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The two debtors

Luke 7:41–43 · Early ministry in Galilee

Scripture

Luke 7:41–43

here was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? 43Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

King James Version · public domain

Lluka 7:41–43

jë hua-dhënës kishte dy detorë; njëri i kishte detyrë pesë qint dinarë, edhe tjetëri pesë-dhjetë. 42Edhe passi nukë kishinë t’j’a laninë, u’a fali të dyve. Thuaj pra, Cili nga ata dot’e dojë më tepërë? 43Edhe Simoni upërgjeq e tha, Më duketë, se ay, të-cilit i fali më të-shumatë. Edhe ay i tha, Drejtë gjykove.

Kristoforidhi, Dhiata e Re Toskërisht 1879 · zotërim publik

Summary

Spoken to Simon the Pharisee while the sinful woman wept over Christ's feet, the little parable lays bare the heart of both. Two owed a debt they could not pay; the creditor freely forgave both, the one much, the other little. When Christ asks which will love him more, Simon answers rightly but condemns himself: the one forgiven much. So the woman who is forgiven much loves much, while Simon, secure in the smallness of his own reckoning, loves little. The Fathers note that the comparison cuts deeper than it seems, for Simon's "small debt" is the illusion of the self-righteous, who feel no need of mercy and therefore receive and return none.

St. Cyril of Alexandria reads the scene chiefly as the contrast between true repentance and spiritual blindness. He weighs Simon's threefold neglect against the woman's threefold love: Simon gave no water, no kiss, no oil for the head, while she washed Christ's feet with her tears, kissed them without ceasing, and anointed them with ointment. Forgiveness, Cyril teaches, draws love out of the soul in proportion to itself; love is not the price of pardon but its fruit. He sets the law of Moses, which could only condemn, beside the mercy of Christ, who pardons above the law's sentence. And he marks the point sharply: that Christ forgives sins in his own authority is proof of his divinity, for to remit sin belongs to God alone.

St. Ambrose and Theophylact draw out the same lesson: the tears of the penitent are vindicated against the cold judgment of the proud, and the woman becomes the pattern of every soul that, knowing its great debt, pours out love instead of measuring its own righteousness. The tradition warns that to think oneself a small debtor is the worst debt of all.

In their own words

He came that He might forgive the debtors much and little, and shew mercy upon small and great, that there might be no one whatsoever who did not participate in His goodness.

St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on St. Luke, Sermon XL (on Luke 7:36-50); Cyril, Commentary on Luke (R. Payne Smith, 1859)

The Parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:41–43)

Public-Domain Patristic Commentary

At a Pharisee's table, a woman known in the town as a sinner washes Christ's feet with her tears, wipes them with her hair, kisses them, and anoints them with ointment. The host, Simon, thinks to himself that if Jesus were a prophet He would know what kind of woman is touching Him. In answer Christ tells a parable: a creditor had two debtors, one owing five hundred denarii and the other fifty; when neither could repay, he forgave them both; which will love him more? Simon answers, the one forgiven more, and Christ replies, "Thou hast rightly judged," then applies it to the woman: "her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." The texts below are quoted verbatim from public-domain English translations, each Father from his own work, several as preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke (St. Thomas Aquinas, trans. J. H. Newman, 1841). Nothing is paraphrased.

St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 40 (on Luke 7:36–50) Source: trans. R. Payne Smith, 1859. Public domain. Full text: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cyril_on_luke_04_sermons_39_46.htm

On the woman who fled for refuge to the one who could save her:

Thus a woman, who beforetime had been lewd, and guilty of sensuality, a sin difficult to wash away, missed not the path of salvation; for she fled for refuge to Him Who knoweth how to save, and is able to raise from the depths of impurity.

On the fault of the Pharisee, who judged rather than amended himself:

The Pharisee therefore was boastful, and utterly without understanding. For it was his duty rather to regulate his own life, and earnestly adorn it by all virtuous pursuits; and not to pass sentence upon the infirm, and condemn others.

On the very point of the parable, that Christ forgives debtors great and small:

He came that He might forgive the debtors much and little, and shew mercy upon small and great, that there might be no one whatsoever who did not participate in His goodness. And as a pledge and plain example of His grace, He freed that unchaste woman from her many iniquities by saying, "Thy sins are forgiven thee."

On the authority to forgive sins as proof of who Christ is:

Worthy indeed of God is a declaration such as this! It is a word joined with supreme authority. For since the law condemned those that were in sin, who, I ask, was able to declare things above the law, except Him only Who ordained it?

On the call to come to Christ with the same tears of repentance:

Let us too stand before Him: let us shed the tears of repentance: let us anoint Him with ointment: for the tears of him that repenteth are a sweet savour to God... Be not troubled when thou meditatest upon the greatness of thy former sins: but rather know, that still greater is the grace that justifieth the sinner, and absolveth the wicked.

St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the penitent who became more honorable than the virgins:

Thus the harlot became then more honorable than the virgins. For no sooner was she inflamed with penitence, than she burst forth in love for Christ. And these things indeed which have been spoken of were done outwardly, but those which her mind pondered within itself, were much more fervent. God alone beheld them.

On the calm that follows the storm of tears, the second cleansing:

But as after the breaking of a violent storm there comes a calm, so when tears have burst forth, there is peace, and gloomy thoughts vanish; and as by water and the Spirit, so by tears and confession we are again made clean.

On the fervent spirit, that neither sinner should despair nor righteous presume:

We have need then of a fervent spirit, for nothing hinders a man from becoming great. Let then no sinner despair, no virtuous man fall asleep; neither let the one be self-confident, for often the harlot shall go before him, nor the other distrustful, for he may even surpass the foremost.

St. Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On those who justify themselves and separate from the many:

This account is full of precious instruction. For there are very many who justify themselves, being puffed up with the dreamings of an idle fancy, who before the time of Judgment comes, separate themselves as lambs from the herds, not willing even to join in eating with the many, and hardly with those who go not to extremes, but keep the middle path in life.

On the woman who marked her unworthiness by standing behind:

But to mark her own unworthiness, she stands behind with downcast eyes, and with her hair thrown about embraces His feet, and washing them with her tears, betokened a mind distressed at her state, and imploring pardon.

Titus of Bostra (d. c. 378)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the Lord who answered the Pharisee's thoughts, not his words:

But the Lord not hearing his words, but perceiving his thoughts, showed Himself to be the Lord of Prophets.

On the lesser debtor who is still in need of pardon:

As if He said, Nor are you without debts. What then! If you are involved in fewer debts, boast not thyself, for you art still in need of pardon.

On the woman's tears, harder to pour forth than water:

To provide water is easy, to pour forth tears is not easy. You have not provided even what was at hand, she has poured forth what was not at hand; for washing my feet with her tears, she washed away her own stains. She wiped them with her hair, that so she might draw to herself the sacred moisture, and by that by which she once enticed youth to sin, might now attract to herself holiness.

On the one who has sinned much, purified by confession:

But it more frequently happens that he who has sinned much is purified by confession, but he who has sinned little, refuses from pride to come to be healed thereby.

Theophylact of Ohrid (c. 1050–1108)

As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On "Go in peace," the addition of good works to the forgiveness of sins:

But after having forgiven her sins, He stops not at the forgiveness of sins, but adds good works ... Go in peace, i.e. in righteousness, for righteousness is the reconciliation of man to God, as sin is the enmity between God and man; as if He said, Do all things which lead you to the peace of God.

St. Ambrose of Milan (c. 339–397)

From his Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, as preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the mystical meaning, the leper as the prince of this world and the woman as the soul or the Church:

Or, the leper, is the prince of this world; the house of Simon the leper, is the earth. The Lord therefore descended from the higher parts to this earth; for this woman could not have been healed, who bears the figure of a soul or the Church, had not Christ come upon earth. But rightly does she receive the figure of a sinner, for Christ also took the form of a sinner.

On hastening to Christ with repentance after sin:

Bring you also repentance after sin. Wherever you hear the name of Christ, speed thither; into whatever house you know that Jesus has entered, thither hasten; when you find wisdom, when you find justice sitting in any inner chamber, run to its feet, that is, seek even the lowest part of wisdom; confess your sins with tears.

On the blessing of penitential tears:

Blessed tears, which can not only wash away our own sin, but also water the footsteps of the heavenly Word, that His goings may abound in us. Blessed tears, in which there is not only the redemption of sinners, but the refreshing of the righteous.

On the two debtors as the two nations, and the debt owed to the heavenly treasury:

But the two debtors are the two nations who are responsible for payment to the usurer of the heavenly treasury. But we do not owe to this usurer material money, but the balance of our good deeds, the coin of our virtues ... But that denarius is of no slight value on which the image of the king is found.

Blessed Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament, Sermon 49 (on Luke 7:37) Source: trans. in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 6. Public domain. Full text: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/160349.htm

On the woman who forced her way in to seek health from her Physician:

You saw too a woman famous in the city, famous indeed in ill fame, who was a sinner, without invitation force her way into the feast, where her Physician was at meat, and with an holy shamelessness seek for health. She forced her way then, as it were unseasonably as regarded the feast, but seasonably as regarded her expected blessing; for she well knew under how severe a disease she was labouring, and she knew that He to whom she had come was able to make her whole.

On her approach to the feet, not the head, and her wordless confession:

She approached then, not to the Head of the Lord, but to His Feet; and she who had walked long in evil, sought now the steps of Uprightness. First she shed tears, the heart's blood; and washed the Lord's Feet with the duty of confession. She wiped them with her hair, she kissed, she anointed them: she spoke by her silence; she uttered not a word, but she manifested her devotion.

On the danger of the man who thinks little is forgiven him:

O Pharisee, therefore do you love but little, because you fondly think that but little is forgiven you; not because little really is forgiven you, but because you think that that which is forgiven is but little.

Augustine then presses the point against the Pharisee's unspoken objection, that he has committed no murder or adultery and so owes little. No one, Augustine argues, should imagine himself a small debtor: whatever grave sins a person has not fallen into, it is by God's preserving grace that he was kept from them, so that he too has much for which to be grateful, and much to love.

St. Gregory the Great (c. 540–604)

From his Homilies on the Gospels, as preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the woman who ran to the fountain of mercy, unashamed before the guests:

For this woman, beholding the spots of her shame, ran to wash them at the fountain of mercy, and blushed not at seeing the guests, for since she was courageously ashamed of herself within, she thought there was nothing which could shame her from without. Observe with what sorrow she is wrung who is not ashamed to weep even in the midst of a feast!

On the conversion of her every former enjoyment into a sacrifice:

She once displayed her hair for the setting off of her face, she now wiped her tears with her hair ... She once used ointment for the perfume of her body; what she had unworthily applied to herself, she now laudably offered to God ... She converts the number of her faults into the same number of virtues, that as much of her might wholly serve God in her penitence, as had despised God in her sin.

On the fire of charity that consumes the rust of sin:

The more then the heart of the sinner is burnt up by the great fire of charity, so much the more is the rust of sin consumed.

On the mystical sense, the Pharisee as the Jewish people and the woman as the Gentiles:

Now in a mystical sense the Pharisee, presuming upon his pretended righteousness, is the Jewish people; the woman who was a sinner, but who came and wept at our Lord's feet, represents the conversion of the Gentiles.

St. Bede the Venerable (c. 673–735)

From his Commentary on Luke, as preserved in the Catena Aurea on Luke. Public domain.

On the alabaster box and why it preserved the ointment:

Alabaster is a kind of white marble tinged with various colors, which is generally used for vessels holding ointment, because it is said to be the best sort for preserving the ointment sweet.

Note on other Fathers

These Fathers read the parable the same way at its heart: the woman's great love is not the price that buys her forgiveness but the sign and fruit of it. Cyril frames this as justification by faith and grace above the law, the merciful High Priest who forgives "the debtors much and little." St. John Chrysostom dwells on the penitent's fervor, the harlot made more honorable than the virgins, while Titus of Bostra and St. Gregory of Nyssa expose the self-justifying pride that keeps the lesser debtor from healing. Theophylact draws out the "Go in peace" as the addition of good works to forgiveness. St. Ambrose and St. Gregory the Great unfold the mystical reading in which the Pharisee figures the Jewish people and the penitent woman the converted Gentiles, the Church that brings the costly ointment of a good report. Augustine adds the warning that gives the parable its sting for the comfortable: the one who imagines that little has been forgiven him will love little, and that estimate is usually self-deception. The Catena Aurea also preserves on this passage words of the Gloss and other compilers not quoted here.

Patristic sources

Read the sources: Cyril on Luke, Sermons 39–46 (Tertullian.org)