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This man is not from God; but those who were divided from them; who also said, A sinful man cannot do such signs. For wanting to silence them further, so that they might not seem to be advocating for Christ themselves, they bring into their midst the one who had experience of His power and question him. See, then, the wisdom of the poor man. For he speaks more wisely than all of these. And first he says that He is a Prophet, and he did not cower before the judgment of these perverse Jews, of those who contradicted and said: How can this man be from God, not keeping the sabbath? but he said that He is a Prophet. And they did not believe that he was blind and had received his sight, until they called his parents. And observe in how many ways they attempt to obscure and do away with the miracle. But the very nature of truth, through the things by which it seems to be plotted against by men, through these it becomes stronger; through these it shines, by which it is obscured. For if these things had not happened, the miracle might have been suspected by the many; but now, as if zealous to strip bare the truth, they do all things in this way, and they would not have acted otherwise, if indeed they were doing all things for Christ. For they attempted in this way to bring him down, saying, How did he open your eyes? that is, was it by some sorcery? For elsewhere, having nothing to allege, they attempt to find fault with the manner of the healing, saying: He does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul. And here again, having nothing to say, they resort to the timing, saying, that He breaks the sabbath; and again, that He is a sinner. And yet you who were envious and ready to find fault with what He had done, He asked with all precision, saying, Which of you convicts me of sin? And no one spoke, nor said, that You blas 59.316 pheme, calling Yourself sinless. And yet if they had something to say, they would not have been silent. For those who stoned Him for hearing that He is before Abraham, and said that He is not from God, and boasted that they themselves were from God, being murderers, while saying that He who does such signs is not from God, because He healed and did not keep the sabbath; if they had even a shadow of an accusation, they would not have passed it by. But if they call him a sinner for this reason, because he seemed to break the sabbath, this accusation also appeared stale, with those ranked with them condemning their great coldness and faintheartedness. Therefore, being shackled on all sides, they next come to another more shameless and impudent thing. What is that? They did not believe, it says, that he was blind and had received his sight. How then did they accuse Him of not keeping the sabbath, if not clearly as believers? how did you not pay attention to the large crowd? to the neighbors who knew him? But as I was saying, falsehood everywhere falls foul of itself, and through the ways it seems to assail the truth, it reveals the truth more brightly, which has indeed happened now. For so that no one might say that the neighbors and those who saw him said nothing exact, but were making a comparison, they bring the parents into their midst, through whom they unwillingly showed what had happened to be true. For these, most of all, knew their own child. For since they were not strong enough to intimidate him, but saw him proclaiming his benefactor with all boldness, they expected to wound the miracle through the parents. And see the malice of the question. For what does it say? Placing them in the middle, so as to throw them into distress, with great vehemence and anger they bring the inquiry: Is this your son? And they did not say, The one who was once blind; but how? Whom you say was born blind, as if they were doing mischief, and fabricating the things of Christ. O defiled, and utterly defiled ones! and what father would choose to lie about such things concerning his child? For they all but say, Whom you made blind; and not only that, but you also spread the story everywhere. How then does he see now? O the folly! Yours, it says, is the contrivance and the fabrication. For by these two things they attempt to lead them to a denial, both by saying,

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Οὗτος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλ' οἱ σχισθέντες ἀπ' αὐτῶν· οἳ καὶ εἶπον, Ἄνθρωπος ἁμαρτωλὸς οὐ δύναται τοιαῦτα σημεῖα ποιεῖν. Βουλόμενοι γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐπιστομίσαι πλέον, ἵνα μὴ δόξωσιν αὐτοὶ συνηγορεῖν τῷ Χριστῷ, τὸν λαβόντα τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ πεῖραν εἰς μέσον ἄγουσι καὶ ἐρωτῶσιν. Ὅρα τοίνυν τοῦ πένητος τὴν σοφίαν. Ἁπάντων γὰρ τούτων συνετωτέρως φθέγγεται. Καὶ πρῶτον μέν φησιν, ὅτι Προφήτης ἐστὶ, καὶ οὐ κατέπτηξεν αὐτῶν τῶν διεστραμμένων Ἰουδαίων τὴν κρίσιν, τῶν ἀντιλεγόντων, καὶ λεγόντων· Πῶς δύναται οὗτος εἶναι παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸ σάββατον οὐ τηρῶν; ἀλλ' ἔλεγεν, ὅτι Προφήτης ἐστί. Καὶ οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν ὅτι τυφλὸς ἦν καὶ ἀνέβλεψεν, ἕως οὗ ἐφώνησαν τοὺς γονεῖς αὐτοῦ. Καὶ σκόπει πόσοις τρόποις ἐπιχειροῦσι τὸ θαῦμα συσκιάσαι καὶ ἀνελεῖν. Ἀλλ' αὐτὴ τῆς ἀληθείας ἡ φύσις, δι' ὧν δοκεῖ παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐπιβουλεύεσθαι, διὰ τούτων ἰσχυροτέρα γίνεται· διὰ τούτων λάμπει, δι' ὧν συσκιάζεται. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ ταῦτα ἐγένετο, κἂν ὑπωπτεύθη παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς τὸ θαῦμα· νυνὶ δὲ ὡς σπουδάζοντες γυμνῶσαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, οὕτως ἅπαντα πράττουσι, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἑτέρως ἐποίησαν, εἴ γε ὑπὲρ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πάντα ἐποίουν. Καὶ γὰρ ἐπεχείρησαν διὰ τούτου τοῦ τρόπου καταβαλεῖν αὐτὸν, λέγοντες, Πῶς ἀνέῳξέ σου τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς; τουτέστι, μὴ γοητείᾳ τινί; Καὶ γὰρ ἀλλαχοῦ μηδὲν ἔχοντες ἐπισκῆψαι, τῷ τρόπῳ τῆς θεραπείας ἐπηρεάζειν ἐπιχειροῦσι λέγοντες· Οὐκ ἐκβάλλει τὰ δαιμόνια, εἰ μὴ ἐν Βεελζεβούλ. Καὶ ἐνταῦθα πάλιν, οὐδὲν ἔχοντες εἰπεῖν, ἐπὶ τὸν καιρὸν καταφεύγουσι λέγοντες, ὅτι Λύει τὸ σάββατον· καὶ πάλιν, ὅτι Ἁμαρτωλός ἐστι. Καὶ μὴν φθονοῦντας ὑμᾶς καὶ ἑτοίμους ὄντας ἐπιλαβέσθαι τῶν αὐτῷ πεπραγμένων, μετὰ πάσης ἠρώτησεν ἀκριβείας, λέγων, Τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐλέγχει με περὶ ἁμαρτίας· Καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐφθέγξατο, οὐδὲ εἶπεν, ὅτι Βλα 59.316 σφημεῖς, ἀναμάρτητον λέγων σεαυτόν. Καίτοι γε εἰ εἶχον εἰπεῖν, οὐκ ἂν ἐσίγησαν. Οἱ γὰρ διὰ τὸ ἀκοῦσαι, ὅτι πρὸ τοῦ Ἀβραάμ ἐστι, λιθάσαντες αὐτὸν καὶ εἰπόντες ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἑαυτοὺς μὲν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐχοῦντες εἶναι, ἀνδροφόνους ὄντας, τὸν δὲ τοιαῦτα σημεῖα πράττοντα, ἐπειδὴ ἐθεράπευσεν, οὐκ εἶναι ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ διὰ τὸ μὴ τηρεῖν τὸ σάββατον λέγοντες· εἰ σκιὰν γοῦν εἶχον ἐγκλήματος, οὐκ ἂν παρέδραμον. Εἰ δὲ διὰ τοῦτο ἁμαρτωλὸν καλοῦσι, διότι τὸ σάββατον ἐδόκει λύειν, καὶ τοῦτο ἕωλον ἐφάνη τὸ ἔγκλημα, τῶν μετ' αὐτῶν τεταγμένων, ψυχρότητα πολλὴν καὶ μικροψυχίαν καταγνόντων αὐτῶν. Πάντοθεν τοίνυν συμποδισθέντες, ἐφ' ἕτερον ἔρχονται λοιπὸν ἀναισχυντότερον καὶ ἰταμώτερον. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο; Οὐκ ἐπίστευσαν, φησὶν, ὅτι ἦν τυφλὸς καὶ ἀνέβλεψε. Πῶς οὖν ἐνεκάλεσαν ὅτι τὸ σάββατον οὐ τηρεῖ, ἢ δηλονότι ὡς πιστεύσαντες; πῶς δὲ οὐ προσείχετε τῷ πολλῷ λαῷ; τοῖς γείτοσι τοῖς εἰδόσιν αὐτόν; Ἀλλ' ὅπερ ἔφην, πανταχοῦ τὸ ψεῦδος ἑαυτῷ μὲν περιπίπτει, δι' ὧν ἐπηρεάζειν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ δοκεῖ, τὴν δὲ ἀλήθειαν λαμπροτέραν ἐμφαίνει, ὃ δὴ καὶ νῦν γέγονεν. Ἵνα γὰρ μή τις λέγοι, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἀκριβὲς εἶπον οἱ γείτονες καὶ οἱ θεωροῦντες αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ παρωμοίαζον, ἄγουσιν εἰς μέσον τοὺς γονεῖς, δι' ὧν ἐποίουν ἄκοντες τὸ γεγενημένον ἀληθὲς δεικνύντες. Καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι μάλιστα πάντων τὸ τέκνον ἠπίσταντο τὸ ἑαυτῶν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ αὐτὸν καταπλήξασθαι οὐκ ἴσχυσαν, ἀλλ' ἑώρων μετὰ πάσης παῤῥησίας τὸν εὐεργέτην κηρύττοντα, ἀπὸ τῶν γονέων προσεδόκων τιτρώσκειν τὸ θαῦμα. Καὶ ὅρα τῆς ἐρωτήσεως τὴν κακίαν. Τί γάρ φησιν; Στήσαντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ μέσον, ὥστε εἰς ἀγωνίαν ἐμβαλεῖν, μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς σφοδρότητος καὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ προσάγουσι τὴν πεῦσιν· Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς ὑμῶν; Καὶ οὐκ εἶπαν, Ὁ ποτὲ τυφλός· ἀλλὰ πῶς; Ὃν ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι τυφλὸς ἐγεννήθη, ὡσανεὶ κακουργούντων αὐτῶν, καὶ τὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ συγκροτούντων. Ὦ μιαροὶ, καὶ παμμίαροι! καὶ τίς ἂν ἕλοιτο πατὴρ τοιαῦτα καταψεύσασθαι παιδός; Μονονουχὶ γὰρ λέγουσιν, Ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐποιήσατε τυφλόν· οὐ μόνον δὲ, ἀλλὰ καὶ διεδώκατε πανταχοῦ τὸν λόγον. Πῶς οὖν βλέπει νῦν; Ὢ τῆς ἀνοίας! Ὑμῶν, φησὶν, ἐστὶ τὸ σκευώρημα καὶ ἡ κατασκευή. ∆ύο γὰρ τούτοις αὐτοὺς εἰς ἄρνησιν ἄγειν ἐπιχειροῦσι, τῷ τε εἰπεῖν,