Once in old Jerusalem A woman kneeled at consecrated feet. Kissed them, and washed them with her tears,
"What then? I think that yet our Lord is pitiful : I think I see the castaway e'en now ! And she is not alone: the heavy rain Splashes without, and sullen thunder rolls, But she is lying at the sacred feet Of One transfigured.
ST. LUKE VII. 50 185
"And her tears flow down, Down to her lips — her lips that kiss the print Of nails ; and love is like to break her heart ! Love and repentance — for it still doth work Sore in her soul to think, to think that she, Even she, did pierce the sacred, sacred feet, And bruise the thorn-crown'd head.
" 0 Lord, our Lord, How great is Thy compassion ! " ^
4. Forgiveness comes first to us, who have nothing, not even love, to pay with, and it unlocks the flood-gates of the heart as nothing else will. We are not pardoned because we love, but we love because we are pardoned. We are pardoned because He loves us, and the knowledge of His forgiving love melts our hearts. Jesus seems here to teach us that there must be this experience of forgiveness before there is real and deep love. Certainly the principle involved in these words has been proved true in all the history of Christianity since they were spoken. Forms of Christi- anity which minimize sin, and have little to say about pardon, have always been, and always will be, cold and stagnant. The one power that set souls aflame with a holy and self-sacrificing love is the experience of God's pardoning mercy in Jesus Christ. The measure of our consciousness of forgiven sin will be the measure of our love.
She sat and wept beside His feet; the weight
Of sin oppress'd her heart; for all the blame,
And the poor malice of the worldly shame,
To her was past, extinct, and out of date,
Only the sin remain'd, — the leprous state;
She would be melted by the heat of love,
By fires far fiercer than are blown to prove
And purge the silver ore adulterate.
She sat and wept, and with her untress'd hair
Still wiped the feet she was so blest to touch ;
And He wiped off the soiling of despair
From her sweet soul, because she loved so much.
I am a sinner, full of doubts and fears,
Make me a humble thing of love and tears.^
1 Jean Ingelow. 2 Hartley Coleridge.
i86 FORGIVENESS
II
The Condition of Forgiveness.
1. Some would regard love as a condition of forgiveness. And they point to the text, " Her sins, which are many, are forgiven ; for she loved much." Love is indeed the complement of faith. The expression " for she loved much " would seem to favour the view that love rather than faith is the saving grace. But the word " for " in this connexion is not causative but illative. More- over Christ Himself says presently, " Thy faith hath saved thee." Faith and love — this is the logical and chronological order. For, as Tyndale said, " Faith is the mother of love."
^ Faith is the first motion of the soul away from itself, away from its own interest and self-seeking, back to God the Mighty Giver. Faith, then, is the germ of love. Once let the current of the will be set running towards God in faith, and the whole force of the passionate soul of man will be drawn into the stream, will pour itself along the channel opened until it flows with the full, swelling flood of love. In faith, the eye of the soul looks away from itself : in love, the entire heart follows the direction of the eye. Faith must begin ; there is no love without faith ; the soul's motions remain locked, dammed, and barred, until faith gives them free opening.^
Were not those sweets, though humbly shed —
That hair — those weeping eyes — And the sunk heart that inly bled —
Heaven's noblest sacrifice ?
Thou that hast slept in error's sleep,
Oh, wouldst thou wake in heaven, Like Mary kneel, like Mary weep,
" Love much," and be forgiven ? ^
2. The text confirms the teaching of the whole incident in reference to the human condition of forgiveness, which it plainly declares to be not love but faith. The order is first faith, which has for its under side the consciousness of sin and helplessness, and for its upper side trust in Jesus, the sin-bearer. On faith follows pardon, to which we contribute nothing, and which we have but to receive through our faith. To pardon received succeeds
1 H. S. Holland. 2 Thomas Moore.
ST. LUKE VII. 50 187
answering love, gratitude blended with penitence, all the deeper because we know ourselves forgiven. To such love are granted the acceptance of its poor offerings, a vindication against the sarcasms of cold critics, a confirmation of the pardon received already, and a calm peace, in which henceforward to abide and advance.
(1) How does faith save ? It saves by bringing the soul into vital union with God. A railway train is standing on the line. The engine has full pressure of steam ; the bell rings ; the loco- motive moves ; but the carriages stand still. What is the trouble ? The engine backs up and tries again, but with the same result. What is the trouble ? The coupling has not been made. A link makes all the difference. There are foolish people who are acting thus all the while, trying to reach heaven without the coupling of faith. It is impossible. Faith is the sine qitd non because it brings us into oneness with God through our Mediator Christ Jesus, so that our destiny is bound up with His for ever and ever. When once we believe, our life is for evermore hid with Christ in God.