The Two Debtors
Love and forgiveness – these are the main themes of the parable.
Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, Vol.4 - The Parables of Jesus, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev
The scene: Jesus is invited to the home of a Pharisee to eat with him. a woman from the city, a known sinner, brought a flask of fragrant oil. She began to wash His feet with her tears, and wipe His feet with her hair. She kissed His feet and anointed them with this oil.
Luke 7: 39 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.”
Jesus then told the following parable to the Pharisee, ending with a question:
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. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
He answered: the one whom he forgave more. It was the right answer. Jesus then explained:
44(b) 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. 47 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.”
Jesus then forgave the woman’s sins. Those at the table were amazed: who is this who can forgive sins?
What sins? To label her a sinner could only mean she was a prostitute. Imagine the scene, in the home of a Pharisee: a prostitute washing the feet of Jesus (how she was able to enter, we are not told). She showed Him complete love and respect; the Pharisee showed neither – not even the basics of hospitality of the time: no water for His feet, no greeting kiss, no oil for His head.
From this encounter, we have no indication that the Pharisee learned anything; the woman, however, was transformed: Jesus said to her, Your faith has saved you. Likely the Pharisee, and many of the guests, found in this exchange complete scandal: both in the interactions between the prostitute and Jesus, and in the forgiving of sins by Jesus.
Conclusion
One’s depth of sin, one’s level of sinfulness, is of no matter to God. Neither the sin of a prostitute nor the sin of the self-righteous Pharisee is a hindrance to God’s love and forgiveness. In this parable, one of the two of these sinners benefited from this forgiveness, because of her faith.