There was a certain creditor who had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Who are those two debtors if not the two peoples, the one from the Jews, the other from the Gentiles, in debt to the Creditor of the heavenly treasure? … We do not owe this Creditor material wealth but standards of merits, accounts of virtues. The weight of seriousness, the likeness of righteousness, and the sound of confession measure the worth of this wealth. Woe is me if I do not have what I have received. One can pay off the whole debt to this Creditor only with difficulty. Woe is me if I do not ask, “Remit my debt.” The Lord would not have taught us to pray for the forgiveness of our sins if he had not known that some would be worthy debtors, only with difficulty. … There is nothing that we can worthily repay to God for the harm to the flesh he assumed, for the blows, the cross, the death and the burial. Woe is me if I have not loved! I dare to say that Peter did not repay and thereby loved more. Paul did not repay. He certainly repaid death for death, but he did not repay other d...
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. The debtors, says S. Ambrose, are those who owe God, the heavenly creditor, not actual money, but a return of good works and of virtue. Our debts, therefore, are our sins, by which we do despite to God, and for which we should make atonement. But we cannot make atonement unto God, and therefore are in danger of hell fire. For the Syriac creditor implies the same as usurer, and the Greek word הב×ויףפח̀ז answers to the Hebrew πωδ, nosche, and signifies one who gives, either outright, or on usury. Deuteronomy 15:6, Deuteronomy 28:12; Sirach 29:1-2.
One owed five hundred pence and the other fifty. The Roman denarius or penny, originally of the value of ten asses, was worth about eight pence of our modern money. In this parable we are to understand by the two debtors, Mary Magdalene, and Simon the Pharisee; who is not mentioned by name, lest he should be offended or disheartened. This is clear from the following verses wher...
Our Lord devised a statement that was like an arrow. He put conciliation at its tip and anointed it with love to soothe the parts of the body. He no sooner shot it at the one who was filled with conflict, than conflict turned to harmony. Directly following the humble statement of our Lord, who said, “Simon, I have something to say to you,” he who had secretly withdrawn responded, “Speak, my Lord.” A sweet saying penetrated a bitter mind and brought out fragrant fruit. He who was a secret detractor before the saying gave public praise after the saying. Humility with a sweet tongue subdues even its enemies to do it honor. Humility does not put its power to the test among its friends but among those who hate its display of its trophies.
