Replies

bdeaner!

Matthew 5:26 “I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.”

Here Jesus is talking about a debt the dead must pay for their sins in order to enter Heaven. There is no escape from Hell, so again, there must be some third state—neither Heaven nor Hell—call it purgatory—in which that debt is paid.

What it says is:
“ 21 You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.”

That isn’t talking about Heaven! Otherwise we would need to “Come to terms quickly with your accuser...” who is SATAN!

Jesus is using earthly terms to show that we cannot merit salvation. This is the first of 6 sections rejecting the teachings of the Pharisees.

For immediately prior, we read, “20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [Jesus continues] 21 “You have heard that it was said...”

The passage from Peter would take longer, and I won’t get to it tonight.

I have more where those came from! ;) But let me elaborate a bit on the verses from Matthew.

Matthew 5:22
But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, "You fool!" shall be liable to the hell of fire.

Here is what St. Francis de Sales had to say about this passage:

"It is only the third sort of offence which is punished with hell; therefore in the judgment of God after this life there are other pains which are not eternal or infernal,--these are the pains of Purgatory. One may say that the pains will be suffered in this world; but St. Augustine and the other Fathers understand them for the other world. And again may it not be that a man should die on the first or second offense which is spoken here? And when will such a one pay the penalty7 due to his offence?...Do then as the anciet Fathers did, and say that there is a place where they will be purified, and then they will go to heaven above."

So, my exegesis of the Scripture is in pretty good company. But let's go on...

Matthew 5:25-26
Make friends quickly with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny.
Note: Also see Luke 12:58-59.

Again, let's see what St. Francis de Sales has to say:

"Origen, St. Cyprian, St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine say that the way which is meant in the whilst thou art in the way [while you are going with him to court] is not other than the passage of the present life: the adversary [accuser] will be our own conscience,... as St. Ambrose expounds, and Bede, St. Augustine, St. Gregory [the Great], and St. Bernard. Lastly, the judge is without doubt Our Lord...The prison, again, is...the place of punishment in the other world, in which, as in a large jail, there are many buildings; one for those who are damned, which is as it were for criminals, the other for those in Purgatory, which is as it were for debt. The farthing [penny]...are little sins and infirmities, as the farthing is the smallest money one can owe.

Now let us consider a little where this repayment...is to be made. And we find from most ancient Fathers that it is in Purgatory: Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen,...St. Ambrose, St. Jerome...Who sees not that in St. Luke the comparison is drawn, not from a murderer or some criminal, who can have no hope of escape, but from a debtor who is thrown into prison till payment, and when this is made is at once let out? This then is the meaning of Our Lord, that whilst we are in this world we should try by penitence and its fruits to pay, according to the power which we have by the blood of the Redeemer, the penalty to which our sins have subjected us; since if we wait till death we shall not have such good terms in Purgatory, when we shall be treated with severity of justice."

Again, this marvelous exegesis by St. Francis de Sales validates my reading.

But let's not stop there. Let's continue a little further with Matthew.

Matthew 12:32
And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Here the Gospel according to Matthew again supports the Catholic doctrine of purgatory. If sins can be pardoned in the age to come (the afterlife), then, in the nature of things, this MUST BE in purgatory. We would laugh at a man who said that he would not marry in this world or the next (as if he could in the next--see Mark 12:25). If this sin cannot be forgiven after death, it follows that there are others which CAN BE. Accordingly, this interpretation was held by St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, Bede, and St. Bernard, among others. Again, as for as company goes, not too shabby.