Sermon 99
SERMO 99
ABOUT THE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL LUKE 7: 36-50
"And behold, a woman who was a sinner in the city," etc.
On the Forgiveness of Sins, Against the Donatists
The sinful woman at the feet of the reclining Lord.
That we are admonished by the Lord's words in divine readings, hence believing that God wishes to speak to us, we bring forth to your Charity, with His help, a discussion on the remission of sins. For when the Gospel was read, you listened very attentively, and the event narrated was presented before the eyes of your heart. For you saw, not with flesh but with mind, the Lord Jesus Christ reclining in the house of the Pharisee and not disdaining the invitation. You also saw the woman in the city, famous but with a bad reputation, who was a sinner, rushing uninvited to the feast where her healer was reclining and seeking with devout audacity healing. Rushing into the feast as if impudently, but timely for benefit (for she recognized how great her ailment was and knew that He to whom she had come was capable of healing it): she approached, not to the head of the Lord, but to His feet, and she who had walked badly for a long time sought to tread rightly. First, she shed tears, the blood of the heart, and washed the Lord's feet with the service of confession. She dried them with her hair, kissed them, anointed them: she spoke silently; she did not utter words, but showed her devotion.
The proud thoughts of the Pharisees.
For she touched the Lord by watering, kissing, wiping, and anointing his feet: the Pharisee who had invited the Lord Jesus Christ, because he was of that kind of proud men, of whom the prophet Isaiah says: "Who say, 'Stay away from me, do not touch me, for I am holy'"; he thought that the Lord did not know the woman: This he thought within himself and said in his heart, "If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching his feet." Therefore, he believed that the Lord did not know her, because he did not repulse her, because he did not forbid her to approach, because he allowed himself to be touched by a sinner woman. But how did he know that the Lord did not know her? For what if, Pharisee, inviter and mocker of the Lord, he did know? You feed the Lord, and you do not understand from whom you should be fed. How do you know that the Lord did not know who that woman was, except because she was allowed to approach, because she kissed his feet with his sufferance, because she wiped, because she anointed? For should such an unclean woman have been allowed to do these things to the sacred feet? If such a woman had approached the feet of that Pharisee, he would have said what Isaiah says about such people: "Stay away from me, do not touch me, for I am holy." But she approached the Lord unclean, so that she might return clean: she approached sick, so that she might return healthy: she approached confessing, so that she might return professing.
The Lord chastises the thought of the Pharisees.
For the Lord heard what the Pharisee was thinking. Now from this the Pharisee should understand, that if He could hear his thoughts, He could see the sinner. Therefore He proposed to him a parable about two debtors to one creditor. For He also wished to heal him, that he may not eat bread with Him in vain: He hungered for him feeding. He wished to correct him, to sacrifice him, to consume him, to transfer him into His body: just as He said to that Samaritan woman: "I thirst." What does "I thirst" mean? "I desire your faith." Therefore, the words of the Lord are spoken in this parable; and both are acted upon, that both the inviter may be healed along with his fellow diners, seeing together and equally ignorant of the Lord Jesus Christ; and that the woman may have the confidence of her confession, and no longer be pricked by the pangs of her conscience. One, he says, owed fifty denarii, another five hundred, both were forgiven their debts: who loved him more? The one to whom the parable was proposed responded, which reason certainly compelled him to respond: "I believe, Lord, to whom He forgave more." And turning to the woman, He said to Simon: "Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you did not give water for my feet; but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss; but since she entered, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil; but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I say: Her many sins are forgiven, because she loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little."
A difficult question arises from the words of the Lord.
A question certainly arises that needs to be solved, which requires the attention of your Charity, lest perhaps we are unable to suffice with words to remove and elucidate all its obscurity due to the narrowness of time; especially since this flesh, fatigued by heat, now desires to be refreshed, and demanding its due, it impedes the eagerness of the soul, showing that which has been said: The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. It is to be feared, and greatly feared, that in these words of the Lord, not well understood by those who favor their carnal desires, and who are sluggish in being led to freedom by them, that judgment might creep in, which was spoken against the very Apostles preaching, whence the Apostle Paul says: And as certain people say that we say, Let us do evil that good may come. For someone might say: If little is forgiven to someone, he loves little; but to whom much is forgiven, he loves much: it is better to love more than to love less; it is necessary that we sin much, and owe much, which we may desire to be forgiven, that we may love the forgiver of great debts more. For that sinful woman loved the forgiver of her debts more, as she owed more, with the Lord Himself saying: Many sins are forgiven her, for she loved much. Why then did she love much, unless because she owed much? And finally, He added and joined: But to whom little is forgiven, he loves little. Is it not better, he says, that much is forgiven to me, rather than less, so that I may love my Lord more? You certainly see the depth of the question: I know you see it. You see the narrowness of time, and this you certainly see and feel.
The matter is explained by examples.
Therefore, receive a few words. If I do not do justice to the magnitude of the question, temporarily store away the current discourse, in the future consider me a debtor. Now give me two men, so that you may think about what I proposed under clearer examples. One of them is full of sins, has long lived very wickedly; the other has sinned little: both approach grace, both are baptized; they enter as debtors, they leave free: more is given to one, less to the other. I ask how much each loves. If I find that the one to whom more sins were forgiven loves more, then it was more advantageous to sin greatly, more beneficial was much iniquity, lest love be lukewarm. I ask the other how much he loves, I find he loves less: for if I find that he also loves as much as the one to whom much was forgiven, how will I respond to the words of the Lord? How will what the Truth said be true: "To whom little is forgiven, he loves little"? Behold, someone says, little was forgiven to me, I did not sin much; and I love as much as he to whom much has been forgiven. Do you speak the truth, or Christ? For this reason, your lie was forgiven to you, so that you may impose the crime of lying on its forgiver? If little was forgiven to you, you love little. For if little was forgiven to you and you love greatly, you contradict him who said: "To whom little is forgiven, he loves little." Therefore, I believe more him who knows you more. You think little was forgiven to you, indeed you love little. What then, he says, should I have done? Commit many evils, so that there would be much to be forgiven to me, so that I could love more? He constrains us; but may the Lord who proposed these truths, free me from constraints.
The question is resolved.
This was said concerning that Pharisee who believed himself to have none, or very few, sins. For he would not have invited the Lord if he did not love somewhat. But how little was it? He did not give a kiss, nor even water for the feet, and if not tears: he did not honor Him with that service which the woman did, who knew what was being healed and by whom she was being healed. O Pharisee, therefore you love little because you suspect little is forgiven to you: not because little is forgiven, but because you think little of what is forgiven. What does he say then? Should I, who have not committed murder, be considered a murderer? who have not committed adultery, be punished for adultery? Or should those things be forgiven to me, which I have not committed? Behold, once again, set two and let us speak to them. One sinner comes suppliant, covered with thorns like a hedgehog, and too fearful like a hare. But the rock is a refuge for hedgehogs and hares. Therefore, he comes to the rock, finds refuge, receives help. Another has not committed many sins: what shall we do to him, so that he loves greatly? what shall we persuade him of? Will we go against the Lord's words: To whom little is forgiven, he loves little? So plainly, to whom little is forgiven. But, O you who say you have not committed many sins; why? by whose guidance? Thanks be to God, that by your movement and voice you signify that you understand. Now, as I see, the question is resolved. This one has committed many sins, and has become a debtor of many: that one, with God guiding, has committed few. To whom this one attributes what is forgiven, to this one also attribute what is not committed. You were not an adulterer in that past life of yours full of ignorance, not yet enlightened, not yet discerning good and evil, not yet believing in Him, who governed you unknowing. This your God says to you: I was governing you for myself, I was keeping you for myself. That you did not commit adultery, the tempter was absent: that the tempter was absent, I made happen. Place and time were absent; and that these were absent, I caused to be. The tempter was present, place and time were not absent: that you did not consent, I frightened you away. Recognize therefore His grace, to whom you owe both what you did not commit and what you did not. For there is no sin that a man has done, which another man could not also do, if there were no ruler by whom man was made.
Sins can be forgiven by God, not by man.
Now since, as we could, we have solved a deep question in such a short time; or if we have not yet solved it, let us be bound as debtors, as I said: let us rather briefly consider the remission of sins. Christ was assumed to be a man, both by him who invited him and by those who were reclining together. I do not know what the sinful woman saw more in the Lord. For why did she do all these things, except to have her sins forgiven? Therefore she knew that he could forgive sins: but they knew that a man could not forgive sins. And it must be believed that all, that is, both those reclining, and the woman approaching the Lord's feet, all knew that a man could not forgive sins. Since therefore they all knew this; she who believed that he could forgive sins understood that he was more than a man. Finally, when he said to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven," immediately they said, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" Who is this, whom now the sinful woman recognized? You, reclining as if healthy, ignore the doctor: because perhaps with a greater fever you even lose your mind. For even a frenzied person laughing is mourned by the healthy. However, you well know, you well hold: hold, because a man cannot forgive sins. She who believed that her sins were forgiven by Christ, believed not only that Christ was a man, but also God. “Who is this,” they say, “who even forgives sins?” And the Lord, to those saying “Who is this,” did not say: the Son of God, the Word of God: he did not say this, but allowed them to remain somewhat in what they were thinking, resolving the question of their hearts. For he who saw those reclining, heard those thinking; turning to the woman, he said, “Your faith has saved you.” Those who say, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” who think of me as a man, let them think of me as a man. Your faith has saved you.
The error and arrogance of the Donatists.
A good doctor not only heals those who are present, but also foresees those who will come. There will be people who say: I forgive sins, I justify, I sanctify, I heal whomever I baptize. They are also among this number, who say: Do not touch me. So much so that they are among this number that recently in our conference, as you can also read in the official records, when a seat was offered to them by the examiner to sit with us, they thought it proper to respond: It is written for us, not to sit with such as these, lest by the contact of benches our contamination might reach them. See if it is not: Do not touch me, because I am clean. On another day, however, where it was more appropriate, we reminded them of this miserable vanity, when discussing the Church, that the wicked do not contaminate the good in it; we answered them, because they did not want to sit with us and said they had been warned by the Scripture of God, for it is written: I have not sat in the council of vanity. We said, If you did not want to sit with us because it is written: I have not sat in the council of vanity, why did you enter with us, since it is consequently written: And I will not enter with those doing iniquity? Therefore, in what they say: Do not touch me, because I am clean, they are like the Pharisee who had invited the Lord and therefore thought he did not know the woman, because he had not prevented her from touching his feet. But in another way, the Pharisee was better, since he believed Christ to be a man, he did not believe that a man could forgive sins. Therefore, he appeared to have a better understanding than the Jews over the heretics. What did the Jews say? Who is this who even forgives sins? Does a man dare to usurp this to himself? What does the heretic say against it? I forgive, I cleanse, I sanctify. Let him answer, not I, but Christ: O man, when I was thought to be a man by the Jews, I gave the remission of sins to faith. Not I, Christ answers you. O heretic, you being a man, say: Come, woman; I make you whole! I, when I was thought to be a man, said: Go, woman; your faith has made you whole.
Argument of the Donatists.
They respond, not knowing, as the Apostle says, neither things they speak, nor about which they affirm: they respond and say: If humans do not forgive sins, then what Christ said is false: Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. You do not know why this was said, how it was said. The Lord was to give the Holy Spirit to men, and by the Holy Spirit, their sins are forgiven; it was not intended to be understood that sins are forgiven by the merits of men. For what are you, man, if not a sick person to be healed? Do you want to be a physician to me? Seek a physician with me. For to show this more clearly, the Lord, by the Holy Spirit whom He gave to His faithful, forgives sins, not by the merits of men. At a certain place, after rising from the dead, He said: Receive the Holy Spirit; and when He said: Receive the Holy Spirit, He immediately added: If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them: this means, the Spirit forgives, not you. The Spirit, however, is God. Thus, God forgives, not you. But what are you to the Spirit? Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you? And again: Do you not know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? Therefore, God dwells in His holy temple, that is, in His faithful saints, in His Church: through them, He forgives sins; because they are living temples.
Sins are forgiven by God both through men and apart from men.
But he who forgives through a man, can also forgive outside of a man. For he is not less capable of giving by himself who is able to give through another. Through John, he gave to some; to John himself, through whom did he give? Rightly, wishing to show this and to attest to this truth, when some in Samaria had been evangelized and baptized, and baptized by Philip the evangelist, one of the seven deacons initially chosen, they did not receive the Holy Spirit, though they had been baptized. It was reported to the disciples who were in Jerusalem, and they went to Samaria so that those who had been baptized might receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of their hands. And so it happened: they came and laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. For at that time the Holy Spirit was given in such a way that it also appeared to be given. For those who received it spoke in the tongues of all nations: to signify that the Church would speak in the tongues of all nations. Therefore, they received the Holy Spirit, and it was evidently shown in them. When Simon saw this, thinking it to be from men, he wanted it to be his own. What he thought was from men, he wanted to buy from men. How much money, he said, do you want to take from me, so that through the laying on of my hands the Holy Spirit may be given? Then Peter, detesting him, said: You have no part nor lot in this faith. For you thought the gift of God could be bought with money? May your money perish with you: and the rest he suitably said there.
The Spirit given without the ministry of men.
But why did I want to mention this, let your Charity pay attention. It was necessary that God should first show Himself working through men, but then through Himself, so that men would not think, as Simon did, that it was of men, not of God. Although the disciples already knew this. For one hundred and twenty men were gathered, when the Holy Spirit came upon them without the laying on of any hands. For who had laid hands on them then? And yet He came, and filled the first. After the scandal of Simon, what did God do? See the teacher, not by words, but by deeds. The same Philip who had baptized men, and the Holy Spirit had not come upon them until the Apostles had come and laid hands on them, baptized the eunuch, that is, a certain eunuch of Queen Candace, who had worshipped in Jerusalem and was returning, reading the prophet Isaiah in his chariot and not understanding. Philip, having been advised, approached the chariot, explained the reading, instructed in faith, and evangelized Christ. The eunuch believed in Christ, and when they came to some water, he said: Behold water, what prevents me from being baptized? Philip said to him: If you believe in Jesus Christ? He answered: I believe Jesus Christ to be the Son of God. Immediately he went down into the water with him. The mystery and sacrament of Baptism having been completed, so that the gift of the Holy Spirit would not be thought to be of men, it was not waited for, as then, for the Apostles to come, but the Holy Spirit came immediately. Simon’s thought was dissolved, so that he would not have imitators in such thinking.
Another example in the centurion Cornelius.
Then another more marvelous example. Peter came to the centurion Cornelius, to an uncircumcised Gentile: he began to preach Christ Jesus to him, and to those who were with him. While Peter was still speaking, I do not say, not yet laying on hands, but not even yet baptizing, and while those who were with Peter were doubting whether the uncircumcised should be baptized (for there had arisen among the Jews who had believed, and those who had become faithful from the Gentiles, a scandal, that is, the Jews and Christians, who were baptized uncircumcised); so that God might remove this question, while Peter was speaking, the Holy Spirit came, filled Cornelius, filled those who were with him. And by this very attestation of a great matter, it was as if it were shouted to Peter: Why do you doubt about the water? I am already here.
The cleansing in Baptism is not due to the merits of the ministers, but from the grace of God.
Therefore let any soul be secure, being liberated by the Lord's grace from much wickedness, as if cleansed from unclean prostitution in the Church. Let her believe, let her approach the Lord's feet, let her seek the footsteps of the Lord, let her confess, shedding tears, let her wipe with her hair. The Lord's feet are the preachers of the Gospel. The woman's hair, excessive possessions. Let her wipe with her hair, let her wipe thoroughly, let her work mercy: and when she has wiped, let her kiss; let her receive peace, so she may have charity. She approached such a one, she was baptized by such a one, like the apostle Paul: let her hear from him: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. But she was baptized by someone else seeking their own, not those of Jesus Christ: let her hear from the Lord: Do what they say, but do not do what they do. Let her be secure in that, whether she encounters a good evangelist, or one who does not do what he says. For from the Lord she securely hears: Go, woman; your faith has saved you.