#66 Christ Sees Her Repentance and Faith; Simon Can See Her Fruits of Faith In the second part of the Gospel {From Luke 7:36-50}, a beautiful parable is presented to us in which the Lord Christ defended Himself and this penitent sinful woman against the Pharisee and also spoke the absolution to her. For when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, He would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” He means as much as to say, “The holy prophets could have seen in the Spirit even things that were invisible and hidden; but since this Jesus does not see or know the sins of this woman, then He must not be a prophet. Since He even lets Himself be touched by such a great sinner, He must not be the Most High or the Messiah (Dan. 9:24).”
But the Lord Christ answers him as an all-knowing Lord who sees the thoughts of the heart, saying to him: “There was a lender,” that is, a rich man, “who had two debtors: the one owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. And since they had nothing with which to repay, he forgave them both. Now tell Me, which of them will love him more?” To which Simon the Pharisee answered, “I suppose, the one who was forgiven more.” Christ was pleased with this and said to him, “You have judged rightly.” At this point, He turned to the woman with a kind and friendly face and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You gave Me no water for My feet,” as was normally the custom (Gen. 18:4, 19:2; Jud. 19:21; John 13:5). “But she has wet My feet with her tears and dried them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss,” as good friends normally tended to welcome one another. “But since the moment I came in, this woman has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil,” or perfume, as was normally done with guests. “But this woman has anointed My feet with costly perfume. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins are forgiven, for she loved much.” She has definitively demonstrated by her deeds that she loves and honors Me more than you do, although you invited Me to be your guest. And this love of hers is a fruit of faith, through which she has obtained the forgiveness of her onerous debt of sin.
(Sermon for Mary Magdalene-July 22, Postilla Volume 3 by Johann Gerhard, Repristination Press, page 111-112)
