Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 6:14-15

"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." — Matthew 6:14-15 (ASV)

Rabanus Maurus: With the word "Amen," He shows that the Lord will certainly grant all things that are rightly requested by those who do not fail to observe the accompanying condition: For if you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your sins.

St. Augustine of Hippo: We should not overlook that of all the petitions commanded by the Lord, He considered the one about forgiving sins to be the most worthy of special emphasis. In this, He desires us to be merciful, which is the only way to escape misery.¹

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He does not say that God will first forgive us and that we should afterwards forgive our debtors. For God knows how treacherous the human heart is; He knows that even if people have received forgiveness themselves, they still do not forgive their debtors. Therefore, He instructs us to forgive first, and we will be forgiven afterwards.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Whoever does not forgive the one who seeks forgiveness with true sorrow should not suppose that his own sins are in any way forgiven by the Lord.²

St. Cyprian of Carthage: For no excuse will remain for you on the day of judgment, when you will be judged by your own sentence; as you have dealt with others, so you will be dealt with yourself.³

St. Jerome: But if what is written, I said, You are gods, but you shall die like men (Psalm 82:6-7), is said to those who for their sins deserve to become men instead of gods, then those whose sins are forgiven are rightly called "men."

St. John Chrysostom: He mentions heaven and the Father to capture our attention, for nothing makes you so like God as forgiving the one who has injured you. And it would indeed be unfitting for the son of such a Father to become a slave, or for one who has a heavenly calling to live as if belonging only to this earth and this life.

1. Serm. in Mont., ii, 11
2. Enchir., 74
3. Tr. vii, 16