Luke 7:40 Commentary and Bible Study

Simon has made a great mistake, and he receives a great shock. He thought he understood the situation; he thought his private reflections on what was happening were his alone, but the Lord shows that he knows exactly what Simon is thinking, even though Simon has said nothing out loud. What the Lord says, he says to Simon alone, and Simon will have little difficulty in understanding that this is a message which addresses his own secret thoughts. It is a powerful lesson to him, which would have shaken his confidence and his understanding. It is a perfect answer to his prejudices, which shows him how mistaken he is, not because he has got one fact wrong – that Jesus knows exactly who this woman is – but because his whole view of God, of who Christ is, of the way salvation, of this woman’s attitude, and of his own standing with God is in error. Simon had said to himself, ‘If he were a prophet …’, but now he learns how much of a prophet Christ is by this answer which reads not just the woman’s heart, but Simon’s own heart also. Christ tells him he has a message for him, and Simon answers respectfully enough, believing at first that his private thoughts remain hidden, but as the parable goes on, it will become increasingly clear to him that he is exposed, and that his attitude is mean and narrow, and entirely out of line with the grace of Christ. He has miscalculated to his shame, and he is going to have to learn a painful but necessary and highly beneficial lesson.