The Healing of the Paralytic and Christ's Authority
He does not boast loudly, nor does he proclaim himself before the miracles. He says: 'I wish to, but I have no man'; for where there is no friend, there is no man anywhere.
Because of this I ask, not so that I might learn—for who does not desire to make the weak healthy?—but so that you may show the coarseness of your useful citizens, that they did not give you a hand to throw you into the spring, which even an enemy, if asked, would have provided. Since until now you had no man to throw you into the pool, behold, he who became a man through you and without waters, I heal your passion: 'Arise, take up your bed and go' (John 5:8).
He does not command him to carry the bed simply; for what he did regarding the loaves, he does also here. Just as there he commands the leavings of the loaves to be carried, so here, to make the miracle great and to free the healing from Jewish suspicion and to show that he is not a deceiver, but a savior and a physician common to nature, he commands him to carry the bed.
So the Jews said: 'It is a Sabbath; it is not permitted for you to carry the bed.' But he answers: 'He who made me healthy, that one said to me: Take up your bed and walk' (John 5:8). So they said to him: 'And who is he?' But the healed man did not know. As soon as we learned that it is Jesus who made him healthy, they pursued him in order to kill him.
What then is the Christ? He brings the Father by saying: 'My Father is working until now, and I am working' (John 5:17). For just as, he says, my Father does not submit to mountains, does not serve laws, nor waits for commands, but does with a domestic will what he wills, so I also work all things with authentic authority, equal to the Father.
Because of this they sought even more to kill him, because not only did he loose the Sabbath, but he also called his own Father God, making himself equal to God. But while they were being released and raging, what is the Christ? 'Amen I say to you, the Son cannot do anything of himself unless he sees the Father doing; for whatever he does, the Son likewise does' (John 5:19).
Not because he himself creates other things and I work other things by imitation; for if it were so, there would have to be two heavens, two suns, two seas, two kinds of men and a double cosmos, the one of the Father and mine. For just as lines are set before painters and elements before teachers, so the creation of the Father is set forth, of which I worked by imitation. If it is not so, Lord, why do you say...
Greek
μεγαλορρημονεῖν οὐδὲ ἑαυτὸν πρὸ τῶν θαυμάτων ἀνακηρύττειν. Ὁ δέ φησι· θέλω μέν, ἀλλ' ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἔχω· ὅπου γὰρ οὐδεὶς φίλος, οὐδαμοῦ ἄνθρωπος. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐρωτῶ, οὐχ ἵνα μάθω– τίς γὰρ ἀσθενῶν ὑγιᾶναι οὐ βούλεται; –, ἀλλ' ἵνα τῶν χρηστῶν σου πολιτῶν τὴν ὠμότητα δείξῃς, ὅτι οὔτε χεῖρα σοι ἔδωκαν προσρῖψαι σε τῇ πηγῇ, ὃ καὶ πολέμιος αἰτηθεὶς ἂν παρέσχεν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν μέχρι τοῦ νῦν ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἔσχες ἵνα βάλῃ σε εἰς τὴν κολυμβήθραν, ἰδοὺ ὁ διὰ σὲ ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος καὶ ἄνευ ὑδάτων ἰῶμαι σου τὸ πάθος· Ἀναστὰς ἆρον τὴν κλίνην σου καὶ ὕπαγε. Οὐχ 1 ἁπλῶς δὲ αὐτὸν τὴν κλίνην βαστάξαι κελεύει· ὅπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄρτων ἐποίησε, τοῦτο καὶ ὧδε ποιεῖ. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖ λείψανα τῶν ἄρτων βασταγῆναι κελεύει, οὕτως καὶ ὧδε πρὸς τὸ τρανῶσαι τὸ θαῦμα καὶ Ἰουδαϊκῆς ὑπονοίας τὴν θεραπείαν ἐλευθερῶσαι καὶ δεῖξαι ὅτι οὐκ ἀπατεών τις ἐστίν, ἀλλὰ σωτὴρ καὶ κοινὸς τῆς φύσεως ἰατρός, κελεύει αὐτῷ βαστάξαι τὴν κλίνην. Εἶπον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι· Σάββατόν ἐστιν, οὐκ ἔξεστί σοι ἆραι τὸν κράββατον. Ὁ δὲ ἀποκρίνεται· Ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ, ἐκεῖνός μοι εἶπεν· ἆρον τὸν κράββατόν σου καὶ περιπάτει. Εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ· Καὶ τίς ἐστιν; Ὁ δὲ ἰαθεὶς οὐκ ᾔδει. Ὡς οὖν ἔμαθον ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ ποιήσαςαὐτὸν ὑγιῆ, ἐδίωκον ἵνα ἀποκτείνωσιν αὐτόν. Τί οὖν ὁ Χριστός; Τὸν πατέρα φέρει λέγων ὅτι Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι. Ὥσπερ γάρ, φησίν, ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐμὸς οὐχ ὅροις ὑπόκει ται, οὐ νομοθεσίαις δουλεύει οὔτε προστάγματα ἀναμένει, οἰκείᾳ δὲ γνώμῃ ποιεῖ ἅπερ βούλεται, οὕτως κἀγὼ αὐθεντικῇ ἐξουσίᾳ πάντα ἐργάζομαι ἐπίσης τῷ πατρί. Οἱ δὲ διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸν ἐζήτουν μᾶλλον ἀποκτεῖναι, ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἔλυσε τὸ σάββατον, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ πατέρα ἴδιον ἔλεγε τὸν θεόν, ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιῶν τῷ θεῷ. Ἀλλ' ἐκείνων λυττώντων καὶ μαινομένων τί ὁ Χριστός; Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐ δύναται ὁ υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐδέν, ἐὰν μή τι βλέπῃ τὸν πατέρα ποιοῦντα· ἃ γὰρ ἂν ἐκεῖνος ποιῇ, ταῦτα καὶ ὁ υἱὸς ὁμοίως ποιεῖ. Οὐκ ἐπειδὴ αὐτὸς μὲν ἄλλα κτίζει, ἐγὼ δὲ κατὰ μίμησιν ἕτερα ἐργάζο μαι· εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἦν, δύο οὐρανοὺς εἶναι ἐχρῆν, δύο ἡλίους, δύο θαλάσσας, δύο ἀνθρώπων γένη καὶ διπλοῦν κόσμον, τὸν μὲν τοῦ πατρός, τὸν δὲ ἐμόν. Ἀνάγκη γὰρ ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν ζωγράφων αἱ γραμμαὶ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν διδασκάλων τὰ στοιχεῖα προστάσσονται, οὕτως τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς προστετάχθαι κτίσιν ἧς κατὰ μίμησιν εἰργασάμην ἐγώ. Εἰ οὖν οὐκ ἔχει οὕτως, δέσποτα, διὰ τί λέγεις Οὐ
About this text
A bishop unpacks what it means for the Son to act alone, blending scripture and logic to reveal deeper truths about divinity and human limitation.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 39 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.