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Humble Hero
resources. The heavenly universe properly looks with amazement
on the human family who refuse the riches of the boundless love
expressed in Christ. Well may they exclaim, “Why this great waste?”
But the atonement for a lost world was to be full, abundant, and
complete. Christ’s offering could not be restricted to just the number
of people who would accept the Gift. The plan of redemption is
not a waste because it does not accomplish all that its liberality has
provided for. There must be enough, and more than enough.
Simon the host was surprised at Jesus’ response, and he said in
his heart, “This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and
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what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a
sinner.”
Because Christ allowed this woman to approach Him, because
He did not reject her indignantly as someone whose sins were too
great to be forgiven, because He did not show that He realized she
had fallen, Simon was tempted to think that Christ was not a prophet.
But it was Simon’s ignorance of God and of Christ that led him to
think as he did.
How God Really Acts
Simon did not realize that God’s Son must act in God’s way,
with compassion, tenderness, and mercy. Simon’s way was to ignore
Mary’s repentant service. Her act of kissing Christ’s feet and anoint-
ing them with ointment was exasperating to his hardheartedness. He
thought that Christ should recognize sinners and rebuke them.
To this unspoken thought, the Savior answered, “‘Simon, I have
something to say to you. ... There was a certain creditor who had
two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And
when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them
both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?’ Simon
answered and said, ‘I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’ And
He said to him, ‘You have rightly judged.’”
As Nathan did with David (
2 Samuel 12:1-7
), Christ gave His
host the burden of pronouncing sentence on himself. Simon had led
into sin the woman he now despised. He had deeply wronged her.
By the two debtors of the parable, Jesus represented Simon and the
woman. Jesus did not intend to teach that the two of them should