And he searched, and began at the eldest, and ended at the youngest: and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack.
All Commentaries on Genesis 44:12 Go To Genesis 44
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Christ finds this money in us which he has himself given us. We possess the money of nature; we also possess the money of grace. Nature is the work of the Creator, grace the gift of the Redeemer. Even though we are unable to see Christ’s gifts, nevertheless he is giving them. He is working in a hidden way and is giving them to all people, but there are few who are able to keep them and not lose them. Yet he does not give all things to all people. Wheat is given to many, but the cup to one, who is presented with the prophetic and priestly function. For it is not everyone but only the prophet who says, “The cup of salvation I will take up, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.” Therefore the word of heavenly teaching already shone in Paul’s body, since he was instructed in the law. But because he was still not subject to the justice of God, the cup was within the sack, the teaching within the law, the lamp within the bushel. Nevertheless Ananias was sent to give a blessing and to lay on his hand and open the sack. When the sack was opened, the money shone forth, and when the scales fell, in a way like fastenings on the sack, Paul saw straightway. His fetter was unbelief; the loosening of it became faith. And for that reason, when the veil that is set over the heart of the Jews was set aside—like the opening of the sack—he turned to the Lord. Free of the bond, he obtained the grace of liberty and said, “But we all, beholding the glory of God with faces unveiled, are transformed into the same image.”
