John Chrysostom, On the Divinity of Christ

the bones? how was the tone of the belly that had been relaxed strengthened? how were the loosened sinews tightened again, and the cast-down strength raised up and set aright? But they could not say how. Therefore, marvel at what has happened only, do not be over-curious about the manner. Since, therefore, he did what was commanded, and took up his bed, the Jews, seeing him, say: It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your pallet on the Sabbath. When they ought to have worshipped the one who did it, when they ought to have marveled at what had happened, they discourse about the Sabbath, truly straining out the gnat and swallowing the camel. What then did he say? He who made me well, he said to me, ‘Take up your pallet and walk.’ Do you see the man's gratitude? he confesses his physician, and says that the lawgiver of the command is worthy of belief; and just as the blind man reasoned with them, 48.808 so also did this man. And how did that man reason? They said to him, This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath. What then did he say? We know, he says, that God does not hear sinners; but this man opened my eyes. And what he says is something like this: If he transgressed the law, he sinned; but if he sinned, he would not have had such power; for where there is sin, there is no display of power; but he did have power, therefore he did not sin by transgressing the law. Thus this man also reasons. For in saying, "He who made me well," he hinted at this, that if this is the one who displayed power, he could not rightly be held liable to charges of transgression. What then did they say? Where is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your pallet and walk’? See their ingratitude and insensibility, see a soul full of arrogance. For the eyes of the envious see nothing sound, but only where they can find a handle for accusation. Thus these men also, when the one healed confessed both things, both that He had healed him and that He had commanded him to take up his bed, concealed the one, but stated the other; they concealed the miracle, but put forward the violation of the Sabbath, For they did not say, 'Where is the one who made you well?' but passing over that in silence, they said, 'Where is the one who said to you, "Take up your pallet and go"?' But he did not know; for Jesus had withdrawn, since there was a crowd in that place. This is the man's greatest defense, this is a proof of Christ's care; so that when you hear that he did not receive him when he arrived in the same way as the centurion, nor did he say, 'Speak a word, and my servant will be healed,' you may not accuse him of unbelief, since he did not know him; for he did not even know who he was. For how could he have known him, having never seen him before? For this reason he said, 'I have no one to put me into the pool'; as, if he had known him, he would not have mentioned the pool, nor the going down into it, but would have asked to be healed in the way he was healed. But he thought him to be one of the many, and a mere man, and for this reason he mentioned the former method of healing. But it is a proof of Christ's care, again to leave the one who was healed, and not to make himself known to him. For so that the Jews might not suspect that this witness was suborned, and said this with Christ present and persuading him, his ignorance and Christ's absence removed this suspicion; for the evangelist said that 'He did not know who he was.' 4. For this reason he sends the healed man alone and by himself, so that they, taking him apart as they wished, might examine what had happened, and having received sufficient proof of the matter, might cease from their untimely madness. For this reason He himself utters nothing, but provides them the proof through the facts, everywhere sending forth a voice most clear, and brighter than any trumpet. For thus the testimony was henceforth above suspicion, "He who made me well, he said to me, ‘Take up your pallet,’"

τὰ ὀστᾶ; πῶς ὁ τόνος τῆς γαστρὸς ὁ διαλελυμένος ἐῤῥώννυτο; πῶς τὰ χαλασθέντα νεῦρα πάλιν ἐτείνοντο, καὶ ἡ καταβληθεῖσα δύναμις ἀνίστατο καὶ ἀνωρθοῦτο; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιεν τὸ πῶς εἰπεῖν. Οὐκοῦν θαύμαζε τὸ γεγενημένον μόνον, μὴ περιεργάζου τὸν τρόπον. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἐποίησε τὸ προσταχθὲν, καὶ τὴν κλίνην ἔλαβεν, ἰδόντες αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, λέγουσι· Σάββατόν ἐστι, καὶ οὐκ ἔξεστί σοι ἆραι τὸν κράββατον ἐν σαββάτῳ. ∆έον προσκυνῆσαι τὸν ἐργασάμενον, δέον θαυμάσαι τὸ γεγενημένον, οἱ δὲ περὶ σαββάτου διαλέγονται, ἀληθῶς οἱ τὸν κώνωπα διυλίζοντες, καὶ τὴν κάμηλον καταπίνοντες. Τί οὖν ἐκεῖνος; Ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ, ἐκεῖνός μοι εἶπεν, Ἆρον τὸν κράββατόν σου, καὶ περιπάτει. Ὁρᾷς εὐγνωμοσύνην ἀνθρώπου; ὁμολογεῖ τὸν ἰατρὸν, καὶ ἀξιόπιστόν φησιν εἶναι τοῦ προστάγματος τὸν νομοθέτην· καὶ ὥσπερ αὐτοὺς ὁ τυφλὸς συνελογίσατο, 48.808 οὕτω καὶ οὗτος. Πῶς δὲ ἐκεῖνος συνελογίσατο; Ἔλεγον αὐτῷ, ὅτι Οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι τὸ σάββατον οὐ τηρεῖ. Τί οὖν ἐκεῖνος; Οἴδαμεν, φησὶν, ὅτι ἁμαρτωλῶν ὁ Θεὸς οὐκ ἀκούει· οὗτος δὲ ἤνοιξέ μου τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς. Ὃ δὲ λέγει τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Εἰ παρέβη τὸν νόμον, ἥμαρτεν· εἰ δὲ ἥμαρτεν, οὐκ ἂν τοσοῦτον ἴσχυσεν· ἔνθα γὰρ ἁμαρτία, ἐπίδειξις δυνάμεως οὐκ ἔστιν· ἀλλὰ μὲν ἴσχυσεν, οὐκ ἄρα ἥμαρτε παραβὰς τὸν νόμον. Οὕτω καὶ οὗτος συλλογίζεται. Τὸ γὰρ εἰπεῖν, Ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ. τοῦτο ᾐνίξατο, ὅτι εἰ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐπιδειξάμενος δύναμιν, ὡς οὐκ ἂν εἴη δίκαιος παρανομίας ἐγκλήμασιν ὑπεύθυνος γίνεσθαι. Τί οὖν οὗτοι; Ποῦ ἔστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ εἰπών σοι, Ἆρον τὸν κράββατόν σου, καὶ περιπάτει; Ὅρα τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην καὶ τὴν ἀναισθησίαν, ὅρα ψυχὴν ἀλαζονείας γέμουσαν. Οἱ γὰρ τῶν φθονούντων ὀφθαλμοὶ ὑγιὲς μὲν οὐδὲν βλέπουσιν, ὅθεν δὲ ἔστι λαβὴν εὑρεῖν μόνον. Οὕτω καὶ οὗτοι, τοῦ θεραπευθέντος ἀμφότερα ὁμολογήσαντος, καὶ ὅτι ἐθεράπευσε, καὶ ὅτι ἐκέλευσεν ἆραι τὴν κλίνην, τὸ μὲν ἀπέκρυψαν, τὸ δὲ εἶπον· ἀπέκρυψαν μὲν τὸ θαῦμα, προβάλλονται δὲ τὴν τοῦ σαββάτου παράλυσιν, Οὐ γὰρ εἶπον· Ποῦ ἔστιν ὁ ποιήσας σε ὑγιῆ; ἀλλὰ σιγήσαντες ἐκεῖνο, εἶπον, Ποῦ ἔστιν ὁ εἰπών σοι, Ἆρον τὸν κράββατόν σου, καὶ ὕπαγε; Οὗτος δὲ οὐκ ᾔδει· ὁ γὰρ Ἰησοῦς ἐξένευσεν, ὄχλου ὄντος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ. Τοῦτο ἀπολογία τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μεγίστη, τοῦτο τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ κηδεμονίας ἀπόδειξις· ἵν', ὅταν ἀκούσῃς, ὅτι παραγενόμενον αὐτὸν οὐχ ὁμοίως ὑπεδέξατο τῷ ἑκατοντάρχῃ, οὐδὲ εἶπεν, ὅτι Εἰπὲ λόγον, καὶ ἰαθήσεται ὁ παῖς μου, μὴ κατηγορήσῃς αὐτοῦ ἀπιστίαν, εἴπερ οὐκ ᾔδει αὐτόν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ᾔδει ὅστις ποτὲ ἦν. Πῶς γὰρ αὐτὸν οὔποτε πρῶτον ἰδὼν ἠπίστατο; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἔλεγεν, Οὐκ ἔχω ἄνθρωπον, ἵνα βάλῃ με εἰς τὴν κολυμβήθραν· ὡς, εἰ ᾔδει αὐτὸν, οὐκ ἂν κολυμβήθρας ἐμνήσθη, οὐδὲ τῆς ἐκεῖ καταβάσεως, ἀλλ' οὕτως ἂν ἠξίωσε θεραπευθῆναι, ὡς καὶ ἐθεραπεύθη. Ἀλλ' ἐνόμισεν ἕνα τῶν πολλῶν αὐτὸν εἶναι, καὶ ἄνθρωπον ψιλὸν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῆς προτέρας ἐμνήσθη θεραπείας. Ἀπόδειξις δὲ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ κηδεμονίας, πάλιν καταλιπεῖν τὸν ἰαθέντα, καὶ μὴ καταστῆσαι ἐκείνῳ δῆλον ἑαυτόν. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ ὑποπτεύσωσιν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, ὅτι ὑποβολιμαῖος ἦν οὗτος ὁ μάρτυς, καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρόντος καὶ πείθοντος αὐτὸν τοῦτο ἔλεγεν, ἄγνοια καὶ τὸ μὴ παρεῖναι ταύτην ἀνῄρει τὴν ὑποψίαν· εἶπε γὰρ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς, ὅτι Οὐκ ᾔδει αὐτὸν τίς ἐστι. δʹ. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο μόνον καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸν πέμπει τὸν τεθεραπευμένον, ἵνα ὡς βούλωνται, καταμόνας λαβόντες, βασανίσωσι τὸ γεγενημένον, καὶ λαβόντες ἱκανὴν τοῦ πράγματος ἀπόδειξιν, παύσωνται τῆς ἀκαίρου μανίας. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς μὲν οὐδὲν φθέγγεται, τὴν δὲ διὰ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτοῖς ἀπόδειξιν παρέχεται, πανταχοῦ φωνὴν σαφεστάτην ἀφεὶς, καὶ σάλπιγγος λαμπροτέραν ἁπάσης. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ἀνύποπτος λοιπὸν ἦν ἡ μαρτυρία, Ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ, ἐκεῖνός μοι εἶπεν, Ἆρον τὸν κράββατόν σου,