Kingdom Come Week One: The Two Debtors
Luke 7:36-50
How do you enter the Kingdom of God now? How do you become a citizen of God’s Kingdom here on earth? Our first parable, the Parable of the Two Debtors, shows us the way. This two verse parable pops up at a dinner party in the home of Simon who is a Pharisee. Jesus and the Pharisees view God differently. Pharisees believe to please God you must demonstrate your complete obedience to His Law. Righteousness – a right relationship with God – is earned by doing right. For Jesus, righteousness cannot be earned. Yet God freely forgives us. A right relationship is God’s gift. At this dinner party Jesus is on trial. The goal is to investigate this new Rabbi’s interpretation of the Law. We know it’s a hostile room when Simon refuses to show Jesus the expected welcome rituals – a kiss on the cheek or hand, oil to anoint His head, water to wash the dirt from His feet. I’m sure the breech of hospitality makes everyone feel awkward.
Now let me share two more features of banquets in Jesus’ day. Diners do not sit on chairs but recline on cushions around a low table. They prop themselves up on their left elbow and eat with their right hand from the dishes in the center. Their bodies and legs radiate out from the table like spokes from a hub. Second, banquets are public events. The door is open and anyone can wander in. There are a lot of spectators. In fact, Simon may wish the whole town to be present so they can witness the way he and his friends make theological mincemeat of Jesus. This dinner is Simon’s carefully planned put down.
And then comes a surprise not on the menu. From the crowd of spectators a woman steps forward and kneels by Jesus’ extended feet. Everyone knows her reputation and trade. This sinner and street walker has no right to be here. And yet there is something different about her: a strange radiance, a new joy. Earlier that day, Jesus preached about the Kingdom of God near her street corner. He spoke of a God who binds up broken hearts, a God who welcomes home the lost, a God who sets prisoners free, a God who never tires of forgiving and giving you a new start. A God of mercy. His words touch her life and lift the burden of sin and shame she has carried so many years. Mercy has found her and freed her.
With a heart full of love and gratitude, she kneels to shower Jesus with the welcome Simon refused to give. Her tears wet his feet. Her hair wipes away the dirt. Her lips kiss his toes, soles and heels, the jar of perfume, the tool of her trade, is poured out completely. She doesn’t need it anymore. Some consider this scandalous. For her, it is a supreme act of sacrifice and surrender.
Simon is livid to see such a lewd act at his dinner party. He thinks 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” Luke 7:39. Yet Jesus is a prophet and He knows not only what is in the woman’s heart but also in Simon’s. At this moment, Jesus puts his host on trial by telling him a parable:
Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more? Luke 7:41-42
In this parable Jesus levels the playing field. Everyone is in debt to God. No one can earn their way in. How do you enter the Kingdom? Not by your personal piety, your Biblical brilliance or
your resume of righteous acts. Like the woman, you enter the Kingdom by an act of sacrifice and surrender, a humble acceptance of God’s forgiveness.
Imagine your group is at Simon’s dinner party. In what ways are you like Simon: are you trying to prove you are worthy, earn God’s approval, maybe even putting God on trial?
In what ways are you like the townspeople: labeling and judging others? In what ways do you need to receive God’s forgiveness and share God’s forgiveness?
In what ways are you like the Woman: feeling used, abused or judged by others? What are you clutching from your old life which God wants you to let go?
God has canceled your debt. He invites you to follow Him. What must you sacrifice and surrender to enter His Kingdom?