Much to Love (Luke 7:47)

 




Tuesday, February 25, 2025


Psalm 135

Genesis 31:22-42

Luke 7:36-50


Much to Love (Luke 7:47)


A fun game to play with these stories of Jesus is to try and place ourselves within them. Take today’s gospel passage about this feast. Who are you in this incident? Are you the pharisee, taking Jesus at his word that he likes a good meal with friends? Perhaps you are Simon, the disciple with whom Jesus used this incident as teaching opportunity. You might be happy just to be one of the party-goers, watching everything unfold over a big plate of meat and bread.


There is a difference, however, between who we would like to be, and who we ought to be. And in this story, the woman is the high ideal for the Christian disciple.


Jesus draws a strong link, pretty much a direct line, between forgiveness of sins and love. Specifically, the more Jesus forgives us, the greater our love for him is.


The Pharisee (and Simon, and potentially the others in the house) all had little idea of the forgiveness Jesus gives. Simon and the Pharisee, at the very least, had to be taught explicitly. And so let us ask the question, sincerely, and of our own heart: how much do we love Jesus? He sees into the hearts of all and knows exactly how much we love him, so we’ll need to be honest. Then we need to ask the follow-up question: how much would we like to love him?


If those two questions don’t help much, try the third part: what else do you love? And are those loves greater than your love for Jesus?


This type of self-check of the human heart is how we get closer to the Lord. Repenting of our sins and receiving the Lord’s forgiveness can (and should) be applied to everything that comes up during these self-checks. And we will find that the more the Lord forgives us, the more we will love him. And the more we love him, the more we learn about him. And so it goes, from here throughout eternity, the ever-increasing ecstasy of love that can only come the forgiveness of Jesus.


How is the state of your love for Jesus? What do you need to ask to be forgiven of?


Lord of my heart, you see everything about me, and yet you still came to die in order to win my forgiveness: give me a spirit of repentance, so that I may enjoy the kiss of your forgiveness, and be in your love forever.

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