ACC ~ Luke 15 v1 - 10

OVERVIEW:

The Pharisees and scribes were grumbling because they would not accept that Jesus became human so that he might save publicans and sinners (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). They were imitating the behavior of the Israelites in the desert. The two parables are written to heal our wounds, for they represent the divine remedy that comes from the Trinity, the father representing God the Father, the shepherd Christ, and the woman the church (AMBROSE). The shepherd shows the virtue of patience by searching for the sheep, just as the father waits patiently for his prodigal son to come home (TERTULLIAN). He must carry it back to the village, yet he rejoices. The shoulders of the shepherd are the arms of the cross bearing the burden of restoration (AMBROSE). From the harsh realities of the wilderness the sheep is restored on the shoulders of the shepherd to lush meadows of living waters (PRUDENTIUS). The good Shepherd restores the sheep from his wandering, but it is the Father who receives him back with feasting (BASIL THE GREAT).

The parable of the lost coin emphasizes the same themes as the parable of the lost sheep. The lost coin that is found is faith restored and the redemption of the soul (AMBROSE). There is joy over the restoration of a fallen sinner who was made in God’s image and is now returned to church that celebrates a feast (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). All of heaven rejoices over the conversion of a sinner. The Father bestows upon all the baptized the gifts of the kingdom. We are the sheep of the shepherd, the precious coin with the imprint of the King, and the son for whom he has prepared his banquet (AMBROSE).

15:1-2 | Jesus Welcomes Sinners

TO SAVE PUBLICANS AND SINNERS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Tell me, O Pharisee, why do you grumble because Christ did not scorn to be with publicans and sinners, but purposely provided for them this means of salvation? To save people, he yielded himself to emptiness, became like us, and clothed himself in human poverty. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 106. [1]

[1] CGSL 427-28*.

15:3-10 | The Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin

THREE PARABLES REPRESENT THE TRINITY

AMBROSE: St. Luke did not idly present three parables in a row. By the parables of the sheep that strayed and was found, the coin which was lost and was found, and the son who was dead and came to life, [1] we may cure our wounds, being encouraged by a threefold remedy. “A threefold cord will not be broken.” [2] Who are the father, [3] the shepherd and the woman? They are God the Father, Christ and the church. Christ carries you on his body, he who took your sins on himself. The church seeks, and the Father receives. The shepherd carries. The mother searches. The father clothes. [4] First mercy comes, then intercession, and third reconciliation. Each complements the other. The Savior rescues, the church intercedes, and the Creator reconciles. The mercy of the divine act is the same, but the grace differs according to our merits. The weary sheep is recalled by the shepherd, the coin which was lost is found, the son retraces his steps to his father and returns, guilty of error but totally repentant. [5] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 7.207-8. [6]

[1] Lk 15:24.

[2] Eccles 4:12.

[3] Lk 15:11-12.

[4] Lk 15:22.

[5] Lk 15:20-21.

[6] EHG 315-16**.

THE LORD’S PATIENCE FOR THE LOST

TERTULLIAN: There is a breadth of patience in our Lord’s parables, the patience of the shepherd that makes him seek and find the straying sheep. Impatience would readily take no account of a single sheep, but patience undertakes the wearisome search. He carries it on his shoulders as a patient bearer of a forsaken sinner. In the case of the prodigal son, it is the patience of his father that welcomes, clothes, feeds and finds an excuse for him in the face of the impatience of his angry brother. The one who perished is rescued, because he embraced repentance. Repentance is not wasted because it meets up with patience! ON PATIENCE 12. [1]

[1] FC 40:214-15*.

RESTING IN THE ARMS OF THE CROSS ON THE SHOULDERS OF CHRIST

AMBROSE: Let us rejoice that the sheep that had strayed in Adam is lifted on Christ. The shoulders of Christ are the arms of the cross. There, I laid down my sins. I rested on the neck of that noble yoke. The sheep is one in kind, not in appearance, because “we are all one body” [1] but many members. It is written, “You are the body of Christ, and members individually.” [2] “The Son of man came to seek and save what was lost.” [3] He sought all, because “as in Adam all men die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” [4] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 7.209. [5]

THE SHEEP RESTORED TO VERDANT FIELDS

PRUDENTIUS:

When one ailing sheep lags behind the others

And loses itself in the sylvan mazes,

Tearing its white fleece on the thorns and briers,

Sharp in the brambles,

Unwearied the Shepherd, that lost one seeking,

Drives away the wolves and on his strong shoulders

Brings it home again to the fold’s safekeeping,

Healed and unsullied.

He brings it back to the green fields and meadows, [6]

Where no thorn bush waves with its cruel prickles,

Where no shaggy thistle arms trembling branches

With its tough briars.

But where palm trees grow in the open woodland,

Where the lush grass bends its green leaves, and laurels

Shade the glassy streamlet of living water

Ceaselessly flowing.

HYMN FOR EVERY DAY 8.33-45. [7]

[1] 1 Cor 10:17.

[2] 1 Cor 12:27.

[3] Lk 19:10; cf. Ezek 34:16.

[4] 1 Cor 15:22.

[5] EHG 316*.

[6] Ps 23:2 (22:2 LXX).

[7] FC 43:57.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD RESTORES THE SHEEP

BASIL THE GREAT: Leaving those that have not strayed, the good Shepherd seeks you. If you will surrender yourself, he will not hold back. In his kindness, he will lift you up on his shoulders, rejoicing that he has found his sheep that was lost. The Father stands and awaits your return from your wandering. Only turn to him, and while you are still afar off, he will run and embrace your neck. With loving embraces, he will enfold you, now cleansed by your repentance. … He says, “Truly I say to you that there is joy in heaven before God over one sinner who repents.” If any one of those who seem to stand will bring a charge that you have been quickly received, the good Father himself will answer for you. He will say, “It is fitting that we should celebrate and be glad, for this my daughter was dead and is come to life again. She was lost and is found.” LETTER 46. [1]

[1] FC 13:127-28**.

THE LOST COIN IS FAITH

AMBROSE: The price of the soul is faith. Faith is the lost drachma that the woman in the Gospel seeks diligently. We read that she lit a candle and swept her house. After finding it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, inviting them to rejoice with her because she has found the drachma that she had lost. The damage to the soul is great if one has lost the faith or the grace that he has gained for himself at the price of faith. Light your lamp. “Your lamp is your eye,” [1] that is, the interior eye of the soul. Light the lamp that feeds on the oil of the spirit and shines throughout your whole house. Search for the drachma, the redemption of your soul. If a person loses this, he is troubled, and if he finds it, he rejoices. LETTER 20. [2]

[1] Mt 6:22.

[2] FC 26:106*.

JOY OVER THE FALLEN SINNER RESTORED IN GOD’S IMAGE

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: This second parable compares what was lost to a drachma. It is as one out of ten, a perfect number and of a sum complete in the accounting. The number ten also is perfect, being the close of the series from the unit upwards. This parable clearly shows that we are in the royal likeness and image, even that of God over all. I suppose the drachma is the denarius on which is stamped the royal likeness. We, who had fallen and had been lost, have been found by Christ and transformed by holiness and righteousness into his image. …

A search was made for that which had fallen, so the woman lighted a lamp. … By the light, what was lost is saved, and there is joy for the powers above. They rejoice even in one sinner that repents, as he who knows all things has taught us. They keep a festival over one who is saved, united with the divine purpose, and never cease to praise the Savior’s gentleness. What great joy must fill them when all beneath heaven is saved and Christ calls them by faith to acknowledge the truth? They put off the pollution of sin and freed their necks from the bonds of death. They have escaped from the blame of their wandering and fall! We gain all these things in Christ. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 106. [1]

[1] CGSL 429-30**.

EACH CONVERSION BRINGS JOY IN HEAVEN

AMBROSE: The shepherd is rich. We are his hundredth portion. He has innumerable flocks of angels, of archangels, of dominions, of powers, of thrones, [1] of the others whom he left on the mountains. Since these are rational, they fittingly rejoice in the salvation of people. Although this also may be of benefit as an incentive to honesty, if each believes that his conversion would be pleasing to the hosts of angels, whose protection is to be sought and whose displeasure feared. Be a source of joy to the angels. May they rejoice in your return. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 7.210. [2]

[1] Col 1:16.

[2] EHG 316-17*.

THE FATHER CONFERS ON US THE WEALTH OF THE KINGDOM

AMBROSE: The woman did not idly rejoice to find her coin. The coin, having the image of the emperor, is not ordinary. [1] The image of the King is the register of the church. We are sheep. Let us pray that he would be pleased to place us beside the water of rest. [2] We are sheep. Let us seek pastures. We are coins. Let us have a price. We are sons. Let us hurry to the Father. [3] Let us not fear because we have squandered the inheritance of spiritual dignity that we received on earthly pleasures. [4] Since the Father conferred on the Son the treasure that he had, the wealth of faith is never made void. [5] Although he has given all, he possesses all and does not lose what he has bestowed. Do not fear that perhaps he will not receive you, for the Lord has no pleasure in the destruction of the living. [6] Already meeting you on the way, he falls on your neck, “for the Lord sets the fallen right.” [7] He will give you a kiss, that is, the pledge of piety and love. He will order the robe, ring and the shoes to be brought. [8] You still dread harshness, but he has restored dignity. You are terrified of punishment, but he offers a kiss. You fear reproach, but he prepares a banquet. [9] Let us now discuss the actual parable. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 7.211-12. [10]

[1] See Mt 22:19-21; Lk 20:24.

[2] Ps 22:2 LXX.

[3] See Lk 15:20.

[4] See Lk 15:13.

[5] See Rom 4:14.

[6] Wis 1:13.

[7] Ps 145:8 LXX.

[8] Lk 15:22.

[9] See Lk 15:23.

[10] EHG 317**.