize we have wandered away from Him and His way for us to live, and to believe that Jesus Christ, His Son, is the Lord and came to earth, so he could die to pay the penalty for our sin, he rose from the dead to give us eternal life, and he offers it to us freely, if we just put our faith in him for these things, if we just believe.
I assure you, that if you do, the response will be an outpouring of love, gratitude and worship for the Lord Jesus Christ. Don’t be like Simon the Pharisee, so blinded by pride and self-righteousness that you miss this amazing gift that God is offering you today.
Jesus used story telling as a way to draw people into a deeper understanding of His identity. What is your response? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Stephen March
Stephen March is the President of FBH International and HopeStreamRadio. He graduated from the Broadcasting Program at Niagara College in 2001, and has previously worked in television production and post-production.
Stephen lives in St. Catharines, Ontario, with his wife Corinne and their four children.
Read and hear more from Stephen March on his contributor’s page. Stephen currently has 5 Programs on HopeStreamRadio:
- Please Forgive Me
- Isolation Chronicles
- Faith By Hearing – The Twelve
- Bibles and Baseball
- Bible Tech Talk
More Podcasts Below:
More Blogs:
Palm Sunday, The Coming King, and the Last Week of Christ
Why Did Jesus Say “I Am the Bread of Life
Images courtesy of:
The Anointing – Carlo Dolci
The Anointing – James Tissot
Lonely Woman – Egyan Akyurt
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