Chapter XV.
The impiety of the Jews is refuted in three ways.
1. Now there were drawing near etc. After he refuted the deceitfulness of the Pharisees who calumniated Christ's power in miracles, in this part he refutes their impiety in murmuring against his clemency in works of piety. Now this part is divided into three parts. In the first of which is set forth the expression of Jewish impiety. In the second is added the manifestation of divine piety, at: And he spoke to them a parable etc. In the third is joined a commendation and persuasion of human piety, below in the sixteenth chapter: And he said also to his disciples: There was a certain rich man.
The expression of Jewish impiety is described in three ways.
Now concerning the expression of Jewish impiety, three things are introduced, namely the occasion for expressing impiety, the expression of impiety already conceived, and the pretense of equitable justice.
2. (Vers. 1.). First therefore, as regards the occasion for expressing impiety, it says: Now there were drawing near to him publicans and sinners; in which is shown the supreme piety of Christ toward public sinners, from which the Pharisees took occasion for judging impiously, because it is the custom of the impious to increase their impiety from seeing works of piety. Whence in the Psalm: "He has dispersed, he has given to the poor" etc., and immediately adds: "The sinner shall see and shall be angry." Now Christ was showing great piety, because he received publicans, who were public sinners: whence the Gloss: " Publicans, who exact or collect public taxes, and who pursue worldly gain through business dealings," and such men were intent upon many unjust gains. Now sinners of this kind, although they seem to deserve rejection according to justice, are nevertheless received through mercy; trusting in which, they were drawing near to him as to a most clement Lord, according to that word of James 4: "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." Draw near, I say, through devout supplication; the Psalm: "Let my prayer draw near in your sight, O Lord." Also as to a most skilled master: whence it adds: that they might hear him, according to that counsel of the Wise Man in the last chapter of Sirach: "Draw near to me, you unlearned, and gather yourselves together into the house of instruction"; because, as it is said in Deuteronomy 33, "those who draw near to his feet shall receive of his doctrine."
3. To this supreme teacher Christ both the Pharisees and the publicans were drawing near, but the Pharisees with pretense, according to that passage of Jeremiah 12: "You are near in their mouth and far from their reins"; because such men through feigned righteousness appear to be near, but through hidden pride are far off, according to that passage of Isaiah 58: "For they seek me from day to day and desire to know my ways, as a nation that had done justice and had not forsaken the judgment of their God: they ask me judgments of justice and desire to draw near to God. Why have we fasted, and you have not regarded? We have humbled our souls, and you have not known"; And he adds: "Behold, in the day of your fast your own will is found," etc. The publicans, however, were drawing near truly, so that they might hear and, having heard, might come to their senses from their evil ways through repentance, according to the Lord's exhortation in Matthew 4: "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"; and so that by hearing they might obey, according to that passage of Ecclesiastes 4: "Guard your foot when you enter the house of God, and draw near to hear. For obedience is much better than the sacrifices of fools."
4. (Vers. 2.). Second, with regard to the expression of conceived impiety, he adds: And the Pharisees and scribes murmured. Murmuring is a speaking-against which is neither fully expressed nor fully kept silent: Wisdom 1: "The ear of jealousy hears all things, and the tumult of murmurings shall not be hidden. Keep yourselves therefore from murmuring, which profits nothing, and refrain your tongue from detraction, because a secret word shall not go in vain." And therefore 1 Corinthians 10: "Neither murmur, as some of them murmured and perished by the destroyer." The Lord hates this murmuring most of all, because it profits nothing, neither oneself nor one's neighbor: Lamentations 3: "Why does a living man murmur, a man for his sins?" — as if to say: in vain. And because it proceeds from a malicious mouth, which neither dares to accuse openly nor is able to conceal the malice of the heart. Hence the very word murmur sounds this out, concerning which Huguccio says that it is derived from mutio, mutis, as if to wish to speak and not to dare. But nevertheless it sometimes arises from weakness, as Numbers 11: "A murmuring of the people arose, as it were of those grieving on account of their labor, against the Lord"; sometimes from ignorance and error, according to that passage in John 7: "There was much murmuring among the crowd. Some said that he is good; but others said: No, but he seduces the crowds. Yet no one spoke openly about him"; sometimes also from malice, as Deuteronomy 1: "Unbelieving in the word of the Lord your God, you murmured in your tents and said: The Lord hates us, and therefore he led us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites." Likewise these men also turned good into evil, both the repentance of the tax collectors and also the mercy of Jesus; and they fell into this vice because they were proud and inhumane. Concerning whom that passage of Isaiah 65 can be understood: "Who say: Depart from me, do not come near me, for you are unclean. These shall be smoke in my fury, a fire burning all the day."
5. Third, with regard to the simulation of the equity of justice, it is added: Saying: Because this man receives sinners, with regard to the affability of conversation, and eats with them, with regard to the familiarity of table fellowship. In this they wished to reprove him as a supporter of the wicked and a despiser of the commandments; whence the Gloss: "As if he were contrary to the Law, which prohibits this." For in the Law contact with an unclean thing is prohibited, Leviticus eleven and thirteen; in which is understood the avoidance of evil company. Whence Deuteronomy seven: "You shall not enter into a covenant with them, nor shall you join in marriages with them." But, as the Gloss says, "they err in two ways, because they both consider themselves just, when they are proud, and those men sinners, when they are already repenting." Whence they themselves, by simulating equity, fell into impiety, sinning against themselves through pride, which the Pharisees were accustomed to do; below in the sixteenth chapter: "You are they who justify yourselves before men." Likewise, sinning against their neighbors by judging badly, so that what is said above in the sixth chapter could be said to them: "Hypocrite, first cast out the beam from your own eye," etc. Likewise, sinning against Christ by reproving his mercy, who received sinners, according to what he had promised through Jeremiah, Jeremiah three: "It is commonly said: If a man puts away his wife, and she, departing from him, marries another man, will he return to her again? But you have fornicated with many lovers; yet return to me, says the Lord, and I will receive you." For this is of the most excellent mercy; whence John six: "Everyone who comes to me, I will not cast him out." They also reproved his mercy, because he condescended to eat with them, although this is of the highest mercy, according to that of Revelation three: "I stand at the door and knock," etc.; and Matthew eleven: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened";
and John seven: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink," etc. For the Prophet also, from the fullness of the spirit, calls all; Isaiah fifty-five: "All you who thirst, come to the waters." And the reason for this is that, as is said in Romans ten, "there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord of all is rich toward all who call upon him," etc.
The manifestation of divine piety is described in a threefold parable.
6. And he spoke a parable to them. After he manifested the Jewish impiety, so secondly he makes known the divine mercy for confuting the Jewish impiety. And since the mercy of God is especially toward man in the restoration of the human race, in which man needs a reconciling sacrifice, a redeeming price, and an adopting spirit: therefore in this part he introduces a threefold parable; of which the first is about the sheep, which is sacrificed; the second, about the drachma, which is a royal coin; the third is about the father and son, who is mercifully received. Furthermore, since the mercy of God is especially toward man by reason of three things which God placed in man, namely by reason of implanted gentleness, by reason of the impressed image, and by reason of the conferred likeness: and through the first, man is likened to a sheep, through the second to an imperial coin, through the third to the Son of the Eternal Father: therefore in this part the Evangelist, illumined by the Spirit, sets forth a threefold parable, uttered through the mouth of the flesh of God, to denote the mercy of God toward human nature, of which the first is about the shepherd and his sheep; the second is about the woman and the drachmas, at the passage: Or what woman having ten drachmas; the third about the father and sons, at the passage: And he said: A certain man had two sons; in which he manifestly shows that every creature in a certain way prefigures the mercy which God has with respect to man: the brute creature, as the sheep, and the merely corporeal, as the drachma, and the rational, as man.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep.
Concerning the parable of the lost sheep, therefore, he proceeds in this order. For first is expressed the solicitude of sorrow for the lost sheep; second, the greatness of joy for the sheep found, at the passage: And when he has found it, etc.
In explaining the solicitude of sorrow concerning the lost sheep, four things are introduced by the Evangelist, namely the possession of the whole multitude, the loss of the hundredth sheep, the leaving behind of the multitude possessed, and the seeking of the one lost.
7. (Vers. 3.). First, therefore, as regards the possession of the whole multitude, which he wishes to be understood not literally, but parabolically, he says: And he spoke to them this parable. He therefore speaks parabolically, because it befits his wisdom; Psalm: "I will open my mouth in parables" etc.; and because the faithlessness of the Jews required this, from whom the mysteries had to be veiled, according to that passage of Matthew thirteen: "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear"; or because it befitted Sacred Scripture, in which not only words but also things are signs for leading by the hand the understanding of little ones and the simple to conceive within themselves the manifold character of divine meanings, according to that passage of Proverbs one : "The Parables of Solomon, to know wisdom and discipline, to understand words of prudence and to receive the instruction of doctrine, that astuteness may be given to little ones, and to the youth knowledge and understanding".
8. (Vers. 4.). And since he speaks to little ones, he therefore sets forth manifest examples, when he says: What man of you, having a hundred sheep. This man among men is the Son of God, of whom Baruch three says: "After these things he was seen upon earth and conversed with men"; and Philippians two: "Made in the likeness of men, and found in appearance as a man". The sheep of this man are rational creatures by reason of their implanted meekness; Matthew ten: "Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves"; and John ten: "My sheep hear my voice, and I give them eternal life". Moreover, these are called a hundred on account of perfection, which is signified by the number one hundred because of the return of ten upon itself. Whence Bede says: "Because the number one hundred is perfect, God had a hundred sheep, that is, a perfect number, when he created the substance of Angels and men". For this reason it is also placed in the designation of perfect merit; Matthew thirteen: "Another fell on good ground and brought forth fruit a hundredfold"; and Genesis twenty-six: "Isaac sowed in that land and found in that year a hundredfold". Likewise also as regards the perfection of reward: Matthew nineteen: "Everyone who shall have left" etc., there follows: "He shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess eternal life". To have, therefore, a hundred sheep is to have creatures in a perfect number and in the state of their perfection.
9. Second, as to the loss of the hundredth sheep, he adds: And if he shall lose one of them. God lost one sheep out of a hundred when man sinned. Whence Bede: "One sheep perished when man by sinning abandoned the pastures of life. Of this sheep it is said in the Psalm: I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; seek your servant, O Lord." Now man is called one sheep because all proceeded from one man, in whom they also sinned, according to that passage in Romans 5: "Through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death, in whom all sinned." But on account of the variety of sins added thereupon, they are called many sheep; Isaiah 53: "All we like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned aside into his own way"; and 1 Peter 2: "You were as sheep going astray," etc. And this was so as long as man lacked a shepherd: 3 Kings 22: "I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains like sheep without a shepherd." For this sheep had run into the wolf, the devil, of whom it is said in John 10: "The wolf snatches and scatters the sheep," etc.
10. Third, as to the leaving behind of the multitude possessed, he adds: Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert? By the ninety-nine are understood the Angels, both because the number nine most fittingly suits the designation of the number of Angels on account of the threefold triad in the orders of Angels, signifying God who is three and one; and because, with the angels falling and man being lost, their number remained imperfect: whence the Gloss: "He left the ninety-nine, because the number of rational creatures, with man perishing, was diminished." Christ left these, not abandoning them locally, since he is always everywhere, but because he in no way took hold of them: Hebrews 2: "Nowhere does he take hold of Angels, but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham." Now he is said to have left them in the desert, that is, in heaven, which had been deserted by angels and men, and no one could any longer enter there. On account of which that heavenly homeland is compared to a desert; whence the Gloss: " In the desert, that is, in heaven, which has been deserted by man sinning"; on account of which also that heavenly Jerusalem is called deserted, according to that passage in Galatians 4: "That Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother. For it is written: Rejoice, O barren one who do not bear, for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her who has a husband": and Isaiah 35: "The desert and the pathless land shall rejoice, and the wilderness shall exult and blossom like a lily," etc.
11. Fourth, as regards the seeking of the single lost sheep, he adds: And he goes after that which was lost. To save this sheep, namely man, God, the Son of God, came into this world; below in the nineteenth chapter: "The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost"; whence First Timothy 1: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners." And Christ did this as a good shepherd: whence Ezekiel 34: "Behold, I myself will seek my sheep and will visit them, as a shepherd visits his flock." - But because the good shepherd does not cease from seeking before salvation, he therefore adds: Until he finds it. Now this sheep is found by Christ when it is freed from perdition by his blood, according to Deuteronomy 32: "The Lord alone was his leader, and there was no strange god with him." "He found him in a desert land, in a place of horror and vast solitude." Now God found lost men with great difficulty, according to Hosea 9: "I found Israel like grapes in the desert and like the first fruits of the fig tree." Whence this shepherd labored even unto death for the finding of his sheep, according to John 10: "The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep." On account of which this shepherd was also made a lamb among the sheep, that he might redeem the sheep, according to Isaiah 53: "He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer he shall be silent and shall not open his mouth." - Whence also that finding prefigured this finding, by which Abraham, wishing to offer his son, found a ram; Genesis 22: "Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw a ram caught by the horns among the briars, which he offered as a holocaust in place of his son." Therefore all those other sacrifices offered, of sheep as well as of lambs and of goats as well as of rams and calves, signify this: that "Christ entered once into the holy place by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption." And this is what it means to say: "He seeks diligently until he finds it."
12. (Verse 5). And when he has found it. After the anxiety of sorrow for the lost sheep, there follows here the greatness of joy for the sheep that has been found, concerning which three things are introduced, namely private exultation, public congratulation, and the principally intended conclusion.
First, therefore, as regards the private exultation over the sheep that was found, he says: And when he has found it, he lays it upon his shoulders, rejoicing. " These shoulders ," as Ambrose says, "are the arms of the cross"; "there," he says, "I laid down my sins, upon that noble neck of the gibbet I found rest." Upon these shoulders, therefore, he placed the lost sheep, because there he bore our sins; whence Isaiah fifty-three: "Surely he himself has borne our griefs, and he himself has carried our sorrows"; and First Peter two: "Who himself bore our sins in his own body upon the tree, that being dead to sins, we might live unto justice." And this is what Bede says: "He placed the sheep upon his shoulders, because, taking on human nature, he himself bore our sins." And he bore our sins on the cross, and he bore the cross on his shoulders, according to that passage of Isaiah nine: "The government was made upon his shoulder"; and Isaiah twenty-two: "I will place the key of the house of David upon his shoulder."
Upon this shoulder, rejoicing, he carried us on account of the greatest charity which he himself had for our liberation: Isaiah forty: "Like a shepherd he will feed his flock, in his arm he will gather the lambs"; "the ewes with young he himself will carry." And this with the greatest joy, according to that passage of the last chapter of Isaiah: "You shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. As one whom his mother caresses, so I also will comfort you." "You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like grass."
13. (Vers. 6.). Secondly, with regard to the public rejoicing, he adds: And coming home, he calls together his friends and neighbors. This house is the heavenly Jerusalem, of which Isaiah 60: "I will glorify the house of my majesty"; and John 14: "In my Father's house there are many mansions." Into this house Christ came at the ascension, concerning which coming Isaiah 63: "Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?" Into this he carries the sheep, because, as is said in Ephesians 4, "ascending on high, he led captivity captive." And there he calls together the Angels, who are called friends on account of their familiarity in knowing secrets; for this is a sign of friendship; John 15: "But I have called you friends," etc.; and neighbors, on account of their nearness in sharing consolations: whence Matthew 18: "Their angels in heaven always behold the face of the Father who is in heaven." The Lord calls these together to rejoice in harmony over the salvation of men: whence he also adds: Saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep , which was lost. He says this as though giving them matter for rejoicing over the attainment of so great a benefit and of the charitable love which God showed to man; whence the Eternal Wisdom says in Proverbs 8: "My delights were to be with the sons of men." Whence Bede: "He does not say: Rejoice with the sheep that was found, but with me, because his joy is our life." Whence also in the expression of this most magnificent joy, the joyful recovery of the human race is called a nuptial joy, over which the heavenly citizens exult: Apocalypse 19: "I heard a voice as the voice of many Angels saying: Alleluia." "Let us rejoice and exult and give glory to God, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and the wife of the Lamb has prepared herself." For the Lamb espouses to himself the holy Church gathered from sinners, and the Lamb has the little sheep recovered.
14. (Vers. 7.). Thirdly, with regard to the conclusion principally intended, he adds: I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven over one sinner doing penance; Isaiah 49: "Praise, O heavens, and exult, O earth; shout forth praise, O mountains, because the Lord has consoled his people and will have mercy on his poor ones."