The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 197

, er. ,40.-Chri.d and SimMI ~ the oorre.cting 'll'ord. There were some good. points nl,nnt Simon. 1. He was nn emmently respectable mnn; he was so in the true sense of tbo w,1rd, for as a virtuous mnn be could respect himself, and his neiahbours coulrl rightly re~pect him; he c<;mf,,rmcd bis conduct. to a high stnudnnl of mo;ality. 2. lie w~s an open-bnudcd, ho•p1t:1hle n,an. 3. He was en open-minded rr,an. It ,vas not ernry Pharisee tba.L woul<I hnve invitPd Jesus Christ to supper, or would have given !,im Ruch freedom to speak his mind without resentment. But he was a much-mistaken man. He was quite wrong in three important points. r. Hrs Ei<TrnATF. oF JF.~'Gs CamsT. When he found thatJesns did not resent the ett<>ntion of" this woman," he came to the conclusion that he conld not be a prophet, or he would hn,·e known that sbe was a sinner, and, knowing that, he would have repelled her. !Jere he was wrong in his conclusion; and he was also wrong in bis rca~nning. His 11r;ument ~,as this: a man as holy as a prophet would be certain to repel such guilt as is present here; when the Holy Prophet comes, the Messiah, he will be more scrupulously separate from sin and from sinners than any other has been. Here he wag completely mistaken. The Holy One came to be the :Merciful One; to say to guilty men and women," Your fellows may despair of you and abandon yolL I despair of none, I aliandon nobody. I see in all the possibilities of recovery; I summon you all to repentance and to life. Touch me, if you will, wiLh the hand of your faith; I will lay my hand of help and healing upon yo1L" IL Hrs VIEW or TlllT WOMAN. 1:,. sinner she had been; but she was more, and indeed other th:i.n a sinner now. That word did not faithfully describe her state before God. She was a prni:tent. And what ie a per.dtent? .A penitent soul is one who haies the sin that had been cherished, who has cast out the E;Vi! spirit from him, in whom is the living ~erm of righteousness, who is on the upward line that leads to heavenly wisrlom and Dil·ine worth, on whom God is looking down with tender grace and deep satisfaction, in whom Jesus Christ beholds a servant, a friend, an heir of his holy kingdom. This is not one to turu away from in scorn, but to draw nigh unto in kiu<lness and encours.gement. Ill His ESTIMATE oF Hrni<ELF. 1. He thought himself a very long way on in the kingdom of God as compared with that poor woman; he did not know that, she being 1••JOr in spirit and he being proud in spirit, she was much nearer to its entrance-gates lllan he. 2. He thought himself in a position to patronize Jegus Christ, and con- sequently withheld some of the usual courtesies from hi8 Guest; be did not know that it v. as on himself the dititi.nction wa,; conferred. 3. He suppo~ed himself to be r~ssesscd of all the cardinal virtues: he did not know that he lacked that wbich is the crowui.ng excellence of all-love, the love that can pity, that cau stoop to save. We draw two main lessons. 1. That Christ makes much of love. Dwelling on the various manifc~tations of this woman's feeling, l,e declares they are the signs of her love, and he then traces her love to her deep sen~e of forgiven sin. God wants our love, as we want the love of our children and of our friends, and cannot accept any- thing, however valuable, in its &tead : so Christ wants the pure, deep, la~ting affection of our souls. No ceremonies, or services, or even sacrifices, will compensate for ita abser,ce (see 1 Cor. .xiiL). And the measure of our love will depend ori the depth of our sel:Jse of God's furgiving love toward us. Hence it is of the first importance tha~ we (1) should underotand bow much God has forgiven us, how great and serious our ~ t bas been (see pr-1.ing homily); (2) should recognize how great and full is the Divine forgiveness, how much it includes-how much in the sense of overlooking the pa.i;t, ai:,d in the way of granting us present favour rind of promising us future bie1,sednees. Our wisdom and our duty, tberefure, is to dwell on the greatness of God's 11.1:rcy to us iu JtliUs Christ, to rejoice :wuch in it, to let our souls bathe in t.lrn thought OU. VII. 1-GO.] 'filE oosrEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. Ul5