Luke 7:47
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Have You Been Forgiven Little?
A person who feels that they are a pretty good person and then gets saved may not feel like they had a lot to be forgiven for, but one little sin fells the sinner outside of having faith in Christ. It doesn’t matter what it seems to us, it only matters what it is to God. The idea that someone seems to be a pretty good person goes contrary to biblical doctrine, which says that not one of us is good. In fact, we’ve all gone out of the way, and there isn’t nor has there ever been even one who is good (Rom 3:10-11). Every person who has ever lived outside of Jesus, Who has always lived and never sinned, falls far short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23). We’ve fallen so far short, in fact, that every single one of us has earned the eternal death penalty (Rom 6:23). You might feel you’ve been forgiven little, but in reality it is so very much, and it was enough to need Jesus’ death on the cross.
Have You Been Forgiven Much?
Jesus came into Simon the Pharisee’s house and didn’t treat Jesus like a guest, but when the woman came in, she wept at His feet and wiped them with her hair. Jesus said that this woman did more than Simon did when He came into his home (Luke 7:44-47). Jesus said that Simon gave Him no water to wash His feet, but this woman in an act of humility washed Jesus’ feet with the water of her tears, showing her repentance, and then wiped His feet with her hair, showing her devotion to the Savior. Jesus then said that whoever has been forgiven much is loved much, but whoever is forgiven little is loved little. His point may have been that Simon the Pharisee judged this woman as unworthy (Luke 7:39), but the Pharisee overestimated his own righteousness. The woman was thus forgiven much and was loved much, but the self-righteous Pharisee, thinking he had little or no sin, was forgiven little in his mind, and so he was loved less according to Jesus.
Jesus Forgives Our Sins
When Jesus told the woman, whom the Pharisee inwardly judged as a sinner, that her sins were forgiven, the Pharisee and those seated with him couldn’t believe it since they knew only God could forgive sins (Luke 7:49). They apparently didn’t believe as the woman did that Jesus was God. The woman went out clean and forgiven, but the self-righteous wallowed in their sin, so they were loved little, thinking they didn’t need much forgiveness. But the woman was loved much, as she even acted as she did acknowledging that she had much sin. Jesus forgave her because she humbled herself, but the self-righteous saw little need for forgiveness. Does He love us much or little? It depends on how much sin you think you have had forgiven.
A Closing Prayer
Great God in heaven, Ruler over all that is and Supreme Judge of all, please forgive my sins and when I myself have acted self-righteous. I have no righteousness, but that which is credited to me outside of myself, and this comes only from Jesus’ work at Calvary (2 Cor 5:21). In Christ’s holy name I pray.
Amen
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