In Luke 7 a woman who was known as a "sinner" broke all the cultural taboos and actually came into the house of a Pharisee, came up to Jesus, and lavished grateful love on the Savior with hair and tears and kisses and precious ointment.
This was beyond understanding for the Pharisee as he reasoned that Christ should have rejected the woman since if He WERE a prophet he would know who she was. Jesus did not reject her. He welcomed and received her lavish love.
Jesus did not miss the chance to offer truth to the Pharisee. As He often did, He told a story. This story was about a moneylender who had 2 debtors who were unable to pay their debts. One owed what would for us be about 2 month's wages. The other owed a debt of about about 20 month's wages. The moneylender for some reason cancelled the debt of both of them.
Jesus' question to Simon, the Pharisee, "Which of them will love him more?" v.42. Simon's answer, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt" v.43. He was right!
The greater the debt that is paid for someone, the greater their love for the one who paid the debt.
Jesus goes on to contrast the love being lavished on Him by this "sinful" woman with the lack of love of Simon the Pharisee. Not even the common courtesies had been offered to Jesus as a guest of the Pharisee. The point: the love of this "sinful" woman demonstrates her understanding that she has been GREATLY FORGIVEN. Simon's un-loving hospitality demonstrated that he had not been forgiven at all. He was one who considered himself righteous but was actually "sick."
How great is the love you lavish on the Savior? Do you understand, if you are a serious believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He has given Himself to suffer a Hell of punishment for YOUR SIN? It was not a portion of Bill Gate's fortune that was paid for your forgiveness. That would be pennies from a piggy bank in comparison to what Jesus has paid. It was the very life of the sinless Son of God, the eternal God become also man, creator and sustainer of the universe, who suffered in your place so that you could be forgiven by the holy God.
How much have you been forgiven? The price that had to be paid is the measure. God the Son for you.
Perhaps like me you need to cry out to God for the mercy of having your eyes opened to the immensity of the forgiveness that has been given you freely (in terms of what YOU had to pay) because of the infinite worth of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Do you find your love for Jesus has grown cold? Or, has it never been stoked up to white hot lavishment?
Cry out to Jesus.
Immerse yourself in the Word of God, especially those passages that deal with the sacrifice of Christ.
Think on it often.
May your love and mine for the Redeemer burst into a flame of never-dying love fueled by the deep awareness of HOW MUCH WE HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN and the PRICE that was paid that we might be.
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