1Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered into Capernaum. 2And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, having an illness, was about to die. 3So when he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to Him, requesting Him to come and heal his servant. 4And when they came to Jesus, they begged Him earnestly, saying that the one for whom He should do this was worthy, 5for he loves our nation, and has built us a synagogue. 6Then Jesus went with them. And when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to Him, saying to Him, Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. 7Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. 9When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, no, not in Israel. 10And those who were sent, returning to the house, found the servant well; the one who had been sick. 11And it happened the next day, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, as well as a large crowd. 12And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. 13And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep. 14And He came and touched the coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say to you, Arise! 15And he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. 16And fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has risen up among us; and, God has visited His people. 17And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region. 18And the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. 19And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, Are You the Coming One, or should we expect another? 20When the men had come to Him, they said, John the Immerser has sent us to You, saying, Are You the Coming One, or should we expect another? 21And in the same hour He cured many of diseases, plagues, and evil spirits; and to many who were blind He gave sight. 22Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them. 23And blessed is he who is not made to stumble because of Me. 24And when the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who are splendidly clothed and live in luxury are in kings' courts. 26But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and much more than a prophet. 27This is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. 28For I say to you, Among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Immerser. But he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. 29And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been immersed with the immersion of John. 30But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been immersed by him. 31And the Lord said, To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not weep. 33For John the Immerser came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, He has a demon. 34The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, Behold, a glutton and a wino, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. 35But wisdom is justified from all her children. 36Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat. 37And 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 ointment, 38and 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 ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke within 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. 40And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. So he said, Teacher, speak. 41There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more? 43Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more. And He said to him, You have rightly judged. 44Then 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 away with the hair of her head. 45You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with ointment. 47Therefore 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. 48Then He said to her, Your sins are forgiven. 49And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? 50Then He said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 4 CENTURION'S SERVANT HEALED. (
Λουκ. 7:1-
Λουκ. 7:10)
he was worthy--a testimony most precious, coming from those who probably were strangers to the principle from which he acted (
Εκκλ. 7:1).
5 loved our nation--Having found that "salvation was of the Jews," he loved them for it.
built, &c.--His love took this practical and appropriate form.
11 WIDOW OF NAIN'S SON RAISED TO LIFE. (In Luke only). (
Λουκ. 7:11-
Λουκ. 7:17)
Nain--a small village not elsewhere mentioned in Scripture, and only this once probably visited by our Lord; it lay a little to the south of Mount Tabor, about twelve miles from Capernaum.
12 carried out--"was being carried out." Dead bodies, being ceremonially unclean, were not allowed to be buried within the cities (though the kings of David's house were buried m the city of David), and the funeral was usually on the same day as the death.
only son, &c.--affecting particulars, told with delightful simplicity.
13 the Lord--"This sublime appellation is more usual with Luke and John than Matthew; Mark holds the mean" [BENGEL].
saw her, he had compassion, &c.--What consolation to thousands of the bereaved has this single verse carried from age to age!
14 What mingled majesty and grace shines in this scene! The Resurrection and the Life in human flesh, with a word of command, bringing back life to the dead body; Incarnate Compassion summoning its absolute power to dry a widow's tears!
16 visited his people--more than bringing back the days of Elijah and Elisha (
1Βασ. 17:17-24;
2Βασ. 4:32-37; and see
Ματθ. 15:31).
29 THE BAPTIST'S MESSAGE THE REPLY, AND CONSEQUENT DISCOURSE. (Luke 7:18-35)
And all the people that heard--"on hearing (this)." These are the observations of the Evangelist, not of our Lord.
and the publicans--a striking clause.
justified God, being baptized, &c.--rather, "having been baptized." The meaning is, They acknowledged the divine wisdom of such a preparatory ministry as John's, in leading them to Him who now spake to them (see
Λουκ. 1:16-
Λουκ. 1:17); whereas the Pharisees and lawyers, true to themselves in refusing the baptism of John, set at naught also the merciful design of God in the Saviour Himself, to their own destruction.
31 the Lord said, &c.--As cross, capricious children, invited by their playmates to join them in their amusements, will play with them neither at weddings nor funerals (juvenile imitations of the joyous and mournful scenes of life), so that generation rejected both John and his Master: the one because he was too unsocial--more like a demoniac than a rational man; the other, because He was too much the reverse, given to animal indulgences, and consorting with the lowest classes of society. But the children of Wisdom recognize and honor her, whether in the austere garb of the Baptist or in the more attractive style of his Master, whether in the Law or in the Gospel, whether in rags or in royalty, for "the full soul loatheth an honeycomb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet" (
Παρ. 27:7).
37 CHRIST'S FEET WASHED WITH TEARS. (
Λουκ. 7:36-
Λουκ. 7:50)
a sinner--one who had led a profligate life. Note.--There is no ground whatever for the popular notion that this woman was Mary Magdalene, nor do we know what her name was. (See on
Λουκ. 8:2.)
an alabaster box of ointment--a perfume vessel, in some cases very costly (
Ιωάν. 12:5). "The ointment has here a peculiar interest, as the offering by a penitent of what had been an accessory in her unhallowed work of sin" [ALFORD].
38 at his feet behind him--the posture at meals being a reclining one, with the feet out behind.
began to wash, &c.--to "water with a shower." The tears, which were quite involuntary, poured down in a flood upon His naked feet, as she bent down to kiss them; and deeming them rather fouled than washed by this, she hastened to wipe them off with the only towel she had, the long tresses of her own hair, "with which slaves were wont to wash their masters' feet" [STIER].
kissed--The word signifies "to kiss fondly, to caress," or to "kiss again and again," which
Λουκ. 7:45 shows is meant here. What prompted this? Much love, springing from a sense of much forgiveness. So says He who knew her heart (
Λουκ. 7:47). Where she had met with Christ before, or what words of His had brought life to her dead heart and a sense of divine pardon to her guilty soul, we know not. But probably she was of the crowd of "publicans and sinners" whom Incarnate Compassion drew so often around Him, and heard from His lips some of those words such as never man spake, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour," &c. No personal interview had up to this time taken place between them; but she could keep her feelings no longer to herself, and having found her way to Him (and entered along with him,
Λουκ. 7:45), they burst forth in this surpassing yet most artless style, as if her whole soul would go out to Him.
39 the Pharisee--who had formed no definite opinion of our Lord, and invited Him apparently to obtain materials for a judgment.
spake within himself, &c.--"Ha! I have Him now; He plainly knows nothing of the person He allows to touch Him; and so, He can be no prophet." Not so fast, Simon; thou hast not seen through thy Guest yet, but He hath seen through thee.
40 Like Nathan with David, our Lord conceals His home thrust under the veil of a parable, and makes His host himself pronounce upon the case. The two debtors are the woman and Simon; the criminality of the one was ten times that of the other (in the proportion of "five hundred" to "fifty"); but both being equally insolvent, both are with equal frankness forgiven; and Simon is made to own that the greatest debtor to forgiving mercy will cling to her Divine Benefactor with the deepest gratitude. Does our Lord then admit that Simon was a forgiving man? Let us see.
44 I entered . . . no water--a compliment to guests. Was this "much love?" Was it any?
45 no kiss--of salutation. How much love was here? Any at all?
46 with oil . . . not anoint--even common olive oil in contrast with the woman's "ointment" or aromatic balsam. What evidence was thus afforded of any feeling which forgiveness prompts? Our Lord speaks this with delicate politeness, as if hurt at these inattentions of His host, which though not invariably shown to guests, were the customary marks of studied respect and regard. The inference is plain--only one of the debtors was really forgiven, though in the first instance, to give room for the play of withheld feelings, the forgiveness of both is supposed in the parable.
47 Her sins which are many--"Those many sins of hers," our Lord, who admitted how much more she owed than the Pharisee, now proclaims in naked terms the forgiveness of her guilt.
for--not because, as if love were the cause of forgiveness, but "inasmuch as," or "in proof of which." The latter clause of the verse, and the whole structure of the parable, plainly show this to be the meaning.
little forgiven . . . loveth little--delicately ironical intimation of no love and no forgiveness in the present case.
48 said unto her, &c.--an unsought assurance, usually springing up unexpected in the midst of active duty and warm affections, while often it flies from those who mope and are paralyzed for want of it.
49 they that sat . . . Who is this, &c.--No wonder they were startled to hear One who was reclining at the same couch, and partaking of the same hospitalities with themselves, assume the awful prerogative of "even forgiving sins." But so far from receding from this claim, or softening it down, our Lord only repeats it, with two precious additions: one, announcing what was the one secret of the "forgiveness" she had experienced, and which carried "salvation" in its bosom; the other, a glorious dismissal of her in that "peace" which she had already felt, but is now assured she has His full warrant to enjoy! This wonderful scene teaches two very weighty truths: (1) Though there be degrees of guilt, insolvency, or inability to wipe out the dishonor done to God, is common to all sinners. (2) As Christ is the Great Creditor to whom all debt, whether great or small, contracted by sinners is owing, so to Him belongs the prerogative of forgiving it. This latter truth is brought out in the structure and application of the present parable as it is nowhere else. Either then Jesus was a blaspheming deceiver, or He is God manifest in the flesh.