Chapter 18

Chapter 18. — On Those Who Disputed Who is Greater. On Not Giving Offense. On the Hundred Sheep. On the Reproving of One’s Neighbor. On the Power of Binding and Loosing. On the Man Who Owed Ten Thousand Talents

¹ At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Since they had seen Peter honored by Christ—for he was honored in being commanded to give the stater for Christ and for himself—on this account they suffered something human, and, stung by envy, they come asking the Lord obliquely: Who is greatest?

² And Jesus called a little child to him, and set it in their midst, and said: Verily I say to you, unless you turn and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven; whoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Seeing the disciples held fast by the passion of love of glory, the Lord checks them, showing them through the unpretentious little child the way of humility. For we must be children in the lowliness of our disposition, not in the childishness of our reasoning; and in innocence, not in folly. And in saying, “Unless you turn,” he showed that they had passed from humility into love of glory. They must, then, turn back there again—that is, to the humility from which they had departed.

³ And whoever shall receive one such little child in my name, receives me; but whoever shall scandalize one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for him that a millstone be hanged about his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea. “Not only must you be humble-minded,” he says, “but if you also honor others who are humble-minded for my sake, you shall receive a reward; for you receive me, whenever you receive the little children—that is, the humble.” Then from the contrary he also says that “whoever shall scandalize”—that is, insult—“one of these little ones”—that is, of those who make themselves small and humble, although they are in fact great—“it would be better for him that an ass’s millstone be hanged about his neck.” For he brings forward a sensible punishment into the midst, wishing to show that those who insult and scandalize the humble in Christ shall undergo great chastisement. But understand also that even if one scandalizes the truly little—that is, the weak—and does not by every means support him, he shall be punished. For the great man is not easily scandalized, but the little one is.

⁴ Woe to the world because of offenses! for it is necessary that offenses come; but woe to that man through whom the offense comes. As one who loves mankind, he laments the world, as about to be harmed by offenses. But someone might say: And what need is there to lament, when one ought rather to help and stretch out a hand? We will answer, then, that this very thing—to lament over someone—is itself a form of help. For often those whom our exhortation did not benefit, we benefit when we lament over them, [thereby] bringing them to a sense [of their state]. And if it is necessary, he says, that offenses come, how are those who cause them punished? It is necessary that they come, but not necessary that one perish. For it is possible to resist offenses. And by “offenses” understand those who hinder [men] from the good, and by “the world,” those who are base and earthbound, and who can easily be hindered.

⁵ And if your hand or your foot scandalizes you, cut it off, and cast it from you; it is good for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than, having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire; and if your eye scandalizes you, pluck it out, and cast it from you; it is good for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than, having two eyes, to be cast into the Gehenna of fire. By “hand” and “foot” and “eye” understand your friends, whom we hold in the rank of members; if, then, those who harm us are such persons—that is, kinsmen and friends—we must despise them as rotted members, and cut them off, lest they harm others also. So that from these things it is plain that, even if it is necessary that offenses come—that is, those who do harm—it is not necessary that we be harmed. For if we do as the Lord said, and cut off from ourselves those who harm us, even if they be friends, we shall not be harmed.

⁶ See that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven; for the Son of man came to save that which was lost. He charges us not to despise those reckoned little—that is, the poor in spirit, who are great in God’s sight; for so greatly, he says, are they loved by God that they have angels as guardians, that they may not be harmed by demons. For each of the faithful, or rather all men, have angels. But the angels of the little and humble in Christ are so intimate with God that they always behold his face, standing before him. And from this it appears that, although we all have angels, yet the angels of sinners, as if ashamed because of our lack of boldness, do not themselves have boldness to behold the face of God, nor, perhaps, to make petition on our behalf; whereas the angels of the humble-minded, these behold the divine face, because they have boldness. And what then? “For this cause I came, to save that which was lost, and to win back those who have fallen away.”

⁷ What do you think? If a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them go astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains, and go to seek the one that is straying? And if it should come to pass that he find it, verily I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. To what man did the hundred sheep belong? To Christ. For the whole rational creation, both angels and men, are the hundred sheep, of which Christ is the shepherd, not a sheep. For he is not a creature, but the Son of God. He, then, left the ninety-nine in heaven; and taking the form of a servant, came to seek the one sheep, which is human nature. And he rejoices over this more than over the steadfastness of the angels. This hints, by way of summary, that God takes care for the conversion of sinners, and rejoices over these more than over those who have a settled virtue.

⁸ But if your brother sin against you, go and reprove him between you and him alone; if he hear you, you have gained your brother; but if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established; and if he refuse to hear them, tell it to the Church; and if he refuse to hear the Church also, let him be to you as the heathen and the publican. Having stretched out a severe word against those who give offense, he now also sets right those who are offended. For so that you who are offended—that is, harmed—may not utterly collapse, as though the offender held the [stronger position], he says: “You who are offended, that is, harmed, I wish to reprove those who wrong and harm you, if they be Christians.” For see what he says: “If your brother sin against you”—that is, the Christian. For if an unbeliever wrongs [you], then withdraw even from your own possessions; but if a brother [wrongs you], reprove him; for he did not say, “Insult [him],” but, “Reprove [him].” “If he hear you”—that is, condemn himself; for he wishes that sinners be reproved first in private, lest, being reproved before many, they become more shameless. But if, having been reproved before two or three witnesses, he is not abashed, then let the fault be made public before the presidents of the Church. For since he did not hear the two or three—although the law says that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word is confirmed—let him henceforth be brought to his senses by the Church; and if he hear not even her, then let him be cast out, lest he impart his own evil to the others also. And he likens such brethren to publicans, since a publican is a [worthless] thing; and it is a consolation to the one wronged that the one who wrongs him be reckoned a publican and a heathen—that is, a sinner and an unbeliever. Is this the only punishment of the one who wrongs? No. But hear what follows.

⁹ Verily I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. “If you who are wronged,” he says, “hold the one who wrongs you as a publican and a heathen, he shall be such in heaven also. And if you loose him—that is, forgive him—he shall be forgiven in heaven also.” For not only the things that the priests loose are loosed, but whatever we too, when wronged, either bind or loose, those things also shall be bound or loosed.

¹⁰ Again, verily I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father who is in heaven; for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in their midst. Through such words he leads us to peace with one another; for since he forbade us to scandalize one another, and to harm and be harmed, he speaks also of concord with one another. But those who are understood to be in agreement are not those gathered for evil, but those gathered for good. For see what he said: “If two of you”—that is, of the faithful, of the virtuous; for Annas and Caiaphas too agreed, but blamably; so that for this reason we often pray and do not receive, because we do not even have concord with one another. And he did not say, “I shall be,” for he neither delays nor is absent, but, “I am”—that is, “I am found there at once.” And you will understand that, when the flesh and the spirit agree, and the flesh does not lust against the spirit, then the Lord is in the midst. And the three powers of the soul also agree—the rational, the irascible, and the appetitive. But the old [covenant] and the new, the two, also agree, and in their midst Christ is found, proclaimed by both.

¹¹ Then Peter came to him and said: Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times? Jesus says to him: I do not say to you, until seven times, but until seventy times seven. This is what Peter asks: “As often as he sins, and comes and asks pardon in repentance, shall I forgive him?” And he added, “against me”; for if one sins against God, I, a layman, am not the one to forgive him, unless perhaps the priest, who holds the rank of God; but if he sin against me, and I then forgive him, he shall be forgiven, even though I am a layman and not a priest. And he said “until seventy times seven” so that he might not confine forgiveness to a number; for it is unreasonable that one sit counting until four hundred ninety be reached—for so many are “seventy times seven”—but he signifies here what is unlimited; as though he said: “As often as one stumbles and repents, forgive him.” For this he says also through the parable that follows, that we must be compassionate.

¹² Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened to a man who was a king, who would take account with his servants. The general sense of the parable teaches us to forgive the sins committed against us by our fellow servants, and especially if those who have need of forgiveness fall down before us. But to expound the parable in detail would belong only to one who has the mind of Christ; nevertheless, we too will set our hand to it. The kingdom is the Word of God; not, however, the kingdom of some small things, but of the heavens. This one, then, was likened to a man who was a king, having been made flesh for us and become in the likeness of men; and he takes account with his servants, as a good [king] judging for them. For he does not punish without judgment; for that belongs to cruelty.

¹³ And when he had begun to take account, there was brought to him one who owed ten thousand talents; and as he had nothing to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. Debtors of ten thousand talents are we, who are benefited every day, yet give nothing good in return to God. Debtors of ten thousand talents also are those who have received the oversight of a people and of many men—for each man is a talent, according to him who says, “A great thing is man”—and then have not used their office well. And the selling of the debtor together with his wife and his children signifies the estrangement from God. For he who is sold becomes the property of another master. And may it not be that the wife is the flesh, as being the consort of the soul, and the children the deeds wrongly wrought by the soul and the body? He commands, then, that the flesh be given over to Satan for destruction—that is, be delivered up to sicknesses or to the suffering of a demon; but also that the children—I mean the workings of evils—be tormented. For instance, there is someone whose hand steals; this God withers, or strangles through some demon. Behold, then, the wife, the flesh, and the children—that is, the working of the evil—have been delivered up to affliction, that the spirit may be saved; for that man will no longer work in thievish fashion.

¹⁴ The servant therefore fell down and did obeisance to him, saying: Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you all; and the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. Behold the strength of repentance, and the love of mankind of the Lord. For repentance made the servant fall down from his wickedness; for he who stands firmly in wickedness is not to be forgiven. And the love of mankind of God forgave even the loan entirely, although the servant did not ask for entire forgiveness, but for a postponement. Learn, then, that God gives even more than we ask. For so great is his love of mankind that even that which seemed harsh—the commanding that he be sold—he spoke not out of harshness, but that he might terrify the servant, and persuade him to have recourse to supplication and entreaty.

¹⁵ But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: Pay me what you owe; his fellow servant therefore fell down at his feet and besought him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay you all. But he would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay the debt. Having been forgiven, he goes out and thus throttles his fellow servant; for none of those who abide in God is without compassion, but [only] he who has gone out from God and become a stranger to him. And so great was his inhumanity that, having been forgiven the greater [debt]—for it was ten thousand talents—he would not show the least clemency over the lesser—for it was a hundred denarii—nor grant any delay. And yet the fellow servant says the very same words, reminding him of the means by which he himself was saved: Have patience with me, and I will pay you.

¹⁶ And when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly grieved. And they came and reported to their lord all that was done. The angels appear from this to be the fellow servants, haters of evil and lovers of good; and they tell these things to the Lord not as to one ignorant of them, but that you might learn that the angels are our overseers, and that they are indignant against the inhuman.

¹⁷ Then his lord called him, and says to him: You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you besought me; should you not also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you? And his lord, being angry, delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was owed to him. The master is judged by the servant on account of his love of mankind, that it might be shown that it was not he, but the cruelty of the servant and his ingratitude, that overturned the gift. And to what tormentors does he deliver him? To the punishing powers, so that he might be chastised eternally. For the [phrase] “until he should pay the debt” signifies this: that he should be punished until then—that is, until he should pay; but in truth he will never pay the debt—that is, the punishment ever owed in due measure; therefore he shall be punished forever.

¹⁸ So also shall my heavenly Father do to you, if you do not each from your hearts forgive his brother their trespasses. He did not say “your Father,” but “my Father”; for such men are unworthy to have God as Father. He wishes [us] to forgive from the heart, and not from the lips only. And consider also how great an evil is the bearing of malice, since it overturned the gift of God; for although the gifts of God are without repentance, yet they were overturned.