Or, The priests may with good reason be called the eyes of the Church, since they are considered her watchmen, but the deacons and the rest her hands, for by them spiritual deeds are wrought; the people are the feet of the body, the Church; and all these it behoves not to spare, if they become an offence to the Church. Or, by the offending hand is understood an act of the mind; a motion of the mind is the offending foot, and a vision of the mind is the sinning eye, which we ought to cut off if they give offence, for thus the acts of the limbs are often put in Scripture for the limbs themselves.
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 believers, but concerning the little ones, as He had said above, If any man shall offend one of these little ones. A man may perhaps say that a little one here means a perfect Christian, according to that He says elsewhere, Whoso is least among you, he shall be great. (Luke 9:48.)
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 exposition, says, that the mind of a righteous man is variable, and is sometimes offended, but not easily.
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 are unbelieving and in error, but in his time of unbelief and sin man is under the Angels of Satan. Others will have it, that those who are foreknown of God, have straightway from their very birth a guardian Angel.
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 ministry of Angels.
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.
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 show honour and service to the saints.
Or because the perfect are esteemed of many as little ones, as poor, namely, and despicable.
Here He is speaking not of any Angels, but of the higher sort; for when He says, Behold the face of my Father, He shows that their presence before God is free and open, and their honour great.
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.
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.
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, saying, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; i. e. As far as you may avoid despising them, but next to your own salvation seek also to heal them. But if ye see that they hold to their sins, it is better that ye be saved, than that ye perish in much company.
High dignity of souls, that each from its birth has an Angel set in charge over it!
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 repentance. (Matt. 9:13.)
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 shows that this parable was set forth to enforce that same saying. Also in saying, It is not the will of my Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish, He shows that so oft as one of these little ones does perish, it is not by the Father's will that it perishes.
(de Civ. Dei, xxii. 29.) Or; 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 shall we also behold Him face to face, of which vision John speaks, We shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2.) For by the face of God is to be understood the manifestation of Himself, not a member or feature of the body, such as we call by that name.
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 has broken his ordained place.
(Hom. in Ev. 34. 12) 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.
(Mor. ii. 3.) 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 forth; for they come not so forth from the divine vision, as to hinder the joys of inward contemplation.
(Hom. in Ev. xxxiv. 3.) 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.
(ubi sup.) The Evangelist says they were left on the mountains, to signify that the sheep which were not lost abode on high.
(ubi sup.) 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 works, as being very secure within themselves, for that they have committed none of the heavier sins. While on the other hand those who have their wicked deeds to remember, do often through the compunction of sorrow glow with the more heat in their love of God, and when they think how they have strayed from Him, they replace their former losses by gains following. So the general in a battle loves best that soldier who turns in his flight and courageously presses the enemy, than him who never turned his back, yet never did any valorous deed. Yet there be some righteous over whom is joy so great, that no penitent can be preferred before them, those, who though not conscious to themselves of sins, yet reject things lawful, and humble themselves in all things. How great is the joy when the righteous mourns, and humbles himself, if there be joy when the unrighteous condemns himself wherein he has done amiss?
(ap. Anselm.) 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 of man than in the creation of the Angels. Wonderfully are the Angels made, but more wonderfully man restored.
(ap. Anselm.)f; Or, By the ninety-nine sheep, which He left on the mountains, are signified the proud to whom a unit is still wanting for perfection. When then He has found the sinner, He rejoices over him, that is, He makes his own to rejoice over him, rather than over the false righteous.
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 added makes the rest perfect. And that the number of sheep might be made up perfect in heaven, lost man was sought on earth.
(ap. Anselm.) Or otherwise; Because so great evils come of brethren being scandalized, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones.
(ap. Anselm.) 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 in heaven.
(Vers. 12, 13.) What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine in the mountains, and goeth to seek that which is gone astray? And if it so be that he findeth it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that than for the ninety and nine that went not astray. In conclusion he calls to clemency one who had despatched him, saying: See that you do not despise one of these little ones, and he adds the parable of the ninety and nine sheep left in the mountains, and of the one that went astray, which the good shepherd, because of its great weakness, could not go after, and so he brought it back on his shoulder to the rest of the flock. Some think that he, who was in the form of God, yet did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being obedient to the Father even unto death, even death on the cross (Philippians 2:6-8): and for this reason he descended to the earthly realm, to save the one lost sheep, that is, the human race. But others think that the number of ninety-nine sheep represents the righteous, and the one sheep, the sinner, as he said elsewhere: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners: for it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick (Luke 5:32). This parable in the Gospel according to Luke is written with two other parables, the parable of the ten drachmas and the parable of the two sons (Luke 15).
Do you see in how many ways he leads us to care for our worthless brothers? Don’t therefore say, “The fellow’s a smith, a cobbler, a farmer; he’s stupid,” so that you despise him. In case you suffer the same, see in how many ways the Lord urges you to be moderate and enjoins you to care for these little ones. He placed a little child in the midst and said, “Become like children,” and, “Whoever receives one such child, receives me.” But “whoever causes one of these to sin” will suffer the worst fate. And he was not even satisfied with the example of the millstone, but he also added his curse and told us to cut off such people, even though they are like a hand or eye to us. And again, through the angels to whom these small brothers are handed over, he urges that we value them, as he has valued them through his own will and passion. When Jesus says, “The Son of man came to save the lost,” he points to the cross, just as Paul also says, writing about his brother for whom Christ died. It does not please the Father that anyone is lost. The shepherd leaves the ones that have been saved and seeks the one lost. And when he finds the one that has gone astray, he rejoices greatly at its discovery and at its safety.
For anyone who has sheep is a shepherd. No one is more truly a shepherd than Christ our God. One of his sheep has strayed. It is not the fault of the shepherd but of the sheep that had strayed from its flock. This one sheep is the man Adam, whom in the beginning the Lord had created in his image and likeness. This one strayed from the company of the angels by sinning, and through him the entire human race strayed from God. Our Lord seeks to recall all humanity from death to life. For it was for us that he went to death, so that he might make us alive, these who had died. For he rejoiced even more over the hundredth sheep that was lost than over the ninety and nine. The patriarch of a hundred years, Abraham, had faith in God, and from his faith was held righteous. He received back his one and only son Isaac. Thus Abraham was called, because of his faith, father of the nations. So he crossed from the left onto the right, the number one hundred being viewed as held on the right.Therefore, beloved, the hundredth sheep is the congregation of the nations—but only those who believed and served the Lord in the same way as Abraham did, so that they merit to be placed on the right side. This is just as the Lord himself says: “Then he will set up the sheep on the right but the goats on the left.” The “goats” are in this case the unbelieving Jews or infidels and sinners. To those who will be on the left, the Lord will say, “Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which my Father has prepared for the devil and his angels.”21
Thus God wills “that not one of these little ones perish.” But if your brother sins against you, rebuke him. The Lord commands us to rebuke the sinner until he is corrected. But if he cannot be corrected, he is to be considered as a heathen. For our Lord acted as he taught. In his own person he rebuked the people of the Jews straying in the desert. He rebuked them again and again through the law and the prophets. Finally, in his own person in the presence of all the congregation of the saints he chastised the Jewish people.
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Matthew 18:10-14
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 believers, but concerning the little ones, as He had said above, If any man shall offend one of these little ones. A man may perhaps say that a little one here means a perfect Christian, according to that He says elsewhere, Whoso is least among you, he shall be great. (Luke 9:48.)
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 exposition, says, that the mind of a righteous man is variable, and is sometimes offended, but not easily.
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 are unbelieving and in error, but in his time of unbelief and sin man is under the Angels of Satan. Others will have it, that those who are foreknown of God, have straightway from their very birth a guardian Angel.