Meditation for June 2009

Judith reads:

Over the next few months, I will be meditating with you on the parables of Jesus that appear only in the Gospel of Saint Luke. Though all the Gospels have parables attributed to Jesus in common with one another, each Gospel has parables that are unique to that particular Gospel.

This month we will be looking at the parable of The Two Debtors. (Luke 7: 36 – 50)

Jesus tells the story of a man who lends money to two people. To one he lends a large sum of money, and to the other he lends a small amount. However, neither of the men can afford to pay the money back and the lender generously forgives the debts of both of them. After telling the parable, Jesus gives the punch-line in the form of a question. He asks, Which one of these men will love him the most? Simon, the Pharisee, to whom the story is aimed, says that he presumes that the one who owed the most money would love the lender the most. Jesus tells him that he is correct.

The context of this parable was a dinner to which Jesus was invited and was in the Pharisee’s house. During the course of the meal, a woman, described as immoral, came into the house and knelt at the feet of Jesus. She began to weep and her tears fell on Jesus’ feet; then she wiped away the tears from his feet with her hair. After this, she kissed his feet and rubbed them with expensive perfume.

Simon didn’t say anything to Jesus but he thought to himself that if Jesus was really a prophet, he would know that the woman was a sinner and wouldn’t allow her to touch him. By telling the parable of the two debtors, Jesus made it clear to Simon that he both knew who the woman was and the thoughts that Simon had in his mind.

After Simon had given Jesus his answer to the parable’s question, Jesus said, 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. (NLT)

Simon had been indignant over the woman’s behaviour and, although he only thought his feelings, Jesus knew what he was thinking and, of course, knew the woman’s thoughts and feelings also. Jesus showed Simon that though he thought he was better than the woman he didn’t act in love and generosity towards Jesus as she did.

Thoughts are insidious, they constantly ramble in our minds, and often they are telling us of how much better we are than the person in whose company we are at that moment. Thinking we are better doesn’t make us so. We need to look at our actions and see if they are living up to the good and loving Christian that we think we are. Jesus sees us truly for what we are; he forgives us our sins and shortcomings. He also knows our criticisms of others and gently reminds us that we need to be as forgiving of those people as he is of our sins and mistakes.

 © Judith Lawrence June 2009