Parables of Jesus
The Two Debtors
Love and Forgiveness
Read: Luke 7:41-43
SeeIn the Parable of the Two Debtors, Jesus uses the story to explain that the woman who has anointed him loves him more than his host, because she has been forgiven of greater sins.
The parable does not seem to be an attack on Pharisees, but is instead an attempt to teach Simon to see the woman as Jesus sees her.The description of the woman suggests that she is a known prostitute, although this has been disputed. If she is a prostitute, her presence defiles the Pharisee's ritual purity. It was easy enough to dismiss such a person as immoral as well as unclean and deviant, without grappling with the social realities faced by the woman, who may have been forced into this life by economic circumstances, or have been sold into sexual slavery.
By affirming the woman's forgiveness, Jesus invites Simon to recognize her new identity and embrace her in the community of God's people. And, as C.S. Lewis makes clear, "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you."
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"The Two Debtors"
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"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
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