A ...[the working] of those who have attained the highest degree of virtue, teaching them to have a moderate opinion of themselves, and commanding them not to trust in their good works, but to be afraid and to tremble, mindful of past sins: which the divine Paul also does, saying after countless noble deeds: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first" (1 Tim. i, 15), signifying that he is always mindful of his misdeeds. Therefore, for those who are in the highest degree of virtue, he provided security through these words; but he does not allow those who have fallen after the grace of baptism to despair of their salvation, but teaches them to ask for remedies of forgiveness from the physician of souls. B To these he adds doctrine concerning humanity. For he wishes us to be mild toward those who are liable to blame, and to be unmindful of the injuries brought upon us, so that through the forgiveness given to them, we too may obtain forgiveness: and that we ourselves, leading the way, may offer the mode and measure of kindness: for we ask to receive as much as we have bestowed upon our neighbor, and we ask for as much forgiveness as we grant to our debtors. Moreover, we are taught to say, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." For many sad things come upon us from the work of the devil: many, likewise, from men, whether openly hostile or secretly plotting. C The body also sometimes rising up against the soul causes grave damage; sometimes, weakened by various diseases, it brings pains and languors upon us. Therefore, since many and varied sad things beset us on all sides, we are taught to beseech the God of all that we may be delivered from them all. For with Him as our defender, every tempest is calmed, the waves yield to tranquility, and that wicked one departs put to shame, just as he once departed into the swine, having left the men; yet he did not dare to do even that without a command. But he who does not have power even over swine, how could he overcome men who are watchful and temperate in spirit, fenced about by the protection of God, and who consider Him their King? D Therefore, at the end of the prayer, he shows the kingdom, power, and glory of God, saying: "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory unto the ages. Amen." This, he says, I ask of thee, who know thee as the King of all, endowed with eternal empire, who art able to do all things whatsoever thou willest, and art surrounded by a glory which no one can take away. For all these things, therefore, let us give thanks to Him who has deigned to make us worthy of such great blessings; because to Him befits all glory, honor, and empire, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
HOMILY ON THE PARALYTIC LET DOWN THROUGH THE ROOF, THAT IT IS NOT THE SAME ONE AS THE ONE IN JOHN, AND CONCERNING THE EQUALITY OF THE SON WITH THE FATHER
When we recently chanced upon the paralytic lying on a bed by the pool, we found much and great treasure, not by digging up the earth, but by investigating the thoughts of his soul: we found a treasure not containing gold and precious stones, but tolerance, philosophy, patience, and great hope in God.
which is more precious than all gold and all wealth. For material wealth lies exposed to the traps of robbers, the mouths of slanderers, the hands of wall-breakers, and the wickedness of servants; and even when it escapes all these, it often brings upon its possessors the greatest ruin, rousing the eyes of the envious and engendering ten thousand storms from this. But spiritual wealth escapes all these clutches, and is superior to every such abuse, mocking even robbers, wall-breakers, the envious, the slanderers, and death itself. For it is not severed from its possessor by death; rather, it is then that its possession becomes most secure for those who have it; it travels with them, it accompanies them to the future life, it becomes a marvelous advocate for those to whom it travels there, and it renders the Judge propitious to them. This is the treasure we have found, with great abundance, buried in the soul of the paralytic. And you are witnesses, you who have drawn it out with such great eagerness, yet without emptying it. For such is the nature of spiritual wealth: it imitates the currents of waters, or rather, it surpasses even their abundance, increasing more when it has many who draw from it. For as it enters the soul of each one, it is not divided, nor is it diminished; rather, coming to each whole and entire, it remains inexhaustible forever, never capable of failing. This is precisely what happened even then, for with so many falling upon the treasure and all drawing from it according to their capacity—and why do I speak of you, when it has made ten thousand rich from that time down to the present day and remains in its own perfection? Let us not, therefore, weary of this spiritual wealth; let us rather draw from it even now as much as we can, and let us see a humane Master, let us see a steadfast servant. For thirty-eight years he struggled with an incurable infirmity and was scourged continually, yet he did not grow indignant, did not utter a blasphemous word, did not accuse his Creator, but carried that misfortune nobly and with great gentleness. And how is this clear? He says: for although Scripture did not clearly teach us about his life above, it made it plain that he had his illness for thirty-eight years; but it did not explicitly add that he did not grow indignant, nor was angry, nor impatient. And yet, this is also made clear, if one were to pay close attention, and not cursorily or simply. For when you hear that he conversed with Christ when He stood by—who was not known to him, but thought to be just a man—with such gentleness, you will be able to behold the philosophy he had before. For when He said to him, "Do you want to become healthy?", he said nothing such as was natural: "Do you see me paralyzed and lying here for so long, and do you ask if I wish to become healthy? Have you come to trample on my ills, to reproach, to mock, and to ridicule the misfortune?" He said nothing of the kind, nor did he even think it; but with gentleness he said, "Yes, Lord." A If after thirty-eight years he was thus mild, thus gentle, with all his vigor and the strength of his reasoning broken, consider what he is likely to have been in the beginning of his sufferings. For you know, surely, that those who are ill are not equally disgruntled at the start of their infirmity as they are when much time has passed; for those who are ill become most difficult when the disease persists in length, then they are unbearable to all. But since he, after so many years, was so philosophical, answering so long-sufferingly, it is evident that even in the preceding time he bore that misfortune with much thanksgiving. We, therefore, considering these things, let us imitate the patience of our fellow servant; for the paralysis of that man is sufficient to brace our souls. For no one is so slothful and listless that, having considered the magnitude of that misfortune, he would not bear all the afflictions that befall him nobly, even if they were more unbearable than all things. For not only his health, but also his sickness became a cause of the greatest benefit for us: for the healing both stirred up the souls of the hearers toward the glorification of the Master, and the sickness and the infirmity disciplined you toward patience, and exhorted you toward B an equal zeal; or rather, it also demonstrated the very philanthropy of God himself. For even the act of handing him over to such a disease, and extending the infirmity for so long a time, is of the greatest care. For just as a goldsmith having cast gold into a furnace allows it to be tested by the fire only until he sees it has become purer, so too God permits the souls of men to be examined in terrible things until they become pure and crystalline, having reaped much benefit from this trial; so that this too is the greatest form of kindness. C 2. Let us not, therefore, be thrown into confusion, nor be distraught when trials befall us. For if the goldsmith sees how much time the gold must be left in the furnace, and when it is time to draw it out, and does not allow it to remain in the fire until it is corrupted and burned up, much more does God understand this, and when He sees us become purer, He releases us from the trials, so that we may not be tripped up and fall by the multiplying of evils. Let us not, therefore, be indignant, nor faint-hearted, whenever something unexpected befalls; but let us yield to Him who knows these things with precision, until He might wish to refine our mind; for He does this beneficially and for the gain of those being tempted. For this reason, a certain wise man exhorts, saying: "My son, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for trial, make straight your heart, and endure, and do not be hasty in time of affliction" (Eccl. 2, 1-2). Yield to Him, he says, in all things; for He knows precisely when it is necessary to take us up D out of the furnace of evils. It is necessary, therefore, everywhere to yield to Him, and always to give thanks, and to bear everything with good temperament, whether He gives benefits or whether He punishes, with this
A awareness that He is more affectionate than all physicians. And just as a physician is a physician not only when he bathes, and feeds, and leads the sick person to gardens, but also when he cauterizes and cuts, and a father is a father not only when he caresses his son, but also when he drives him from the house and when he upbraids and beats him with stripes, being in no way less a father than when he praises; so, too, when you understand that God is more loving than all physicians and pursues us with greater affection, do not inquire curiously, nor demand from Him an account of the healing. But whether He wills to refresh us or to punish us, let us show ourselves equally prepared for both, since through both He restores our health and reconciles us to Himself; and since He knows what each of us requires, and what is beneficial for each, and in what manner each must be saved, it is by this path that He leads us. Let us, therefore, follow where He commands, and let us not scrutinize anything, whether He orders us to tread along a plain and easy path or along a difficult and rugged one, just as He did with this paralytic.
One kind of benefit, then, was this: that He purged his soul for such a long time and consigned it as though to a furnace—a certain testing of temptations. The other, no less than this, was that in the very temptations He was present to him and afforded him much consolation. He was the one who was containing him and holding him, and reaching out a hand and not allowing him to collapse. B When, however, you hear that it was He Himself, do not deprive the paralytic of praise, nor him, nor any human being who is tempted and bears it patiently. For no matter how often we may philosophize, and no matter how robust and capable we might be, if the help from Him is absent, we will not be able to resist even a moderate temptation. But why do I speak of us, weak and discarded as we are? Even if it be a Paul, or a Peter, or a James, or a John, being deprived of heavenly aid is easily overcome, undermined, and falls. To secure all these things for you, I will recite the very words of Christ; for He said to Peter: "Behold, Satan has demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail" (Luke 22:31-32). What is "to sift"? To lead away, to lead around, to agitate, to move, to shake, to harass, just as happens in things being winnowed in a sieve. "But I," He says, "was restraining it," knowing that you are in no way able to endure the temptation. For when He says, "That your faith may not fail," this signifies that his faith would have failed if He had permitted it. C But if Peter, the fervent lover of Christ, who exposed his soul for Him a thousand times, and who always leaps forward before the choir of the apostles, and is proclaimed blessed by his Master—and for this reason was called Peter, because he was endowed with an unshaken and immutable faith—would have been cast down and would have fallen from his confession if Christ had allowed the devil to tempt him as much as he wished, who else will ever be able to resist without His help? Therefore, Paul also says: "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will make with the temptation a way out, that you may be able to bear it" (I Cor. 10:13). For He says that He not only does not allow a temptation to be brought on that is beyond our strength, but He is also present to sustain us in that very one which is applied according to the measure of our strength, and He strengthens us, provided that we have first contributed what is our part, such as alacrity of spirit, hope in Him, thanksgiving, tolerance, and patience. And we are in need of heavenly help not only in troubles that exceed our strength, but even in those that do not exceed it, so that we may be able to resist gallantly. For He says elsewhere: "As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also our consolation abounds through Christ, that we may be able to console those D who are in every distress, by the exhortation by which we ourselves are exhorted by God" (II Cor. 1:5-4). And so, He who consoled this one is also the one who permitted the temptation to be brought.
But look at how much solicitude He shows after the healing. For He did not go away after having dismissed him, but after he met him in the temple, He says: "Behold, you have become sound; do not sin any more, that something worse may not happen to you" (John 5:14). For if He had allowed him to be punished because He was persecuting him with hatred, He would not have set him free, He would not have secured him for the future. But what He says, "lest something worse happen to you," indicates that He is going to meet future evils. He drove away the disease but did not drive away the anguish; He removed the sickness but did not remove the fear, so that the benefit which was bestowed might remain unmoved. This is characteristic of a solicitous physician: not only to dispel present evils but also to take precautions against future adversities. This, in any case, did Christ do, while He confirmed his soul with the memory of the past. For since, when those things which were causing us trouble have passed, the memory of them often slips away along with them, He says, "Do not sin any more, lest something worse may happen to you," because He wishes it to remain perpetual.
3. Nor is it from this alone that one can see His providence and His equity, but also from the very rebuke that seems to be given. For He did not make his sins public, but while He indicated that he had suffered what he had suffered because of sins, He did not indicate what the sins were. He did not say, "You sinned this and that," nor, "In this and in that you transgressed," but expressing it with one simple word, "Do not sin any more," and only saying what was necessary for his being admonished, He made him more diligent for the future, and He set forth to us all his patience, fortitude, and philosophy, when He imposed upon him the necessity of divulging his whole calamity by inquiring, and of showing his own zeal: "For while I am coming, another descends before me" (John 5:7); yet He did not make his sins public. For just as we wish to cover our own, so too does God, much more than we; for which reason He performed the medicine before all, but He applies the exhortation and the counsel privately. For He never divulges our sins, unless by chance He sees us being affected by no awareness of them. For even when He says, "You saw Me hungry and did not feed Me, and thirsty and did not give Me drink" (Matt. 25:42), He does so in the present time, lest by chance we hear these words in the future. He threatens, He divulges in this life, so that He may not divulge in that one, just as He also threatened that the city of the Ninevites would be overturned, so that He might not overturn it. For if He wished to make our sins public, He would never have foretold that He was about to make them public.
Now, however, He foretells it for this reason: that by the fear of such publicity, even if not by the fear of punishment, we might be chastened and wash ourselves clean of everything. This also happens in baptism; for He leads man to the pool of waters without making his sins clear to anyone, but He makes the gift manifest and evident to all, while no one else knows of the sins except himself and the One who grants the forgiveness. This has happened in this case too, and He makes the investigation unwitnessed—or rather, what was said is not merely an investigation, but also a defense, as though He were defending Himself for such great suffering and saying to him, and showing, that not in vain nor without purpose did He permit him to be afflicted for so long, and He reminded him of his sins and stated the cause of his infirmity. For finding him, He says, in the temple, He said to him: *Sin no more, lest something worse happen to you* (John 5:14). B
Since, therefore, we have gathered so much from the former paralytic, come, let us arrive at another, even one laid out in Matthew. For even in mines, wherever one might find gold, one digs more deeply there again; and I know that many of those who read simply consider the paralytic laid out by the four evangelists to be one and the same; but it is not so. Therefore, it is necessary to arise and pay attention with precision. For the inquiry is not about trivial matters, but this discourse will be useful also against the Greeks, and against the Jews, and against many of the heretics, having obtained the appropriate solution. For thus do all reproach the evangelists as being discordant and contradicting one another; but it is not so—may it never be!—but even if the persons C are different, the grace of the Spirit is one, which stirs the soul of each; and where there is the grace of the Spirit, there is love, joy, and peace; there is no war, nor disagreement, nor any struggle or argument. How, then, shall we make it manifest that this paralytic is not that one, but another besides him? From many signs: both from the place, and the time, and the occasions, and the day, and from the manner of the healing, and from the presence of the physician, and from the solitude of the one who was cured. And what of this? he says; for did not many of the evangelists report other signs differently? But it is one thing to speak differently, and another to speak contradictorily; for the former does not create any discord, nor a fight; but this which is now before us has much opposition, if it should not be shown that the paralytic at the pool is another from the one recorded in the three. D And that you may learn what it is to speak differently, and what it is to speak contradictorily, of the evangelists, one said that Christ carried the cross, while the other said that Simon of Cyrene did; this does not create a conflict or a fight. And how, he says, is it not contradictory—carrying, versus not carrying? Because both happened. And as they were going out of the praetorium, Christ carried it; but as they were proceeding, Simon took it from Him and carried it. Again, concerning the robbers, one says that both were reviling Him; the other that one was silencing the one who was accusing. But not even this, again, is contradictory. Why? Because here too both happened; and at the beginning, both were acting wickedly; but after these things, when signs occurred and the earth was shaken, and the rocks were split, and the sun was hidden, the other of them was changed, and became more sober, and recognized the Crucified One, and confessed His kingdom. For lest you might think that this happened by some necessity and by some force of One pushing him from within, and nor that you be in doubt, He shows you that even on the cross he still maintained his former wickedness, so that you might know that, as one changed from within and by himself, and having enjoyed the grace of God, he thus became better.
4. And there are many other such things to be gleaned from the Gospels, which appear to have a suspicion of contradiction, but it is not a contradiction; rather, both what was said by the one and what was said by the other actually happened; if it were not at the same hour, and one said it before, and the other after; but here there is nothing of the sort; rather, the multitude of the signs mentioned shows even to those who pay any attention that he was one person, and that one was another. Nor would this be a small proof to show the evangelists agreeing with one another, and not fighting. For if it were the same person, the fight would be great; but if that one is another, all dispute is dissolved. Come, then, let us state the causes themselves, for which we say that this one is not that one. What, then, are these? The one is healed in Jerusalem, but this one in Capernaum; and the one is by the pool of waters, this one in some small cubicle; behold, by the place. And that one is at a feast; behold, by the time. And that one had thirty-eight years in his infirmity; but about this one, the evangelist says nothing of the sort; behold, also by the time. And that one was healed on a Sabbath; behold, also by the day. For if this one also had been healed on a Sabbath, Matthew would not have passed this over, nor would the Jews who were present have remained silent; for those who were annoyed even when He was not healed on a Sabbath for another reason, how much more if they had received grounds from the timing, would they not have spared the accusations against Christ. And this one is carried to Christ; but toward that one Christ Himself arrives; and for that one there was no man who would help him; *For, Lord*, he says, *I have no man* (John 5:7); but this one had many who were related to him, who even let him down through the roof. And as for that one, He corrected the body before the soul; for having first bound his paralysis, he then says, *Behold, you have become healthy; sin no more*; here, however, it is not so, but having first healed his soul (for He says to him: *Behold, son, your sins are forgiven you* [Matt. 9:2]), He then corrected the paralysis. That this one is not that one has been clearly demonstrated to us by these things, but it is necessary further to proceed to the beginning of the narrative to see how Christ healed this one, and how He healed that one, and why differently; why He healed the one on a Sabbath, and that one not on a Sabbath, and why He came to that one Himself, while to this one…
they brought him. And because He did not wait to be brought to Him, but took thought for the body first, and for the soul before that, He does not act simply or without purpose, being wise and provident. Let us therefore attend, and observe Him healing. For if, when physicians perform operations or burnings, or in any other way cut and mutilate a body that has been mangled, many people are gathered around both the sick man and the physician while he performs these things, much more does it behoove us to act so here, by how much the physician is greater and the disease more grievous, which is not cured by human art, but by divine grace. And there, indeed, one may see skin being cut, and gore flowing, and putrefaction being removed, and one may endure much distress from the spectacle, and no small pain and anguish—which is burned into one, not only by the sight of the wounds, but by the torments of those who are being burned and cut; for no one is so stony-hearted A that when he stands by those suffering such things, and hears those lamenting, he is not moved, and confounded, and conceives a great sorrow in his heart; and yet, through the desire for viewing the procedure, we endure all these things. Here, however, one sees nothing of that kind: no fire is applied, no iron is plunged in, no blood flows, no sick man is tormented, no one is lamenting. The cause, in truth, is the wisdom of the Healer, who requires no external things, but is Himself sufficient to Himself. For it is sufficient just to command, and all evils are driven away. And this is not the most wondrous thing, that He performs the medicine with such ease, but that it is painless, and brings no discomfort to those who are being cured. Since, therefore, the miracle is greater and the medicine more abundant, and pleasure is offered to the spectators, free from all sorrow, come, let us diligently observe Christ healing. *And Jesus ascended into a boat, and crossed over, and came into His own city. And behold, they offered Him a paralytic lying on a bed; and Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, "Take heart, child, your sins are forgiven"* (Matt. IX, 1-2). They are indeed inferior to the centurion in regard to faith, B but superior to that paralytic who lay at the pool. For he [the latter] neither drew a physician [to him], nor led the sick man to a physician; but he approached as if to God, and said, *"Speak the word only, and my child will be healed"* (Luke VII, 7). But these men did not draw the physician into their houses—and in this they are equal to the centurion—but they brought the sick man to the physician; and in this they are minor, in that they did not say, "Speak the word only." To him, indeed, who lay by the pool, they are much better, for he says, *"Lord, I have no man to cast me into the pool when the water is stirred"* (John V, 7); but these men knew that Christ needed nothing—not waters, not a pool, not any other thing; nevertheless, Christ liberated from the disease not only the centurion’s child, but also this one and that one. And He did not say, "Since you offered lesser faith, you shall receive an equal cure"; but when he [the centurion] exhibited greater [faith], He sent him away with praises and crowns, saying, *"I have not found so great faith in Israel"* (Luke VII, 9). But Him who had offered less faith than that one, He did not praise in any way—yet He did not deprive him of health, C nor him who had exhibited no faith at all. For just as physicians, when they cure the same disease, receive from some a hundred gold pieces, from others fifty, from others fewer, and from some nothing at all—so, indeed, Christ received great and immense faith from the centurion, from this one lesser, and from that one not even a mediocre amount, and yet He healed all. Why, then, did He count even this one, who had contributed nothing, worthy of a benefit? Because it was not out of excessive negligence, nor because of the dullness of his soul, but because he did not know Christ at all, and had not heard any small or great miracle concerning Him, that he did not exhibit faith. For this reason, then, he obtained indulgence—which the Evangelist, hinting at it obscurely, said: *"For he did not know who it was"* (John V, 13); but from the look alone he recognized Him, when he encountered Him again. *[They say]* that some of those who brought [him] believed only; but this is not so. For *seeing their faith,* not only of those who brought him, but also of the one who was brought. What then? If one believes, is the other not healed? someone will say. I do not think so, unless perhaps if he cannot believe, D being deprived of strength either on account of the immaturity of his age, or on account of excessive infirmity. How then, one says, in the history of the Canaanite, did the mother believe, and the daughter was healed? And since the centurion’s [servant] had been an unbeliever, how did the child rise and escape safely? Because, in truth, the sick could not possibly believe. Hear, surely, what the Canaanite says: *"My daughter is evilly vexed by a demon, and now indeed she falls into the water, and now into the fire"* (Matt. XV, 22); but she, suffering from dizziness and seized by a demon—she who could never be in control of her own mind, nor be sound—in what way could she have believed?
The faith of the Paralytic
As, therefore, with the Canaanite, so also with the centurion; in the house lay the child, who himself did not even know Christ, nor who He was at all—who, therefore, could have believed in One whom he did not know, and of whom he had made no trial? But concerning this man [the paralytic], it is not allowed to say this; for the paralytic believed. Whence is this evident? From the very way in which he was brought. For do not hear flippantly that "they let him down through the roof," but consider within your own mind how great [a thing it is] for a sick man to be content to suffer this. For you know well that sick people are so faint-hearted and morose that they often resist the services offered to those lying in bed, and prefer to endure the pains of their diseases rather than sustain the hassles caused by those who assist them. But this man was content both to go out of his house, and to go through the marketplace while being carried, and to show himself to so many people present. It is, moreover, a common custom for sick people [not easily to want any witness to their sickness]: so that many would prefer, being oppressed by diseases, to perish rather than expose their own calamities. But not so this sick man; but when he saw the theater filled, the entrances blocked, the harbor sealed, he was content to be let down through the roof. So resourceful is love, and so rich is charity. For he who seeks...A to find, finds. He did not say to those who were with him, "What is this? Why are you confused? Why are you in such a hurry? Let us wait for the room to be emptied, the theater to be disbanded. Those who have gathered will depart, and we shall be able to approach him privately and consult with him about these matters. Why must my afflictions be laid out in the midst of everyone, and why must I be lowered from above and act indecorously?" He said none of these things, either to himself or to those who were carrying him; rather, he deemed it an ornament to have so many witnesses to his healing. Nor was his faith to be seen from this alone, but also from the very words of Christ. For as soon as he was lowered and presented, Christ said to him: *Child, your sins are forgiven* (Luke 5. 20). Hearing this, he did not get angry, he was not annoyed, he did not say to the physician, "What is this? I came to be healed of one affliction, and he heals another? These are pretexts and excuses, and coverings for weakness. Are you forgiving sins that are not seen?" He said none of these things, nor did he even think them; but he waited, allowing the physician to use the method of healing that he himself desired. For this reason, Christ did not go to him, but waited for him to come, so that he might show his faith to everyone. For could he not have made the entry easy? But he did nothing of the sort, so that he might display his zeal and his fervent faith to all. And just as he went to that man who had been ill for thirty-eight years because no one was with him, so in this case, because he had many to look after him, he waited for him to come to him, so that he might make this man’s faith clear through his being brought, and instruct us about that man’s desolation through his going to him, and reveal both this man’s zeal and that man’s patience to all, and especially to those present at the time. For because the Jews are accustomed, being envious and misanthropic, to begrudge the benefits shown to their neighbors, and at one time they attacked the miracles because he healed on the Sabbath, and at another time they attacked the lives of those who were being healed, saying, "If this man were a prophet, he would know who the woman is who is touching him" (Luke 7. 39)—not knowing that it is especially the duty of a physician to mingle with the sick and always appear among those suffering, rather than to flee them or leap away from them—which is exactly what he retorted to them, saying: *Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick* (Matt. 9. 12). B Therefore, so that they might not bring the same charges again, he first shows that those who initiate the approach are worthy of healing because of the faith they demonstrate. For this reason, he revealed that man’s desolation and this man’s fervent faith and readiness. For this reason, he healed the one on the Sabbath, but this one not on a Sabbath, so that whenever you see them criticizing and blaming Christ on another day, you may learn that even then they were not criticizing because of observance of the Law, but because they could not bear their own envy. But why did he not come to straighten the paralysis first, but rather says: *Child, your sins are forgiven*? This also is done very wisely. For it is the custom of physicians not to relieve the diseases first, but to remove their sources. For instance, when eyes are often troubled by an evil humor and a corrupt discharge, the physician, neglecting to treat the unhealthy pupil, attends to the head, where the root and source of the sickness is. So also Christ acted, checking the source of the evils first. For the nature of sin is the source, root, and mother of all evils. This is what paralyzes our bodies; this is what brings on diseases; for this reason, here too he says, *Child, your sins are forgiven*; and there he says, *See, you have been made well; sin no more, so that nothing worse may happen to you* (John 5. 14), revealing to both that these diseases were born from sins. And at the beginning and in the fore-parts of creation, sicknesses descended upon the body of Cain due to sin. For even he, after the fratricide, after that lawless act, was then paralyzed in body. For trembling is nothing other than paralysis. For when the power that governs the animal becomes weaker, no longer able to support all the limbs, it releases them from its rightful care, and then, having been loosened, they tremble and shake. C This Paul also revealed; for when accusing the Corinthians of a certain sin, he says: *For this reason many among you are weak and ill* (1 Cor. 11. 30). For this reason D Christ also removes the cause of the evils first; and by saying, *Child, your sins are forgiven*, he lifts up his spirit, he awakens his dejected soul. For his word became an act, and, entering into his conscience, it touched his soul and cast out all agony. For nothing brings such pleasure and provides such confidence as having nothing to accuse oneself of. *Child, your sins are forgiven*. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is adoption. Thus, for instance, we ourselves cannot call him Father until we have washed away our sins in the bath of the holy waters. When, therefore, we come up from there, having laid aside that evil burden, then we say, Our Father, who art in the heavens. But why did he not act in this way regarding the man who had the thirty-eight-year infirmity, but instead corrected his body first? Because in that man’s case, his sins had been consumed by the length of time; for the magnitude of a trial can make the burden of sins light—just as he says concerning Lazarus, that he received his *evil things* (Luke 16. 25), and here he is comforted; and again, elsewhere he says: *Comfort, comfort my people, speak to the heart of Jerusalem, for she has received from the hand of the Lord double for her sins* (Isa. 40. 1-2). And again the prophet: *Lord, give us peace, for you have rendered everything to us* (Isa. 26. 12), indicating that punishments and chastisements bring about the forgiveness of sins, and this can be shown in many ways. To me, therefore, it seems he did not speak to that man about forgiveness, but rather safeguarded him for the future—as those already committed were consumed by the length of the sickness—or if not this, because he was not yet fully persuaded of Christ’s greatness, for this reason he went to the lesser thing first, the open and manifest thing, the health of the body. But in the case of this man, it was not so; but because he had greater faith and a loftier soul, for this reason he spoke to him about the more difficult...
things first; and beyond all these things, in order to show that he was worthy of equal honor with Him who begat Him. For just as there, on the Sabbath day, he healed him, wishing to lead them away from their Judaic observance, and from their accusations to take the opportunity to show himself equal to the One who begat Him; so indeed also here, foreseeing what they were about to say, he spoke these words, that from this, taking a starting point and an occasion, he might demonstrate that he is worthy of equal honor with the One who begat Him. For the matter does not stand on equal footing if, with no one reproaching or accusing him, one should of one's own accord fall into discourse on these things, versus if, when others provide the cause, one should perform this very thing under the name and guise of a defense. For that former method of demonstration would have offended the hearers; but this one was less odious, and could more easily be accepted, and we see Christ performing this everywhere, demonstrating his equality not so much by words as by deeds. The Evangelist A certainly indicated this, saying that He (John 5:18) did not only break the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal to God—which is a much greater thing; for he was confirming this very thing through the demonstration of facts. What, then, do those envious and wicked men, who are consumed by the virtues of others and seek on all sides a handle for reproach? What, they say, is this man blaspheming? There is no one who can forgive sins except God alone (Mark 2:7). Just as there they persecuted him because he broke the Sabbath, and he, having taken the opportunity from their reproaches under the name and guise of a defense, showed his equality with the Father, and said: My Father is working until now, and I am working (John 5:17); so indeed also in this place, from the things they object, he shows himself to be in all things similar to the Father. For what does he say? No one can forgive sins except God alone. Since, therefore, they themselves set this limit, they themselves introduced this rule, they themselves laid down the law, he ensnares them in their own words. You, he says, have confessed that to forgive sins belongs to God alone; therefore the equality is B indubitable. Nor do these men alone say this, but the prophet also, when he speaks thus: Who is a God like unto thee? then, indicating what is proper, he added: Taking away iniquities, and passing over impieties (Micah 7:18). If, therefore, another should appear who performs this very thing likewise, he is also God, and God just as the other is. But let us see by what means Christ urges them with arguments, how gently and modestly, and with the utmost concern. And behold, some of the scribes were saying within themselves, This man blasphemes (Matt. 9:3). They did not by any means bring forth the word, they did not utter it with the tongue, but they were thinking in the inner chambers of their minds. What, therefore, does Christ do? He brought their secret thoughts into the midst before he came to the demonstration which he was about to put forth from the healing of the paralytic's body, because he wished to declare to them the power of his divinity. For that it is agreed that it belongs to God alone to reveal the secrets of the mind, Thou alone knowest the hearts, Scripture says (3 Kings 8:39). You perceive that the word "alone" is again not said by way of C distinction from the Son? For if the Father alone knows hearts, how does the Son know the secrets of the heart? For He Himself, it says, knew what was in man (John 2:25); and Paul, indicating that it is proper to God to know secrets, says: But He who searches the hearts (Rom. 8:27); by which words he signifies that these have the same power that the very name of God has. For as when I say, "He who rains," I designate no one other than God through that thing, since it is the work of God alone to do that; and if I should say, "He who makes the sun to rise," and do not add "God," yet through that thing I show Him; so indeed also Paul, when he says, "He who searches the hearts," declares that it belongs to Him alone to search the hearts. Unless this had the same power as the name "God" to indicate to us Him who was being designated, he would not have set it down alone. For if this were common to Him with the creature, we would not recognize Him who is designated, since that community would beget confusion in the minds of the hearers. Since, therefore, it appears that this is proper to the Father, and likewise it is constant that it belongs to the Son, with whom there is left an indubitable equality therefrom, for this reason, Why do you think evil things in your hearts? he says. For what is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven, or to say, Arise and walk (Matt. 9:4-5)? He also exhibits a second demonstration of the remission of sins. For to forgive sins is much greater than to heal the body, and greater by so much as the soul is than the body. For as paralysis is a sickness of the body, so also sin is a sickness of the soul; but the former, even though it was greater, was obscure; the latter, however, even though it was less, was manifest. Since, therefore, he is about to use the lesser for the demonstration of the greater, showing that he did so on account of their infirmity, and that he lowered himself to their D humility, he says, What is easier to say, Thy sins are forgiven, or to say, Arise and walk? Why, then, do you come to the lesser on their account? Because that which is manifest provides a clearer demonstration than the obscure. Therefore he did not raise him before he said to them: But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins, then he says to the paralytic, Arise and walk (Matt. 9:6); as if he were saying: The remission of sins is indeed a greater sign, but on your account I add the lesser, since this seems to you to be a demonstration of his power. For just as there, when he had praised the centurion who had said: Speak only by a word, and my boy shall be healed; for I also say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes (Matt. 8:8-9), he confirmed his soul with praises; and again when he had reproached the Jews who objected to him that the law was violated by him on the Sabbath, he showed that it was placed in his own power to change laws; so indeed in this place, when they had said, You make yourself equal to God, promising those things which belong to the Father alone, reproaching them and accusing them, and by the works themselves showing that he does not at all blaspheme, he offered us an indubitable demonstration, whence it is established that he is able to provide the same things as the Genitor. See, therefore, in what way he strives to prove that those things which are the Father's alone, are also his; for he did not simply raise the paralytic, but when he had said, That you may know, he raised him, in order that he might provide a more distinct demonstration of the "invisible" by means of the visible. He raised him, therefore, after he had said to them, That you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins; then he says to the paralytic, Arise and walk, as if he were saying: The remission of sins is a greater sign, but I add the lesser on your account, because your weakness demands it. As indeed there, having praised the centurion who said, Speak only by a word, and my boy shall be healed, and to another, Go, and he goes, and again to the Jews who reproached him about the Sabbath, that he again relaxes the law, he showed that the Lord is the one who changes the laws; so also in this, he who says this makes himself equal to God, promising that it belongs to the Father alone; and accusing them, and by the works, he showed that he does not blaspheme, having provided an unanswerable demonstration for us that he can do these things, which he who begat him can do. See how he wishes to prove this; that it belongs to the Father alone, these things and his own; for he did not simply raise the paralytic, but by saying,
A “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:6), it was truly his work and his concern to prove this, above all, that he possesses the same authority as the Father.
8. These things, then, all of them, as well as the things said the day before and the day before that, let us hold with precision, and let us entreat God that they remain immovable in our mind; and let us contribute our own diligence, and let us gather here frequently. For so shall we preserve the things said before, and we shall acquire others again; and if anything should slip away through time, we shall easily be able to recover it through continuous instruction. And not only will our dogmas remain sound and incorrupt, but our life also will enjoy much care, and with pleasure and joy we shall be able to pass through the present life. For whatever passion troubles the soul, as we gather here, will be able to be easily dissolved; since even now Christ is present, and he who approaches him with faith shall easily receive his healing.
Is someone struggling with persistent poverty, and lacking the necessary food, and has he often gone to sleep hungry? Yet, upon entering here, and hearing Paul saying that he lived in famine and thirst and nakedness, and that he endured this not for one or two or three days, but continuously (for indeed he was showing this when he said, “Until the present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked” [1 Cor. 4:11]), he will receive sufficient consolation, having learned through the things said that it was not by hating him or abandoning him that God allowed him to be in poverty; for it would not be a matter of hatred, in the case of Paul, who is the friend of all men above all others, that he allowed this; but rather, that he is caring and providing, and leading him to greater philosophy.
Is someone else having his body besieged by disease and countless evils? Sufficient consolation for this could be the bodies of these paralytics, and along with them, the blessed and noble disciple of B Paul, who was continuously in infirmities, and never caught his breath from his long illness, which is what Paul also said: “Use a little wine for your stomach and your frequent infirmities” (1 Tim. 5:23), and he did not simply say “infirmities.”
Is another, having been slandered by many, acquired a bad reputation, and does this very thing cause pain to his soul and consume it continuously? Having entered and heard, “Blessed are you when they reproach you and say all evil against you, lying; rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in the heavens,” he will cast away all despondency and receive all pleasure; for “leap and be glad,” he says, “when they cast out your name as evil.” And those who are spoken of ill he consoles in this way, while those who speak ill he threatens differently, saying that “every idle word that men may speak, they will give an account of it, whether good or evil.”
Is someone else mourning a daughter or a son, or someone of his relatives? And this one, having arrived here and heard Paul groaning over the present life and desiring to see the one to come, and burdened by his stay here, he too will depart having received a sufficient medicine, having heard him saying: “But regarding those who have fallen asleep, I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, so that you do not grieve as also the rest who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). He did not say, “Regarding those dying,” but, “Regarding those who have fallen asleep,” showing that death is sleep. As therefore if we see someone sleeping, we are not disturbed, nor do we bewail him, expecting that he will surely rise; so when we see someone dead, let us not be disturbed, nor let us collapse; for indeed this too is a sleep—longer, indeed, but a sleep nonetheless. Therefore, by the name of “falling asleep,” he comforted those who mourn, and refuted the accusation of the faithless. If you mourn the departed unendurably, he says, you will be like that faithless one who has no hope of resurrection. He rightfully laments, as one who has received no proofs regarding the life after this; but you, who have received so many proofs regarding the life after this, for what reason do you collapse into the same weakness as him? For this reason he says, “But regarding those who have fallen asleep, I do not want you to be ignorant, so that you do not grieve, as also the rest who have no hope.”
And it is possible to receive sufficient consolation not only from the New, but also from the Old Testament. For when you hear of Job, after the loss of his possessions, after the destruction of his herds—not one or two or three, but after having lost a whole choir of children in the very flower of their age—after such greatness of soul, even if you are weaker than everyone, you will be able to easily C recover and raise yourself up. For you, O man, have attended a child who was sick, and you saw him lying on his bed, and you heard him speaking his final steps, and you stood by as he breathed his last breaths, and you drew down his eyelids, and you closed his mouth; but he [Job] did not even stand by those dying; he did not see them expiring, but one tomb became a home for all, and upon the same table the brain was poured out just like the blood, and the wood, and the tile, and the dust, and fragments of flesh, and all were found mixed up together. But nevertheless, after such and so many evils, he did not lament, he did not despair; but what does he say? “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so also it came to pass; may the name of the Lord be blessed forever” (Job 1:21).
Let us also utter this voice over each of the things that happen to us, and if there is loss of money, and sickness of bodies, and insult, and slander, and if any of human evils happens, let us say these things: “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so also it came to pass; may the name of the Lord be blessed forever.” If we philosophize in this way, we shall never suffer any evil, even if we suffer countless things; but the gain will be greater than the loss, the good things more than the evils, by making God favorable to yourself through these words, and driving off the tyranny. For together with the tongue uttering these words, the devil at once leaped away; and with his having leaped away, the cloud of despondency is also driven off, and the thoughts that oppress us flee, leaping away along with him, and in addition to all these, you will attain both the goods here and those in heaven.
NOTICE
These homilies, separated by a long interval in previous editions, demand both by the nature of the argument and by the series of time itself that we place them consecutively. When I speak of the series of time, do not think that I have fixed it so as to be able to determine the year with certainty or even indicate it by very probable conjectures; rather, I speak of the series and order of time that the Homilies on the Inscription of the Acts have among themselves, such that it is easy to assign which is the first, which is the second, etc. Chrysostom himself clearly indicates this below, in the one we place third in the order. There, in sec. 2, it is read: "It happens that although we have carried out the exposition for four days already, we have not yet passed over a single inscription, but are still occupied with it." And a little later: "Therefore, on the first day, I said that the inscriptions were not to be passed over rashly, at which time I read the title of the Altar to you, and showed the wisdom of Paul..." In this, the whole teaching of the previous day ended: after that, on the second day, we asked who the author of that book was, and we found, by the grace of God, Luke the evangelist; and with many demonstrations we proved to you the matter placed in question. Finally, more clearly, with a few words interposed: "On the first day, therefore, we discussed the inscription; on the second day, the one who wrote the book; on the third day, we discussed with those newly enlightened, concerning the beginning of the Scripture: and we showed what an act is, what a miracle is, and what conversation is, what a sign and wonder and virtue..." Today it is worthwhile to discuss the remainder of the inscription, and to show what the name of Apostle signifies. The first homily, therefore, is that in which he teaches that the inscriptions of the sacred Books are not to be passed over rashly, and deals with the inscription of the Altar, namely, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Under the guidance of Chrysostom, we place that one first. The second, where he discoursed on the author of the book of Acts and demonstrated it to be Luke, we have indeed found; but it is lamentably disfigured and mixed with spurious material. For it is a Homily inscribed, *de Assumptione sive Ascensione Domini* (on the Assumption or Ascension of the Lord), and ascribed to Chrysostom; where those things which are brought forward first seem unworthy of our Chrysostom. After this, other things are added which do not seem to cohere with the former, and although they are of better quality, I would not dare to affirm whether they should be ascribed to Chrysostom. The part follows thereafter where, with some premises concerning the inscription of the book of Acts which apply perfectly to the present undertaking, the author of this book is excellently discussed, and it is proved to be Luke. Here, indeed, I recognize Chrysostom; nor do I doubt that both those things which are said concerning the inscription of the Acts, and those things which are said concerning the author of this book, belong to that homily which Chrysostom remembers here as having been spoken by him as the second. Hence the question is asked, how many times the Lord Christ appeared from the Resurrection to the Ascension; I think this part also is by Chrysostom: but all the remaining things which are held in this very long homily are either inept or unworthy of Chrysostom. Therefore, we have not dared to mix this poorly augmented and cobbled-together homily with the sincere ones, even though it may contain certain matters that are new and pertain to the present argument; but we have relegated it to the end of this volume. The third, which, by rejecting the other to the foot of the page, we place second, is that in which the inscription of the Acts is discussed, as well as the difference between a miracle and an act, etc. The fourth, which we inscribe as third in the note mentioned above, is that which deals with the utility of reading the Scriptures, and as it explains the last word of the title of the Acts of the Apostles, it investigates what the name of Apostle signifies. To this fourth we append that in which he asks why the Acts of the Apostles are read at Pentecost: which gives itself away as belonging to the others: for in it it is read: "I said at that time, by whom the book of Acts was written, and who was the author of that work; or rather, not who was the author of the work, but who was the minister. For he did not produce what was said, but ministered to those things which were said. I spoke of the Acts themselves, and what finally that name of Acts means: I also spoke of the naming of the Apostles: now it is necessary that we say for what reason our fathers decided that the book of Acts should be read at Pentecost." Therefore it is clearer than light that these were held consecutively, with a short time placed between each one: and indeed not long after the Easter solemnity, as is argued from those things which are said concerning the newly enlightened near the end of the first and third homilies. Beyond this note of the recently past Easter, we extract another from these words of homily 1, no. 1: "Therefore, riches are not an evil, but the legitimate use of them is evil: and just as recently, when making words about drunkenness, I was not accusing wine, since every creature of God is good, which is received with thanksgiving, but the evil use, etc." Here, furthermore, he seems to note entirely the Homily *against Drunkards and on the Resurrection*, which we edited in Vol. 2: where, discussing many things against the intemperate, he says among other things: "Let us abstain from drunkenness: I do not say, Let us abstain from wine, but, Let us abstain from drunkenness. Wine does not cause drunkenness: it is indeed the creature of God: but a creature of God causes nothing of evil, but a malignant will causes drunkenness, etc." From these words, furthermore, it is argued that that homily, which is mentioned in this first discourse on the beginning of the Acts as having been recently held, is the very one which was said against the Drunkards on the day of the Resurrection, and that therefore this first one was held a few days after Easter. That same thing is proven indeed also from another place in this homily, no. 3, where it is said: "In previous days, I discussed with you the apostolic words and the evangelical ones, when we made words concerning Judas: we also discussed the prophetic ones, today we wish to discuss the Acts of the Apostles, etc." Here it entirely seems to be a matter of the Homily *on Judas*, which was held on the Thursday of the Lord's Supper, where he discourses on the apostolic and prophetic words. We have edited a double text of this homily, because although he had held the former *on Judas*, whose beginning is... some years before, the latter, which begins thus, *Ebouλόµην, dyazŋrol*, the same, which