Matthew 18:12 (WEB)
“What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray?
Fathers and councils · 33
Irenaeus of Lyons
“Thus she, passing from body to body, and suffering insults in every one of them, at last became a common prostitute; and she it was that was meant by the lost sheep.” — editor's note: Matt. xviii. 12.
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Cyril of Jerusalem
“They are the ninety and nine sheep, but mankind is the single one.” — editor's note: Matt. xviii. 12; Luke xv. 4. Ambrose, Expos. in Luc. VII. 210: “Rich is that shepherd of whose flock we are but the one hundredth part. Of Angels and…
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Augustine of Hippo
“May we from the Lord’s saying that He had left ninety and nine sheep in the mountains, that is, in the higher regions, and had come down for one?” — editor's note: Matt. xviii. 12; Luke xv. 4.
Read the whole comment“Let the lost sheep be sought, let the lost sheep be quickened, for whose sake its Shepherd left the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and while seeking it, was torn by Jewish thorns.” — editor's note: Matt. xviii. 12, 13.
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John Chrysostom
“Even so it is not will before your Father,that one of these little ones should perish.”” — editor's note: Matt. xviii. 12–14.
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Gregory of Nazianzus
“What think ye of our affairs, dear shepherds and fellow-shepherds: whose feet are beautiful, for you bring glad tidings of peace and of the good things with which ye have come; beautiful again in our eyes, to whom ye have come in season, not to convert a wandering sheep, but to converse with a pilgrim shepherd?” — editor's note: S. Matt. xviii. 12.
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Clement of Alexandria
“Seal certum est, Dominum quoque “venisse” ad ea, “quæ aberraverant.”” — editor's note: Matt. xviii. 11, 12.
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Catena Aurea on Matthew
- JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
The Lord had said, under the type of hand, foot, and eye, that all kin and connection which could afford scandal must be cut off. The harshness of this declaration He accordingly tempers with the following precept,…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or otherwise; As to shun the evil, so to honour the good, has great recompense. Above then He had bid them to cut off the friendships of those that gave offence, here He teaches them to shew honour and service to the…
Read the whole comment - Glossa OrdinariaCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or otherwise; Because so great evils come of brethren being scandalized, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones.”
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
The little ones are those that are but lately born in Christ, or those who abide without advance, as though lately born. But Christ judged it needless to give command concerning not despising the more perfect…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Or because the perfect are esteemed of many as little ones, as poor, namely, and despicable.
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
But this exposition does not seem to agree with that which was said, “If any one scandalizes one of these little ones;” for the perfect man is not scandalized, nor does he perish. But he who thinks this the true…
Read the whole comment - Glossa OrdinariaCatena Aurea on Matthew
Therefore are they not to be despised for that they are so dear to God, that Angels are deputed to be their guardians; “For I say unto you, that in heaven their Angels do always behold the face of my Father which is…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
Some will have it that an Angel is given as an attendant minister from the time when in the laver of regeneration the infant is born in Christ; for, say they, it is incredible that a holy Angel watches over those who…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
High dignity of souls, that each from its birth has an Angel set in charge over it!
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
Here He is speaking not of any Angels, but of the higher sort; for when He says, “Behold the face of my Father,” He shews that their presence before God is free and open, and their honour great.
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
But Dionysius says, that it is from the ranks of the lesser Angels that these are sent to perform this ministry, either visibly or invisibly, for that those higher ranks have not the employment of an outward ministry.
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
And therefore the Angels always behold the face of the Father, and yet they come to us; for by a spiritual presence they come forth to us, and yet by internal contemplation keep themselves there whence they come…
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
The Angels offer daily to God the prayers of those that are to be saved by Christ; it is therefore perilous to despise him whose desires and requests are conveyed to the eternal and invisible God, by the service and…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
They are called our Angels who are indeed the Angels of God; they are Gods because they have not forsaken Him; they are ours because they have begun to have us for their fellow citizens. As they now behold God, so…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
He gives yet another reason weightier than the foregoing, why the little ones are not to be despised, “For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost.”
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
As much as to say, Despise not little ones, for I also for men condescended to become man. By “that which was lost,” understand the human race; for all the elements have kept their place, but man was lost, because he…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
And to this reasoning He adds a parable, in which He sets forth the Father as seeking the salvation of men, and saying, “What think you, If a man have a hundred sheep.”
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
This refers to the Creator of man Himself; for a hundred is a perfect number, and He had a hundred sheep when He created the substance of Angels and men.
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
But by the one sheep is to be understood one man, and under this one man is comprehended the whole human race. He that seeks man is Christ, and the ninety and nine are the host of the heavenly glory which He left.
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
The Evangelist says they were left “on the mountains,” to signify that the sheep, which were not lost, abode on high.
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on Matthew
The Lord found the sheep when He restored man, and over that sheep that is found there is more joy in heaven than over the ninety and nine, because there is a greater matter for thanksgiving to God in the restoration…
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
Note, that nine wants only one to make it ten, and ninety and nine the same to be a hundred. Thus members which want one only to be perfect, may be larger or smaller, but yet the unit remaining invariable, when it is…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
Others think that by the ninety and nine sheep are understood the number of the righteous, and by the one sheep the sinners according to that said in another place, “I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to…
Read the whole comment - Gregory the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
We must consider whence it is that the Lord declares that He has joy rather over the converted sinners, than over the righteous that stand. Because these last are often slothful and slack to practise the greater good…
Read the whole comment - BedeCatena Aurea on Matthew
[ed. note: These two passages, to which the name of Bede is prefixed in all the editions, have been sought for in Bede without success. They occur in Anselm’s ‘Enarrationes,’ and the latter may perhaps be originally…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
What follows, “Even so it is not the will, &c.” is to be referred to what was said above, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones;: and so He shews that this parable was set forth to enforce that same…
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Cross-references · 10
Cited together in Origen on Matthew 18:10–14 (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Against Heresies I.23.
Cited together in Against Heresies I.23.
Cited together in Against Heresies I.23.
Cited together in Against Heresies I.23.
Cited together in Against Heresies I.23.
Cited together in Against Heresies I.23.
Cited together in Against Heresies I.23.
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 18:10–14 (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 18:10–14 (3) (Catena Aurea).