A Five-Hundred-Pence Love

When Jesus was at the home of Simon the Pharisee, “A woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.” Simon was critical of this, thinking he knew “what manner of woman” this was, and I imagine him also saying in his mind, “Well, now this is excessive! C’mon, we can show gratitude without overdoing it!” The Savior rebuked him with this brief parable: “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?” The Savior then reprimanded Simon because he had not showed the same kind of devotion and love that this woman had: “I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment” (Luke 7:37-46). We might interpret this interaction to mean that Simon was a fifty pence sinner and this woman was a five hundred pence sinner, but that would seem to imply that then Simon wasn’t able to love the Savior as much when he received forgiveness. However, that’s exactly what Jesus criticized Simon for not doing—he could have showed the same kind of five hundred pence love for the Savior as this woman if he realized just how much the Savior had done for him as well.

               I thought of this story as I read Alma 23 as part of the Come, Follow Me reading this week. Here Anti-Nephi-Lehi, the brother of Lamoni and new king of the Lamanites, expressed the feelings of those converted Lamanites who were threatened with destruction by their brethren. His praise of the Lord was “running over” and his gratitude showed on the same level as the woman who anointed Jesus: “And I also thank my God, yea, my great God, that he hath granted unto us that we might repent of these things, and also that he hath forgiven us of those our many sins and murders which we have committed, and taken away the guilt from our hearts, through the merits of his Son…. Oh, how merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us hide them away that they may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day… If our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved” (v10-16). He rejoiced in the forgiveness of their sins they had received through the mercy of the Son, expressing overflowing feelings of gratitude for the goodness of God that all of these converted Lamanites felt. Not only did they thank Him with his words but they dramatically declared that their newfound devotion to the Lord was so strong that they were willing to suffer death at the hands of their enemies for it. And many of them did in an unbelievable show of commitment to the Lord! Their fellow Nephites and us today might be tempted to think, justifying our own lack of similar zeal, “Well, that is excessive! Surely they can be grateful to the Lord without going to such extreme measure!” And yet, they were showing the kind of love and commitment to the Savior as the woman who bathed his feet with her tears. Their example should encourage us to thank the Lord more fervently, to love Him more deeply for the infinite price He paid for each of us, whether the world labels our personal sins as small or great. The people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi and the woman of Luke 7 showed us what five-hundred-pence love for God looks like.