Take heed to yourselves: If your brother trespasses against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
All Commentaries on Luke 17:3 Go To Luke 17
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
“If your brother sins against you, reprove him.” After the parable of the rich man who was tortured in punishment, how fittingly he added the command of showing mercy to those indeed who repent of their error, for fear that despair might not recall someone from guilt! He is truly moderate, so that pardon is not difficult or leniency lax, fearing that harsh reproof might cast someone down or conspiracy might invite guilt! … He fittingly said, “If your brother sins against you,” for it is not an equal condition to sin against people and against God. The apostle, who is a true interpreter of the divine prophecy, says, “After the first admonition, avoid a person that is a heretic,” because unbelief is not on a par with minor transgression. Since error very often surprises someone through ignorance, he commands that it should be rebuked, so that stubbornness is shunned and a mistake is corrected. –.
