Luke 7:39-8:3

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” - Luke 7:39-40

As Dr. McGee put it, the Pharisee was stuck on what the woman had been, not seeing the change that had taken place in her to bring her to a point of humbly cleaning and anointing the feet of her Lord. Where Jesus saw a faithful, forgiven sinner, the Pharisee saw the sin.

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“A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred  denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” - Luke 7:41-42

Denarii = a day's wages. 500 days of work or 50 days of work. Very large difference. One you could repay if you sweat a little more and tightened your belt. The other was far off from getting repaid. They are both forgiven their debt, regardless of how deep of a debt it is.

This isn't to say we can repay a small debt to God and only the deep debts are what Jesus' finished work is there for. Not at all. Our smallest sin is the deepest debt we could imagine, and we've got a lot of sin in us. We can't pay back those sins. We're in debt, and Jesus is the only way out of debt.

Think of it as a GPA on a course with no extra credit (life gives you no extra credit). If you miss one thing in that course, your GPA at the end of it will not be 4.0. It might be really good, like a 3.99, but not a 4.0. Now say the only way to pass that course is with a 4.0 GPA. You can't do anything to get yourself up to that 4.0 GPA. The only thing you could do is plead with the teacher to bump you up to that. And even that analogy doesn't fully hold up to all the holes we can poke in it.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, His righteousness is accounted to us, and that's what's important to remember.

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Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” - Luke 7:43-47

A contrast: the sinful woman humbling herself and the Pharisee neglecting to provide the basic courtesy of the time.

The love isn't what forgives, but the love comes from the forgiveness. Many sins are forgiven, much love is given in thanksgiving for the forgiveness given by Jesus. However, if you don't think you need forgiven, you don't show anything particularly extraordinary (and at times, ordinary) in how you love because you aren't particularly thankful. The NKJV words the second half of the verse "But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." If you don't come asking for forgiveness, you aren't forgiven, and the heart of love and thankfulness isn't in you because you are not yet changed.

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And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” - Luke 7:48-50

"Your faith has saved you." We should remember that. Faith in Jesus Christ. That's what saves. Not works, not deeds, not membership, not family, not all the other things. Faith.

Faith isn't something that you have and put no weight on. It's like a chair, as the illustration goes. If you put a chair behind you and say you have faith it'll hold you up, but you never sit on it, you don't really have faith. Faith is saying it'll hold you up and then sitting down. Faith is saying "I can't get myself to Heaven, it's all through Jesus." Faith is placing your salvation, your life, you, in Jesus' hands. And then faith is shown out in our lives because faith that saves isn't faith that leaves us unchanged.

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Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means. - Luke 8:1-3

These women served and provided for our Lord during His time on the earth. It would seem to me their names were recorded at the direction of the Spirit in order to honor them and what they did.

Note a few things: Mary Magdalene was most likely not the woman from the previous chapter. The woman from the previous chapter is not recorded to have been healed of demons, merely that she was a sinner (likely a prostitute) and understood her need of a savior. There does not appear to be any connection in Luke's record between the woman and Mary.

These women provided for Jesus, so they apparently resources enough to not only provide for themselves but others and chose to use it in servitude to our Lord.

Jesus, Who is creator of all things alongside the Father and Spirit, Who owns the world and all the food, wealth, water, air, everything in it, humbled Himself to the point where He needed the provisions of others. Although rich, He became poor for us.