De remissione peccatorum

On the passage, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in heaven," and concerning the parable of the hundred sheep, and on the saying of the evangelist, "If two agree," and so forth, and on the passage, "How many times my brother sins against me, shall I forgive him?" The spring of water, having one nature, bestows the remedy for thirst upon many and diverse living beings. For herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, running down to it, receive drink, and a gathering of four-footed animals and multiform kinds of wheel-borne beasts, hastening to it, draw water from there, and countless multitudes of birds, flying down to it and drawing the water, quench the burning of thirst from it. And not only does the spring fulfill the need of irrational creatures, but it also causes the rich grace of the place to spring forth from its depths for rational humans; and every nature of reptiles and birds and four-footed animals and rational humans, drawing water from one spring, is satisfied. Such is the teaching of the divine Scriptures, beloved, being one. For since it has its outflow from the one wisdom of God, it instructs many and diverse hearts of people. And from there teachers are instructed, disciples are disciplined, churches are anointed, the thirsty are watered, the darkened are enlightened. That these things are so is easy to learn from the Gospel just read to us.

What then did the Lord say? "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in heaven." The voice is one, and it is divided in many ways according to the need and benefit of each person; the voice is one, and it suits the elderly and the young, women and virgins and men, disciples and teachers. "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven." To you has been given the authority to bind and to loose; you have bound yourself with the chain of avarice, loose yourself by the commandment of love for the poor; you have bound yourself with the sting of pleasures, loose yourself by temperance; you have bound yourself with the evil faith of Eunomius, loose yourself by the piety of orthodoxy. Teachers, bind the teachings of Eunomius, Arius, and Marathonius, and loose for us the meanings of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Gospels; bind the demons that war against the faithful with your supplications to God, and loose those who convert from the nations in baptism, breaking the chains of their sins; bind by excommunication those who have sinned after baptism, and loose them again when they repent, receiving them as brothers; for the saying is true: "Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." For this is what the apostles also did. Paul once bound the man who committed fornication in Corinth, and again loosed him when he repented from the heart; Peter also bound the man who, after baptism, wished to acquire the gift of God through money, and again loosed him when he fell before him from the heart.

Later, they bound many who had sinned without repentance, and loosed others who had repented. Peter bound Ananias with Sapphira, who were testing the Spirit of the Lord, and loosed Tabitha from the pangs of death, raising her from the dead; he loosed Cornelius the centurion who believed, and bound Simon the Magus in Rome, who was mocking with his sorceries. Paul also bound Elymas the Magus, blinding him with his word, and loosed the slave girl from the spirit of Python, separating her from it. Judas bound himself with the rope of betrayal, and Peter loosed his own denial through repentance. Paul also bound himself when he was persecuting the Church, but again loosed himself, having recognized on the road the way of truth. The prophets also bound and loosed many things. Elijah the Tishbite bound the rain-bearing clouds, not giving rain to the impious, and loosed them again when King Ahab fell before him. His disciple Elisha also loosed Naaman the Syrian from his leprosy, separating it from him, and bound Gehazi, who lied for money, bringing the leprosy upon him. Daniel loosed Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and bound the sword-bearing hands of the Chaldeans, which were armed against them; and he loosed the temple of the idols, overthrowing Bel and killing the dragon, and bound the mouths of bloodthirsty lions. The three youths also bound the power of fire, not being burned by it, and loosed the king's decree, not worshiping his image. Above all these, our Lord Jesus Christ bound and loosed.

He loosed the enmity that had arisen between us and God, and bound the primordial serpent through whom enmity came to be; he bound all the demons that were marshaled against men, and loosed all the men who were troubled by them; he bound the fiery sword that was turned against us, and loosed the thief bound upon the cross, bringing him into the luxury of paradise; he bound the fratricidal Cain, coiling him in tremors, and loosed the tremors of the paralytic, correcting his limbs; he loosed Isaac, who had been fettered by Abraham, and bound in his stead a ram caught in a thicket of Sabek; he bound Judas, who loved silver, and loosed the chief tax-collector Zacchaeus, who distributed his money to the poor; he bound the Jewish swine, entrusting them to demons, and loosed the bound donkey and the foal, sending his disciples; he bound the bitter-bearing fig tree, drying up its roots, and loosed the stooping woman, saying to her, "Take courage, daughter, you are loosed from your infirmity." He loosed Peter bound in chains, and bound the murderous Herod, coiling his limbs with worms; he strengthened the orthodox Church founded upon the solid rock, and dissolved the tent of the heterodox built upon shifting sand.

The Jews also bound Christ, but Christ loosed their temple, overturned their Jerusalem, dissolved their laws, annulled their circumcisions, broke up their synagogues, snatched away their law and the prophets, and winnowed them like chaff through every city and country. The devil also bound the Lord, having brought him up to the cross, but Christ burst open his insatiable belly, shattered his flesh-devouring teeth by breaking them against his own solid rock, paralyzed his sinews, crushed his garment, subdued his hair, cast upon him eternal lamentation and dark mourning, in return for his having brought down the man who stood in joy into the mourning of sins. He extinguished his shameless eyes, disgraced his dishonorable face, pierced him with sharp javelins, stabbed him with a three-mouthed sword, scattered his hopes, searched out his hidden right-hand nests, and winnowed his stores to every wind; he razed his merciless demon children and offspring, burned his handmade idols with inextinguishable fire, cast his bedding into a pit, burst open his dark chambers, threw open the gates of Hades, and having loosed all those bound by him and taken them with himself, ran up to the heavens to the Father like a giant, as the prophet says: "He will exult as a giant to run his course; the end of the sky is his exit and his destination.

of him to the very edge of heaven, and there is none who will hide from his warmth. He will rejoice as a giant to run his course. He rejoiced, as was recently heard in the Gospel, over the finding of the one lost sheep. For he left the ninety-nine sheep that were not wandering, that is, the angelic powers on the mountains, that is, on the heavens, and came to the wandering sheep that cried out and said: I have wandered like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commandments. For hearing such a voice of the wandering sheep, he inclined the heavens and descended and came to seek the wandering sheep, and having found it, he rejoiced. He will rejoice as a giant to run a course. He ran the course from the heavens to the earth rejoicing; then from the earth to the underworld he ran; then there, having released all the souls held by the devil, he ran down to earth, and again from earth to the heavens to the Father, he leaped as a giant. And there is none who will hide from his warmth. Hearing of Christ’s warmth, understand him as the sun of righteousness. And there is none who will hide from his warmth. For who, having been deadened by the coldest death, will hide from the warmth of his Spirit, and will not all rise from the dead? For he will sound the trumpet, and the dead will be raised incorruptible. Then what follows, beloved? Even if we have said a few things from many, let us cast our mind upon the next verse, to: Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Truly I say to you, if two agree together on the same thing concerning any matter whatsoever that they may ask for, it will be given to them. Abraham, having agreed with Sarah his wife—he running to the cattle, she hastening the loaves—received a wondrous thing in their old age, reaping the fruit of the loins, a child. Jacob the patriarch, having been of one mind with his mother, received the fruit of eternal blessing. Moses and Aaron, having agreed, laid waste to all Egypt, liberating the race of the Hebrews. Joshua and Caleb, being of one mind, alone inherited the land of promise. Deborah, having agreed with Barak, conquered the most savage tyrant. Judith, being of one mind with her own maidservant, conquered the alien Holofernes. Tobit, having agreed with the angel, bound the man-slaying demon from his own wife and opened the closed eyes of his father. Hezekiah and Isaiah, praying with one voice, laid low one hundred eighty-five thousand aliens. Paul and Silas, praying with one voice in the prison, caused the foundations of the prison to be shaken.

It is also possible to understand the passage in another way: "If two agree together on the same thing concerning any matter whatsoever that they may ask for, it will be given to them." If these two, which are greatly at variance and contentious, agree—that is, flesh and spirit, in that the flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh—if these two agree, so that one rules and the other serves, one is prudent and the other does not contradict, then the Lord will be between soul and flesh, and concerning any matter whatsoever that they may ask for, it will be given to them. For many who practiced this were heard, as Elijah on the mountain, and Daniel in the den, and Jonah in the whale, and Hezekiah on his bed of sickness, and Peter in Joppa, and Cornelius in Caesarea. And many women also, praying alone, were heard, as Sarah of Raguel in Ecbatana, and Judith in the upper room, and Susanna in the judgment of the lawless. Then, it says, Peter approached and said to the Lord: "How many times shall I forgive my brother who has sinned against me? Up to seven times?" And what does the Lord say to him? "I do not only say to you, 'Up to seven times,' but up to seventy times seven.

For he had heard the Lord saying, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." He therefore works upon the promise of the Lord, wishing at the same time to learn how great such philanthropic grace of the Lord is. He said to us, "You told us, 'Whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven.' How many times, then, if my brother sins against me, shall I forgive him? Up to seven times?" And the Lord, having observed the poverty of his philanthropy toward his neighbor, said to him, "I do not only say to you, 'Up to seven times,' but up to seventy times seven. For you, as a man, have asked in poverty of poverty; but I, as God, a great giver, have richly bestowed grace. Not only up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." But the saying contains a hidden mystery. If the farmer does not drive the hoe deep into the earth, he does not find the fruits suitable in the coming season; so also we, if we do not deepen our mind into the letter, we do not find the hidden treasure of the Spirit. "How many times, if my brother sins against me, shall I forgive him? Up to seven times?" And why did he not say, "Up to eight times," or "six times," or "ten times," but "up to seven times"? Because God made all things in six days, and on the seventh day he rested from his works. Peter asks the Lord a mystery, wishing to learn ecclesiastical canons.

For example: "If my brother sins against me every day of his life, but on the last day of his life—for instance, if he repents on the seventh day—shall I forgive him?" And the Lord turned and said: "Not only in this age will you forgive him his sins, but also in the future age you will grant him remission, which is seventy times seven times longer than this age. For the one who told you is true, that 'Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'" But let us work out the meaning more deeply. "How many times, if my brother sins against me—not against you, God, but against me—shall I forgive him?" And the Lord said to him: "Not only will you forgive sins against me up to seven times, but indeed seventy times seven. For what he said is true, that 'Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven to men, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this present age nor in the future.'" But thanks be to God that we do not fear this sin, for we do not blaspheme the Holy Spirit, but worship and glorify it. But let us refine the argument further. For just as gold becomes brighter when smelted, so too does Scripture become clearer when refined. "How many times, if my brother sins against me, shall I forgive him? Up to seven times?

Since He knew that the law allows men their transgressions within the week of this age—for it did not have the eighth day of the resurrection, for Christ, who possesses the day of resurrection, had not yet arrived—hence David, because he was under the law, praises God seven times a day; for he says, "Seven times a day I praised you," not eight times; for Christ, the eighth day of the resurrection, has not yet come to me; I am still under the law, I will serve you under the law; I am still the son of the handmaid, of the synagogue; for I have not yet been born of the free woman. Therefore he says, "I am your slave, and the son of your handmaid." For the mother of Christians reborn in grace is free, as the Apostle says: "The Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all." How many times, then, will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times? As if he were saying, "Do you command me to forgive the offenses of my brothers, as the law does? For this is what 'up to seven times' means, or something more?" And the Lord surpasses grace by saying: "Not only up to seven times, but up to seventy-seven times.

For as much as the Word of the law surpasses, so much also the grace of the law; for the Word is not God from the law, but the law is from the Word. And it is possible to learn, beloved, the benefit from the Word, so that you may know how much greater the Word is than the law. The law gives ten commandments to the Jews, and it did not benefit them; but God, having given us one Word, saved all through it. But still we stumble over the letter with the Spirit. For he who opens a treasure does not depart having taken only gold and silver, but also seeks precious stones and the various kinds. How many times, if my brother sins against me, shall I forgive him? Up to seven times? It is a mystery, beloved, hidden in the letter, and it has escaped many. But you pay close attention to my meaning; for it is very subtle, swifter than a bird, able easily to elude the eye of the mind, even of those who are very sharp-sighted. How many times, if my brother sins against me, shall I forgive him? Seven times? For it is worthy of inquiry, why Peter said "Up to seven times," and our Lord answered, "Up to seventy times seven." But Peter attended to the charge of murder, that it is very grave and terrible, and wishes to learn in mystery the ecclesiastical canons, whether the Lord commands him to forgive the charge of murder in baptism. For he had observed that Cain killed his brother by guile, and fell under seven charges: for he was the first to kill among men, the first to dissemble, the first to lie, the first to defile the earth with blood, the first to open the gates of death.

Death had not yet tasted a human being, until Cain gave birth to it through envy. Therefore Peter, having observed that Cain's murder is subject to seven charges, approaches the Lord mysteriously inquiring, "How many times, if my brother sins, shall I forgive him? Up to seven times?" That is, "Do you command me in baptism to forgive him the charges of the fratricide Cain?" And what does the Lord say to him? "Not only will you forgive the charge of Cain seven times in baptism, but also that of Lamech up to seventy times seven." In Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.