The Great Commentary of Cornelius a Lapide: S. Luke
Chapter 15
Ver. 1. — Then drew near unto Him all the publicans and sinners . πάντες, all, that is, many came together to hear Christ, attracted by His sanctity and by the loving-kindness with which He called sinners to Himself, and promised pardon and salvation to the penitent. For His preaching was, “ Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Ver. 2. — And the Pharisees and Scribes murmured . For as they avoided the touch of unclean bodies, so did they avoid that of sinful souls. Hence they did not deign to speak to sinners, much less to eat with them. This constituted the proud spirit of the Pharisees, who thought themselves pure and holy in all things pertaining to the law, and therefore kept apart from the impure that they might not be defiled. To them the spirit of Christ was clearly opposed ; for He came into the world to save sinners, and therefore sought opportunity to converse with them, and when invited was present at their feasts ; for nothing is more pleasing to God than the conversion of the sinner. “From which we may gather,” says S. Gregory (hom. 34), “that true justice, i.e. the justice of Christ, is full of compassion, but that the false justice of the Pharisees is scornful.” “ Indeed, it is,” says S. Chrysostom, “ the mark of the apostolic life, to think for the salvation of souls.”
Ver. 4. — What man of you, having an hundred sheep , if he lose one of them , doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness , and go after that which is lost , until he find it ? For a sheep is a simple and foolish animal, which, in search of pasture, easily loses its way and wanders from the fold, and when once astray is unable to return. So that there is need of a shepherd to go forth and seek it.
So we, by reason of our sinful lusts, were as wandering sheep, treading the path which led to perdition, without a thought of God or of heaven, or of the salvation of our souls. Wherefore Christ came down from heaven to seek us, and to lead us back from the way of destruction to that which leadeth to eternal life. So we read, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way ; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” Isa. liii. 6 ; and again, “Ye were as sheep going astray ; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”
Ver. 5. — And when he hath found it , he layeth it on his shoulders , rejoicing. Or as the Arabic renders it, “ He carries it on his shoulders joyfully,” that he may the more quickly return it to the flock.
In like manner on Christ “ was laid,” as saith the prophet Isaiah, “ the iniquity of us all.” Hence Gregory of Nyssa, writes in the Catena , “ When the shepherd had found the sheep, he did not punish it, he did not drive it to the fold, but placing it on his shoulder, and carrying it gently, he reunited it with the flock.” Oh how wondrous is the meekness, clemency, and love of Christ our Lord ! It was to represent this love to the faithful that Christ is depicted in our temples with the lost sheep on His shoulders, carrying it back to the flock, and it is related of the son of Charlemagne, that laying aside his royal state, he became a monk, and when employed in keeping sheep, followed to the letter the example set by the Good Shepherd : for humility and the imitation of Christ is in truth the glory of Christian kings.
Ver. 6. — Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost, συγχάρητέ μοι. Let My joy be one with yours — partake of My joy. His joy is so great that he cannot confine it to Himself, His friends must rejoice also. He further indicates that the event is such a happy one, that it ought to afford matter for rejoicing to all. He says not, “ Rejoice with the sheep that is found,” but, “ with Me.” Because truly our life is His joy. S. Gregory.
Ver. 7. — I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven , &c., i.e. greater joy, for such is implied by the comparative particle ἤ, “than.”
The angels then, and the saints in heaven, rejoice with exceeding great joy when it is made known to them, by the revelation of God, that a sinner is converted; for when such an one by repentance passes from condemnation to life, it is a gain to the sinner — to the angels — and above all to God Himself.
The sinner passes from sin unto righteousness, from hell to heaven. The angels therefore rejoice at the blessedness of such an one, because, says Euthymius, they are kindly disposed towards men and because by repentance men become like them in purity and in holiness. They rejoice also on their own account because the ruin which was effected by Lucifer and his angels is remedied by the justification and sanctification of men, and because the places from which these angels fell are restored and filled up. It is a joy to God because He is a lover of souls, and thirsts for the salvation of men.
Again the angels rejoice that the desire of God, whom they love above all things, is fulfilled, and that He is a partaker of this joy, as well as honoured by the penitence of the sinner. Apposite to this matter is the vision of Carpus, to whom Christ made known that He so longed for the conversion of sinners, as to be ready again to suffer death upon the Cross, if thereby this object could be effected. And Palladius relates that a certain Anchorite, who had fallen into sin, repented in sackcloth and ashes with many tears; whereupon an angel appeared to him and said, “The Lord hath accepted thy penitence, and hath had compassion on thee. Take heed that thou art not again led astray.”
By this argument, Christ rebukes the Pharisees for murmuring against Him because He companied with sinners in order to convert them. For the conversion of sinners is a work most pleasing to God and His angels. The Pharisees ought therefore to take part in this work, and to share in the rejoicing. For “all the fruit” of the Incarnation, and of the death of Christ upon the Cross is “to take away sin,” Isa. xxvii. 9, — “to bring in everlasting righteousness,” and to extend the kingdom of God. S. Matt vi. 10. The knowledge of this ought to excite in every follower of Christ a zealous love for the souls of men.
Hence S. Gregory, when he heard that the English had been converted by the preaching of Augustine, rejoiced in spirit, and wrote ; “ If there is great joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, what joy, think you, has there been over the conversion of so great a people ; for by their repentance and faith they have condemned the sins which they aforetime had committed. Whilst heaven is thus rejoicing, let us repeat the angelic strain, and let us all with one accord exclaim, ‘ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men.’”
More than over ninety and nine just persons . God and His holy angels, then, rejoice over one penitent more than over one righteous man, nay, more than over ninety and nine just persons ; because from the conversion of the sinner there arises a new joy, which seems more perceptible, and is in reality felt more than that continuous and long-standing joy which attaches itself to the ninety and nine ; a joy which, although actually the greater, seems to men to lose its freshness by reason of its long duration. For the novelty of a thing which we long for awakens in us a vast and a new joy, which is felt all the more on account of its novelty, as we find when we receive tidings of victories or conversions ; and Christ often speaks after the manner of men, especially in His parables. The saying of S. Bernard, that “ The tears of penitents are the wine of the angels,” applies here : — The joy over the conversion of a sinner, writes Emmanuel Sa, is sensibly greater. Although in other respects, a man undoubtedly rejoices more over ninety-nine sheep than over one, and God joys more over ninety and nine just persons than over one sinner that repenteth.