Luke 7:47 (NIV) “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

In Luke chapter 7, we read about the sinful woman who found her way into a Pharisee's house because she heard that Jesus was there. She stood behind him in tears and as the tears fell on the Lord's feet, she wiped them with her hair. Then she poured a very expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus. Instead of being moved by this intimate and emotional moment, the Pharisee was judging Jesus and the woman in his heart. He thought to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and who this woman is...That she is a sinner." Jesus, being God incarnate and knowing the man's thoughts, began to tell this Pharisee a story. The story was about two men who owed a certain moneylender some money. One owed him a substantially higher amount than the other. Neither of them had the money to pay the moneylender back, so he decided to forgive both of them their debts. Jesus then asked the Pharisee who he thought would love the moneylender more. The Pharisee gave the obvious answer: the person who had been forgiven more would love the moneylender more. Little did this Pharisee know that his own answer was indicting him. Jesus then said the words of the verse above: "whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

I suppose that this Pharisee thought he was a lot better off spiritually that this sinful woman. I suppose he thought that he owed a small debt when it came to his sins. He probably thought that he was practically a saint! But how sadly mistaken he was! As a matter of fact, the condition of this man's heart was much worse than the sinful woman's heart. She may have led a sinful life, but she repented and turned from her sinful ways and was now beyond grateful that Jesus had forgiven her and made her whole. The Pharisee was heaped in the sin of pride and ego and whatever else was hidden in his life. He was in danger of damnation while this broken and contrite woman had found her way to eternal life.

The odd thing about this story is that no one can be forgiven little because we all have sinned greatly and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We all have so many things that we have done wrong that if it weren't for the mercy and grace of God, we would all be lost. There is a story of a man who had a vision of himself and Jesus climbing up a hill, but Jesus was carrying a tremendously huge and heavy burden. The man asked Jesus, "Lord, are you carrying the sins of the world up this hill?" The Lord replied, "No, just yours." And that's the point! We all have a lot to be forgiven for. It's better to be like this sinful woman who was fully aware of what Jesus had done for her than the Pharisee who was totally oblivious to how lost his soul was. There is no one that qualifies for being forgiven little. We all have been forgiven much more than can be measured. Because our great debt has been forgiven, let's then love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength as He so richly deserves!

Pastor Joey Vazquez