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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
Theophylact of Ohrid
Note the precision with which it is said that he brought him to the inn and took care of him. Before he brought him to it, he only bound up his wounds. What does this mean? That when the Church was established and the inn was opened, that is, when the faith had grown among nearly all nations, then the gifts of the Holy Spirit were also revealed, and the grace of God spread abroad. This you will learn from the Acts of the Apostles. …
Irenaeus
Wherefore we have need of the dew of God, that we be not consumed by fire, nor be rendered unfruitful, and that where we have an accuser there we may have also an Advocate, the Lord commending to the Holy Spirit His own man, who had fallen among thieves, whom He Himself compassionated, and bound up his wounds, giving two royal denaria; so that we, receiving by the Spirit the image and superscription of the Father and the Son, might cause the denarium entrusted to us to be fruitful, counting out the increase [thereof] to the Lord.
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
Or the two pence are the two commandments of love, which the Apostles received from the Holy Spirit to preach to others; or the promise of the present life, and that which is to come. (ubi sup.) The inn-keeper was the Apostle, who spent more either in giving counsel, as he says, Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment; (1 Cor. 7:15.) or, in working even with his own hands, that he might not trouble any of the weak in the newness of the Gospel, (2 Thess. …
Ambrose of Milan
Blessed is that innkeeper who can care for another's wounds. Blessed is he to whom Jesus says, "Whatever you shall spend over and above, I will repay you." A good steward is one who also spends over and above. Paul is a good steward, whose sermons and epistles overflow with the knowledge that he received. He followed the moderate command of the Lord with almost immoderate effort of mind and body, so that he raised many from deep sorrow by the stewardship of spiritual exhortation. …
Bede
And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, and said: Take care of him. The next day is after the Lord's resurrection. For even before, through the grace of his Gospel, he had enlightened those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luke 1), but more so, after the celebration of the resurrection, the splendor of perpetual light shone forth. The two denarii are the two Testaments, in which the name and image of the eternal King is contained. For Christ is the end of the law (Romans 10). …
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