Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little

 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.  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."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."

"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."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  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.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  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."  Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."

- Luke 7:36-50

Yesterday, we read that the disciples of John reported to him concerning all the things that Jesus had done.  And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  When the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?'"  And that very hour He cured many of infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard:  that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John:  "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  This is he of whom it is written:  'Behold, I send My messenger before your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'  For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."  And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.  And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like?  They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:  'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;  We mourned to you, and you did not weep.'  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'  The Son of Man haw come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'  But wisdom is justified by all her children."

 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him.  And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.  And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.  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."  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you."  So he said, "Teacher, say it."  "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."  Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman?  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.  You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in.  You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.  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."   Of today's entire reading, my study bible says that the Pharisee was intrigued by Christ (as shown by his invitation), but he clearly doesn't believe in Him - which is evident in his reaction to Christ's mercy and even by his lack of common hospitality ("You gave me no water for My feet . . . , You gave Me no kiss . . . ,  You did not anoint My head with oil . . .").  But the encounter with the sinful woman is "an icon of the grace found only in the Church.  Quoting Ambrose of Milan, my study bible notes that through her, "the Church is justified as being greater than the Law, for the Law does not know the forgiveness of sins, nor the mystery in which secret sins are cleansed; therefore what is lacking in the Law is perfected in the Gospel." 

Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."  And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?"  Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you.  Go in peace."   My study bible says here, "That a man could forgive sins was beyond the bounds of the Law as the Pharisees understood it (see 5:21).  Yet Christ was not a mere man, but the very Lawgiver Himself.  'Who could declare things that were above the Law, except the One who ordained the Law?'  (Cyril of Alexandria)."

In chapter 5 of Luke's Gospel, Jesus teaches,"I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."  That's the same passage in which He gives an illustration of the New Covenant He's introducing, speaking about new wine and old, new wineskins, and using the example of putting a patch on an old garment rather than creating a new one.  This is the example of mercy.  And here in today's reading, Jesus makes this extraordinary statement: "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."  It's a little bit complicated, if we look closely -- Jesus seems to be saying that she loved much first.  But the second part of the statement can be read with a different sequence:   "To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little."   The earlier example Jesus gives, about forgiving debts, seems to imply that forgiveness comes first.  However, to a native Greek speaker, both statements seem to imply that there is first love.  And this becomes a statement of faith, a depth of relationship to God.  It seems to imply that through we who are flawed, and know that we are imperfect, this love is possible simply because of that knowledge.  Perhaps the sequence is deliberately mixed, because in the eternal time of Christ, we are already forgiven, although it's up to us to do the work of realizing that in our own time.  But there's a definite implication that those who believe in their own perfection feel they have little that needs forgiveness, and so love isn't great.  One thing is certain, that to those of us who understand and feel our own imperfections, love becomes the deepest connection to the gracious One who has the power to forgive sins.  I think this extends not only to sinfulness of a kind that is deliberate and knowingly harmful, but also to sins against the self:  sins such as a lack of the kind of self-respect that God would teach us, sins that degrade who we are, sins of the type of wrong-thinking that means we don't accept that we are created to be vessels for God's glory -- and all that this truly means, both in responsibility and in the recognition of the great honor in which we are created by God and in God's image.  Clearly this "sinful woman" is a person who has shown a great love, and in the end, it is Jesus who tells her, "Your faith has saved you."  This gives us another important understanding, that faith is a kind of love.  We understand "faith" to be akin to "trust" as the Greek word implies.  But love and trust go hand in hand.  In this sense we are invited here to understand a particular way of love, of understanding an important aspect of love: it is tied to trust, and trust implies that we assume or understand that the One we love has our own best interest at heart.  If faith, trust, and love are tied together, then we can be certain that forgiveness and guidance are both at work in the One who wants what is truly best for us.  What that means is that while we are forgiven in our love for Christ, we are also taught that harmful qualities of sin:  that we are selling ourselves short when we sin.  As Jesus tells the woman taken in adultery, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."   Love for God can take on many forms; even in the tradition of the Church, there is a passion for Christ that is called eros.  It is the deep love of and yearning for Christ embodied in the saints.  But true love - in any form - cannot be without trust in its fullness.  We know when we feel trust, either in a friend or a special loved one or family member.  We also know what it's like when trust is violated.  But even when this trust is absent, the greatest confidence and trust we can have is in the God who loves us and truly wants what is best for us.  Let us learn to cultivate that love, and let it guide our lives to what is best for us, to choices that will reflect the true basis of trust, even as we live in an imperfect world.  A prayer at the end of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom includes the plea, "Sanctify those who trust in You."  Today's story is the illustration of just what that means, the love and trust that lead to the right road.