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Is it possible, then, to praise the paralytic according to his worth, or to censure our own indifference? For what defense would we be worthy of, or what pardon, when, after he persevered for thirty-eight years, we give up so quickly? 3. What then did Christ do? When he had shown that he was worthy of healing, and justly came to him before the others, he says to him: Arise, take up your bed, and walk. Do you see how he was in no way harmed by the thirty-eight years, since he bore what happened with patience? For his soul became more philosophical in this long time, as if tested in the furnace of affliction, and he received his cure with greater glory. For it was not an angel, but the Master of angels himself who healed him. But why did he also command him to take up his bed? First and foremost, that he might henceforth release the Jews from the observance of the law. For when the sun is shining, one no longer needs to sit by the lamp; when the truth has been shown, one should no longer cling to the type. For this reason, whenever he broke the sabbath, he worked a very great sign in it, so that the magnitude of the miracle, by astonishing those who saw it, might little by little undermine and abolish the observance of inactivity. Second, that he might shut their shameless mouths. For since they acted maliciously in their judgment of the miracles, and tried to detract from the glory of what was done, as a kind of trophy and indisputable proof of his health, he commanded him to display the carrying of the bed, so that they might not say about this man what they said about the blind man. And what did they say about that one? This is he, it is not he, it is he. Therefore, so that they might not say such things about this man as well, the bed, being carried on high, becomes the accuser of their shamelessness. It is possible to say a third thing, 48.807 no less important than what has been said. For that you may learn that it was not human art, but divine power that accomplished the whole thing, he commanded him to carry the bed, providing the greatest and clearest proof of a true and genuine recovery, so that none of those blasphemers might say that the paralytic, acting in collusion and currying favor with Christ, feigned a mere walk. For this reason also he commands him to carry a burden on his shoulders. For if his limbs had not been well-strengthened, and his joints tightened, he would not have been able to bear such a great weight on his shoulders. And in addition to all this, it was also shown that all things happen at once when Christ commands, both the deliverance from sickness and the return of health. For physicians, even if they can deliver from diseases, are not strong enough to restore the sick to health at once, but they need another long period of time, that of convalescence, in order to scrape away and cast out the remnants of the sickness from the body little by little. But Christ did not act so, but in a single moment of time he both delivered from the sickness and restored health, and there was no time in between, but as soon as that holy voice leaped from his holy tongue, the disease fled from the body, and the word became deed, and the entire sickness was healed from every part. And just as some rebellious handmaid, when she sees her master, draws back and returns to her proper good order; so also the nature of the body, like some handmaid then in rebellion and having produced the paralysis, when it saw its Master present, returned to its own good order and took up its fitting adornment. And the voice worked all these things; for they were not mere words, but the words of God, concerning which he says, that The works of his words are mighty. For if he made man when he did not exist, much more did he restore him again when he had become corrupted and paralyzed. Here I would gladly ask those who meddle with the essence of God, how did those limbs come together? how were they tightened

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Ἆρα ἔστι κατ' ἀξίαν ἢ τὸν παραλυτικὸν ἐπαίνεσαι, ἢ τὴν ἡμετέραν κακίσαι ῥᾳθυμίαν; Ποίας γὰρ ἂν εἴημεν ἀπολογίας ἄξιοι, ποίας δὲ συγγνώμης, ὅταν, ἐκείνου τριάκοντα καὶ ὀκτὼ καρτερήσαντος ἔτη, ἡμεῖς οὕτω ταχέως ἀναπίπτωμεν; γʹ. Τί οὖν ὁ Χριστός; Ὅτε ἔδειξεν, ὅτι θεραπείας ἄξιός ἐστι, καὶ δικαίως πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπ' αὐτὸν ἦλθε, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἔγειραι, ἆρον τὸν κράββατόν σου, καὶ περιπάτει. Ὁρᾷς πῶς οὐδὲν ἀπὸ τῶν τριάκοντα καὶ ὀκτὼ ἐτῶν παρεβλάβη, ἐπειδὴ μεθ' ὑπομονῆς ἤνεγκε τὸ συμβάν; Ἥ τε γὰρ ψυχὴ φιλοσοφωτέρα αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ μακρῷ τούτῳ γέγονε χρόνῳ, ὥσπερ ἐν χωνευτηρίῳ τῇ συμφορᾷ δοκιμαζομένη, τήν τε ἰατρείαν μετὰ πλείονος ἀπελάμβανε δόξης. Οὐ γὰρ ἄγγελος, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ τῶν ἀγγέλων ἐθεράπευεν αὐτὸν ∆εσπότης. Τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν καὶ τὴν κλίνην αὐτῷ ἐκέλευσε λαβεῖν; Ἑνὸς μὲν μάλιστα καὶ πρώτου, ἵνα ἀπαλλάξῃ λοιπὸν τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τῆς τοῦ νόμου παρατηρήσεως. Τοῦ γὰρ ἡλίου φαίνοντος, οὐκέτι τῷ λύχνῳ προσεδρεύειν ἔδει· τῆς ἀληθείας δειχθείσης, οὐκέτι τὸν τύπον περιέχειν ἐχρῆν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, εἴ ποτε τὸ σάββατον ἔλυε, μέγιστον ἐν αὐτῷ σημεῖον εἰργάζετο, ἵνα ἡ τοῦ θαύματος ὑπερβολὴ τοὺς ὁρῶντας ἐκπλήττουσα, τὴν τῆς ἀργίας παρατήρησιν κατὰ μικρὸν ὑποσύρουσα ἐξέλῃ. ∆εύτερον δὲ, ἵνα ἐπιστομίσῃ αὐτῶν τὰ ἀναίσχυντα στόματα. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ περὶ τὴν κρίσιν τῶν θαυμάτων ἐκακούργουν, καὶ τῇ δόξῃ τῶν γιγνομένων ἐπηρεάζειν ἐπεχείρουν, ὥσπερ τι τρόπαιον καὶ ἔλεγχον ἀναμφισβήτητον τῆς ὑγιείας, τὴν φορὰν τῆς κλίνης ἐκέλευεν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, ἵνα μὴ, ὅπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ τυφλοῦ ἔλεγον, τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου λέγωσι. Τί δὲ ἔλεγον ἐπὶ ἐκείνου; Οὗτός ἐστιν, οὐκ ἔστιν οὗτος, αὐτός ἐστιν. Ἵνα μὴ οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου λέγωσι τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἡ κλίνη κατήγορος αὐτῶν τῆς ἀναισχυντίας γίνεται, ἐφ' ὕψει φερομένη. Ἔστι τι 48.807 καὶ τρίτον εἰπεῖν, τῶν εἰρημένων οὐκ ἔλαττον. Ἵνα γὰρ μάθῃς, ὅτι οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνη τέχνη, ἀλλὰ θεία δύναμις τὸ πᾶν εἰργάσατο, ἐκέλευσεν αὐτῷ φέρειν τὴν κλίνην, τῆς ἀληθοῦς καὶ εἰλικρινοῦς ὑγιείας μεγίστην παρέχων ἀπόδειξιν καὶ σαφῆ, ἵνα μή τις τῶν βλασφήμων ἐκείνων λέγῃ, ὅτι συνυποκρινόμενος ὁ παραλυτικὸς καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ χαριζόμενος, ἐσχηματίσατο βάδισιν ψιλήν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ φορτίον ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων αὐτοῦ κελεύει φέρειν. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἦν πεπηγότα αὐτῷ καλῶς τὰ μέλη, καὶ τὰ ἄρθρα σφιγέντα, οὐκ ἂν ἠδυνήθη βαστάσαι τοσοῦτον ὄγκον ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων. Καὶ πρὸς τούτοις δὲ ἅπασι κἀκεῖνο ἐδείκνυτο, ὅτι ὑφ' ἓν ἅπαντα γίνεται, ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς προστάττῃ, καὶ ἀπαλλαγὴ νόσου, καὶ ὑγιείας ἐπάνοδος. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἰατροὶ κἂν ἀπαλλάξωσι νοσημάτων, ἀλλ' ὑφ' ἓν πρὸς ὑγίειαν ἐπαναγαγεῖν τὸν ἀῤῥωστοῦντα οὐκ ἰσχύουσιν, ἀλλ' ἑτέρου δέονται μακροῦ χρόνου, τοῦ τῆς ἀναλήψεως, ὥστε τὰ λείψανα τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας κατὰ μικρὸν ἀποξύσαι τοῦ σώματος καὶ ἐκβαλεῖν. Ὁ δὲ Χριστὸς οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ' ἐν μιᾷ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ καὶ τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας ἀπήλλαξε, καὶ τὴν ὑγίειαν ἐπανήγαγε, καὶ μέσος οὐδεὶς ἐγένετο χρόνος, ἀλλ' ἅμα τῆς ἁγίας γλώττης ἐξεπήδησεν ἡ ἱερὰ ἐκείνη φωνὴ, καὶ τὸ νόσημα τοῦ σώματος ἐδραπέτευε, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἔργον ἐγένετο, καὶ ἡ ἀῤῥωστία πᾶσα πάντοθεν ἐθεραπεύετο. Καὶ καθάπερ θεράπαινά τις στασιάζουσα, ἐπειδὰν ἴδῃ τὸν ἑαυτῆς δεσπότην, συστέλλεται, καὶ πρὸς εὐταξίαν τὴν προσήκουσαν ἐπανέρχεται· οὕτω καὶ ἡ φύσις τοῦ σώματος καθάπερ θεράπαινά τις τότε στασιάσασα, καὶ τὴν πάρεσιν ἐργασαμένη, ἐπειδὴ τὸν ∆εσπότην εἶδε τὸν ἑαυτῆς παραγενόμενον, πρὸς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπανῆλθεν εὐταξίαν, καὶ τὸν πρέποντα κόσμον ἀνέλαβε. Καὶ ταῦτα πάντα ἡ φωνὴ εἰργάσατο· οὐ γὰρ ἦν ψιλὰ τὰ ῥήματα, ἀλλὰ ῥήματα Θεοῦ, περὶ ὧν φησιν, ὅτι Ἰσχυρὰ ἔργα λόγων αὐτοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ οὐκ ὄντα ἄνθρωπον ἐποίησε, πολλῷ μᾶλλον σαθρωθέντα καὶ διαλυθέντα πάλιν ἐπανώρθωσεν. Ἐνταῦθα ἡδέως ἂν ἐροίμην τοὺς πολυπραγμονοῦντας τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν οὐσίαν, πῶς συνῆλθε τὰ μέλη ἐκεῖνα; πῶς ἐσφίγγετο