If God has forgiven, who is man that he refuses to forgive? It is Christ who is the Judge, not us, and it is his throne that we will all appear before, and therefore it matters little that man condemns if God justifies. Man cannot overturn the sentence of God.
Who is in a better position: he who has been forgiven much and loves much, or he who has been forgiven, and loves little? Clearly it is better to love much, however we got there. But can any really say that they have been forgiven little? Does anyone really think that their sins are small, and that Christ has had little to do to atone for what they have done? This is the Lord’s gentle way of dealing with Simon’s self-righteousness, but if he ever truly came to see what he was, he would say, ‘I am the chief of sinners, for I know my own heart more intimately than any other heart, and I know the awful things that I am capable of. God be merciful to me, the sinner.’ In that state of mind, we cease to look at the sins of others, and marvel only that our own sins have been forgiven. That is enough of a miracle for the time being.