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he had suffered, he said. but what his sins were He did not reveal, nor did He say, "You have sinned in this or that," nor, "You have done this or that wrong," but having indicated this with a single bare word, with: "Sin no more," and having said this much, only enough to remind him, He made him more diligent for the future, and He made all his patience and courage and philosophy clear to us, having put him under the necessity of describing his whole misfortune in tragic terms, and showing his own zeal; For "while I am coming," he says, "another steps down before me;" but his sins He did not parade publicly. For just as we wish our own things to be kept in shadow, so too does God, much more than we; for this reason He performed the healing in front of everyone, but the exhortation or the counsel He gives in private. For He never parades our sins, unless perhaps He sees us being insensitive towards them. For when He says, "You saw me hungry, and you did not feed me; and thirsty, and you gave me no drink," He says this for the present time, so that we may not hear these words in the time to come. He threatens, He parades them here, so that He may not parade them there; just as He also for this reason threatened to destroy the city of the Ninevites, so that He might not destroy it. For if He wished to make our sins public, He would not have 51.53 said beforehand that He would make them public; but now He says it beforehand for this reason, so that, chastened by the fear of that public disclosure, if not by the fear of punishment, we might wash all things away. This also happens in the case of baptism; for He brings a person to the pool of waters, having made his sins clear to no one, but He makes the gift manifest and clear to all, while the sins, no one else knows except Himself and the one receiving the forgiveness. This also happened in this man's case, and He makes the reproof without a witness, or rather, what was said is not only a reproof, but also a defense, as if defending Himself for such great affliction and telling him, and showing him, that not in vain, nor for no reason did He permit him to be afflicted for so long a time, He reminded him of his sins, and told him the cause of the illness. For, it says, having found him in the temple, He said to him: "Sin no more, lest something worse happen to you." Since, therefore, we have gained so much from the former paralytic, come, let us go also to another, though he is found in Matthew. For in mines too, wherever one finds gold, one digs more there again; and I know indeed that many of those who simply read believe that the paralytic found in the four evangelists is one and the same; but it is not so. For this reason, it is necessary to be roused and to pay attention with precision. For the inquiry is not about trivial matters, but this account will be useful against Greeks, and against Jews, and against many of the heretics, once it has received its proper solution. For so all accuse the evangelists as being in conflict and disagreement; but it is not so, God forbid, but even if the persons are different, the grace of the Spirit is one, which moves the soul of each; and where there is the grace of the Spirit, there is love, joy, peace; there is no war and disputation, and strife and contentiousness. How then shall we make it clear, that this paralytic is not that one, but another besides that one? From many signs: both place, and chronology, and seasons, and day, and from the manner of the healing, and from the presence of the physician, and from the desolation of the one who was healed. 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 creates no disagreement, nor conflict; but this matter now before us has much contradiction, unless it be shown that the paralytic at the pool is a different one from the one recorded in the three. And so that you may learn what it is to speak differently, and what it is to speak contradictorily, one of the evangelists said that Christ bore the cross, but another that Simon the Cyrenian did; this

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ἔπαθεν, εἶπε· τίνα δὲ ἦν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα οὐκ ἐδήλωσεν, οὐδὲ εἶπε, Τὸ καὶ τὸ ἥμαρτες, οὐδὲ, Τὸ καὶ τὸ ἐπλημμέλησας, ἀλλ' ἑνὶ ψιλῷ ῥήματι τοῦτο ἐνδειξάμενος τῷ· Μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε, καὶ τοσοῦτον εἰπὼν, ὅσον ἀναμνῆσαι μόνον, σπουδαιότερον αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸ μέλλον εἰργάσατο, καὶ τὴν μὲν ὑπομονὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀνδρείαν καὶ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν πᾶσαν δήλην ἡμῖν ἐποίησεν εἰς ἀνάγκην αὐτὸν καταστήσας τοῦ πᾶσαν ἐκτραγῳδῆσαι τὴν συμφορὰν, καὶ τὴν σπουδὴν ἐπιδειξάμενος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ· Ἐν ᾧ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐγὼ ἔρχομαι, ἄλλος πρὸ ἐμοῦ καταβαίνει· τὰ δὲ ἁμαρτήματα οὐκ ἐξεπόμπευσεν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡμεῖς βουλόμεθα τὰ ἡμέτερα συσκιάζεσθαι, οὕτω καὶ ὁ Θεὸς πολλῷ πλέον ἢ ἡμεῖς· διὰ τοῦτο τὴν μὲν θεραπείαν ἐπὶ πάντων ἐποιήσατο, τὴν δὲ παραίνεσιν ἢ τὴν συμβουλὴν κατιδίαν ποιεῖται. Οὐδέποτε γὰρ ἡμῶν ἐκπομπεύει τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, πλὴν εἰ μή ποτε ἴδοι ἀναισθήτως ἔχοντας πρὸς αὐτά. Καὶ γὰρ ὅταν λέγῃ· Πεινῶντά με εἴδετε, καὶ οὐκ ἐθρέψατε· καὶ διψῶντα, καὶ οὐκ ἐποτίσατε, διὰ τοῦτο λέγει κατὰ τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν, ἵνα μὴ κατὰ τὸν μέλλοντα τούτων ἀκουσώμεθα τῶν ῥημάτων. Ἀπειλεῖ, ἐκπομπεύει ἐνταῦθα, ἵνα μὴ ἐκπομπεύσῃ ἐκεῖ· ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ καταστρέψαι διὰ τοῦτο ἠπείλησε τὴν τῶν Νινευιτῶν πόλιν, ἵνα μὴ καταστρέψῃ. Εἰ γὰρ ἠβούλετο δημοσιεύειν ἡμῶν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, οὐκ ἂν 51.53 προεῖπεν, ὅτι δημοσιεύσει· νῦν δὲ διὰ τοῦτο προλέγει, ἵνα τῷ φόβῳ τῆς δημοσιεύσεως ἐκείνης, εἰ καὶ μὴ τῷ φόβῳ τῆς κολάσεως σωφρονισθέντες, ἀπονιψώμεθα ἅπαντα. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ βαπτίσματος γίνεται· καὶ γὰρ ἄγει πρὸς τὴν κολυμβήθραν τῶν ὑδάτων τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐδενὶ δῆλα ποιήσας αὐτοῦ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν δωρεὰν πᾶσι καθίστησι φανερὰν, καὶ ποιεῖ δήλην, τὰ δὲ ἁμαρτήματα πλὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ τὴν ἄφεσιν λαμβάνοντος οὐδεὶς ἕτερος οἶδε. Τοῦτο καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου γέγονε, καὶ ἀμάρτυρον ποιεῖται τὸν ἔλεγχον, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἔλεγχος μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπολογία τὸ εἰρημένον ἐστὶν, ὥσπερ ὑπὲρ τῆς τοσαύτης κακώσεως ἀπολογούμενος καὶ λέγων αὐτῷ, καὶ δεικνὺς, ὅτι οὐ μάτην, οὐδὲ εἰκῆ τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν ἐπέτρεψε κακωθῆναι χρόνον, τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἀνέμνησεν αὐτὸν, καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν εἶπε τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας. Εὑρὼν γὰρ αὐτὸν, φησὶν, ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε, ἵνα μὴ χεῖρόν τί σοι γένηται. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τοσαῦτα ἐκαρπωσάμεθα ἐκ τοῦ προτέρου παραλύτου, φέρε ἔλθωμεν καὶ ἐφ' ἕτερον κἂν παρὰ τῷ Ματθαίῳ κείμενον. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐν τοῖς μετάλλοις ὅπουπερ ἂν εὕροι τις χρυσίον, πλέον ἐκεῖ διασκάπτει πάλιν· καὶ οἶδα μὲν ὅτι πολλοὶ τῶν ἁπλῶς ἀναγινωσκόντων ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι νομίζουσι παράλυτον παρὰ τοῖς τέσσαρσιν εὐαγγελισταῖς κείμενον· οὐκ ἔστι δέ. ∆ιὸ χρὴ διαναστῆναι καὶ προσέχειν μετὰ ἀκριβείας. Οὐ γὰρ ὑπὲρ τῶν τυχόντων ἡ ζήτησίς ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς Ἕλληνας, καὶ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους, καὶ πρὸς πολλοὺς τῶν αἱρετικῶν χρήσιμος ὁ λόγος οὗτος ἔσται, τὴν προσήκουσαν λύσιν λαβών. Καὶ γὰρ οὕτω πάντες τοῖς εὐαγγελισταῖς ἐγκαλοῦσιν ὡς μαχομένοις καὶ διαφωνοῦσιν· οὐκ ἔστι δὲ, μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ διάφορα τὰ πρόσωπα, μία τοῦ Πνεύματος ἡ χάρις ἐστὶν, ἡ τὴν ἑκάστου κινοῦσα ψυχήν· ὅπου δὲ τοῦ Πνεύματος χάρις, ἀγάπη, χαρὰ, εἰρήνη· πόλεμος καὶ ἀμφισβήτησις οὐκ ἔστι, καὶ μάχη καὶ φιλονεικία τις. Πῶς οὖν ποιήσομεν φανερὸν, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ παράλυτος οὗτος ἐκεῖνος, ἀλλ' ἕτερος παρ' ἐκεῖνον; Ἀπὸ πολλῶν σημείων, καὶ τόπου, καὶ χρόνου, καὶ καιρῶν, καὶ ἡμέρας, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ τρόπου τῆς θεραπείας, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ ἰατροῦ, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρημίας τοῦ θεραπευθέντος. Καὶ τί τοῦτο; φησί· καὶ γὰρ ἕτερα σημεῖα οὐχὶ διαφόρως ἀπήγγειλαν πολλοὶ τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν; Ἀλλ' ἕτερόν ἐστι διαφόρως εἰπεῖν, καὶ ἕτερον ἐναντίως· ἐκεῖνο μὲν γὰρ διαφωνίαν οὐ ποιεῖ τινα, οὐδὲ μάχην· τοῦτο δὲ τὸ νῦν προκείμενον ἡμῖν πολλὴν ἔχει τὴν ἐναντίωσιν, εἰ μὴ δειχθείη ἕτερος ὢν ὁ ἐν τῇ κολυμβήθρᾳ παραλυτικὸς παρ' ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἐν τοῖς τρισὶν ἀναγεγραμμένον. Καὶ ἵνα μάθητε τί ποτέ ἐστι διαφόρως, καὶ τί ποτέ ἐστιν ἐναντίως εἰπεῖν, τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν ὁ μὲν ὅτι ὁ Χριστὸς τὸν σταυρὸν ἐβάσταζεν εἶπεν, ὁ δὲ ὅτι Σίμων ὁ Κυρηναῖος· τοῦτο