The Depth of Our Love

The parable of the two debtors in Luke 7 comes from one of my favorite stories about Christ in the gospels. It tells of a sinful woman coming into a Pharisee’s house, weeping tears on Jesus feet, drying them with her hair and anointing him with perfume. Who was this woman and what drove her to enter that house among enemies? Was it Mary Magdalene who is mentioned by Luke immediately after the parable, a woman who had been delivered of seven demons? Why was Mary chosen as the first witness of Jesus’ resurrection? Why did Jesus choose to appear to Mary after Peter and John left the empty tomb? 

As a person who was deeply involved in the occult prior to being born again, and knowing the depth of rebellion towards God which opens the door to possession, and the depth of love one has for Him after receiving forgiveness, this story and parable inspired me to dig deeper and visit Israel and Magdala to research my first Christian novel entitled Mary Magdalene: A Woman Who Loved. 

In Luke 8:2 we are given a list of women who travelled with Jesus and the disciples and here Luke specifically tells us that Mary Magdalene had been delivered of seven demons. Demonic possession is almost never an unfortunate accident, a person randomly chosen by demons. Rather, generally speaking, people, through rebellion to God or the worship of demons, open themselves to demonic influence. As an example, king Saul rebelled against God, lost his anointing as king and was tormented by an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14-15). Rebellion against God is at the very heart of the demonic, and persistent rebellion was one of the doors which invited demonic possession, especially before Christ broke demonic power on at the cross.

Whilst researching Mary’s life I discovered many details not given in the Scriptures which formed my opinion that she was the woman in the Lord’s parable. In Rome and other pagan Roman occupied cities, prostitution was very common, indeed it was an official form of worship with temple prostitutes, such as in the city of Corinth. But in Israel this was not the case. Prior to Roman occupation a prostitute could be stoned to death, but Roman law protected such women. The vast majority of prostitutes were desperate widows who had no income and little or no prospects of marriage. Poverty, and sometimes homelessness, drove women into this life-style merely to survive. 

In the year 6AD a man from Galilee called Judas led a rebellion against paying Roman taxes. There was a Roman garrison at Magdala, and behind the town a high and steep place called the Cliffs of Arbel, in which there were caves. One of the last battles of the revolt was against the Magdala garrison and the survivors fled to the mountain and caves. King Herod, a Roman puppet king, lowered his archers in baskets from the top of the cliffs, and shot the last rebels in the caves. Was Mary’s husband one of those men? 

Did she become a widow at that time? If a young wife of say 16, she would have been a woman of 40 when Jesus began His ministry. Sorrow, coupled with poverty and hopelessness can turn to bitterness and rebellion. A woman working as a prostitute in Magdala would have many pagans, Roman soldiers, and of course hypocritical Jewish men as her customers, and such a person would soon become very cynical towards God and Jewish laws and taboos.

I understand that some of this is speculation, however, there is a lot written about Mary Magdalene in other non-biblical literature of the time, and as one studies it, a pattern emerges which makes a lot of sense. With this in mind, let’s now read the story and parable in Luke 7:36-50.

36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “if this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is – that she is a sinner.” 40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.41 “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them would love him more?” 43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 

47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”48. Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” 50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

There is no doubt from the story that Simon the Pharisee knew who this woman was by reputation, after all, Magdala was a small town and he was likely the main teacher of the local synagogue. It was a common practice for guests to gather at the synagogue leader’s home after a service to discuss the Scriptures and fellowship together, so there may have been 50 plus men at Simon’s house. He is disgusted that Jesus is allowing her to touch Him, and concludes that He can’t be a prophet or He would know that she is a sinner. The word ‘hamartolos’, translated as sinner, connotes a person who is detestable because they are living in continual and unrepentant sin against God. Some of the men watching this scene may also have known her intimately and be hoping she wasn’t going to open her mouth or start pointing a finger.

Jesus was reclining at the table, a position of lying on one side propped up usually with cushions. The woman came and stood behind Him and began to weep, her tears falling on His feet. What would drive a person who knew she would be despised by those in this house to enter and repent before them all? I have no doubt that she had heard plenty about Jesus, perhaps from her customers, and during the daytime had followed the crowds to hear Him speak and witness the miracles He performed. I also imagine that at such times she kept her hair and face mostly covered so as not to be recognized, for her life was one of discretion and sinful secrecy to protect the reputation of her customers.

Did she hear the sermons about sin? Did she witness the incredible compassion and love towards all who came to Him, and did she watch as demons submitted to Christ and departed at His command? Did she have any regular customers who came and told her Jesus had changed their lives, asked her forgiveness and told her they would not be back? I don’t know for certain the answers to these questions, but I do know that when a person is being drawn by the Spirit of God, confronted with the love, holiness and grace of Jesus Christ, and seen themselves in the light of his holiness, they have a powerful obsession; to be set free, forgiven, and made clean. 

In the moment that a person sees their sin as God sees sin, the revelation can never be unseen and the cry of their heart is ‘Lord save me, forgive me, make me whole, make me holy as you are holy’.

This is the condition of the woman standing behind Jesus and weeping tears of repentance on His feet. She knew she was standing in the presence of the Holy One of God, indeed she had likely heard Him called those very words by the demons He commanded out. She fell to her knees, never uttering a word, for her remorse was beyond words, there were none which could express the depth for which she despised herself. She touched the Lord’s feet, no doubt in pure reverence, and began to dry them with her hair. She kissed his feet and in her heart I believe she knew without the slightest hint of doubt that He knew her heart, that He delighted in her desire to be holy.

And then she brought from within her cloak the most precious thing she owned, an alabaster jar of perfume, not the cheap scent she used for her customers, but nard, an extremely expensive perfume kept in pure alabaster and worth around 300 denarii, a full year’s salary of a Roman soldier. She poured the perfume on the Lord’s feet and as Simon watched in disgust, he said to himself that if Jesus were a prophet, He would know what kind of woman was touching Him – that she is a sinner’ (v39). Verse 20 says that ‘Jesus answered Simon’, so perhaps the Pharisee said these words loud enough to be heard, or, that Jesus simply knew what he was thinking.

Jesus then tells Simon he has something to tell him and begins the short parable. Two men owed money to a moneylender, one owed 500 denarii and the other fifty. Neither could pay the debt so he forgave the debts of both. Then Jesus asks Simon, “which of them will love him more?” Simon replies that he supposes it would be the one who had the greater debt forgiven, and Jesus tells him he has judged correctly.

Jesus now turns toward the woman, but continues to speak to Simon. Jesus compares the woman’s love with Simon’s neglect. Simon did not give the Lord water for His feet, but the woman washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Such an action was far beyond what even a slave would be asked to do, for a slave would have a bowl of water and a towel. The woman’s actions displayed absolute submission and reverence motivated solely by love for the grace she knew she was receiving.

In verse 45 Jesus reminds Simon that he did not receive the traditional greeting of a kiss from him as a fellow Jew, but ‘this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet’. Observant readers will recognize that Jesus arrived before the woman as per 7:37. She had learned that Jesus was eating with Simon and came there with her alabaster jar of perfume. This is not a contradiction in the text as Jesus is not speaking at all about the time the woman entered Simon’s home but rather from the time He came, up to the point at which this is occurring.

Jesus then tells Simon that he did not anoint his head with oil, but she had poured this expensive perfume on his feet. This contrast is very powerful. Inexpensive oil was given to guests to refresh them, but Simon had neglected this basic act of hospitality which was a common tradition. By refusing to anoint Jesus, Simon was in essence refusing to acknowledge Jesus as either guest or prophet. By comparison, expensive perfume was used to anoint priests and the tabernacle symbolizing both holiness and consecration. In pouring this perfume on His feet, the woman was mirroring the anointing of Kings, priests and sacred worship, indeed she was demonstrating anointing the Messiah as Lord of her life.

Furthermore, by anointing Jesus feet with the perfume, after washing them with her tears and drying them with her hair, this symbolized that she considered herself unworthy to anoint His head, for He was already the anointed one. Her acts demonstrated her absolute humility and submission, her utter devotion, and exaltation of Christ. Simon’s lack of even common decency proved the coldness of his heart and even refusal to honor Jesus in the most ordinary way…his neglect was an insult.

Jesus then says to Simon:

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.” (Luke 7:47)

Please notice who Jesus is addressing here and the tense. He is still speaking to Simon and tells him that the woman’s sins have been forgiven (past tense) – as her great love has shown. Jesus hasn’t said a word to the woman yet, but He is telling Simon that through her actions of adoration and love, she has shown that she knows she is forgiven. The tears showed her sincere repentance and placing her godly sorrow upon the Lord, wiping His feet showed deep honor and respect, and anointing Him with the perfume demonstrated that she was anointing Him as Lord of her life. All of this was communicated without spoken words, for the language of deep conviction is often beyond mere language but the unspoken language of the soul. 

And then Jesus spoke to her for the first time with human language and confirmed what she already knew in her heart, saying, “you sins are forgiven.” The other guests began to talk among themselves saying, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” but Jesus ignored them and said to the woman, “You faith has saved you; go in peace.”

The word translated ‘saved’ is from ‘sesoken’ and is another clue that this woman was indeed Mary Magdalene.  The root words ‘sos’ and ‘sozo’ mean to save, rescue, deliver or preserve. In Luke 8:36 the word is ‘esothe’ from the same root word and is used of the man delivered of the legion of demons.  The over-all meaning of all words with the root ‘sos’ and ‘sozo’, is to be made whole again, whether it is physical healing, deliverance from demonic possession, or salvation. 

I believe that if the guests had been able to see in the spirit realm, they would have witnessed seven demons coming out of this woman, and just two verses later Luke tells us that Mary was delivered of demons.

This story reminds me of the parable Jesus told of the two men who went to the temple to pray, a Pharisee and a tax collector in Luke 18:9-14. The Pharisee looked down on the tax collector and compared himself with that man, but the tax collector beat his chest in repentance and asked the Lord for mercy. Jesus said that only the tax collector left the temple justified, forgiven before God. At the end of that parable Jesus makes the statement that all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Simon the Pharisee refused to offer Jesus even the most basic respect or common decency. He judged the woman and judged Jesus for allowing her to touch him. Only one person left Simon’s house justified and save that day, but I wonder who was the greater sinner. One person could not see who Christ was because of his own pride. Like the other Pharisee in Jesus’ parable, he looked down upon others, having exalted himself because of his works. But Mary knelt at Jesus’ feet in total repentance, godly sorrow, adoration and love, for she saw herself as a helpless slave to sin.

God hates sin. He hates adultery, greed, prostitution, stealing, lying, cheating, homosexuality, murder etc. But there is one sin God hates more than all of the others. It is the sin of pride. God actively opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. God hates pride because the proud person thinks they are quite a good person, the proud person judges themselves against other people, the proud person uses themselves as a measure of goodness. The proud person refuses to say, ‘there but for the grace of God, go I’.

Jesus said that those who humble themselves will be exalted. That means to be honored by the Lord.  Mary of Magdala humbled herself before a crowd of people in her enemy’s home. She didn’t care what people thought of her, she only cared that Jesus would forgive her. Simon judged her, Jesus loved her, he loved her humility, he loved her faith, and he delighted in her hunger for holiness and love for Him as the One who could set her free, and give her peace. 

Was Mary exalted?  Mary was given the greatest honor that any human being has ever been given in human history. She was chosen to be the first person to witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the greatest event in history. Peter and John went to the tomb after Mary, but Jesus waited until they left and showed Himself first to Mary. John 20:10-17.

If you recall, after the resurrection Jesus reinstated Peter who had denied Him three times by asking him three times if Peter loved Him. The Lord didn’t ask Peter, why did you deny me, or have you repented, but ‘do you love me’. I have no doubt that Peter had deep remorse for his denial and no doubt he dearly loved the Lord. But Mary was a person who fulfilled the greatest commandment, to love the Lord with all her heart, soul and strength, and she never denied Christ. She was at the cross when Christ was crucified, and she was given the honor of being the one to bring the good news of His resurrection. Why? Because she was the woman who loved.

There is a powerful challenge in this parable for every person who claims to be a Christian. Are we like Simon or Mary? When people read or preach on this story they always presume that Jesus was stating that Mary was the one with the greater debt. I imagine that Simon put himself in that position, but is that the way the Lord sees it? The heart of Jesus’ message is this: If we have never evaluated our sin against the holiness of God, but by comparing ourselves to others, then our love for Christ may be very limited. 

Sometimes the people who find it the most difficult to see themselves as sinners, are the ones who believe they have never really sinned. Such people never stop and consider that if they had been raised by drug addicts, or alcoholics in a family of violence, or been a victim of incest or rape, or neglected and abused by those who should have loved and cared for them, if they would have acted any different to those who lived such a life. Some people just never consider their own potential for rebellion and sin because they have never been tested in such ways.

If you are not in-love with Christ it may be because you have not truly seen your sin for what it is. If you think you are a quite good person then you only need Jesus to make you a little bit better. If you allow the Holy Spirit to show you not only what you have done, but desired to do, then you will believe that you are not worthy to receive Jesus forgiveness, you will believe that you deserve to be judged for you sins. If you think you’re a good person then you may be suffering from delusion, you may be suffering from pride and refusing to say, ‘there but for the grace of God go I’.  

Let me ask you this. Do you really believe that Christ had to give His life for your sin, apart from anyone else? When He was flogged with a Roman whip with nine strands containing pieces of metal which tore the flesh from His body, was He being punished for you? When they threw Him onto the cross and drove the long metal spikes through His hands and feet, was it for other sinners, or was it necessary for you to be forgiven, was He taking your punishment upon Himself? How you sincerely answer these questions may well determine the depth of your love for Christ.

And there are others who are like Mary in this story, people who have done things they are deeply ashamed of, and harbored desires of revenge, rebellion and even hatred for God. Such people can find it impossible to believe that the Lord loves them and desires to forgive them and make them whole. All He seeks is sincere humility and repentance, and the faith to believe that He desires for you to know His forgiveness and love. Come to Him with head bowed, know that He gave His life for you and understand that He desires your love and to make you His precious child. 

How we evaluate our life in light of the cross will be the measure of how much we love the Lord. This doesn’t mean that God wants us to go through our Christian life hating ourselves. If you are living a life of gratitude and adoration for the Lord you have already knelt before the cross. But if you struggle to have a deep and increasing love for the Lord, perhaps you have moved to far away from that scene. When Jesus held the cup and said ‘do this in remembrance of me’, I believe He was asking us to remember His sacrifice for sin, and the unfathomable depth of love which drove Him to give His life for each of us as individuals, and collectively as His Church.

And finally, if you are struggling to be more deeply in-love with the Lord, then I have this advice for you. Move closer to him and let his holiness shine on you. When mature Christians continue to grow closer to God they don’t start thinking they are righteous, indeed it is exactly the opposite. The more like Jesus we become, the more we realize how much we need Him. 

I pray this video/article has been an encouragement to you. Here is a link to my novel about Mary in the description and for those who have the opportunity to read it, I hope it inspires you to love as Mary loved. https://stevecopland.com/mary-magdalene-book

God bless