Great is the joy, because it is a greater thing to heal the sick than to preserve the healthy; and therefore he adds: Than over ninety-nine righteous ones, who have no need of repentance. This however is said, not because the penitent sinner is better than the ninety-nine righteous, but because in the redemption of the human race God wrought greater things than in the preservation of the entire heavenly multitude; because this is manifesting of greater power, greater wisdom, and greater mercy: of greater power, because it is a greater thing to justify the ungodly than to create heaven and earth; of greater wisdom, because, Job twenty-six, "by his understanding he struck the proud one"; of greater clemency or mercy: whence above in the first chapter: "Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the Dayspring from on high has visited us." For greater was the condescension in Christ, greater also the exaltation of the human race, according to that word of the Psalm: "For your magnificence is elevated above the heavens." Whence this is understood with respect to the cause of our repentance, namely the redemption of the human race, in which there is greater matter for joy than in all other works of God.
If however it is understood of any individual sinner, then it is understood because the joy is more novel, or because the sinner is frequently more fervent than the righteous one. Whence Gregory in the Moralia: "Certain ones are strengthened in the service of God from some prior weakness, and the desire for future things draws them to keeping the commandments, and the memory of past things impels them." Whence this does not refer to all sinners nor to all the righteous, but to sinners who are fervent after conversion and to the righteous who are tepid. Whence Gregory also gives an example, and Bede in the Gloss: "Greater is the joy over the sinner than over the righteous one who stands firm: just as a commander in battle loves that soldier more who, having returned after flight, vigorously presses the enemy, than the one who never fled and never acted valiantly." Or, this is said by reason of the confusion of the adversaries, according to that word of Isaiah nine: "They shall rejoice before you, as those who rejoice in the harvest, as victors exult when the spoil is taken, when they divide the plunder," etc.
The Parable of the Lost Drachma.
15. (Verse 8.). Or what woman etc. After the parable of the shepherd and his sheep, there follows here the parable of the woman and the drachmas ; in which indeed under the metaphor of the drachma there is manifested the mercy of God toward man, and this in four ways, namely toward man as created, toward man as fallen, toward man as restored, toward man as justified.
First, therefore, as regards the loving-kindness of God with respect to man as created, he says: Or what woman having ten drachmas. This woman is divine wisdom, who is called woman because she is to be loved as a most beautiful bride; the Wise Man, speaking of wisdom in Wisdom eight, says: "Her I loved and sought out from my youth, and I sought to take her as my bride, and I became a lover of her beauty." She is called woman, however, not from the weakness of sex, but from the loving-kindness of divine affection and mercy, by reason of which God compares himself to maternal affection: Isaiah forty-nine: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb?" etc. And therefore Wisdom says of herself in Sirach twenty-four: "I am the mother of fair love" etc. Whence, since the wisdom of God is most powerful, most beautiful, most provident, and also most merciful, she is given to be understood through the strong woman, according to what is said in the last chapter of Proverbs : "Who shall find a strong woman," that is, wisdom, which "reaches mightily" etc.; through the strong and good and beautiful woman: Sirach twenty-six: "As the sun rising upon the world"; through the provident woman: Proverbs fourteen: "The wise woman builds her house," that is, wisdom; through the pious woman, as in this parable. Whence the Gloss: "The woman, that is, the wisdom of God, had ten drachmas when she created men and Angels." The drachma, however, is the rational creature, marked with the divine image; whence the Gloss: "The drachma is a coin of a certain value, bearing the image of the king." Such a coin is man, of whom it is said in Genesis one: "Let us make man in our image and likeness"; whence also Sirach seventeen: "God created man from the earth and made him according to his own image." Such a coin is the angelic spirit: whence Ezekiel twenty-eight: "You were the seal of his likeness, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty; you were in the delights of the paradise of God." Therefore the ten drachmas are the nine orders of Angels and the tenth of men, for the completion of the whole universe, because within the number ten the universality of numbers is enclosed; whence also in it there is a certain completeness of numbers. Whence Bede: "The woman had ten drachmas when man was added as the tenth to the nine orders of Angels, so that the number of the elect might be completed." In this, therefore, the loving-kindness of God toward the rational creature as created appears, as toward a thing marked with his own image.
16. Second, as regards the compassion of God with respect to fallen man, he adds: And if she lose one drachma, namely in man's transgression. For this lost drachma is human nature: whence the Gloss: "The woman, that is, the wisdom of God, had ten drachmas when she created men and Angels in her own image; but she lost one when man departed from the likeness of the Creator." Whence, because man is the tenth after the nine orders of Angels, he is rightly understood by the tenth drachma. Hence it is that, to prefigure the liberation of mankind, God commanded the tithe to be offered to himself. Hence also it is that ten commandments were given to him, through which, as through certain steps, he might ascend all the way to God. Hence also it is that, in the prefiguration of the Incarnation, the sun is said to have gone back ten lines, as is said in the twentieth chapter of Fourth Kings; for the sun went back ten lines when God descended beyond the Angels all the way to man, who is the tenth. Hence also it is that the denarius is the wage of all those laboring in the vineyard of the householder: Matthew twenty, "When he had agreed," etc. Rightly therefore the lost tenth designates fallen human nature.
17. Toward this lost drachma, divine wisdom has compassion from mercy; on account of which he adds: Does she not light a lamp, in the Incarnation. A lamp is a light in an earthen vessel, that is, God in human flesh: whence the Gloss: "The wisdom of God lit a lamp for seeking when she appeared in the flesh, because a lamp is a light in an earthen vessel, that is, the Word in flesh"; Of this lamp it is said in the Psalm: "There I shall make the horn of David to spring forth; I have prepared a lamp for my Christ." Whence, concerning the lighting of this lamp, it is said in John one: "The Word was God"; "it was the true light, which enlightens every man"; and afterward: "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." Nor only this, but she also overturns the house, namely in preaching: the Gloss: "She overturns the house, because she disturbed the consciences of men concerning their guilt." And this pertains to preachers; whence it is said in Zephaniah one: "I will search Jerusalem with lamps and I will visit upon the men who are settled on their dregs."
And she seeks diligently until she finds it, in our redemption: whence Wisdom six: "She goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she shows herself to them cheerfully in the ways, and meets them with all providence." Whence also that word of the Psalm befits her: "If I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob," etc.
18. (Vers. 9.). Third, as regards the lovingkindness toward restored humanity, he adds: And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors. By the friends and neighbors of divine wisdom are understood the good Angels and holy souls. Whence the Gloss: "The friends and neighbors are the heavenly powers, who are as close to God as they more nearly contemplate him." They are therefore called friends of wisdom because they love her and are loved by her, according to that passage of Wisdom 7: "Through the nations she passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God and prophets. For God loves none but the one who dwells with wisdom." To call together, moreover, is nothing other than to unite in the oneness and conformity of love: Job 25: "Power and terror are with him, who makes concord in his high places"; and through this concord of mutual love he bestows a common matter of joy. — And therefore he adds: Saying: Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost. For Wisdom invites to shared rejoicing, because this is the law of charity: First Corinthians 13: "Charity does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices together with the truth"; and the Wise Man says in Wisdom 8: "Thinking on these things, that immortality is in the contemplation of wisdom, and in her friendship good delight," because she wills the joys of all to be shared, not private, as especially in that heavenly Jerusalem above. Whence Tobit 13: "Give thanks to the Lord in your good things and bless the God of the ages, that he may call back to you all your captives, and you may rejoice for ever and ever." For in this rediscovery of the coin, the restoration of the number of the elect in that Jerusalem takes place; and this is a great matter of gladness: Isaiah 65: "Behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy," because they rejoice together with divine wisdom and with our salvation, according to that passage of the last chapter of Isaiah: "Rejoice with Jerusalem and exult in her, all you who love her; be glad with her in joy, all you who mourned over her, that you may suck and be filled from the breasts of her consolation; that you may drink deeply and abound in delights from her all-encompassing glory."
19. (Vers. 10.). Fourth, as regards the lovingkindness of God toward justified humanity, he adds: So I say to you: There is joy among the Angels of God over one sinner doing penance. The Angels rejoice over the penance of a sinful person because guilt is destroyed, justice is recovered, the pride of the demons is confounded, the guardianship of the Angels is made efficacious, the Church is restored, divine wrath is appeased, and because the heavenly Jerusalem is rebuilt. And over these seven things the blessed Angels rejoice most greatly; and therefore also over the penance of the sinner, in which they see the aforesaid seven things come to pass, there is joy among the Angels of God.
First, because fault is destroyed: Acts 3: "Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Whence it is said in Mark 1 that "John was preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins," etc.
Second, because through penance justice is recovered: whence Apocalypse 2: "Remember from whence you have fallen, and do penance, and do the first works"; and Ecclesiasticus 17: "To the penitent God gave the way of justice and strengthened those who were failing."
Third, because through penance the pride of demons is confounded: the Psalm: "Depart from me, all you who work iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping"; and afterwards: "Let all my enemies be ashamed and be greatly troubled," etc. For then the demons are ashamed of their impudence, when the sinner through penance is ashamed of his fault: Jeremiah 31: "After you converted me, I did penance." "I am confounded and I blushed, because I bore the reproach of my youth." Fourth, because through penance the guardianship of the Angels is made efficacious: whence Apocalypse 3: "Those whom I love, I rebuke and chastise. Be zealous therefore and do penance. Behold, I stand at the door and knock." For the Angel guarding us does this with solicitude.
Fifth, because through penance the Church is restored: on account of which it is said in Matthew 9: "I came not to call the just, but sinners" to penance. For Christ calls to ecclesiastical unity, in which the remission of sins is effected and heavenly grace is given, according to that passage in Ezekiel 18: "If the impious man shall do penance for all his sins, he shall live and shall not die."
Sixth, because the divine wrath is appeased: Ecclesiasticus 12: "The Most High hates sinners and has mercy on the penitent"; and Jeremiah 18: "If that nation shall do penance for its evil, I also will repent of the evil that I thought to do to it."
Seventh, because through penance the heavenly Jerusalem is restored to wholeness. Whence Matthew 4: "Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven shall draw near." And for this reason the heavenly citizens exult, as is declared here: There is joy among the Angels of God over one sinner doing penance. For they see how great is the power of penance, which not only recovers what was lost but also obtains far more from the divine mercy; whence Job, last chapter: "The Lord was moved by the penance of Job. And the Lord added double all things that had been Job's."
20. And for this reason all who love God, who love the good, and who have an affection of piety ought to exult with the Angels over the conversion and repentance of sinners. Whence the Apostle, Second Corinthians seven: "Even if I made you sorrowful for an hour, now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because you were made sorrowful unto repentance. For you were made sorrowful according to God, so that you might suffer loss in nothing. For the sorrow that is according to God works repentance unto steadfast salvation." And afterward he adds: "For it works in you solicitude; but also defense, but also indignation, but also fear, but also desire, but also zeal, but also vindication." And from these things due honor is rendered to the divine majesty, the heavenly number is restored, and the unity of ecclesiastical peace is recovered. And therefore in the conversion and repentance of one sinner the supercelestial, celestial, and subcelestial hierarchy rightly exults.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son.
21. And he said: A certain man had two sons. After the parable of the shepherd and his sheep and of the woman and the drachmas, there is here subjoined a third parable, of the father and sons, so that, since the piety of a father toward his son is the greatest, the greatest piety of God toward the converted sinner might be shown here, who is understood through the prodigal son. And since the mercy of the father is shown in this, that he relieved the misery of his son who first sinned and afterward repented, therefore in this parable the Evangelist describes four things. For first he describes the insolence of the prodigal son; second, his misery and want, at the place: And after he had consumed all things; third, his repentance, at the place: But he, returning to himself, said, etc.; fourth, the mercy of the father, at the place: But when he was yet a long way off. And indeed he does this in a most correct progression and order. For insolence cast him headlong into misery and want; want aroused him to repentance; and repentance prepared him to obtain the mercy of the father.
Concerning the expression of the insolence of the prodigal son, three things are introduced by the Evangelist, namely: the condition of human liberty, the perpetration of voluntary fault, and the dissipation of the good of grace and nature.
22. (Verse 11). First, therefore, with regard to the condition of human freedom, he says: And he said: A certain man had two sons. By this man, as has often been said, we understand the benign and merciful Lord. For he himself, by reason of his supreme mercy, which renders him benign and compassionate toward man, can rightly be called man; whence Daniel 10: "One like the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me." For this signification also, God frequently appeared to the holy Patriarchs and Prophets in human form through a subject creature. By the two sons, however, we understand the universality of the human race, not only with regard to Gentiles and Jews, as the Gloss explains, but also generally with regard to the innocent and the penitent, as must be understood from the application of the parable itself. Whence Bede: "This parable can be understood concerning the Jew and the Gentile, and generally concerning the penitent and the just, or the one who seems just to himself." And these are called sons, because they were created in freedom of choice and for the possession of an eternal inheritance; John 8: "The servant does not remain in the house forever, but the son remains forever"; whence in the Psalm: "As a father has mercy on his children, so the Lord has had mercy on those who fear him."
23. (Verse 12). And because freedom of choice in the vain and sinful frequently presumes upon its own powers and usurps for itself what belongs to God, therefore he adds: And the younger of them said to the father: Father, give me the portion of the substance that falls to me. This younger one is said to be the one who is more vain and more intent upon sensible goods, according to that saying of Ecclesiastes 11: "For youth and pleasure are vanity"; and Ecclesiastes, in the same chapter above: "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth"; "and know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment." This youth seeks his portion when he wishes to be left to his own freedom, so that he might walk no longer according to the command of grace, but according to the inclination of his own will. Whence Bede: "Substance is everything that we do, that we live, understand, think, and speak. Therefore the younger asks that a portion of this substance be given to him, when man, delighting in his own rational sense, sought to govern himself through free choice and to depart from the dominion of the Creator." This petition was not for himself, but rather against himself, because he asked to be exposed to himself and to be abandoned to his own judgment; just as also the petition of the children of Israel by which they had asked for a king; 1 Kings 8: "The children of Israel said to Samuel: Appoint for us a king, that he may judge us." "And the Lord said to Samuel: They have not rejected you, but me, lest I reign over them."
And because the Lord, by just judgment, leaves to himself the one who presumes of himself, therefore he adds: And he divided unto them his substance. For so it was fitting, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus fifteen: "God from the beginning made man and left him in the hand of his own counsel." For thus the Lord acts by just judgment, according to that passage of Matthew twenty-five: "To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability," etc.
24. (Verse 13). Second, as regards the perpetration of voluntary fault, he adds: And not many days after, having gathered all together, through the dominion of free will, which has authority over all the natural powers: the younger son went abroad into a far country, and this by perpetrating sin. For a region is called far from God, not as regards local position, since God is everywhere, but through dissimilarity of will. Whence the Gloss: " He went into a far country, not by changing place, but disposition. For the more one transgresses in wicked work, the further one recedes from the grace of God"; whence Proverbs fifteen: "The Lord is far from the wicked, and he will hear the prayers of the just." Now sin is a far country from God because, since it is iniquity, it distances from the highest goodness, according to that passage of Isaiah fifty-nine: "Your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you." Since it is darkness, it distances from the highest light and truth: First John one: "God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth"; and a little after he adds, concerning which darkness he means: "He who hates his brother is in darkness," etc. Since also sin is nothing, it distances from the highest being: on account of which Jeremiah two: "What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they went far from me and walked after vanity?" Concerning these three together, Second Corinthians six: "What participation has justice with iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial?" "And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?" And therefore the sinner deservedly, who distances himself from God through sin and goes into a far country far from the heavenly region, is cast into hell, which is the region of death and darkness, according to that passage of Job ten: "Before I go to the dark land covered with the mist of death, the land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death and no order," etc.
25. Third, as regards the dissipation of the good of grace and nature, he adds: He wasted his substance. He wasted it, I say, through spiritual sins, which especially waste the soul, and this indeed through pride: Nahum two: "As the Lord has restored the pride of Jacob, so the pride of Israel, for the despoilers have despoiled them and have corrupted their branches."