Conversation about the paralytic, lowered through the roof; that he is not the same as the one spoken of in John; and about the equality of the Son with the Father

“Conversation about the paralytic, let down through the roof; that he is not the same as the one spoken of in John; and about the equality of the Son with the Father” (8 chapters) was spoken by St. John Chrysostom, probably in Constantinople during Lent 398. It is dedicated to comparing the story of the Evangelist John about the healing of the paralytic at the Sheep Fountain (John 5) with the story of the Evangelist Matthew about the healing of the paralytic laid on the bed (Matthew 9: 1-7). In a conversation with St. John says that the story of the healing of the paralytic at the Sheep's Pool teaches us to endure the trials of life: “If after thirty-eight years he was so humble, so meek, when all his strength and power of thoughts were crushed, then imagine what he must have been like at the beginning of his suffering... Even in the past, he endured his misfortune with great gratitude.” God is always the Father and the Physician, whether He acts with severity or with condescension: “He does not send temptations beyond the strength, but even when tempted by strength, He is present, supporting us and strengthening us, if we ourselves bring in advance what is due on our part - readiness, hope in Him, gratitude, firmness, patience.” The saint comes to the conclusion that the evangelists John and Matthew do not contradict each other in their stories: “Although their faces are different, there is one grace of the Spirit, moving the soul of each; and where there is the grace of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, there is no struggle and opposition, disagreement and any discrepancy.” The difference between the two paralytics is given and evidence of the greatness of the faith of the paralytic lowered through the roof is given. Using these stories as an example, St. John shows how the Son of God proves His equality and unity with the Father by His actions. In conclusion, the saint calls for patience in sorrows: “whether loss of property, physical illness, insult, slander or any other human calamity occurs, we will say: “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; as the Lord pleased, so it was done; Blessed be the name of the Lord!” *The title of the work in Greek is Εἰς τὸν παραλυτικόν. *The title of the essay in Latin is In paralyticum demissum per tectum. At the beginning of this conversation, the preacher says that some time ago he had already delivered a conversation about the paralytic, who had suffered for thirty-eight years - this, without a doubt, points to the twelfth conversation against the Amonites (see Vol. I), in which it is proved through the miraculous healing of that paralytic that the Son is equal in omnipotence to the Father. – This conversation is believed to have been delivered by Chrysostom in 398, when he was already the Archbishop of Constantinople; The conversation about the paralytic lowered through the roof should also be attributed to this time. – The properties of spiritual wealth are that they never deplete. – The story of this paralytic teaches us to endure the trials of life. God is always the Father and Physician, whether He acts with severity or with leniency. – The need for the help of Divine grace. – The preacher moves on to the second paralytic. – Evangelists do not contradict each other. – The difference between these two relaxed ones. – The greatness of the faith of the paralytic. – Christ manifests His Divinity. - Absolution of sins. - An exhortation to patience in tribulations. 1. While recently talking about the paralytic, who was lying on his bed at the font, we found a rich and great treasure, not by digging up the earth, but by delving into his soul; they found a treasure that did not lie in silver, gold and precious stones, but in firmness, wisdom, patience and great hope in God, which is more precious than all gold and all wealth (of course, the 12th conversation against the Anomeans, which speaks of the paralytic who lay at the Sheep's font (John 5:2-9)). Material wealth is subject to the attacks of robbers, the slander of slanderers, theft of thieves, and the malice of slaves, and when it escapes all this, it often causes the greatest harm to its owners, irritating the eyes of envious people, and thereby causing countless storms. Spiritual wealth is far from all these troubles and above any such disaster, it is not afraid of robbers, thieves, envious people, or death itself. It is not separated from its owner even by death, but then it especially becomes the most reliable acquisition for those who have it, accompanies them and passes with them into the future life, becomes a wondrous intercessor of those with whom it passes there, and makes the Judge merciful to them. We found this wealth in great abundance, hidden in the soul of the paralytic. You yourselves are witnesses of this, having drawn on it with great diligence, but not exhausted it. This is the property of spiritual wealth: it is like streams of water, or better, it exceeds their abundance, multiplying the more the more people draw from it. Entering the soul of everyone, it is not divided or diminished, but is accepted by everyone entirely, and remains constantly unexpended and never depleted. This happened then too. So many have approached this treasure, and everyone has drawn from it according to their own abilities; but what am I saying about you, when from that time to the present day, having made countless people rich, it itself remains in all its integrity. Let us not become weary of this spiritual abundance, but let us draw as much as possible now, and let us look at the Lord’s love for mankind, and let us look at the patience of the servant. For thirty-eight years, being in an incurable illness and constantly experiencing suffering, he did not grumble, did not utter blasphemous words, did not reproach the Creator, but courageously and with great meekness endured his misfortune. Where, someone will say, can this be seen? About his former life in Scripture nothing is clearly told to us, but only openly that “here was a man who was sick for thirty-eight years” (John 5:5), and that he did not murmur, was not indignant, was not embittered, this did not add. No, it revealed this too, if you look into it carefully, and not superficially and not somehow. In fact, when you hear with what meekness he talked with Christ who approached him, Who was unknown to him and was considered a simple man, then you can imagine his former wisdom. When Christ said: “Do you want to be healthy?” (John 5:6), then he did not say anything that could be expected, for example: you see that I have been lying relaxed for so long, and you ask me if I want to be healthy? Didn’t you come to mock my suffering, didn’t you come to blame, mock and joke about misfortune? He did not say or think anything like that, but answered with meekness: “Even so, Lord” (John 5:7). If, after thirty-eight years, he was so humble, so meek, when all his strength and power of thoughts were crushed, then imagine what he must have been like at the beginning of his suffering. You all know that patients are not equally irritable at the beginning of the illness and after a long time, but patients are especially restless when the illness lingers for a long time: then they become unbearable for everyone. And this one, after so many years, speaking so wisely and answering so kindly, shows that even in the past he bore his misfortune with great gratitude. So, reflecting on this, let us also imitate the patience of a slave like us; its relaxation can strengthen our souls, because there is no person so weak and careless who, imagining the greatness of this misfortune, would not courageously endure all the disasters that befall him, even if they were the most severe. Thus, not only his healing, but also his illness served us to the greatest benefit: his healing prompted the souls of the listeners to praise the Master, and his illness and relaxation disposed you to patience and prompted you to the same zeal, or better - and through him the love of God was revealed. Truly, the very defeat of such a disease and the continuation of the disease for so long is a matter of the greatest care of God. Just as an artist of gold objects, throwing gold into a furnace, leaves it to melt in the fire until he sees that it has become pure, so God allows the souls of people to be tempted by disasters until they become pure and bright, until they gain great benefit from this temptation. So this is the greatest kind of good deed. 2. So, let us not be embarrassed and lose heart when temptations befall us. If the artist of gold things knows how long to keep the gold in the furnace and when to take it out, and does not allow it to remain in the fire until it deteriorates and burns out, then God knows this all the more, and when He sees that we have become purer, He delivers us from temptations, so that we do not stumble and fall from the excess of disasters. Let us not grumble and be faint-hearted if something unexpected happens, but let us leave it to the One who knows this with precision to cleanse our soul as long as He wants, because He does this with benefit and for the good of those who are tempted. Therefore, one wise man offers this admonition: “My son! If you begin to serve the Lord God, then prepare your soul for temptation: guide your heart and be strong, and do not be embarrassed during your visit” (Sir.2:1-2). He says, leave everything to Him, because He knows exactly when it is necessary to remove us from the furnace of disasters. Therefore, one must always entrust oneself to Him, give thanks for everything and endure everything complacently, whether He is beneficent or punishing, since the latter is also a type of beneficence. After all, a doctor is equally a doctor not only when he washes, feeds and leads the sick into the gardens, but also when he burns and cuts off; and a father not only when he caresses his son, but also when he drives him out of the house, when he reproaches and punishes, he is equally a father, and no less than when he praises him. Therefore, knowing that God is more loving than all doctors, do not investigate, do not demand from Him an account in healing, but even if He wanted to give us relief, even if He punished us, we will accept both equally, because with both ways He leads us to health, brings us closer to Himself and, knowing what each of us needs, and what is useful for everyone, and how and in what way we can be saved, He leads us in this way. Let us follow wherever He commands us to go, and let us not inquire into the reason whether He commands us to follow an easy and convenient path, or a difficult and difficult path, like this paralytic. Thus, one type of benefit consisted in the fact that God purified his soul for so long, plunging it into the flames of temptation, as if into some kind of crucible; and another, no less than this, was that He Himself was present in these temptations and gave him great consolation. He supported him, strengthened him, extended a helping hand and did not allow him to fall. However, when you hear that He Himself was present here, do not take away the merits of the paralytic, both from him and from every other person who is tempted and patiently endures temptation. Truly, even if we were a thousand times wiser, even if we were stronger and stronger than everyone else, but if there is no His assistance, we will not be able to endure even the smallest temptation. But what am I saying about us weak and insignificant? Even if someone were Paul, or Peter, or James, or John, without help from above he is easily overcome, stumbles and falls. About this I will read to you the words of Christ Himself. He said to Peter: “Behold, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, so that your faith will not fail” (Luke 22:31–32). What does it mean to “sow”? Drive, circle, shake, move, shake, torment, as happens with substances sifted through a sieve; but I, he says, did not allow it, knowing that you cannot endure temptation, because the expression: “so that your faith does not fail” shows that if Christ had allowed it, his faith would have failed. If Peter, who passionately loved Christ, repeatedly gave his soul for Him, always stood first among the apostles, blessed by the Teacher and called Peter because he had an unshakable and unchanging faith, would have been deposed and fallen from confession, if Christ had allowed the devil to tempt him, as he wanted, then who else can stand without His help? That is why Paul says: “And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). Not only, he says, does He not send temptations beyond our strength, but even when we are tempted by strength, He is present, supporting us and strengthening us, if we ourselves bring what is due on our part in advance - readiness, hope in Him, gratitude, firmness, patience, because not only in dangers that exceed our strength, but also in the very dangers that befall us within our strength, we need help from above if we want to stand courageously. And in another place the apostle says: “For as the sufferings of Christ increase in us, our consolation also increases through Christ. He who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which God comforts us” (2 Cor. 1:5, 4). So the same One who allowed him to be tempted consoled him. Look also at the care Christ provides even after healing the paralytic. Having departed, He did not leave him, but, meeting him in the church, said: “Behold, you have recovered; Sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you” (John 5:14). If He had allowed punishment out of hatred, He would not have delivered from it, nor would He have protected it for the future; but the words: “nothing worse happened to you” means a warning against future disasters. He stopped the illness, but did not stop caring; destroyed the illness, but did not destroy the fear, so that the good deed done would remain undestroyed. It is common for a caring physician not only to stop present illnesses, but also to protect against future ones; Christ did the same, strengthening the soul of the paralytic with a reminder of the past. Since often, after the passing of what upset us, the remembrance of it passes, He, wanting it to remain forever, says: “Sin no more, lest something worse happen to you.” 3. And not only from this can one see His care and meekness, but also from the seeming reproach itself. He did not proclaim to everyone the sins of the paralytic, but he said that he suffered for his sins, but did not declare what his sins were; did not say: you sinned this way and that, you transgressed this and that, but, pointing out this with one simple word: “sin no more” and saying only as much as was necessary for a reminder, he made him more cautious for the future, and for us he revealed all his patience, courage and wisdom, putting him in the need to mournfully express all his misfortune and reveal his efforts: “When ...,” he says, “I come, another already descends before me.” (John 5:7) - he did not proclaim his sins. Just as we want to cover up our affairs, so God desires this even more than we do; therefore He performed the healing in front of everyone, but gave the exhortation or advice in private. The Lord never proclaims our sins, except when He sees that we do not feel them. So are the words: “When you saw Me hungry, you did not satisfy me; I thirsted, and... “They didn’t give me something to drink” (Matthew 25:42, 44), He says now so that we do not hear these words in the future. He threatens, he proclaims here in order not to proclaim there; in the same way He threatened to destroy the city of Nineveh in order not to destroy it. If He wanted to reveal our sins, He would not have predicted that He would reveal them; and now he predicts so that, having been enlightened by the fear of opening them, if not by the fear of punishment, we will be cleansed of everything. This also happens at baptism. He brings a person to the pool of water, without revealing his sins to anyone, but he puts the gift on display in front of everyone and makes it obvious, and no one else knows his sins except Himself and the one receiving forgiveness. It was the same with the paralytic; He denounced without witnesses; or better - the words spoken were not only a denunciation, but also a justification: as if justifying himself in such misfortune and wanting to impress upon him and show that it was not in vain and not without reason that God allowed him to suffer for so long, He reminded the paralytic of his sins and told the reason for the illness. Having found him, it is said, “in the church and said to him: behold, you have recovered; Sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you” (John 5:14). So, having received so much benefit from the former paralytic, we will now proceed to another, which is also narrated by Matthew (Matthew 9: 2-7). And in the mines, if in any place someone finds gold, he digs up even more; So I know that many ordinary readers think that the paralytic mentioned by the four evangelists is one and the same; however, this is not so. Therefore, you need to get excited and listen carefully. The question concerns important subjects: this conversation, offering a proper solution, will be useful against the pagans, and against the Jews, and against many of the heretics. Indeed, they all reproach the evangelists with contradiction and discord; but this is not so, let it not be; although the faces are different, there is one grace of the Spirit, moving the soul of each; and where there is the grace of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, there is no struggle and opposition, disagreement and any discrepancy. How will we reveal that this paralytic is not the same, but another, different from that? According to many signs - both by place, and by time, and by circumstances, and by the day, and by the method of healing, and by the arrival of the Doctor, and by the loneliness of the healed. What of this, someone will say, aren’t the circumstances also told differently in other cases by some of the evangelists? But it’s another thing to say differently, and another thing is the opposite; it does not produce any discord or contradiction; and this, now before us, would represent a great contradiction, if we did not admit that the paralytic who was at the font was different from that described by the three evangelists. And so that you know what it means to speak differently, and what it means to speak contradictory, I will present examples: one of the evangelists said that Christ carried the cross, and the other said that Simon of Cyrene; but there is no disagreement or contradiction here. How, they will say, is there no contradiction in the words: to bear and not to bear? Because it was both. When they left the praetorium, Christ was carrying him; and when they went further, Simon took the cross from Him and carried it. Also about the thieves: one says that both blasphemed Him, and the other says that one stopped the mouth of the one who blasphemed him; but here again there is no contradiction. Why? Because here it was both: at first they both acted wickedly, and after, when the signs happened - the earth shook, the stones disintegrated and the sun was hidden - then one of them changed, became more prudent, knew the Crucified One and confessed His Kingdom. So that you do not think that this happened to him due to some kind of necessity and violence from someone who internally forced him, and do not indulge in doubts, Scripture presents to you how one did not abandon his former wickedness on the cross, so that you know that the other became better, having changed voluntarily and of his own accord, with the help of the grace of God. 4. Many other events can be found in the Gospels that seem to present contradictions; in fact, there is no contradiction in them, but what was said by both one and the other happened, although not at the same time, only one said what happened before, and the other said what happened after. There is nothing like it here; but many of the signs mentioned show anyone at all attentive that one was this paralytic, and another was that one. And this may be no small proof that the evangelists agree with each other and do not contradict each other. If the paralytic were one and the same, there would be great disagreement; if he is different, then all contradiction is destroyed. Let us now express the very reasons why we claim that this paralytic is not the same. Which ones exactly? This one is healed in Jerusalem, and this one in Capernaum; the one is at the pool of water, and the other is in a certain house; Here is evidence from the circumstances of the place. He is healed on the holiday; here is proof from time to time. He was in relaxation for thirty-eight years, and the evangelist says nothing of the kind about this; Here is also proof from time. He was healed on Saturday; this is the proof of the day, because if this one had been healed on Saturday, then the Evangelist Matthew would not have kept silent about it, and the Jews present would not have remained calm: if they, despite the fact that he was not healed on Saturday, were indignant for another reason, then if they had a reason in the very time of the healing, they would not have spared the accusations against Christ. Also: this one is brought to Christ, and Christ Himself comes to him. He did not have a single person to help him: “Lord,” he says, “I have no man” (John 5:7); and this one had many neighbors, who even let him down through the roof (Mark 2:4). Christ healed his body before his soul, because he first delivered him from relaxation, and then said: “Behold, you have recovered; sin no more"; but here it’s not like that, but he healed his soul in advance, telling him: “Be of good cheer, child! your sins are forgiven you” (Matthew 9:2), and then delivered you from relaxation. So, from all this it is clearly revealed to us that this paralytic is not the same. Now we need, turning to the beginning of the story, to see how Christ healed this one, and how that one, and why are different: why this one on Saturday, and this one not on Saturday, He Himself came to this one, and allowed this one to be brought to Himself, and why He healed this one’s body first, and this one’s soul first. It is not in vain and not without reason that He does this, as the All-Wise and Provident. Let us pay attention and look at the Healer Himself. If then, when doctors cut or cauterize, or in some other way cut and separate the affected and diseased member, many surround both the patient and the doctor performing this, then here we need to do the same all the more, the higher the Physician and the more severe the disease, which is healed not by human art, but by Divine grace. There you have to look at the cut skin, and at the flowing blood, and at the cleansed rottenness, and endure a lot of unpleasant things at such a spectacle, a lot of regrettable and painful not only from the type of wounds, but also from the suffering of those over whom cauterization and cutting are performed - because there is no person so stony, who, being present with such sufferers and hearing their groans, would not be moved, would not be embarrassed and would not feel great sorrow in soul - but despite all this, prompted by the desire to look, we endure all this. Here you will not see anything like this, no fire offered, no pierced iron, no flowing blood, no patient suffering and emitting cries; and the reason for this is the Wisdom of the Physician, which has no need for anything external, but is strong enough in itself. For Him it is enough only to command - and all disasters disappear. And it is not surprising that He performs healings with such ease, but that without pain, without causing any suffering to those being healed. Therefore, since here is a greater miracle, and a most important healing, and a pleasure alien to any sorrow for the audience, let us look carefully at the healing Christ. “Then He got into the boat and crossed back and arrived at His city. And so they brought to Him the paralytic, lying on the bed. And Jesus seeing their faith, said to the paralytic: Be of good cheer, child! Your sins are forgiven you” (Matthew 9:1-2). These people are lower in faith than the centurion (Luke 7:2), but higher than the paralytic who was at the font. He neither attracted the Doctor to himself, nor brought the sick person to the Doctor; but he approached Him as if he were God and said: “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed” (Luke 7:7). These did not attract the Physician to their house, and in this respect they are equal to the centurion; but the patient was brought to the Doctor - and in this respect he was inferior, because they did not say: just “say the word.” And in comparison with the relaxed one lying at the font, they are much higher. He said: “I have no man to lower me into the pool” (John 5:7); and these knew that nothing was needed for Christ, neither water, nor a font, nor anything else like that. However, Christ healed not only the centurion’s servant from illness, but also this and that, and did not say: since you brought less faith, you will receive equal healing; but he sent away the one who showed great faith with praise and crowns, saying: “Neither in Israel have I found such faith” (Luke 7:9), and the one who brought less faith, although he did not praise at all, did not deprive him of healing, as well as the one who did not show any faith. Just as doctors, healing the same disease, from some receive a hundred gold coins, and from others half, from others even less, and from some they receive absolutely nothing, so Christ also received great and ineffable faith from the centurion, which is why it is less, and therefore even none, and, however, healed everyone. Why did He honor a good deed that brought nothing? Because it was not through negligence or insensitivity of soul that he did not show faith, but because he did not know Christ and had never heard of any miracle of His, either small or great. Therefore, he received forgiveness, which the evangelist expresses when he says: “I did not know who He was” (John 5:13), and only by his outward appearance did he recognize Christ when he met Him the second time. 5. Some say that this paralytic received healing only because those who brought him had faith; but that's not true. “The appearance of them,” they say, “is their faith,” not only did they bring, but also what was brought (Mark 2:5). Well, they will say, is it not through the faith of one that another is healed? I don’t think so, except when, either due to immaturity of age, or due to excessive weakness, he himself is not able to believe. But how, they will say, in the story of the Canaanite woman, the mother believed and the daughter was healed? And on the other hand, if the centurion did not believe, then how did his servant get up and be healed? This is because the sick themselves could not believe. Listen to what the Canaanite woman says: “My daughter is cruelly raging,” and sometimes “falls into the fire,” sometimes “into the water” (Matthew 15:22, 17:15) 1: darkened in her mind, raging, unable to ever come to her senses and unhealthy - how could she believe? And in the story about the centurion it is the same as about the Canaanite woman; His servant lay at home, not knowing Christ himself, Who He was: how could he believe in Him Whom he did not know and about whom he had never received any information? But this cannot be said here; the paralytic believed. Where can you see this? From the very way in which it was brought. Don't just listen to the fact that they let him down through the roof; but imagine what it was like for the patient to endure such suffering. You know that patients can be so cowardly and capricious that they often reject medical benefits even in bed and decide to endure the suffering of illness rather than endure the unpleasantness of these benefits. And this one agreed to leave the house, and to be carried out into the square, and to appear to such a multitude of those present. Patients sometimes decide to die rather than reveal their misfortune. But this patient did not do so, but, seeing the spectacle crowded, the entrance prisoners, the pier blocked, he agreed to be lowered through the roof. So ingeniously strong desire; so successful is love. Truly, “he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Luke 11:10). He did not say to his neighbors: What does this mean? Why are you worried? Why are you in a hurry? Let's wait until the house is empty and the spectacle is over; when the congregation has gone, then we will have the opportunity to approach Him privately and tell Him about it. Why expose my misfortunes in front of everyone’s eyes, and disgracefully descend from above? He did not say anything like that either to himself or to those who carried him, but he considered it desirable for himself to make so many witnesses to his healing. And not only from this can one see his faith, but also from the very words of Christ. When he was lowered and brought up, Christ said to him: “Child! your sins are forgiven you." Hearing this, he did not express displeasure, did not complain, did not say to the Doctor: what is this? – I came to be healed of one disease, and He heals of another? - this is an excuse, seduction, a cover for weakness. - Do you forgive sins that are invisible? He did not say or think anything like that, but waited, leaving the Doctor to take the path to healing as He pleased. Therefore, Christ did not come to him, but waited for him to come in order to show his faith to everyone. Couldn't He have made access convenient? But he did nothing of the kind in order to show everyone his zeal and ardent faith. Just as He Himself came to the one who suffered for thirty-eight years because there was no one with him, so He waited for this one, who had many neighbors, to Himself, in order to make this faith manifest through his bringing, and to show us that loneliness through His coming to him, and in order to reveal both the zeal of the first and the patience of the last to everyone, especially to those then present. Envious and misanthropic Jews usually hated the benefits received by their neighbors and cast suspicion on the miracles of Christ, either saying that He healed on the Sabbath, or pointing to the lives of those who received benefits: “If He were a prophet, He would have known who and what kind of woman touched Him” (Luke 7:39), not realizing that it is especially common for a doctor to treat the sick and always be among sick people, and not to run away and not to move away from them. It was He Himself, addressing them, who said: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick” (Matthew 9:12). So, so that they do not again accuse Him of the same thing, He shows in advance how those who came are worthy of healing for the faith they showed. Therefore, He discovered the loneliness of that paralytic, and the fiery faith and zeal of this one; Therefore, He healed this one on the Sabbath, but this one not on the Sabbath, so that you, seeing that the Jews accuse and reproach Christ on other days, would know that even then they accused Him not for failure to keep the law, but out of their intolerable envy. Why didn’t He begin to heal the relaxation first, but said: “Child! are your sins forgiven"? And this is done very wisely. Likewise, doctors usually do not cure diseases, but destroy their sources; for example: often, when the eyes suffer from bad mucus and purulent moisture, the doctor, leaving the use of the diseased eyewear, treats the head, where the root and source of the disease is located. This is what Christ did, destroying in advance the source of evil. And the source and root and mother of all evil is sin. It relaxes our bodies; it produces disease. Therefore, here too Christ says: “Child! Your sins are forgiven you,” and there he said: “Behold, you have recovered; “Sin no more, lest something worse happen to you,” expressing in these and other words that these diseases came from sins. And at the beginning, in the first times after creation, illness entered Cain’s body from sin. After fratricide, after such a crime, he then received relaxation in his body, because “shaking” means nothing more than relaxation (Gen. 4:14). When the force holding this animal (body) together becomes weak and can no longer support all the members, it leaves them without its help, after which they sink, shake and sway. 6. Paul also expressed this. Reproaching the Corinthians for some sin, he said: “That is why many of you are weak and sick” (1 Cor. 11:30). Therefore, Christ destroys the cause of evil in advance, and with the words: “child! your sins are forgiven you” revives the mind of the paralytic, encourages his fallen soul; words became deeds and, entering the conscience, touched the very soul and stopped all despondency. Truly, nothing gives so much pleasure and gives so much boldness as the opportunity to not blame yourself for anything. "Child! your sins are forgiven you." Where there is remission of sins, there is adoption. Likewise, we cannot call God Father until we have washed our sins in the font of holy water. When we come out of there, throwing off this bad burden, then we say: “Our Father who art in heaven!” (Matthew 6:9). Why did He do wrong to someone who had been sick for thirty-eight years, but first healed his body? Because sins were destroyed in it over the course of time: the greatness of temptation can lighten the burden of sins, just as the Lord says about Lazarus that he received evil in his life and “here he is comforted” (Luke 16:25). And in another place he says: “Comfort, comfort my people... speak to the heart of Jerusalem... for she has received double for all her sins from the hand of the Lord” (Is. 40:1-2). And the prophet also says: “Lord! You give us peace; for You also arrange all our works for us” (Is. 26:12), expressing that punishment and torment bring forgiveness of sins; and from many other places it can be proved. Thus, it seems to me that the Lord did not speak to the paralytic about the remission of sins, but only warned him for the future because his sins had already been blotted out by the duration of his illness; or, if not so, then because he did not yet know anything great about Christ; Therefore, He proceeded ahead of time to the smaller things, to the obvious and obvious, to the healing of the body; but with this paralytic he did not do the same, but, seeing that he believed more and had a more exalted soul, he began to talk to him first about the gravest illness; and, besides all this, in order to show His equality with the Father. Just as there He healed on the Sabbath, wanting to deviate the listeners from the Jewish observance of it, and in the accusations themselves to find a reason to prove His equality with the Parent, so here too, foreseeing what the Jews had to say, He uttered these words in order to find in them the basis and reason to prove His equality with the Parent. In fact, it is not the same thing - without any censure and accusation, on one's own behalf, to begin a speech about this, or, when others express accusations, to offer the same thing during the speech and in the form of justification. The first method of proof disgusted listeners; and the latter was less difficult for them and more convenient; and therefore everywhere we see that He acted this way and not so much in words as in deeds, proving His equality with the Father. The evangelist also expresses this when he says that “the Jews began to persecute Jesus and sought to kill Him because He did such things on the Sabbath, ... but He also called God His Father, making Himself equal with God” (John 5:16, 18), which is much more important, because He proved this very thing by His deeds. What about the envious and evil Jews, who were tormented by other people’s blessings and looked for reasons for blame in everything? “He,” they say, “is blaspheming”? “Who can forgive sins except God alone” (Matthew 9:3, Mark 2:7)? Just as there they persecuted Him because He violated the Sabbath, and He, regarding the accusations themselves, in the form of justification, showed His equality with the Parent, saying: “My Father works until now, and I work” (John 5:17), so here too, from the accusations themselves, He proves His unity with the Father. Really, what is said? "Who can forgive sins but God alone." So, when they themselves laid down such a definition, they themselves introduced the rule, they themselves prescribed the law, then He refutes them with their own words. You, he says, confessed that it is only God who can forgive sins, therefore, my equality with God the Father is undeniable. And not only do they talk about this, but the prophet also says this: “Who is God like You?” Then, explaining what is characteristic of God, he adds: “he who forgives iniquity and does not impute crime” (Mic. 7:18). Therefore, if anyone else is found doing the same thing, then He is God and God (the same) as He. But let us see how Christ proves this to them, how meekly and condescendingly and with all care. “And some of the scribes said within themselves: He blasphemes” (Matthew 9:3); They did not express this word, did not pronounce it with their tongue, but thought it intimately in their soul. What about Christ? He discovered their innermost thoughts, wanting to show them the power of His Divinity before proving it by healing the body of the paralytic. And that only God, His Divinity, has the ability to reveal the innermost thoughts of the soul, Scripture says about this: “You alone know the heart of all the sons of men” (1 Kings 8:39). Do you see that the word “one” is again spoken not in contrast to the Son? Indeed, if the Father alone knows hearts, then how does the Son know the innermost thoughts of the soul? “And there was no need for anyone to testify about man,” said the evangelist, “for He Himself knew what was in man” (John 2:25); and Paul, expressing that it is characteristic of God to know the unseen, said: “he who searches the hearts” (Rom. 8:27), attributing to these words the same power as is contained in the name: God. As if I say: “he who sends rain,” I am pointing by the very deed not to someone else, but to God, because this is characteristic only of Him; and if I say: “He who raises up the sun,” then, although I do not add the name: God, I will point to Him by the deed itself, just as Paul, when he said: “He who searches the hearts,” expressed that it is only His nature to test hearts. If such an expression had not the same force with the name God, to indicate the One about whom we are spoken, then he would not have used this one expression. And if this were a common deed between Him and creation, then we would not know about Whom it is being said, since the common deed would create bewilderment in the souls of the listeners. So, when this property is assimilated to the Father, it is also assimilated to the Son, equality with Whom is undoubtedly revealed from here too. That is why He says: “Jesus, seeing their thoughts, said: Why do you think evil in your hearts? for which is easier to say: your sins are forgiven, or to say: get up and walk” (Matthew 9:4-5)? 7. This is the second proof He presents concerning the remission of sins. Forgiving sins is much more important than healing the body, and as much more important as the soul is more important than the body. Just as relaxation is a disease of the body, so sin is a disease of the soul; but this, although more, was not visible; and that, although less, was visible. Therefore, intending to use the lesser to prove the greater, and wishing to show that He did so out of their weakness and condescending to their weakness, He says: “Which is easier to say: your sins are forgiven, or to say: get up and walk?” . Why does He do less for them? Because the explicit serves as the clearest evidence of the implicit. Therefore, He did not restore the paralytic until He said to them: “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins, then He says to the paralytic: Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house” (Matthew 9:6). He seemed to say this: remission of sins is a greater sign, but for you I also add a lesser one, since you consider the latter to be proof of the former. As when He praised the centurion who said: “Lord! I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will recover; for I am a subordinate man, but, having soldiers under my command, I say to one: go, and he goes; and to another: come, and he comes; and to my servant: do this, and he does it” (Matthew 8:8-9), He strengthened his soul with praises; and just as, by denouncing the Jews, who accused Him for the Sabbath, that He was breaking the law, He proved that He could change the laws, so here too, when He was told that He “makes Himself equal with God,” He, promising what belongs only to the Father, reproaching them and reproaching them, and proving by deeds that He does not blaspheme, presented us with incontestable proof that He can do the same as the Parent. Notice how He wants to prove that what belongs only to the Father belongs to Him; He not only raised up the paralytic, but said: “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins.” So he wanted and tried especially to prove that He has the same power with the Father. 8. So, let us carefully keep all this in memory, as well as what was said yesterday and before that day, and pray to God that it remains unchanged in our soul, and for our part we will make an effort and come here constantly. Thus, we will preserve what was said before, and we will acquire something else again; and if something is erased by time, we can easily return it through continuous teaching. And not only will the dogmas remain intact and undamaged, but great prudence will be observed in behavior, and we will spend our real life in joy and peace of mind. Truly, no matter what sorrow disturbs the soul, when we come here, it can easily end, because even now Christ is present, and he who approaches Him with faith can easily receive healing. Does anyone struggle with constant poverty, lack the necessary food and often go to bed hungry? Having come here and listened to Paul, who says that he spent his life in hunger, thirst and nakedness, and not one, not two or three days, but constantly endured this - and this is exactly what his words express: “Even to this day we suffer hunger and thirst and nakedness” (1 Cor. 4:11), - he will receive sufficient consolation, having learned from what was said that it was not out of hatred and forgetfulness of him that God allowed him to live in poverty - because if this was a consequence of hatred, then He would not have tried this to Paul, who was dear to Him more than all people - but out of care and providence, and with the goal of leading to greater wisdom. Is anyone else subject to illness and countless bodily sufferings? A sufficient consolation for him can be the bodies of these paralytics, and with them the blessed and valiant disciple Paul, who was constantly in illness and never had rest from prolonged illness, just as Paul said: “Drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Tim. 5:23), and not just ailments. Someone has been slandered, so that a bad rumor has spread about him among the people, and this fills his soul with sorrow and torments it incessantly? Such a one came and heard: “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unjustly because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven" (Matthew 5:11-12), - will put aside all sorrow and receive all joy, because the Lord said: "Rejoice in that day... when...they will call your name dishonored" (Luke 6:22-23). Thus He comforts those about whom evil is spoken; and He frightens those who say bad things with other words: “For every idle word that people speak, they will give an answer on the day of judgment,” both good and bad (Matthew 12:36). Has someone lost a daughter or a son, or someone close to them? And he, having come here and heard Paul, who grieved in the present life and wanted to see the future, and was burdened by his stay, will leave here with sufficient healing from his words: [about the dead] (κεκοιμημνων) “I do not want to leave you, brethren, in ignorance about the dead, 2 so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope” ( 1 Thess. 4:13). He did not say: “about the dead” (απουνησκόντων), but: “about the deceased,” expressing that death is a dream. Just as when we see a sleeping person, we are not worried or embarrassed, expecting that he will certainly get up, so when we see a deceased person, we will not be embarrassed and lose heart, because this is also a dream, although a very long one, but it is still a dream. Thus, with the name of euthanasia, he consoled those who were crying and repelled the objections of unbelievers. If, he says, you impatiently mourn the deceased, then you become like an unbeliever who has no hope of resurrection. He justifiably cries, because he cannot think at all about the future; and you, who have received so much evidence regarding the future life, why do you fall into the same weakness as he? That’s why he says: [about the dead] “I don’t want to leave you, brothers, in ignorance about the dead, so that you don’t grieve like others who have no hope.” Not only from the New Testament, but also from the Old Testament, one can borrow sufficient consolation. So, when you hear about Job, who, after the loss of property, after the destruction of his flocks, lost not one, two, or three, but a whole host of children at the most flourishing age, with such spiritual virtues, then even if you were the weakest of all, you can easily take courage and become patient. You, a man, at least were with your sick son, saw him lying on his bed, heard his last words, was present at his last breath, closed his eyes and closed his lips; he was not present with his children when they gave up the ghost, he did not see them at death, but the house served as one coffin for all of them, and at the same meal their brains were poured out along with their blood - and logs, and tiles, and dust, and crushed bodies, everything mixed together. However, even after so many and such great evils, he did not cry or murmur, but what did he say? “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; [as the Lord pleased, so it was done;] blessed be the name of the Lord!” ( Job 1:21 ). We will speak these words under all circumstances that happen to us; whether loss of property, physical illness, insult, slander or any other human calamity occurs, we will say: “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; [as the Lord pleased, so it was done;] blessed be the name of the Lord!” . If we are so wise, we will never tolerate any evil, even if we experience countless of them, but more good will happen than harm, more good than evil; With these words you will make God merciful to you and repel the violence of the enemy. As soon as the tongue utters these words, the devil immediately runs away; and when he runs away, then the cloud of sadness is removed, and along with its removal, our regrettable thoughts also dissipate; and besides all this you will acquire all the blessings both here and in heaven. A true example of this is in Job, in the apostles, who, despising the local disasters for God, received eternal blessings. Let us be submissive, and let us rejoice in everything that happens and thank the God who loves mankind, so that we may lead our present life safely and be worthy of future blessings, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, honor and power everywhere, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Here Chrysostom connects two cases of healing: with the daughter of a Canaanite woman and with the father of another demoniac. From the Greek text of the New Testament, the exact translation of the words περί των κοιμωμένον is “about the departed,” and not “about the dead,” as in the Slavic and Russian synodal translations.