And Jesus answering, said to him: Simon, I have somewhat to say to thee. But he said: Master, say it.

“And Jesus answering (the secret thoughts of his heart) said unto him , Simon , I have somewhat to say unto thee. S. Augustine, Theophylact, Bede and others, think that this Simon was not Simon the leper, in whose house the Magdalene again anointed the feet of Jesus. S. John xii. 2, S. Matt xxvi. 6. Others are of a contrary opinion, because the name is the same, and because the circumstances of the second anointing are so similar. It seems, however, that this Simon was converted when Christ was on his way from Galilee to Judsea (S. Matt xix. 1); and that he followed Jesus, and settled at Bethany, near S. Mary Magdalene, who was known to him, in order to enjoy with her the presence and teaching of Christ / have somewhat to say unto thee. See how wisely Christ reproves Digitized by Google PARABLE OF THE TWO DEBTORS. 207 Simon with these gentle but meaning words, which appealed to his better feelings, and at once arrested his attention. For, as S. Augustine says, Christ desired to correct the error of his thoughts, in return for the entertainment which he had provided And S. Luke implies that Simon at once recognised his fault, for he answered modestly, Master, say on. As Thy disciple, I will gladly accept Thy words as the teaching of my Master”

“And he turned to the woman,.... That stood behind him at his feet, and said to Simon, seest thou this woman? and what she has done? pointing to her, and comparing him, and her, and their actions together, whereby he might judge of the preceding parable, and how fitly it might be applied to the present case: I entered into thine house; not of his own accord, but by the invitation of Simon, and therefore might have expected the usual civilities: thou gavest me no water for my feet: to wash them with, no, not so much as water; a civility very common in those hot countries, where walking without stockings, and only with sandals, they needed often washing; and which was very refreshing, and was not only used to travellers and strangers, but to guests, and was usually done by the servants of the house; See Gill on Luk 7:38. but she hath washed my feet with tears. The Persic version reads, "with the tears of her eyes"; which made a bath for his feet; and wiped them with the hairs of her head. The Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read only, "with her hair", which she used instead of a towel, when Simon neither gave him water to wash with, nor a towel to wipe with.”

“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.”