said, “Two people were in debt to the same creditor. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. As they were unable to pay him back, he graciously canceled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?”Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, who was forgiven more.” And Jesus said, “You are right.” And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? You gave me no water for my feet when I entered your house; but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn’t welcome me with a kiss; but she has not stopped kissing my feet since she came in. You provided no oil for my head; but she has poured perfume on my feet. This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love. But the one who is forgiven little, has little love.” Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others reclining with him at the table began to wonder, “Now this man claims to forgive sins!” But Jesus again spoke to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace!”
Reflections
“Her many sins are forgiven.”Sin ruins human lives; it des- troys the natural world. Everything that was made “very good”, any- thing that relates to the good—it wants to be destroyed. Sin is the absence of the good; it cannot co-exist with goodness. Sin breaks the relationship with God, and the relation between humans and their fellow human beings and between humans and the natural world. Sin corrupts the human heart. It brings misery, loneliness and fear. With all these descriptions, we can easily identify its effects and manifesta- tions, its many faces.Forgiveness is sin’s reversal; it undoes what sin has done. Al- though in many cases the undoing takes longer time, still forgiveness restores back what has been lost and destroyed. Forgiveness brings about transformation inside the hu- man person and promotes her/his well-being; it effects the flourishing of the natural world through hu- mans. Forgiveness brings peace; it heals the wounded heart and re- stores the broken relationship. That is why the sinful woman, having been forgiven her many sins, has poured out her love in gratitude. She was reconnected back to her God and restored to a new “life”.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019