Luke 7:42 “And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
To be sure the creditor could have had legal proceedings against either or both of his debtors. The sums they owed were not so small. The point here is forgiveness. This creditor actually chose to forgive the debts at cost to himself. And, as we are told, this was a great thing for the debtors because neither of them were able to pay their dues.
Looking at this story from Christ we might initially argue with it. It makes it sound as if the Pharisee is not much of a sinner, and the woman is so much more awfully terrible. Many would take offense, thinking the Pharisee is the more evil of the two. Here we need to remember two very important things.
First, the amounts make no difference from the standpoint of the debtor’s ability to repay. In other words, because there is nothing a person may do to ‘work off’ the debt of sin, it does not matter ‘how much’ sin debt has accrued. The creditor genuinely forgave both.
Second, our perception of the result of sin is quite mistaken most of the time. Remember, we do not know everything like God does. I do not think the idea Jesus was communicating was that the Pharisee was not a really bad sinner. Instead, Jesus was making it clear that regardless of the amount owed, forgiveness was needed. The amount only changed how persons responded in love. So, only God knows how ‘bad’ of a sinner you truly are. If the Pharisee comforted himself thinking he was the less sinful, then he missed the point completely. Our perception of the depth of our sin does not matter because in any case we are, like the debtors, totally unable to pay our debt.
Heavenly Father, our perception of You is so far off from reality. I long to know You as You would have me to. You alone have the answers I seek. You alone can pay for the life I want to live. Without You, life is a jumble of relative evils. With You there is a pathway to something better. I love You! In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.