John Chrysostom, On the Debtor of Ten Thousand Talents

There is no need of money; it is enough only to be willing, and all things of virtue are accomplished by us; and if we consider the dignity of God who commands and legislates, we shall receive sufficient teaching and exhortation; for we do not speak from ourselves, but we lead all of you to the lawgiver. Follow, therefore, listen to the divine laws. Where, then, did He discourse about anger and bearing grudges? In many places and elsewhere, but especially through that parable, which he spoke to his disciples, beginning something like this: For this reason the kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who wished to settle accounts with his 51.20 servants. And when he began to settle accounts, one debtor of ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, he ordered him to be sold, and his wife, and his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. Therefore that servant fell at his feet, and begged him, saying: Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you everything. And the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that man, going out, found one of his fellow servants, who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying: Pay me what you owe. Therefore his fellow servant fell at his feet, and begged him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will repay you everything. But he was not willing, but went and threw him into prison, until he should repay what was owed. But when his fellow servants saw, they were indignant, and came and reported it to their lord. Then his lord, calling him, said: You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me; should you not also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I also had mercy on you? Then he handed him over to the torturers, until he should repay all that was owed to him. So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your hearts their trespasses. 3. This is the parable; but it is necessary to say, for what reason He set it forth with a cause; for He did not simply say, The kingdom of heaven is likened, but, For this reason the kingdom of heaven is likened. For what reason, then, is the cause added? He was discoursing to the disciples about forbearance, and was teaching them to restrain anger, and not to make a great account of the wrongs done to us by others, saying thus: If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault between you and him alone; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. And as Christ was discoursing these and such things to the disciples and teaching them to be wise, Peter, the leader of the choir of the apostles, the mouth of the disciples, the pillar of the Church, the firmament of the faith, the foundation of the confession, the fisherman of the world, who brought our race from the depth of error up to heaven, he who was everywhere fervent and full of boldness, or rather of love than of boldness, when all were silent, approached the teacher and said: How many times shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? up to seven times? At once he both asks and promises, and before he learns, he is ambitious. For knowing clearly the mind of the teacher, that He inclines to loving-kindness, and that he most of all pleases Him who most of all overlooks the sins of his neighbors and does not examine them bitterly, wishing to please the lawgiver, he says: Up to seven times? Then, that you may learn what man is, and what God is, and how his ambition, wherever it may reach, when compared with His abundance, is more insignificant than all poverty, and that as a drop to an infinite sea, so is our goodness to His ineffable loving-kindness, when he said, Up to seven times? and thinking himself 51.21 to be very ambitious, and to be generous, hear what He says: I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to

οὐ χρεία χρημάτων· ἀρκεῖ θελῆσαι μόνον, καὶ πάντα τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς ἡμῖν κατώρθωται· κἂν ἐννοήσωμεν τὸ ἀξίωμα τοῦ κελεύοντος Θεοῦ καὶ νομοθετοῦντος, ἱκανὴν ληψόμεθα διδασκαλίαν καὶ παραίνεσιν· οὐδὲ γὰρ οἴκοθεν φθεγγόμεθα, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸν νομοθέτην ἅπαντας ὑμᾶς ἄγομεν. Ἕπεσθε τοίνυν, τῶν θείων ἀκούετε νόμων. Ποῦ τοίνυν περὶ ὀργῆς καὶ τοῦ μνησικακεῖν διελέχθη; Πολλαχοῦ μὲν καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ, μάλιστα δὲ διὰ τῆς παραβολῆς ἐκείνης, ἣν πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς ἔλεγεν, οὑτωσί πως ἀρξάμενος· ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ βασιλεῖ, ὅστις ἠθέλησε συνᾶραι λόγον μετὰ τῶν 51.20 δούλων αὑτοῦ. Ἀρξαμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ συναίρειν προσηνέχθη αὐτῷ εἷς ὀφειλέτης μυρίων ταλάντων. Μὴ ἔχοντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀποδοῦναι, ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν πραθῆναι καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ τέκνα, καὶ πάντα ὅσα εἶχε, καὶ ἀποδοθῆναι. Πεσὼν οὖν ὁ δοῦλος ἐκεῖνος εἰς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, παρεκάλει αὐτὸν, λέγων· Κύριε, μακροθύμησον ἐπ' ἐμοὶ, καὶ πάντα σοι ἀποδώσω. Σπλαγχνισθεὶς δὲ ὁ κύριος τοῦ δούλου ἐκείνου, ἀπέλυσεν αὐτὸν, καὶ τὸ δάνειον ἀφῆκεν αὐτῷ. Ἐξελθὼν δὲ ἐκεῖνος εὗρεν ἕνα τῶν συνδούλων αὐτοῦ, ὃς ὤφειλεν αὐτῷ ἑκατὸν δηνάρια, καὶ κρατήσας ἔπνιγεν αὐτὸν λέγων· Ἀπόδος μοι ὅ τι ὀφείλεις. Πεσὼν οὖν ὁ σύνδουλος αὐτοῦ εἰς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, παρεκάλει αὐτὸν λέγων· Μακροθύμησον ἐπ' ἐμοὶ, καὶ πάντα σοι ἀποδώσω. Ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἤθελεν, ἀλλὰ ἀπελθὼν ἔβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς φυλακὴν, ἕως οὗ ἀποδῷ τὸ ὀφειλόμενον. Ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ σύνδουλοι αὐτοῦ ἠγανάκτησαν, καὶ ἐλθόντες διεσάφησαν τῷ κυρίῳ αὐτῶν. Τότε καλέσας αὐτὸν ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ εἶπε· ∆οῦλε πονηρὲ, πᾶσαν τὴν ὀφειλὴν ἐκείνην ἀφῆκά σοι, ἐπεὶ παρεκάλεσάς με· οὐκ ἔδει καὶ σὲ ἐλεῆσαι τὸν σύνδουλόν σου, ὡς καὶ ἐγώ σε ἠλέησα; Τότε παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν τοῖς βασανισταῖς, ἕως οὗ ἀποδῷ πᾶν τὸ ὀφειλόμενον αὐτῷ. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ Πατήρ μου ὁ οὐράνιος ποιήσει ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ ἀφῆτε ἕκαστος τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὑτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν καρδιῶν ὑμῶν τὰ παραπτώματα αὐτῶν. γʹ. Ἡ μὲν παραβολὴ αὕτη· δεῖ δὲ εἰπεῖν, τίνος ἕνεκεν μετὰ αἰτίας αὐτὴν προτέθεικεν· οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν, Ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀλλὰ, ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν ἡ αἰτία πρόσκειται; Περὶ ἀνεξικακίας τοῖς μαθηταῖς διελέγετο, καὶ κρατεῖν ὀργῆς αὐτοὺς ἐπαίδευε, καὶ τῶν παρ' ἑτέρων εἰς ἡμᾶς γινομένων ἀδικημάτων μὴ πολὺν ποιεῖσθαι λόγον, οὕτω λέγων· Ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ εἰς σὲ ὁ ἀδελφός σου, ὕπαγε καὶ ἔλεγξον αὐτὸν μεταξὺ σοῦ καὶ αὐτοῦ μόνου· ἐάν σου ἀκούσῃ ἐκέρδησας τὸν ἀδελφόν σου. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τοῦ Χριστοῦ διαλεγομένου τοῖς μαθηταῖς καὶ φιλοσοφεῖν διδάσκοντος, Πέτρος, ὁ τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἀποστόλων κορυφαῖος, τὸ στόμα τῶν μαθητῶν, ὁ στῦλος τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, τὸ στερέωμα τῆς πίστεως, ὁ τῆς ὁμολογίας θεμέλιος, ὁ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁλιεὺς, ὁ τὸ γένος ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ βυθοῦ τῆς πλάνης εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναγαγὼν, ὁ πανταχοῦ θερμὸς καὶ παῤῥησίας γέμων, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀγάπης, ἢ παῤῥησίας, σιγώντων ἁπάντων προσελθὼν τῷ διδασκάλῳ φησί· Ποσάκις ἁμαρτήσει εἰς ἐμὲ ὁ ἀδελφός μου, καὶ ἀφήσω αὐτῷ; ἕως ἑπτάκις; ὁμοῦ καὶ ἐρωτᾷ καὶ ὑπισχνεῖται, καὶ πρὶν μάθῃ, φιλοτιμεῖται. Τὴν γὰρ γνώμην τοῦ διδασκάλου σαφῶς εἰδὼς, ὅτι πρὸς φιλανθρωπίαν ῥέπει, καὶ πλέον ἐκεῖνος μάλιστα πάντων αὐτῷ χαρίζεται ὁ μάλιστα πάντων τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τῶν πλησίον παρατρέχων καὶ μὴ πικρῶς ἐξετάζων, βουλόμενος ἀρέσαι τῷ νομοθέτῃ, φησίν· Ἕως ἑπτάκις; Εἶτα ἵνα μάθῃς, τί μὲν ἄνθρωπος, τί δὲ Θεὸς, καὶ πῶς ἡ τούτου φιλοτιμία, ὅπουπερ ἂν ἀφίκηται, πρὸς τὴν εὐπορίαν τὴν ἐκείνου συγκρινομένη, πενίας ἐστὶν ἁπάσης εὐτελεστέρα, καὶ ὅτι ὅσον σταγὼν πρὸς πέλαγος ἄπειρον, τοσοῦτον ἡμῶν ἡ ἀγαθότης πρὸς τὴν ἄφατον αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν, εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ, Ἕως ἑπτάκις; καὶ νομίσαντος αὐτοῦ 51.21 μεγάλα φιλοτιμεῖσθαι, καὶ δαψιλεύεσθαι, ἄκουσον τί φησιν· Οὐ λέγω σοι, ἕως ἑπτάκις, ἀλλ' ἕως