LVII.

1 Morel.

496

God to be glorified by our works.

HOMIL. Cause Him to be blasphemed. May no such persons be 1 among us; but may our works so shine, that our Father from which is in Heaven may be glorified, and that we may enjoy among.' the honour which is from Him. To which may we all attain,

through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom and with Whom, to the Father and the Holy Ghost, be glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

HOMILY LVIII.

JOHN ix. 17, 18.

They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a Prophet. The Jews then did not believe.

WE must go over the Scriptures not in a chance way or carelessly, but with all exactness, that we be not entangled. Since even now in this place one might with shew of reason question, how, when they had asserted, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the Sabbath, they now say to the man, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? and not, "What sayest thou of him, that he hath broken the Sabbath?" but put now that which was the ground of the defence, not that of the accusation. What then have we to reply? That these (who speak) are not the men who said, This man is not of God, but those who separated themselves from them, who also said, A man that is a sinner cannot1 do such miracles. For desiring to silence1 How their opponents the more, in order that they may not seem to man,&c. be partisans of Christ, they bring forward the man who had N. T. received proof of His power, and question him. Observe now the wisdom of the poor man, he speaketh more wisely than them all. First he saith, He is a Prophet; and shrank not from the judgment of the perverse Jews who spake against2 al. the Him, and said, "How can this man be of God, not keeping judg the Sabbath?" but replied to them, He is a Prophet.

2

can a

ment amazed

him not.

498 The truth made brighter by the Jews' perverseness. HOMIL. And they did not believe that he had been blind, and LVIII received his sight, until they had called his parents2.

1 the

Jews,

N. T. 2 the

Observe in how many ways they attempt to obscure and take away the miracle. But this is the nature of truth, by parents the very means by which it seems to be assailed by men, &c.N.T. by these it becomes stronger, it shines by means of that

of him,

24.

envied.'

by which it is obscured. For if these things had not taken place, the miracle might have been suspected by the many; but now, as if desiring to lay bare the truth, so do they use all means, and would not have acted otherwise, supposing they had done all in Christ's behalf. For they first attempted to cast Him down by occasion of this mode (of cure), saying, How opened he thine eyes? that is, was it by some sorcery?" In another place also, when they had no charge to bring against Him, they endeavoured to insult the Mat.12, mode of the cure, saying, He doth not cast out devils save by Beelzebub. And here again, when they have nothing to say, they betake themselves to the time (of cure), saying, "He breaketh the Sabbath;" and again, "He is a sinner." 3al. who Yet He asked you, who would slay' Him, and who were ready to lay hold of His actions, most plainly, saying, c. 8, 46. Which of you convinceth Me of sin? and no man spake, nor said, "Thou blasphemest, because thou makest thyself without sin." But if they had had it in their power to say so, they would not have held their peace. For they who because they heard that He was before Abraham would have stoned Him, and said that He was not of God, who boasted that they, murderers as they were, were of God, but who said that One Who did such wonders, after that He al. was had wrought a cure, was not of God', because He kept not the Sabbath, if they had had but a shadow of a charge against Him, would never have let it pass. And if they call Him a sinner because He seemed to break the Sabbath, this charge also is shewn to be unsound, when those who are ranked with them condemn their great coldness and littleness of soul. Being therefore entangled on every side, they afterwards betake themselves to something else more shameless and impudent. What is that? They did not believe,

a sinner'

a μkpoчuxíav. The Bened. editor is used to signify 'grudging;' 'quarobserves, that by the Fathers the word relling.'

Malice and subtlety of the Jews.

IX. 19.

499 It saith, that he had been blind, and received his sight. HOW HOMIL. then did they charge Christ with not keeping the Sabbath? Plainly, as having believed. But why gave ye not heed to the great number of people? to the neighbours who knew him? As I said, falsehood every where defeats itself by the very means by which it seems to annoy the truth, and makes the truth to appear more bright. Which was now the case. For that no one might say that his neighbours and those who had seen him did not speak with precision, but guessed from a likeness', they bring forward his parents, by whom v. 9. they succeeded against their will in proving that what had like him taken place was real', since the parents best of all knewal.'establishing their own child. When they could not terrify the man himself, what but beheld him with all boldness proclaim his Benefactor, had they thought to wound the miracle by means of his parents. done.' Observe the malice of their questioning. For what saith It? Having placed them in the midst so as to throw them into distress, they apply the questioning with great severity and 3 aywanger,

Ver. 19. Is this your son? (and they said not, "who once was blind," but) of whom ye say that he was born blind?

As if they were acting deceitfully, and plotting on behalf of Christ. O ye accursed, utterly accursed! What father would choose to invent such falsehoods against his child? For they almost say, "Whom ye have made out blind, and not only so, but have spread abroad the report every where." How then doth he now see?

1 He is

been

νίαν

σκαι

O folly! "Yours," saith one, "is the trick' and the contrivance." For by these two things do they attempt to lead pnua the parents to a denial; by using the words, Whom ye say, and, How then doth he now see? Now when there [2.] were three questions asked, whether he was their son, whether he had been blind, and how he received his sight, the parents only acknowledge two of them, but do not add the third. And this came to pass for the sake of the truth, in order that none other save the man that was healed, who was also worthy of credit, should acknowledge this matter. al, a And how would the parents have favoured (Christ), when

5

ὺ τὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ συγκροτούντων. al. κατὰ τοῦ Χ.

witness worthy'

HOMIL. even of what they knew some part they spake not through LVIII. fear of the Jews? What say they?

Ver. 20, 21. We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but by what means he now seeth we know not, or who hath opened his eyes we know not; he is of age, he shall speak for himself.

By making him to be worthy of credit, they begged off Teλns themselves; "He is not a child, say they, nor incapable', but able to testify for himself."

2 his parents, N. T.

Ver. 22. These words spake they?, because they feared the

Jews.

Observe how the Evangelist again brings forward their opinion and thoughts. This I say, because of that speech c. 5, 18. which they before uttered, when they said, "He maketh Himself equal to God." For had that also been the opinion of the Jews but not the judgment of Christ, he would have added and said, that "it was a Jewish opinion." When therefore the parents referred them to him that had been healed, they called him again the second time, and did not say openly and shamelessly, "Deny that Christ healed thee," but would fain effect this under a pretence of piety.

3 lit.

begot

him.'

d

Ver. 24. Give, saith one, the glory to God.

For to have said to the parents, "Deny that he is your son, and that he was born' blind," would have seemed very that ye ridiculous. And again, to have said this to himself would have been manifest shamelessness. Wherefore they say not so, but manage the matter in another way, saying, God the glory," that is, "confess that this man hath wrought nothing."

We know that this man is a sinner.

"Give

"Why then did ye not convict Him when He said, c. 8, 46. Which of you convinceth Me of sin? Whence know ye that He is a sinner?" After that they had said, Give God the

Another reading has this sense: "For although that was the opinion of the Jews, yet he hath also added the judgment of Christ; and hath said that the sentence of the Jews was to put out of the synagogue those who confessed Him to be the Christ.'

d N. T. ver. 22-24. For the Jews

had agreed already, that if any man did confess that He was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age, ask him. Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him.