Much one is forgiven, much one can love

Preamble:  This article has been shared as a sermon in my Divine Healing Meeting/Service on 21 March 2015.  The gray-highlighted portions in this article are NOT necessarily shared in the sermon session because of time.

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In one of my recent sharing, I shared about the “secret” to the well-being of a believer is loving God.  I ended with the note for people to meditate on how they can love God.  And so, I am intending to be able to share on that aspect of the theme. 

However, as I pondered about it before the Holy Spirit, I believed I was led to re-read one of my blog article entitled, “as her great love has shown”.

Now, if you want to get hold of the message on the “Secret to the well-being of a believer”, you can read it from my blog, here.

But why this article, “as her great love has shown”, I asked the Lord.  As I re-read it, I realised that the Spirit was saying this:

“Okay, you have spoken about the ‘secret’, is loving Me, and you have told the need to look into how to love Me.   Yes, people can’t just love Me in words alone!  But that they know, they still find themselves not loving me; you got to give some understanding concerning that. How can they get there, to love Me?”

And so, how do we begin to get to the place of us able to love God, NOT  in just (empty) words?!  This is what today’s message is about.

One answer is: Receipt of forgiveness.  This is the important channel, if NOT the most important channel, through which we can have our love capacity healed and restored.

The phrase, “as her great love has shown” comes from a verse in Scripture, and that article of mine (as her great love has shown) explained why a woman loved Jesus and went about expressing her love, NOT by mere words, but by actions.  In that account, which is an account in Scripture, taken from Luke 7, Jesus contrasted that woman with a man called Simon, a Pharisee.

Luke 7:36-48 - 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 people 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 will 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.”

Who was this sinful woman in the account? Just simply a sinful woman? 

I have this belief of who this woman was, but if you just want to regard her as simply “a sinful woman”, it is fine, too.

This is my postulation:

I believe this sinful woman could have been Mary Magdalene who was Mary Bethany, the sister of Martha Bethany, and was the woman who was delivered of demon possession {Luke 8:1-3} (prior to this event at Simon’s house); in other words, set free by Jesus, earlier, and forgiven by God of her many sins, came and did this washing of Jesus’ feet; and who went on to support Jesus’ ministry, introduced Jesus to her sister, Martha (and Lazarus, too) of Bethany, and later, followed Jesus down to Jerusalem on His last leg of His journey; and was at the crucifixion, at His burial, and was the first person, Jesus met up with, when He resurrected. 

If you want to know how I come to my belief, you can read this: Were Mary Magdalene and Mary Bethany the same person?

As I have said, if you want to just regard this woman as simply “a sinful woman”, it is fine, too, but you may have some difficulty in coming to how is it that this woman could come to love the Lord so much, if you do NOT think she was the same once decadent woman who was delivered of demonization, as given in Luke 8:1-3. 

Of course, you can also believe there was no prior incident, and that the moment the woman was at the house (of Simon), she was touched by God; but my take is that it was NOT so, for she came prepared – the alabaster jar of perfume showed it.

What is the key lesson to be drawn from the story?  What picture was it painting? 

The key is in verse 47.  Jesus said, “… her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown.”

What this verse is saying is that the sinful woman’s many sins had been forgiven her, and we could come to that conclusion, because her great love indicated so.

In other words, Jesus was saying to the tune of, “Suppose now you have a tree before you. You see this fruit, here, hanging from a branch; it is an apple.  This tree must be an apple tree.”  If the tree is NOT an apple tree, will you get apples? No.  If you want apples, what must you have?  Apple tree.  If you want to be able to love, what must you have?  Receipt of forgiveness.  Jesus said her great love pointed to her having received forgiveness. In order for Jesus to say it, like that, it means receipt of forgiveness is needed before one could be loving.

How come she could have developed great love for the Lord, but Simon did NOT?  Or maybe we ask first, did Simon have also, great love for the Lord?

The answer is No. Why?

Because, expressions of love in the form of deeds and sacrifices, did NOT show at all, for Simon. 

How come Simon did NOT have great love, the woman had? 

Jesus said the woman had received something, implying Simon did NOT.  That something was forgiveness; God’s forgiveness.  Jesus was saying, “Simon, you see all these expressions of love; they showed her love for Me; and her great love showed that she was forgiven much.”

Why no great love, for Simon? The answer is Simon did NOT receive forgiveness!  Now, was it God did NOT give it?  Yes? Or No? 

Let’s say for a moment, God did NOT give it; is it necessarily that God was at fault? 

It could be Simon did NOT ask!  Scripture said you do NOT get because you do NOT ask (James 4:2).  Granted, sometimes, people have that yearning in their hearts for forgiveness, but they have NOT muttered the words (like the woman, in the account), but that too, God knows, and could honour that.  But it is a different thing, if you do NOT think you need forgiveness, meaning you do NOT think you are wrong; you are prideful.

In ministry, the most difficult people for us to help, are the ones who are sick but do NOT think that they are sick.  They are the most impaired and most difficult to help.  When that sickness is NOT physical, but referring to spiritual unwholesomeness, such an individual cannot love correctly or properly.  Such people rarely think that they are wrong, in terms of their claim of NOT being unwholesome, or in their love or lack of it, or their improper love; true humility is absent.

How to help, if they stubbornly insist, “There is nothing wrong with me.  I am NOT wrong.  I am NOT at fault. He is at fault.  He is wrong.  You (the minister) are wrong!”  How to help when they are so prideful, always holding to the posture that they are better and know better, even better than the very one whom they are talking to, for help.

Was not Simon, the Pharisee, like that?

He was.  We can see it even from the short account given us.

We read it in v39. I reproduced vv38-39 here: 

38 As she {the woman} stood behind him {Jesus} 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 {Simon} who had invited him {Jesus} saw this, he said to himself, “If this man {Jesus} were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”  

Now, where is the true humility of Simon? 

Pride is usually what prevents a person from asking for forgiveness. The Ps 51:17 (NIV84) of King David we read this:

The sacrifices of God are a broken [humble] spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

One needs to be like David, humble or be easily humbled.  There are 2 ways to be humble before God.  One is that, one is to get to the state of readily be able to be humbled; two, one is sovereignly humbled by God. 

You get to the state of readily be able to be humbled if you do NOT grieve the Holy Spirit.  Because it is the Holy Spirit who convicts you of sin and causes you to enter into godly sorrow, which leads to humility and repentance.  Sinning repeatedly hardens one’s heart, and when it is hardened, it doesn’t get convicted easily. 

Still at times, by the mercy and grace of God, some people still receive a forceful conviction that break the heart of stone.  And when that happens, the person is humbled.  And so, the stressing here is that, once we have been humbled and so, our heart is once again made flesh (the Bible said), you must try to maintain and sustain that posture.

Was Simon humble?  No. In fact, he thought he was above Jesus! He also said to the tune of “the woman was a sinner-what”, as if he, himself, was NOT!  Metaphorically speaking, do you think Simon thought that he was sick, would he go to the doctor? Would he listen to the doctor?

So, you see, if we would come to God penitent, why would God NOT grant forgiveness?!  He would.  You cannot come to Him prideful, especially, in asking for forgiveness!

Am I suggesting we should allow ourselves to be sinning greatly, so that we can be forgiven much, so that we can be humbled, turned grateful, and be restored of our capacity to love, and so able to love greatly like the sinful woman?  No, that is NOT my drift; and so, please do NOT go sinning, in the hope of being able to love greatly. 

The Apostle Paul did address similar questioning, and in Gal 2:17 said this - "If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! We don’t go round sinning so that we could magnify the grace of the Lord through His forgiveness for us, by grace.

Honestly, we all have areas of weaknesses, sinned, including sin of omission.  God is sovereign, and if He wants to force you to your knees, so to speak, He can, but a lot of the time, He is waiting for you to exercise your volition to come to kneel before Him, to come to the place of forgiveness.  He does help you along, to come, through the convictions of the Holy Spirit, but generally, it is still you have to come. The drift was NOT Simon was NOT as sinful as the woman, but it was that Jesus was pointing to the need to come to the place of forgiveness, and actually receive in, forgiveness, so that one can be healed and restored of one’s capacity to love God (and following from that, fellow men). 

Scripture has parables and stories, incorporating this way of God.  For example, in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, the banquet was made ready and the invitees were to come, but many would NOT come. 

Then, is it NOT true, we even say, we still have to come to the Cross, despite Jesus already died on the Cross; everything necessary He has made ready, and before He gave up His breath, He said, “It is finished”.  We have to come into salvation; even as the Word said in 1 John 2:2, that Jesus is the propitiation for the world (died for all men).

Concerning when the woman in the account, was penitent, I believe she was the decadent woman ministered to, by Jesus in Luke 8:1-3, but if you are NOT convinced that she was the same woman (Mary Magdalene) of Luke 8:1-3, who was decadent and had demons in her, and was set free by the power of God through the Lord, Jesus, you will just have to believe, at any earlier point, the sinful woman had met Jesus, and Jesus did something or preached something, and she responded, and God forgave her of many sins; and she was humbled and received it.  As the account has it, she came prepared - the alabaster jar of perfume showed it.

I repeat the critical understanding Jesus was giving, was that we need to be humble of heart, be turned grateful, and so, be restored of our capacity to love much.  (The conviction of the Spirit is what humbles us to repentance, if we are NOT already humble) The receiving in of forgiveness is that which would turn us grateful, and be restored of the capacity to love much, and so, love much.  The quoting of the forgiveness of debts (as a parable) was to illustrate this to Simon, and to us – the need of receipt of forgiveness, before we are restored of our capacity to love.

Without true humility, there is no true gratefulness, and without gratefulness, the capacity to love cannot be healed or restored, and great love does NOT come from such a vessel. 

From the Cross, we gotten the forgiveness, and the restoration of our capacity to love God back, is it NOT?  Yes, and when we love God, we love our neighbour (1 John 4:21).  This understanding is foundational, and when it is foundational, it is to be cascaded through and throughout our life.

So, while Jesus was NOT rebuking Simon in any harsh manner, the urge was for Simon to reflect, and in this regard, for us all, too, on his need for forgiveness for sins in his life; to be humble, be turned to gratefulness, and be restored of capacity to love more and more, God, and so, too, men or neighbours.

God is ever waiting to forgive you and I; we have to come the place of forgiveness, and we do need to be practising 1 John 1:9.

So, before I close, how do we get to place to be able to love God much?

1.   Be of the posture of humility (be humble)

2.   Be broken and contrite of heart

3.   Repent and ask for forgiveness

4.   Received in, the forgiveness, and

5.   Be turned grateful, and

6.   Be restored of the capacity, by God, to love.

It is God who heals and restores your capacity to love, but often, you have to come rightly before Him, even as the Holy Spirit draws you through convictions (and so, you must NOT numb your conscience).

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A side point: Jesus was saying it, after His Father (can skip)

There is still an interesting observation from this text of Luke 7; and it is this:  Jesus having said that the sinful woman was forgiven of many sins (v47), still said this, to the woman, in v48 - “Your sins are forgiven.” 

Why did Jesus still say that, that her sins were forgiven, when the woman was forgiven already, which led to her show of great love? 

My understanding is this: In verse 48, Jesus just declared it that the woman’s sins were forgiven, for Jesus knew God the Father had done so.  Jesus was so led by the Spirit (or abiding in God), that He knew, and in fact (John 5:19), Jesus did say He would do only that which He saw His Father (God) doing.  It was NOT after all that, which the sinful woman did, that Jesus forgave her sins; she was in no way meriting her forgiveness; her deeds and sacrifices of love came after her forgiveness and restoration.

Verse 47 is saying love is evidence of forgiveness received.  Or forgiveness received, empowers love.  And of course, I have taken the liberty to expound on, love got to show up in deeds and sacrifices, or that it cannot be, that you love, when you have nothing to show it, by deeds or sacrifices; only words!

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Anthony Chia, high.expressions

PS: This account of Luke 7:36-50 is different from the account in John 12 and Mark 14; the later happened at Bethany, days from Jesus crucifixion; this Luke 7:36-50, happened early in Jesus’ ministry, back in the north, in Galilee.

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1 page sermon note – Much one is forgiven, Much one can love (by Anthony Chia on 21 March 2015)

Previously shared: Secret to the well-being of a believer is loving God.

So, we are to meditate on how we are to love God

But, before that, many are having the problem of “although they know they are to love God, but they seemed NOT able to love God”

So, “How do we get to the place where we are able to love God”

Jesus told us how, in Luke 7:36-48 – 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 people 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 will 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.”

One answer is: receipt of forgiveness.  We need to be humble, ask God for forgiveness, receive in, forgiveness, to be turned grateful, be restored of the capacity, by God, to love.

The key is in v47: Jesus said the woman’s great love pointed to her having received forgiveness. In order for Jesus to say it, like that, it means receipt of forgiveness is needed before one could be loving.