St John Chapter v : Verses 10-18
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| The Jews sought the more to kill him. J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum. |
11 He answered them: He that made me whole, he said to me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
12 They asked him therefore: Who is that man who said to thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
13 But he who was healed, knew not who it was; for Jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place.
14 Afterwards, Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith to him: Behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee.
15 The man went his way, and told the Jews, that it was Jesus who had made him whole.
16 Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath.
17 But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work.
18 Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath, but also said God was his Father, making himself equal to God.
10 ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ τεθεραπευμένῳ· Σάββατόν ἐστιν, ⸀καὶ οὐκ ἔξεστίν σοι ἆραι τὸν ⸀κράβαττον.
10 Dicebant ergo Judaei illi qui sanatus fuerat : Sabbatum est, non licet tibi tollere grabatum tuum.
11 ⸂ὃς δὲ⸃ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς· Ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ ἐκεῖνός μοι εἶπεν Ἆρον τὸν κράβαττόν σου καὶ περιπάτει.
11 Respondit eis : Qui me sanum fecit, ille mihi dixit : Tolle grabatum tuum et ambula.
12 ἠρώτησαν ⸀οὖν αὐτόν· Τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ εἰπών σοι· ⸀Ἆρον καὶ περιπάτει;
12 Interrogaverunt ergo eum : Quis est ille homo qui dixit tibi : Tolle grabatum tuum et ambula?
13 ὁ δὲ ἰαθεὶς οὐκ ᾔδει τίς ἐστιν, ὁ γὰρ Ἰησοῦς ἐξένευσεν ὄχλου ὄντος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ.
13 Is autem qui sanus fuerat effectus, nesciebat quis esset. Jesus enim declinavit a turba constituta in loco.
14 μετὰ ταῦτα εὑρίσκει αὐτὸν ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἴδε ὑγιὴς γέγονας· μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε, ἵνα μὴ χεῖρόν ⸂σοί τι⸃ γένηται.
14 Postea invenit eum Jesus in templo, et dixit illi : Ecce sanus factus es; jam noli peccare, ne deterius tibi aliquid contingat.
15 ἀπῆλθεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ⸀ἀνήγγειλεν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὸν ὑγιῆ.
15 Abiit ille homo, et nuntiavit Judæis quia Jesus esset, qui fecit eum sanum.
16 καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐδίωκον ⸂οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν Ἰησοῦν⸃ ὅτι ταῦτα ἐποίει ἐν σαββάτῳ.
16 Propterea persequebantur Judaei Jesum, quia haec faciebat in sabbato.
17 ὁ ⸀δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς· Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι.
17 Jesus autem respondit eis : Pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor.
18 διὰ τοῦτο οὖν μᾶλλον ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἀποκτεῖναι ὅτι οὐ μόνον ἔλυε τὸ σάββατον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πατέρα ἴδιον ἔλεγε τὸν θεόν, ἴσον ἑαυτὸν ποιῶν τῷ θεῷ.
18 Propterea ergo magis quærebant eum Judæi interficere : quia non solum solvebat sabbatum, sed et patrem suum dicebat Deum, æqualem se faciens Deo.
Annotations
10. The Jews therefore said to him that was healed: It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed. As Nonnus paraphrases, “Clamorously they uttered an accusing charge, ‘It is the Sabbath, which every one ought to keep wholly in rest: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.’ ” Speaking generally, they say the truth; for among the Jews it was a matter of the highest obligation to keep the Sabbath. All work was then forbidden, as appears from Exodus xx. 8. And especially the carrying of burdens on that day is forbidden by Jeremiah (xvii. 21, &c.). Christ, however, here says the contrary to the sick man whom He cured, because He, being Lord of the Sabbath, could dispense with its obligation. Moreover, what was forbidden by the Law upon the Sabbath was servile work, not a pious and Divine work like this. Christ bade the man who was healed take up his bed that the crowds of people who were flocking into the Temple on the Sabbath might become acquainted with the miracle, and acknowledge Jesus, its author, to be the Messiah, giving Him thanks.
11. He answered them: He that made me whole, he said to me, Take up thy bed, and walk. Understand, This was indeed a Divine man, and by Divine power has healed me. Therefore He is a friend of God, and would not bid me do anything except what is pleasing to God. As S. Augustine says, “Should I not receive a command from Him from whom I have received healing?” Just indeed was this defence of the sick man, which the Jews ought to have understood and accepted, but being blinded by pride they could not receive it, and so sinned by persecuting Christ and fell into hell.
12. They asked him therefore: Who is that man who said to thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? Being indignant, they say with threats, “Who is that bold and insolent man, who dare bid thee, contrary to the Law, carry thy bed upon the Sabbath day? Verily, that man is not of God who does not keep the Sabbath which God has ordained.” Thus they spoke through a blind prejudice derived from this Law, which they did not understand. Whereas, on the contrary, they ought to have understood that He who had miraculously healed the sick man, could not have done it except by the singular authority and help of God, and therefore that He had equally received from God the right to say on the Sabbath, Take up thy bed and walk.
13. But he who was healed, knew not who it was; for Jesus went aside from the multitude standing in the place. The man knew not the name of Jesus, nor whither He had gone, nor indeed who He was, for he had never seen Him before.
went aside. Euthymius gives the reason. “As soon as He had healed the man, He withdrew because of the crowd, partly to avoid the praise of the just, and partly to take away occasion for the envy of the unjust.” S. Chrysostom gives another reason: That the man’s testimony in the absence of Jesus might be less liable to suspicion. For if he who was healed had praised Christ to the Jews before His face, he might have seemed to have done it out of favour. But now that he praised Him in His absence, it is evident that he did so from the love of the truth.
14. Afterwards, Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith to him: Behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee. The Arabic is, Now thou art healed, return not to sin, lest a worse evil be done thee.
in the temple. From this it appears that this man who was healed by Christ, as soon as he had carried his bed to his house, went to the Temple to give God thanks for His great benefit of healing. As Chrysostom says, “Assuredly a great mark of piety and reverence. He did not go to the market-place, or the porch; he did not indulge in pleasure, or ease; he was occupied in the Temple.”
sin no more. From hence it is plain that God often sends diseases upon sick persons on account of their sins; and that this man had been afflicted because of his sins. Thus this paralytic, who had been sick for thirty-eight years, from a time before Christ was born, had committed some crime, which God wished him to suffer for, and expiate, by this protracted disease. Christ therefore tacitly admonishes the man’s conscience that he should be mindful of his sin, and be contrite, and avoid it for the time to come. At the same time He intimates that He, being a Prophet, knew this by Divine revelation. Wherefore when sickness is sent by God upon any one, let him examine his conscience, and blot out by repentance and confession the sin for which God has sent the sickness, and let him pray to God to pardon his sin, and take away the disease.
I said, often sends, for God sometimes sends diseases upon holy men that he may prove, increase, and crown their patience, as He did in the case of Job, whose whole dispute with his friends turned upon this point; his friends urging that his sins had given occasion to his being so grievously afflicted, whilst he, on the contrary, contended that he was free from sins, and had not deserved those afflictions. And God in the last chapter adjudges the dispute in his favour, and condemns his friends. The same thing will appear in the case of the man who was born blind (chap. ix.), of whom Christ spake thus, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
Moreover, as Christ healed this sick man’s body at the pool, so did He both by His inward inspiration, and by his external admonition, heal his soul in the Temple. He brought back to his memory the sins of his youth, by reason of which he had deserved so long a sickness, and he moved his heart to contrition for them, and to ask pardon from God, that so he might be justified. Indeed, Christ healed his body for this very reason that He might heal his soul.
lest some worse thing happen to thee. “For,” as Theophylact says, “he who is not made better by a former punishment is kept for greater torments, as being insensate, and a despiser.” “And this happens,” says Euthymius, “either in this life, or in the life to come, or in both.” “A relapse is worse than the original disease.” So a relapse into a fault is worse than the fault on account of the greater ingratitude, boldness, impudence.
15. The man went his way, and told the Jews, that it was Jesus who had made him whole. Not out of malevolence, but from gratitude, that he might not hide the author of so great a kindness. So Augustine, Chrysostom, and others. “He went away and told,” says Euthymius, “not as being wicked, that he might betray, but as being grateful, to disclose who was his benefactor. Because he thought he should be guilty of a crime if he kept silence, therefore he proclaimed the benefit.”
16. Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath. Some Greek MS., also the Syriac and Arabic Versions, add, And sought to kill Him. Therefore, i.e., on this pretext, for the true cause was envy. For the Jews, especially the scribes and Pharisees, were envious at this glory of Jesus, and grieved that the people should prefer Him to themselves. They were indignant that their wickedness was reproved by Him, and condemned by His holiness. For they wished to be paid court to as Rabbis, and doctors of the Law, and oracles of wisdom and sanctity.
17. But Jesus answered them: My Father worketh until now; and I work. “The Father worketh,” says S. Augustine (lib. 4, de Gen., cap. 12), “both affording suitable government to things created, and having in Himself eternal tranquillity:” for, as he says elsewhere, “being still He worketh, and working He is at rest.” And after an interval, “The power and virtue of the Creator is the cause of existence of every creature. And if this virtue were ever to cease from governing created things, their forms (species) would cease at the same time, and all nature would come to an end.” Like as the light in the air vanishes if the sun withdraw his rays, by which light is produced. The meaning is, “You, O ye scribes, object against Me the law of Sabbatical rest, which God commanded you because He Himself rested on the Sabbath from all His work. But I answer that God on the Sabbath only rested from producing new species of things. But He did not rest in such a manner that He is not every Sabbath continually working, that is to say, governing and preserving the world, and all the things that are in it, moving the heavens, bringing forth one thing out of another, feeding and healing all living things, &c. This, which is work of the highest beneficence, is not servile work, but pious and Divine. Such work is indeed lawful; yea, it adoms and hallows the Sabbath. So too I, who am the co-equal Son of the Father, always work, and always have wrought the same things with Him. For neither do I work without the Father, nor the Father without Me.” So S. Augustine and others.
Observe the Hebraism: and I work, that is, so, or in like manner, I work. For the word and, when it is the mark of conjunction, since it joins like things, is a sign of comparison and similitude, and means the same thing as thus, as is constantly the case in the Book of Proverbs.
18. Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath, but also said God was his Father, making himself equal to God.
His Father, Greek, πατέρα ἴδιον, i.e., His own Father, because Christ alone is the peculiar, and by nature, Son of God.
making himself equal to God., because He had said that not merely like things, but that the self-same things which the Father works, were wrought by Him, and therefore that He in all things co-operated, not as a servant, but as a Son, of the same substance with the Father. As Cyril says, “Seeing that He was a man, and not knowing that God dwelt in Him, they could not bear that He should call God His Father in a special manner.” The chief priests and scribes therefore wished to kill Jesus, because they feared lest, as His glory increased, their authority should decrease; indeed lest Jesus, persuading the people that He was God, should be preferred by the people to the priests, and should deprive them of their authority, and should bring in His own new priests and pontiffs, which we see He actually did do.
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SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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