Luke 7:42

(ubi sup.) But both debtors being forgiven, the Pharisee is asked which most loved the forgiver of the debts. For it follows, Who then will love him most? To which he at once answers, I suppose, that he to whom he forgave most. And here we must remark, that while the Pharisee is convicted upon his own grounds, the madman carries the rope by which he will be bound; as it follows, But he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

(non occ.) For no one can of himself escape the debt of sin, but only by obtaining pardon through the grace of God.

But because God has mercy on every kind of sinner who turns to him, therefore it is added: When they had nothing wherewith to pay, he forgave them both, namely out of pardoning mercy, as is said in Matthew 18: "The lord, having compassion on …

It was a kiss of adoration as well as affection. She wiped them with her hair, as one entirely devoted to his honour. Her eyes shall yield water to wash them, and her hair be a towel to wipe them; and she anointed his feet with the ointment, owning him hereby to be the Messiah, the Anointed.

God has proclaimed his name gracious and merciful, and ready to forgive sin; and, his Son having purchased pardon for penitent believers, his gospel promises it to them, and his Spirit seals it and gives them the comfort of it. [5.] That those who have their sins pardoned are obliged to love him that pardoned them; and the more is forgiven them, the more they should love him.

10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick. Some difference there is between this story of the cure of the centurion's servant as it is related here and as we had it in Matt. viii. There it was said that the centurion came to Christ; here it is said that he sent to him first some of the elders of the Jews (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And when they had nothing to pay,....

Frankly forgave - Freely forgave, or forgave entirely without any compensation. This is not designed to express anything about the way in which God forgives sinners. He forgives - forgives freely, but it is in connection with the “atonement” made by the Lord Jesus. If it was a mere “debt” which we owed to God, he might forgive, as this creditor did, without an equivalent. But it is “crime” which he forgives. He pardons as a moral governor.

The deeply interesting narrative contained in these verses, is only found in the Gospel of Luke. In order to see the full beauty of the story — we should read, in connection with it, the eleventh chapter of Matthew. We shall then discover the striking fact that the woman whose conduct is here recorded, most likely owed her conversion to the well-known words, "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden — and I will give you rest."

The two debtors are the woman and Simon; the criminality of the one was ten times that of the other (in the proportion of "five hundred" to "fifty"); but both being equally insolvent, both are with equal frankness forgiven; and Simon is made to own that the greatest debtor to forgiving mercy will cling to her Divine Benefactor with the deepest gratitude.

When we commence the Christian life, it is very natural that we should say to ourselves, "We do not wish to be second-rate Christians, or ordinary Christians—much less to prove like the Laodicean professors, neither cold nor hot, or, like those of whom the Apostle John wrote, "They went out from us, but they were not of us." I like to see the holy ambition of the young convert who desires to bring forth much fruit to the Glory of God—to love Christ much and manifest that love by every possible act of devotion to Him.

The deeply interesting narrative contained in these verses, is only found in the Gospel of Luke. In order to see the full beauty of the story — we should read, in connection with it, the eleventh chapter of Matthew. We shall then discover the striking fact that the woman whose conduct is here recorded, most likely owed her conversion to the well-known words, "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden — and I will give you rest." That wondrous invitation, in all human probability — was the means of the saving of her soul, and gave her that sense of peace for which we see her so grateful. A full offer of free pardon — is generally God's chosen instrument for bringing sinners to repentance. We see in this passage that men may show some outward respect to Christ — and yet remain unconverted. The Pharisee before us is a case in point. He showed our Lord Jesus Christ more respect than many did. He even asked Jesus to have dinner with him. Yet all this time he was profoundly ignorant of the nature of Christ's Gospel. His proud heart secretly revolted at the sight of a poor contrite sinner being allowed to wash our Lord's feet. And even the hospitality he showed, appears to have been cold and niggardly. Our Lord Himself says, "You did not give me any water for my feet. You did not give me a kiss. You did not put oil on my head." In short, in all that the Pharisee did, there was one great defect. There was outward civility — but there was no heart-love. We shall do well to remember the case of this Pharisee. It is quite possible to have a decent form of religion — and yet to know nothing of the Gospel of Christ. It is possible to treat Christianity with respect — and yet to be utterly blind about its cardinal doctrines.

THE two debtors differed very considerably in the amounts which they owed—the one was in arrears 500 pence and the other fifty. There are differences in the guilt of sins and in the degrees of men's criminality. It would be a very unfair and unrighteous thing to say that all men are exactly alike in the extent of their transgression. Some are honest and upright, kind and generous, even though they are but natural men—while others appear to be of a malicious, envious, selfish disposition—and rush into evil, sinning, as it were, with both hands greedily.

THE two debtors differed very considerably in the amounts which they owed—the one was in arrears 500 pence and the other fifty. There are differences in the guilt of sins and in the degrees of men's criminality. It would be a very unfair and unrighteous thing to say that all men are exactly alike in the extent of their transgression. Some are honest and upright, kind and generous, even though they are but natural men—while others appear to be of a malicious, envious, selfish disposition—and rush into evil, sinning, as it were, with both hands greedily. The man who is moral, sober and industrious is only a fifty-pence debtor as compared with the vicious, drunken blasphemer whose debt is written at 500 pence. Our Savior recognizes the distinction because it exists and cannot justly be overlooked. There are distinctions among unconverted men, very great distinctions. One of them, a young man, came to Jesus, and he had so many fine traits in his character that the Lord, looking upon him, loved him. But when the Pharisees gathered about Him, our Lord looked round upon them with indignation! The soil, which was none of it yet sown with the good Seed, yet varied greatly, and some of it was honest and good ground before the power of the Holy Spirit came to it. Sinners differ from each other. But I call your particular notice to the fact that though there was one point of difference in the two debtors, there were three points of similarity, for they were both debtors—and so all men have sinned, be it little or be it much! And, secondly, they were both alike, bankrupt, neither of them could meet his debt. The man who owed 50 pence could no more pay than he who owed 500 pence, so that they were both insolvent debtors.

I REMEMBER seeing, somewhere or other, as a sign upon an inn, the words, "The First and Last." I do not know what that may happen to be among men, but I know that love is God's first and last. It is there that He begins with us in mercy—"We love Him, because He first loved us." His love at the first springs up like a fountain in the midst of a desert and freely flows along the wilderness to the unworthy sons of men.

I REMEMBER seeing, somewhere or other, as a sign upon an inn, the words, "The First and Last." I do not know what that may happen to be among men, but I know that love is God's first and last. It is there that He begins with us in mercy—"We love Him, because He first loved us." His love at the first springs up like a fountain in the midst of a desert and freely flows along the wilderness to the unworthy sons of men. In the end, the result of that love is that men love Him—they cannot help it any more than the rock can prevent the echo when the voice falls upon it. Love is not a creature of law—it comes not on demand—it must be free or not at all. It has its reasons why it springs up in our hearts, but it is not a mercenary thing which can be procured at such-and-such a price. It is not a matter of argument—it is not of itself an act performed as a matter of duty. Love is a duty, certainly, but it does not come to us that way—it comes to us like a roe or a young hart, over every mountain and hill, leaping and bounding. It comes not as a heavy burden dragged along an iron way. If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be despised. Men do not make themselves love by a course of calculation—they are overtaken with it and carried away by its power. When godly men consider and enjoy the great love of God to them, they begin to love God in return, just as the bud, when it feels the sunshine, opens to it of its own accord. Love to God is a sort of natural consequence which follows from a sight and sense of the love of God to us. I think it is Aristotle who said that it is impossible for a person to know that he is loved without feeling some degree of love in return. I do not know how that may be for I am no philosopher, but I am sure that it is so with those who taste the love of God.

When we commence the Christian life, it is very natural that we should say to ourselves, "We do not wish to be second-rate Christians, or ordinary Christians—much less to prove like the Laodicean professors, neither cold nor hot, or, like those of whom the Apostle John wrote, "They went out from us, but they were not of us." I like to see the holy ambition of the young convert who desires to bring forth much fruit to the Glory of God—to love Christ much and manifest that love by every possible act of devotion to Him. Truly, my dear Friends, you need not be as your fathers have been, for we have often provoked the Lord and have many times done what we ought not to have done. There is plenty of room for improvement upon the past generation and we would earnestly urge those of you who are commencing the heavenly race to run faster than we have run—to keep your eyes more steadfastly fixed upon the goal—and to continue more resolutely in the right way than we have done. We do not desire that you should imitate our mistakes, or that you should fall into our backslidings. We wish that yours might be the highest conceivable form of Christian life and we know that if it is to be so, there must be in you intense love to Christ. My objective, at this time, is to give some directions which, perhaps, the Spirit of God will bless, especially to beginners, that they may be taught to love Christ much and manifest that love as this woman did. It may be that some of us who have been for years on the right road, may also get stirred up to greater zeal and devotion to our Lord.

Which of them will love him most? - Which is under the greater obligation and should love him most?