From Forgiveness to Love

Most people want to be loved by the Lord, even if they are in rebellion, they desire that love, although they may deny it, because they don't want to face the discomfort of the change it will take to be loved by Him. In Luke, chapter 7, starting in verse 36, there is a story written that should give us all great insight into love from the savior and forgiveness by Him toward us. Let's read it, then I'll comment.

A Sinful Woman Forgiven
³⁶ Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. ³⁷ And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, ³⁸ and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”
⁴⁰ And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
So he said, “Teacher, say it.”
⁴¹ “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. ⁴² And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”
⁴³ Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”
And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” ⁴⁴ Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. ⁴⁵ You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. ⁴⁷ Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
⁴⁸ Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
⁴⁹ And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
⁵⁰ Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."
There are several key points in this scripture for us to understand, the first is, of course, this woman believed that Jesus was who he said he was. The second is, she stepped out on faith and acted upon her belief in Him and took action. The third is , by her actions she asked forgiveness, not just lip-service, but with much cost to her, and much humbling.

I have a question for you, " Did this woman need Jesus to say anything to know that she was forgiven? I think the question asked by Jesus to Simon tells us the answer to that question. The affection shown to the Lord from a broken and repentant heart, He will in no way despise. The other side of the coin is the Pharisees and poor old Sadducees, they had no need to ask forgiveness for much, in their minds, so very little was forgiven. No repentance, no forgiveness. No forgiveness, no love accepted and shown. The tragedy is that God loved the world so much that He sent His only conceived Son into the world so that the world may accept Him and receive forgiveness and love and salvation, all it takes is a repentance and acceptance that He is who He said He is and will always be.
Who is this who even forgives sins(trespasses) and Sin(Adamic sin nature) ? Is it not Jesus? How would you like to have been there when our Lord told the woman,"Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." What a thank-offering this woman gave and acceptance by the Lord was swift and sure. Will he not accept our offerings as well? He has shown us in this story that He may be approached by ALL with a broken and contrite heart.