The Stories That Jesus Told
Sermon # 15
“The Parable of the Two Debtors”
or
Who Is the Most Grateful!
(Luke
7:36-48)
It is particularly appropriate that as we
head into the Thanksgiving Holiday in our country that the message in our series “The Stories That
Jesus Told” deals with the subject of Gratitude.
We live in an age of gross ingratitude.
There perhaps has never been an age in which people are more unthankful for what they have
than the present. Employee are ungrateful for their jobs. Employers are ungrateful for
their workers. Husbands are not thankful for their wives, nor are wives thankful for their
husbands. Children are not thankful for their parents. Parents are not thankful for the
children they have been entrusted with. We are not thankful for our friends. We are not
thankful to live where we have the freedom to worship. We are often critical rather than
thankful for the local church that the Lord has privileged us to be a part of. In short,
we are not a thankful people, because we are constantly thinking of ourselves.
We have all had the misfortune to be around
people who live with a sense of entitlement. They live as if they are entitled to all that
life had to offer, as well as other people’s kindness. That attitude of course,
quickly wears thin with those who have to put up with them and the end result is that
these people sentence themselves to loneliness. Unthankful people are almost always unhappy
people and no one likes to be around that kind of person.
Warren Wiersbe says that the ever present
temptation for a Christian “…is the danger of getting
accustomed to his blessings. Like the world traveler who has been everywhere and seen
everything, the mature Christian is in danger of taking his blessings for granted and
getting so accustomed to them that they fail to excite him as they once did….
One of the evidences that we
have grown accustomed to our blessings is this spirit of criticism and complaining.
Instead of thanking God for what we have, we complain about it and tell him we wish we had
some-thing else. You can be sure that if God did give us what we asked for, we would
eventually complain about that. The person who has gotten accustomed to his blessing can
never be satisfied.
Another evidence of this malady
is the idea that others have a better situation than we do. The Israelites remembered
their diet in Egypt and longed to return….. They were saying, “The people in
Egypt are so much better off than we are!” Obviously, they had forgotten the slavery
they had endured in Egypt and the terrible bondage from which God had delivered them.
Slavery is a high price to pay for a change in diet.” [Warren Wiersbe, God Isn’t In a Hurry.
(Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), pp. 77-78]
Why are we so
ungrateful? Is it because we have forgotten where we came from, is it that we fail to
recognize that we are not better than others, and that everything we have in life
whether it is little or much is because of God’s grace?
Jesus once told a
story which has come to be known as “The Parable of The Two Debtors”
to show an ungrateful man how much his attitude exposed about his relationship with God.
In the story that we are going to examine
today, Jesus has been invited for a meal into the home of a religious leader (a Pharisee)
by the name of Simon (v. 40, 43-44). We really don’t know what prompted this
invitation. It does not seem that Simon believed in Jesus or loved Jesus because he did
not extend to him the hospitality, normal for that day and time. The absence of such
normal hospitality suggests an under-lying animosity on the part of Simon which Jesus will
address in verses 44-46. Simon seems to have purposefully omitted the common courtesies
accorded to any honored guest. Simon treated Jesus with practiced cool contempt. He
carefully avoided every custom that would have made Jesus feel welcome. And you cannot
help but think that all the guests noticed it as well.
The story begins in verse
thirty-six, “Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat
with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. (37) And behold,
a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the
Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,”
In sharp contrast to Simon, a woman enters the room because she wants to find Jesus, who she had undoubtedly heard was a friend of sinners. And she was well qualified in that department.
Our English translation does not convey
According to verse
thirty-eight, “and
stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and
wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the
fragrant oil.” The guests are stunned into silence. The Talmad says that a
woman can be divorced for unbinding her hair in the presence of other men. That is bad
enough but to use it to wipe a man’s feet. There are not words to express the shame
of such behavior.
She knelt at the feet of Jesus with the
perfume she had brought with the purpose of anointing his feet. Those who have studied
ancient customs tell us that prostitutes of that day often wore a vial of perfume hanging
from their necks. In a culture where bathing was infrequent, a pleasant fragrance would
have been stock in trade. A drop or two would have been used to entice prospective
customers. But the language used in this passage indicates that she poured out all of her
perfume. Do you see the significance of what she did? She broke the container to anoint
Jesus with the perfume. She destroyed the tools of her trade. It was a way of saying, “I will
not be needing this anymore. I am making a clean start!”
As everyone in the room becomes aware of
this woman’s actions, everyone waits to see what Jesus would do! After all no one had invited her. She was not
wanted here.
Simon’s reaction, given in verse
thirty-nine reveals much about the condition of his heart. “Now
when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, "This
Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching
Him, for she is a sinner."
In Simon’s mind he was passing
• If Jesus were a prophet, he would know people’s character.
• If Jesus knew this woman was a sinner, He would have nothing to do with her.
• If Jesus were a true teacher he would not allow her to touch him this way. The word
that Simon uses in this verse to say that she is “touching”
him is a word used to describe sexual activity. The word that he used suggests that this
was a very improper action.
But because Simon’s logic was based on
false assumptions it led him to false conclusions. First he believes that if Jesus were a
prophet, He would be able to discern the character of the woman who was touching him
– which was correct. Jesus was
not only able to discern the character of this woman, but he was capable of knowing what
Simon was thinking. The conclusion that Simon reached was entirely wrong. According
to Simon, since Jesus did not shun this woman, he did not know this woman’s
character, and thus was not a prophet at all. By telling Simon those things that he had
only thought and not spoken he proved that he was indeed more than a prophet.
I don’t want you to miss this, in verse
forty, Jesus turns to Simon
and says, “Simon I have something that I want to say to you.”
I wonder if Jesus comes week by week and taps you on the shoulder and whispers in your
ear, “You
and I have something to talk about!” There only two kinds of sinners in the
world and everyone here fits into one of the two categories. There are sinners who know they are sinners
and there are sinners who do not
know that they are sinners.
In the story that Jesus tells we will see
some very important principles about Thankfulness.
First, Thankful
People Understand They Are Spiritually In Debt (vv.
40b-42)
“So he said, "Teacher, say it." (41) "There
was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other
fifty. (42) And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both.”
Jesus used a story to explain what he
meant, there were two men who had borrowed money. Since a denarius was equal to about a
day’s wages; 50 denarii equaled nearly 2 month’s pay; and 500, about 2 year’s
wages (22 months). These were incredible debts considering that the average wages were
barely sufficient for survival. And although there is considerable difference in what each
man owed, what is important is that neither man was able to pay. But the creditor in a
supreme show of mercy and compassion canceled each man’s debt. Jesus’ question
recorded in verse forty-two was, “Tell Me, therefore,
which of them will love him more?"
Simon may have hesitated to answer the
question fearing that he would be trapped. Yet there was only one correct answer and even
Simon could see it as he reveals in verse forty three, "I
suppose the one whom he forgave more." Certainly the one that was forgiven ten
times as much would have the greater gratitude. The higher the debt the more the
forgiveness cost the creditor. It is interesting to note that the people who walked the
closest to the Lord saw their sinfulness as the greatest.
Abraham considered himself as “dust and ashes” (Gen 18:27) Peter said “depart from me for I am a sinful man.” (Luke 5:8). The
Apostle Paul saw himself as the “chief among sinners.”
(1 Tim. 1:15).
Thankful
People Understand They Are Spiritually In Debt and…
Second, Thankful
People Understand They Have A Debt They Can Never Repay (v. 43)
The good news is that forgiveness is
The conclusion is clear Simon as a
Jesus’ reply in verse forty-three,
"You have rightly judged." In the parable both
debtors were forgiven, the suggestion is that Jesus is just as ready to forgive Simon as
He did the sinful woman.
J. Vernon McGee says
it very well when he said, “Now He tells Simon, “You
have
[J. Vernon McGee, Thru
the Bible Commentary-. Based
Thankful
People Understand They Have A Debt They Can Never Repay and…
Third, Thankful People
Will Be Able To Extend Forgiveness To Others. (vv.
44-46)
Jesus now does something interesting;
Jesus asks, “Do
you see this woman?” Well of course, of course he saw her. In fact Simon does not see her, he sees her sin
but he does not see her as a person. To him she is frozen in the past. But Jesus sees a
worshiper not a sinner. He sees her present not her past – He sees her forgiveness,
not her failure.
Jesus now turns his back on his host and
faces the woman even though he is still addressing Simon. Simon had turned his back on
this woman because of who she was and now Jesus uses her as an example to show
Simon who he really was. Jesus is by his very body language showing his acceptance of
this woman. Jesus says to Simon, “I entered your house; you
gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them
with the hair of her head. (45) You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss
My feet since the time I came in. (46) You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman
has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.”
Jesus tells Simon that this woman has
What the woman does for Jesus though was not mere social niceties; they were acts of
repentance and worship. She came to Jesus in faith expecting him to forgive her and she
was not disappointed. As she wept in repentance, I believe she could sense the Lord’s
forgiveness. The greater her relief from sin, the more abundantly and extravagant her
expression of adoration and worship became. We are never more happy than when we feel
forgiven, free of debt, free of guilt, free of shame.
Thankful People
Will Be Able To Extend Forgiveness To Others and…
Fourth, Thankful People
Realize That There Is No Such Thing As Being Forgiven A Little. (vv. 47-48)
Jesus tells Simon in verse forty-seven,
“Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are
forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." The responses of Simon and the woman illustrate two
different extremes, those who believe they have been forgiven much or little. Simon
obviously believed that he was a “little” sinner when compared with this woman.
But Scripture teaches that with God there is not such thing as a “big” sin and a
“little” sin. Those are artificial man-made divisions. God makes no such
distinctions. A sin is a sin. We are in grave danger when we like Simon trivialize our
sin. We are not forgiven more or
less, we are forgiven all or nothing!
Some have wrongly concluded on the basis of
this verse that the woman had earned her salvation or forgiveness by her great act of
love. To love because you are forgiven is a natural responds to such an undeserved action.
To be forgiven because you have expressed love is works. The Jerusalem Bible brings out the meaning of
Jesus’ words, “For this reason I tell you that her sins,
her many sins, must have been forgiven, or she would not have shown such great love.”
Then Jesus in verse forty-eight
spoke
Conclusion
1.
Thankful People Understand They Are Spiritually In Debt and…
2. Thankful
People Understand They Have A Debt They Can Never Repay
3.
Thankful People Will Be Able To Extend Forgiveness To Others and…
4. Thankful People Realize That There Is No Such Thing As Being Forgiven A Little.