Conversation about the paralytic at the font

Composition by St. Cyril of Jerusalem’s “Conversation about the Paralytic at the Font” presents an explanation of John. 5:1–14, with some edifying deviations, calling for faith in Christ the Healer, for moral correction of life, teaching to correctly look at the book of Song of Songs as a prophecy about Christ and His sufferings. The sermon develops the theme of the spiritual significance of Christ's healing. At the end of the sermon there is a call to adhere to the teaching, which in some manuscripts is called “fatherly”, in others - “active”. The call to adhere to the instructions of the “father”, i.e. bishop, indicates that the sermon was delivered by St. Cyril when he was a presbyter (in the 40s of the 4th century). Presented translation by Prof. prot. P.S. Delitsyn differs from others by an extremely high scientific level. *The title of the work in Greek is ῾Ομιλία εἰς τὸν παραλυτικόν. *The title of the work in Latin is Homilia in paralyticum. (Translation by Prof. Archpriest P.S. Delitsyn) 1. Where Jesus appears, there will be salvation. Seeing a publican sitting on a tollhouse makes him an apostle and evangelist. Whether buried with the dead, he raises the dead. He gives sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf. And he goes around the fonts, not examining buildings, but healing the sick. 2. There was “a sheep font in Jerusalem, with five porches” (John 5:2), four porches around and a fifth in the middle; “There are many sick people lying around in it” (John 5:3), but the unbelief of the Jews was also great. The Healer and Physician of souls and bodies gave healing in measure; He first heals someone who has been ill for many years in order to quickly free him from suffering. Not a day or two, not even the first year, but thirty-eight years he had to lie down. Suffering from a long illness, he was known to the audience and showed the power of the Doctor. Everyone knew the paralytic for a long time, and the great Physician, although he showed His power, was rejected by those who received Him with a bad disposition. 3. Walking around the font, He sees, not having found out with questions, but with Divine power He fills in what needed to be known. “Having seen” (John 5:6), without asking how long it has been lying, but “having seen”, He who knew it recognizes it even before he saw it. For if you “do not demand what is in the heart, but who will ask” about a person (John 16:30): “He himself knows what is in a person” (John 2:24,25), all the more did he know about illnesses coming from without. 4. He sees a man lying, burdened with a very serious illness, for the burden of his sins and long-term painful suffering were great. The question proposed to the patient, as it were, expresses his desire. “Do you want to be whole?” (John 5:6) And he said nothing more, but left the question, the meaning of which was twofold, with mutual understanding. Since the paralytic suffered not only in body, but in soul, in accordance with what was said to him later: “Behold, you are healthy, let no one sin, lest it be worse” (John 5:14); then he asked him: “Do you want to be safe?” What great power is the Physician who provides help to the will! Since salvation comes from faith, it is said to the paralytic: “Do you want it?” – so that the desire is followed by action. Only Jesus could say this, but physical doctors are not able to say this. Those who heal sensory illnesses cannot say to everyone: “Do you want to be healthy?” Jesus gives the will, accepts the faith, and gives the gift free of charge. 5. The Savior once passed by, and there sat two blind men who did not see physically, but had an enlightened mind. For Whom the scribes did not know, He was pointed out by the crying blind. The Pharisees, who studied the Law, practiced it from childhood to old age and grew old in ignorance, said: “This we do not know where it is from” (John 9:29), for “they came to their own, and did not receive it from their own” (John 1:11), and the blind cried out, saying: “Have mercy on us, O Son of David” (Matthew 20:30). And Whom those who studied the Law did not know, He was known by those who did not even have eyes to read. The Savior, approaching them, said: “Do you believe that I can do this?” (Matthew 9:28). And “whatever you want, may I do to you?” (Matthew 20:32). It does not say: what do you want Me to tell you? But “whatever you want, let me do to you?” . Because He is the Creator and Giver of Life and did not begin to create now. The Father always does it, and He does it together with the Father (John 5:17), and at the behest of the Father he is the Creator of all things. He, the One directly born from the One, asks the blind, saying: “What do you want that I do for you?” . He asks not because he does not know what they want (this was clear), but in order to give them a gift in accordance with their word, and so that they will be justified from their words. For the Leader of the heart, without a doubt, knew what would be said, but waited for the word, so that the question would attract action. 6. So, having appeared to this paralytic and offering His help to the sick man (and it is not at all surprising that he came to the one lying at the font when he came down from heaven to offer His help to us all), the Doctor asks him: “Do you want to be whole?” . And this question attracted him to knowledge and prompted him to question. This is a gift of great grace, because it was free. The sick man found a Doctor who came to him voluntarily, and said to Him: “By the Lord” (John 5:7). The longevity of my illnesses makes health desirable for me; I wish to be healthy, but “I am not an imam of man” (John 5:7). Don't be sad, man, because you don't have a man. God stands before you; in one he is a man, and in the other he is God. For one must confess both. There is no benefit in confessing humanity when the Divinity is not confessed; such a confession will bring more curse, because he who trusts in man is cursed (Jer. 17:5). Therefore, if we, hoping in Jesus, hope in man, without adding the Divinity to our hope, then we inherit an oath. Now we confess both God and man, we confess both truly; By truly worshiping God, born of the true Father, and man, not dreamily, but in reality born, we expect true salvation. 7. I want to “be whole, but I am not an imam.” Do you see whether He showed His effectiveness there, where salvation became scarce? Many sick people had their own homes, as well as acquaintances or someone else. And this one, truly oppressed by all kinds of poverty, having no opportunity to receive help from outside, left in complete solitude, had the only begotten Son of God as his helper. “Do you want to be whole? Yes, Lord, but the imam is not a man, but when the water is troubled, he will throw me into the font.” You have a source: “as You have a source of life” (Ps. 35:10) - a source that gives sources from itself. If anyone drinks from this water, “rivers will flow out of his belly” (John 7:38), not water flowing down, but water flowing upward (the water of Jesus does not make them jump from above, but from the earthly to the heavenly), “water flowing into the eternal belly” (John 4:14); because Jesus is the source of good things. 8. And what do you expect from the font? With you, He who walks on the waters, rebukes the winds, tames the sea, not only lays the sea for Himself as a solid support, but also gave Peter the power to walk on the waters. For when it was the darkest night, and the Light appeared, but He was not recognized (Jesus walking on the waters was unrecognizable by his facial features, only the quality of his voice showed His presence); the disciples, considering Him to be a ghost, were afraid, but Jesus said to them: “I am, do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27); then Peter says to Him: “If You are,” Whom I know, or, better said, Whom the Father has shown me, “Command me to come to You on the waters” (Matthew 14:28), and Jesus, giving this with all generosity, says to him: “Come” (Matthew 14:29). 9. So standing by the waters of the font was the Tamer and Creator of the waters. The paralytic says to him: “I am not an imam of a man, but when the water is troubled, he will throw me into the font.” The Savior says to him: why are you waiting for the disturbance of the waters? Heal with equanimity. Why do you expect visible movement? The command is fulfilled according to the word in no time. Look only at the effectiveness of the source, know the visible God in the flesh, and look not at what is visible, but at what is done by the visible. “There is no imam for a man, but when the waters become troubled, he will throw me into the font.” Jesus said to him: Why do you expect little? Why are you seeking healing in the waters? “Rise up” the Resurrection spoke to you. For the Savior is everything everywhere and to everyone; for the hungry - bread; for those who are thirsty - water; for the dead - resurrection; for the sick - a doctor; for sinners - redemption. 10. “Arise, take up your bed, and walk” (John 5:8). But first rise up, first cast off your illness, and then embrace the strength of faith. First strengthen yourself against the bed that carries you; learn to carry over the wooden utensils that carried you for a long time. And the Savior ordered that wooden bed to be carried, about which it is said: “The King will make for himself a bed from the trees of Lebanon. Thou shalt make his pillars of silver, his worship scarlet, and laid stone within him” (Song 3:9,10). These are the signs of suffering presented in marriage songs, both sober and chaste. For do not consider these songs to be an expression of carnal and passionate love, accepting the utterance according to the concept of many, and without delving into their power. On the contrary, these marriage sayings are full of chastity. And if you do not understand through song, then turn to the parables, and from the latter ascend to the former in order and gradually. “Wisdom has made herself a house” (Prov. 9:1); It's like we're talking about a wife. “And he sent his servants” (Prov. 9:3); and in another place he also says: “desire her, and he will keep you” (Prov. 4:6). Of course, love is not for a wife, but for wisdom, and so is the expulsion of carnal love, because wisdom is characterized not by passions, but by wise thoughts. “The horses of misogyny have been created” (Jer. 5:8) - this is an unreasonable desire! Therefore, if you hear anything said in the Songs about the bride and groom, do not fall to the ground, do not listen to it with a passionate movement, and thereby conquer the passions in yourself dispassionately. 11. Therefore, in the Songs study that which is divine, full of chastity, and points to the suffering of Christ. For, narrating about the Savior’s suffering, he also names the place: “I went into the helicopter city” (Song 5:1) for the sake of the one buried there. They also mentioned aromas: He took my ointment full (Song 5:5), because the economy was complete. And about the fact that after the resurrection, they said: “I ate my bread with my honey” (Song. 5:1), because they gave Him “from the bees of the honeycomb” (Luke 24:42). And the Songs also mentioned the wine of esmirnismen: “I will make You drunk from the wine with the stench of the building” (Song. 8:2). About the ointment poured on His head, it is said in another place: “While the king was at his table, my spikenard gave off a fragrance” (Song. 1:11); because “I was reclining for Him in the house of Simon the leper; the woman came and broke the alabaster of the myrrh of nard and poured it on His head” (Mark 14:3). So it is said about the cross: “bed”, i.e. the tree of the cross, lifting up the Lord. “Make his pillars made of silver”: the beginning of the cross was silver - betrayal. Just as in a beautifully decorated house there is a golden ceiling stretched above, yet this decoration is supported by pillars, so silver was the beginning of both the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. If Judas had not betrayed, Christ would not have been crucified. Therefore, as the beginning of glorious suffering, “make its pillars of silver.” 12. “His scarlet rose”: that is why they clothed Him in scarlet, doing it as a reproach, but prophetically, because Christ was the King. Although they did it primarily as a mockery, they did it this time, and what they did became a sign of the king’s dignity. It was a crown of thorns, but still a crown, moreover, woven by warriors, because kings are proclaimed warriors. “Its sunrise is scarlet, stones are laid inside it (Λιθόστρωτον).” Attentive disciples of the Church know the “liphostroton spoken by Gavvatha” in the house of Pilate (John 19:13). 13. I said this on the occasion of the retreat from the bed of the paralytic to the bed of the king. So, the Lord said to him: “Arise, take up your bed and walk” (John 5:8). The disease is long-term, but the cure works very quickly; long-term relaxation - strengthening is very fast! For here the Creator of bodily things lived, Who healed the blind in various ways, and turned the anointing with clay into a wonderful medicine, because if someone who has sight covers his eyes with clay, this will prevent him from seeing, but Jesus with clay gave sight to those who do not see. And to others His power was also revealed in another way. To the paralytic he said: “Rise up, take up your bed and walk.” What kind of amazement do you think filled those who saw this? The visible was wonderful, but the unbelief was terrible; a long-term illness is cured, but long-term unbelief remains uncured; The Jews were in passions and did not want healing. 14. But if one should have been amazed at what had happened, then one should have bowed to the Physician of souls and bodies. They grumbled, because they were descendants of murmurers and those who turn good into bad, calling bitter sweet and sweet bitter (Isa. 5:20). But Jesus did with all care on the Sabbath, doing whatever was above the Sabbath, so that the work itself might prove convincing. Since a word can be overcome by a word, but a deed is irresistible, He healed on Saturday, teaching that there should be no contradiction, but that the deed itself would convince those who saw it. 15. The Jews said: “It is the Sabbath, and it is not worthy for you to take your bed” (John 5:10). Here was the Lawgiver Himself, and someone else said, “I’m not worthy of you!” . “Set, O Lord, a lawgiver over them” (Ps. 9:21), it is said about the Savior. Healed before this in soul and body, he borrowed a wise word from Wisdom, immediately answers, not knowing how to answer according to the law, giving a short answer, he says: “You all know my long-term illness, you know how many years I lay on my bed, I was in poverty alone, none of you showed concern for me to take and throw the first into the font and heal there. Why, without showing any care then, did they now take upon themselves legislative power, saying: “You are not worthy to take your bed”? Therefore, I will give you the shortest answer: “He who made me whole, he who spoke to me” (John 5:11). If you despise me, then look at the matter with amazement. He did not apply any plaster, nor did he use any other medical means or aids, but he spoke the word, and action followed; I commanded, and I fulfill the command. I became obedient to this command of the one who healed me with His command. If the Commander were not able to heal with His commands, then these commands should not have been obeyed. Since with a word I commanded the end of a long-term and visible illness, then in all fairness I listen to the One Whom the illness listened to and withdrew. “Who made me whole, He said to me: take up your bed.” 16. “He who heals does not know who the Healer is” (John 5:13). From this it is clear how far our Savior was from vanity; Having healed, He “deviated” so as not to gain fame for this healing. But we do the exact opposite: if we happen to have a dream, or provide help by laying on hands, or calling on the name of God to cast out a demon, not only do we not hide the matter, but we also boast without asking. Jesus, by His deeds teaching us not to talk about ourselves, having performed healing, “turn away” so as not to become known, He departs at the right time and comes at the right time. When praise for a good deed should have been spread, then it is removed. And when the people dispersed, then, in order to add spiritual healing to physical healing, he comes and says: “Behold, you are healthy: let no one sin” (John 5:14). 17. The Doctor acts differently; sometimes he heals the soul first, and then the body, sometimes vice versa. “Let no one sin, let him not sin the worse,” teaching one, teaches many. For this word does not come to him alone, but to all of us. If we ever experience suffering, or sorrow, or need, let no one impute it to God. “For God is not tempted by the evil, but He tempts no one” (James 1:13), but “every one of us is “laden with captivity in sins” (Prov. 5:22), is punished. “For anyone who does not sin, let him not be worse off.” Let every person hear what is said. Whoever has committed fornication before, let him put aside his passion. Whoever was previously covetous, let him become merciful. Let the predator hear: “Let no one sin.” Great is God’s unforgettable malice, exceedingly abundant is God’s grace! But do not turn immeasurable patience into a reason for contempt; Don’t sin because God is long-suffering. On the contrary, finally be healed of carnal passions and say yourself what was read today by the way: “When we lived according to the flesh, then the sinful passions, revealed by the law, acted in our members” (Rom. 7:5). If the Apostle says “while we lived according to the flesh,” then he does not mean this flesh with which we are covered, but the deeds of the flesh. While still wearing flesh, he said, “while we lived according to the flesh.” In what sense did God, intending to bring a flood, say: “My Spirit shall not abide in these men, for they are flesh” (Gen. 6:3), because the spirit is turned into carnal will; in this sense, here too the Apostle says: “when we lived according to the flesh.” 18. Therefore let no one be in the flesh, but even being in the flesh, let him not walk in the flesh. For the Apostle does not want us not to do evil, completely withdrawing from the world, but so that, while remaining in the flesh, we enslave the flesh and are not subject to it. Let us not servile her, but own her. Let us consume food in moderation, not indulging in gluttony, but bridling the belly in order to possess what is from the belly. Let the body be in subjection to the soul, rather than the soul being carried away by carnal pleasures. “For anyone who does not sin, let him not be worse off.” He preaches this word to everyone. Oh, if every ear could hear this! For not every carnal hearing, receiving a word, accepts something else into the mind. That is why the Savior, talking with those who had carnal hearing, said: “having ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15). 19. Therefore let everyone listen to Jesus, and let no one sin. Let us come to the One who forgives sins. And if we are sick, we will resort to Him. If we are sick in soul, let us follow the Physician of knowledge. If we are hungry, let us take bread. If we have become dead, we will receive the resurrection; If we have grown old in ignorance, let us ask Wisdom for wisdom. 20. But the word lured us into prolonging the word and, perhaps, preventing the fatherly teaching. Time calls for hearing the highest verbs, so that, taking advantage of the highest instructions, we may glorify God with our very deeds. Glory to Him now, and always, and unto ages of ages! Amen.