Luke 7:36-50: Why You Struggle Obeying God

Luke 7:47 "Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Are you aware of how much you have been forgiven? This is the question before us this morning. Perhaps you are aware that God has forgiven you of your sin, but you do not know to what extent. As a result of this, you only love God little because you only think that he has forgiven you of little. But brothers and sisters, we surely must love God much, since he has forgiven us much.

In Luke 7:36-50, we read of a story showing this great principle. Simon, a Pharisee, decides to have Jesus over for a dinner party. However, news gets out that Simon is having Jesus over for a meal, and a women of the city hears of it and decides to crash the party. Upon entering the house, Simon's hospitality is not so great, but the women's hospitality is extravagant. She got down washed his feet (which would have been covered with all of the dirt, dust, and possibly animal excrement that was left on the roads), and anointed them with oil. However, Simon thought this was outrageous because he knew that this woman was a sinner. If Jesus were really a prophet, he would rebuke this unclean sinner for touching his feet, Simon thought to himself. However, Jesus answered him with a parable. He spoke of two debtors, one who owned 500 days wages, and another who owed 50 days wages. When both the debtors could not pay, the moneylender cancelled both of their debts. After finishing this parable, Jesus asked Simon which debtor would love the moneylender more. Simon answered that the one who owed more money would love the moneylender more, and Jesus had made his point.

Do you get the moral of the story here? Simon, in the parable, was the one who owed the 50 days wages, and the woman who was a sinner owed the 500 days wages. The woman was aware of her sin, and therefore was aware of the great forgiveness that the Lord had upon her, and therefore served the Lord with all that she had. Simon, on the other hand, was full of pride. He did not admit that he was a great sinner, and thus didn't see his great need for forgiveness, and thus did not serve the Lord well. The moral of the story is this: we will only love much when we know that we've been forgiven much.

So, are you aware of how much you've been forgiven? Perhaps you've been struggling loving the Lord lately with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Perhaps you've struggled to obey him. Perhaps the reason for this is because you do not realize how much you've been forgiven. If you truly understood how much God has forgiven you, I guarantee that you would obey him more because you would realize that you owe him all of your life. Don't be like Simon who was too prideful to acknowledge his own sin. Rather, be like the woman sinner, who knew of her great need and therefore loved her great Savior. Amen!