And they that sat to eat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgives sins also?
Read Chapter 7
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Christ is our love. Love is good, since it offered itself to death for transgressions. Love is good, which forgave sins. Let our soul clothe herself with love of a kind that is “strong as death.” Just as death is the end of sins, so also is love, because the one who loves the Lord ceases to commit sin. For “charity thinks no evil and does not rejoice over wickedness, but endures all things.” If someone does not seek his own goods, how will he seek the goods of another? That death through the bath of baptism, through which every sin is buried, is strong and forgives every fault. The woman in the Gospel brought this kind of love. The Lord says, “Her many sins have been forgiven her, because she has loved much.” The death of the holy martyrs is also strong. It destroys previous faults. Since it involves a love not less than theirs, death that is equal to the martyrs’ suffering is just as strong for taking away the punishment of sins. Isaac, or The Soul–.
And they that sat at meat with Him began to say within themselves, i.e. to reason in their hearts, for they did not dare to express their thoughts lest they should be put to rebuke.
Who is this that forgiveth sins also? Is it the Messiah? Is it God, for God alone can forgive sins! Christ leaves them a prey to wonder and to doubt, in order that they might be led to inquire into His life, doctrine and miracles, and see in Him the Son of God.
He came that he might forgive the debtors much and little and show mercy upon small and great, that there might be no one whatsoever who did not participate in his goodness. As a pledge and plain example of his grace, he freed that unchaste woman from her many iniquities by saying, “Your sins are forgiven you.” A declaration such as this is truly worthy of God! It is a word joined with supreme authority. Since the law condemned those that were in sin, who, I ask, was able to declare things above the law, except the One who ordained it? He immediately both set the woman free and directed the attention of that Pharisee and those who were dining with him to more excellent things. They learned that the Word being God was not like one of the prophets, but rather far beyond the measure of humanity although he became man. Commentary on Luke, Homily
It happens that, whatever state of life a man has reached, he sometimes can offer pure and devout prayer. Even in the lowliest place, where a man is repenting from fear of punishment and the judgment to come, his petitions can enrich him with the same fervor of spirit as the man, who attained to purity of heart, gazes upon God’s blessing and is filled with an overwhelming happiness. As the Lord said, “The one who knows he has been forgiven more begins to love more.”
