Savior vs. Doer
Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” Luke 7:41-48
When was the last time you took something for granted? Recently, I lost my sister-in-law. While it is safe to say that she had suffered for years and it was a bit of a relief to some that her suffering had ended, it of course was still a sad event. After mourning her passing, I thought to myself what exactly did it all mean? What was God thinking, and what was the purpose of it having took so long. While one can never be sure, the fact we those years with her gave me some insight as to what we can at times take for granted. Not just life. But living life to the fullest extent. Not taking anything for granted.
This brought me to my relationship with Jesus Christ. My knowledge of who He is and what He did has grown infinitely, and my appreciation of it gets deeper. Yet, my mind wondered if I truly appreciate it as I once did when I was fully forgiven for my past, present, and future sins. Does it still humble me the same or has time eroded my true feelings about Him and His gift of grace? What I realized is that every so often it pays off to simply ask that very question not because one forgets that they are forgiven. But every so often, one forgets just how valuable forgiveness is. We can take it for granted, and there is no greater gift that one can receive than that. It does not matter how bad we were when we originally were forgiven or how good we have become years later. We should appreciate it similarly.
God’s grace is to be celebrated even in the most trivial of circumstances. One of things I love about the story of the sinful woman anointing Jesus is understanding His love for us in our brokenness. In the earlier verses, the woman is said to be ‘immoral,’ and was kneeling at His feet weeping while using her hair to wipe the tears off. Imagine what type of immorality could drive one to weep so uncontrollably that they had to use their own hair to wash another’s feet. That is a special kind of pain, guilt, and shame. Yet, Jesus, in His always two-fold way of doing things, He heals the woman of her brokenness while teaching Peter about the power of grace. We as well as Peter can understand the sympathetic side by Jesus. However, focusing on her being forgiven was not where Peter was. In fact, like Peter, we may have totally overlooked how Jesus is challenging us. Jesus pointed out how little Peter as a disciple (or fully understanding who Jesus was) did little while the woman (or someone lost without hope) gave her best simply because she loved Him. This explains why He responded, “her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” If we are going to love Jesus as we should, our hearts should come to Him filled with a similar level of pain, guilt, and shame no matter how well we have travelled our journey of faith. We all fall short of God’s glory no matter if by a little or a lot. And even if we are walking closely with Him, we should work to love as if we are way off the mark.
Our Love of Jesus should reflect our acknowledgment of who He is. Not what He has done for us. It is amazing to think that despite whether our flaws are few or many, He loves us all the same. Therefore, let our hearts reflect a love that would be shown by the most desperate in need of His grace even if we are the most highly favored. What does your love for Jesus look like? Does your relationship reflect a lack of or desperate need for Him? My prayer is that we as followers love Christ Jesus the Savior. Not just the doer. Amen.