What Will Simon Say? [6-1-25]

June 1, 2025

Luke 7:41-50

“What Will Simon Say?”

We’re continuing with the interaction Jesus has with a religious man and an unsavory woman. The unsavory woman expresses joy for the forgiveness she has received from Jesus. She does this through her worship and adoration of him. The Pharisee, on the other hand, shows nothing but snark and smarminess for the mercy and grace Jesus shows her. Which, by the way, is a grace and mercy available to him, as well.

We see that snark and smarm in verse 39:

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

That is something a total jerk of a man would say. Simon assumes Jesus should be some sort of prophetic clairvoyant. He thinks a prophet can sniff sin’s odor from miles away. And he is right about what a prophet ought to be able to do. We read that in John 4:16-19:

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet…”

Simon’s assumptions about Jesus could be no wronger. Jesus knows all too well about the woman. His grace and mercy are on-target. Now it’s Simon’s turn for a little insight from Jesus. As Jesus says in verse 40, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answers, “Say it, Teacher.” This introduces tension into their exchange. In other words, Jesus is saying, “Don’t you ever doubt my insight into people or situations. It’s time for me to confront you with the truth.” These are blunt words Simon would not choose to hear. But remember, he’s brought this upon himself.

And now, what Jesus tells him:

“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven - for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Here's the grace and mercy of Jesus toward Simon. In telling him a story, Jesus doesn’t immediately condemn Simon for being the self-righteous bigot that he is. Instead Jesus leads him into a discovery of the truth through a simple story.

Notice what Jesus doesn’t do. It’s good advice for anyone facing ham-handed criticism from a jerk. Jesus doesn’t justify his interaction with the woman. He doesn’t explain why he interacts with her the way he does. And he doesn’t defend his interaction with her. You can go a long way with dealing with people like Simon if you remember the simple three-letter acronym:

J – Justify

E – Explain

D – Defend

Jesus reasonably and rationally tells a story. And what an insightful story it is.

What’s the first part of the story? A guy owes 50 denarii, while another guys owes ten times as much, or 500 denarii. A denarii is equal to a day’s

wage.

Now, if somebody demanded two month’s wages from you, would you be able to pay? How about over a year’s worth? Bottom line, both owed more than they could repay. Quite the predicament, right?

What’s the twist to the story? Both debts are forgiven. Jesus punctuates that point with the verb he uses for “cancelled the debt.” It literally means he “graced” them. Grace is being forgiven a debt you cannot possibly repay. And who will love the moneylender more? Of course…absolute no- brainer…the person who owed the most. Who owed considerably most.

I love how Jesus tries to teach Simon. In verse 42, Jesus asks Simon to finish the story. “Who will love him more?” Jesus asks. To which Simon, revisiting his huge character flaw, gives a smarmy, snarky response. In verse 43 he says, “I suppose…” I suppose? He supposes? C’mon, man. What a wimp. Sounds like he’s hedging his bets. He’s unsure where Jesus is going with this. He doesn’t want to get caught in a trap. So he says, “I suppose.” If he answers correctly, then he supposed right. If he’s wrong, then he can claim the weasel’s refuge in, “I said, ‘I suppose.’ I wasn’t definitive.”

What he’s unsure about is whether this is a trick question. But Jesus isn’t playing games. He wants Simon to fully understand God’s grace and mercy. Who will love more?

Before we get to a key point, I want to touch on the clever point. What Simon is yet to understand is he and the woman are both deeply sinful people in need to grace and mercy. They both owe 500 denarii. Only Simon thinks he’s like the 50 denarii guy, if even that much.

In the case of the parable, which is simply a fictionalized retelling of what has just happened, love means more than gratitude. The forgiveness is so grand, the gratitude:

PUBLICLY SHOWERS THE LOVED ONE WITH DEVOTION.

How’s that for a point well-made? Apply the point of the parable to your life, Jesus says. Listen. Here’s something you might want to write down:

GREAT LOVE COMES FROM GREAT FORGIVENESS.

Notice the woman doesn’t do what she does in order to be loved. That point is clearly made in 37, “She was a sinner.” She was a sinner. The deep truth in that simple statement lies in the form of the verb used. “Was” is used in the perfect past indicative tense. Who paid attention to rules of verb tense when in school? Not me. I had to look that little nugget up. It describes an action that was completed before another action in the past. She worshiped Jesus because she was loved. As 1 John 4:19 reminds us, “We love because he first loved us.” She was a sinner. But now she’s a forgiven worshiper. Forgiveness always comes before worship. Always.

Great love comes from great forgiveness. Why does the woman enter into Simon’s house? Not on a quest for forgiveness. But because she knew her many sins had already been forgiven. That’s what the “therefore” of verse 47 means. She did what she did because her sins had been forgiven. Her worship is the evidence of, not the cause of, the forgiveness she has received. Amen?

Here's another way to look at it. The woman is not forgiven because she

treats Jesus better than Simon does. She treats Jesus better than Simon does because she knows that through Jesus she has been forgiven. And that’s the conclusion Jesus wants Simon to arrive at.

Make no mistake. The woman is in a state of forgiveness. It started the moment…sometime in the past, we don’t know when…it started the moment she encountered Jesus. The moment Jesus came to town, she has been saved. She has been forgiven. Here guilt and shame are gone. What was missing from her life has been found in Jesus Christ. And so, she worships him. She expresses her love and gratitude for his grace and mercy. When someone has been forgiven much, they love much. The woman is swept away with gratitude. How about you? What do you say to Jesus?

We know what Simon does. He’s locked in on his self-righteous, arrogant, condescending mind-set. We know what he does. So now, what will he say? What will Simon say?

Jesus shows Simon the way. We hear it in verse 48. Jesus says to the

woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” Who, alone, can forgive sins? God. So what is Jesus saying and doing? He is God in the flesh, bringing true and everlasting forgiveness. All Simon has to say is he receives the free gift of salvation offered by Jesus. The woman did. And as Jesus points out, you see forgiveness in her transformed life. She expresses joy, gratitude, love and affection for Jesus. And so do we.

But what will Simon say? Will he take hold of the gift freely given? I love how Paul puts it in Ephesians 2:4-10:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God

prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

How did Luke begin these encounters? At one point Simon thinks about what a sinner the woman is. In his eyes, she’s a horrible human being. Haven’t we all been there? Not like Simon, but like that woman. At one point in our lives or another, haven’t we all been horrible human beings? I think we have. Praise God that Jesus is a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Simon’s observation about the woman is only wrong in it’s reference point. She was a horrible sinner. Now she is forgiven. And so, Jesus says to her, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

As followers of Jesus Christ, we have experienced the transformation power that only forgiveness can bring. What I love so much about our worship is it is an expression of our joy and gratitude and love. It is a visible sign that we truly believe our sins have been forgiven. Praise God for the many ways in which His chosen people show their gratitude for His grace and mercy.

How about Simon? What do you think Simon will do and say?

Let’s pray:

HEAVENLY FATHER, MAY WE LIVE LIVES FILLED WITH GRATITUDE FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS. WE ARE HUMBLED BY THE CONSUMING LOVE OF CHRIST. MAY WE BE SO FILLED WITH LOVE FOR OUR SAVIOR THAT PEOPLE WILL KNOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN. MAY THEY SEE IN US WHAT A FORGIVEN PERSON IS LIKE. MAY THAT BECOME ATTRACTIVE TO THOSE WHO ARE BURDENED BY THE WEIGHT OF THEIR SIN. THANK YOU FOR THE FORGIVING, TRANSFORMING POWER OF JESUS. AMEN.