1 John chapter 5 - interpretationThree testify on earth: spirit, water and blood

GOSPEL OF JOHN chapter 5

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1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus came to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool, called in Hebrew Bethesda, which had five covered passages.

3 In them lay a great multitude of the sick, the blind, the lame, the withered, waiting for the movement of the waters,

4 For the angel of the Lord from time to time went into the pool and disturbed the water, and whoever entered it first after the water was disturbed was healed, no matter what disease he was afflicted with.

5 There was a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lying down and knew that he had been lying there for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healthy?”

7 The sick man answered Him: Yes, Lord; but I do not have a person who would lower me into the pool when the water is troubled; when I arrive, another has already descended before me.

8 Jesus saith unto him, Arise, take up thy mat, and walk.

9 And he immediately became well, and took up his bed and went. It was on the Sabbath day.

10 Therefore the Jews said to the man who was healed, “Today is the Sabbath; You shouldn't take the bed.

11 He answered them: He who healed me said to me, Take up your bed and walk.

12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, Take up your bed and walk?”

13 But he who was healed did not know who He was, for Jesus was hidden among the people that were in that place.

14 Then Jesus met him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you are healed; Don’t sin anymore, lest something worse happen to you.

15 The man went and announced to the Jews that the one who healed him was Jesus.

16 And the Jews began to persecute Jesus and sought to kill Him because He had done such things on the Sabbath.

17 And Jesus said unto them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

18 And the Jews sought even more to kill Him, because He not only violated the Sabbath, but also called God His Father, making Himself equal with God.

19 To this Jesus said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless He sees the Father doing: for whatever He does, these the Son also does also.

20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.

21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whomever He will.

22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

23 that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

25 Truly, truly, I say to you, the time is coming, and has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard it, they will live.

26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave also to the Son to have life in Himself.

27 And he gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.

28 Marvel not at this; for the time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God;

29 And those who have done good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil into the resurrection of condemnation.

30 I can do nothing of Myself. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous; For I do not seek My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.

31 If I testify about Myself, then My testimony is not true.

32 There is another who testifies about Me; and I know that the testimony with which he testifies about Me is true.

33 You sent to John, and he testified to the truth.

34 However, I do not accept testimony from man, but I say this so that you may be saved.

35 He was a lamp, burning and shining; and you wanted to rejoice in its light for a little while.

36 But I have a testimony greater than John: for the works that the Father gave Me to do, even these very works that I have done, testify of Me that the Father has sent Me.

37 And the Father who sent Me has Himself testified of Me. But you have never heard His voice, nor seen His face;

38 And you do not have His word abiding in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent.

39 Search the Scriptures, for by them you think you have eternal life; and they testify of Me.

40 But you do not want to come to Me that you may have life.

41 I do not accept glory from men,

42 But I know you: you do not have the love of God in you.

43 I came in the name of My Father, and you do not receive Me; but if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

44 How can you believe when you receive glory from one another, but do not seek the glory that is from the One God?

45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: you have an accuser, Moses, in whom you trust.

46 For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me, because he wrote about Me.

47 If you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus came to Jerusalem. There is also a pool in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which had five covered passages. In them lay a great multitude of sick, blind, lame, withered, waiting for the movement of the water, for the Angel of the Lord from time to time went into the pool and disturbed the water, and whoever first entered it after the disturbance of the water recovered, no matter what disease he was possessed by. Here was a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. Jesus, seeing him lying down and learning that he had been lying there for a long time, said to him: Do you want to be healthy?

The sick man answered Him: Yes, Lord; but I do not have a person who would lower me into the pool when the water is troubled; when I arrive, another has already descended before me.

Jesus says to him: get up, take up your mat and walk. And he immediately became well, and took up his bed and went.

It was on the Sabbath day. Therefore the Jews said to the healed man: Today is the Sabbath; You shouldn't take the bed.

He answered them: He who healed me said to me: “Take up your bed and walk.”

They asked him: Who is the man who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?

The healed one did not know who He was, for Jesus hid himself among the people who were in that place.

Then Jesus met him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you are made well; Don’t sin anymore, lest something worse happen to you.

This man went and announced to the Jews that the one who healed him was Jesus. And the Jews began to persecute Jesus and sought to kill Him because He did such things on the Sabbath. Jesus said to them: My Father is working until now, and I am working.

And the Jews sought even more to kill Him because He not only violated the Sabbath, but also called God His Father, making Himself equal to God.

To this Jesus said: Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless He sees the Father doing: for whatever He does, the Son also does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whomever He will. For the Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, the time is coming, and has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard, they will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself. And He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who did good will come forth into the resurrection of life, and those who did evil into the resurrection of condemnation. I cannot create anything on my own. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous; For I do not seek My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.

If I testify about Myself, then My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me; and I know that the testimony with which he testifies about Me is true. You sent to John, and he testified to the truth. However, I do not accept testimony from man, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a lamp, burning and shining; and you wanted to rejoice in its light for a little while. But I have a testimony greater than John: for the works that the Father gave Me to do, these very works that I have done, testify of Me that the Father has sent Me. And the Father who sent Me testified about Me. But you have never heard His voice, nor seen His face; and you do not have His word abiding in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent. Search the Scriptures, for through them you think you have eternal life; and they testify of Me. But you do not want to come to Me to have life.

I do not accept glory from men, but I know you: you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in the name of My Father, and you do not receive Me; but if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from each other, but do not seek the glory that is from the One God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: you have an accuser, Moses, in whom you trust. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me, because he wrote about Me. If you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

a) 5.2:

House of Mercy.

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It was a Jewish holiday; I think it's the Feast of Pentecost. The Lord goes to the holiday partly in order not to appear as an opponent of the law, but to appear as a participant in the holiday of the people, partly in order to attract more people to Himself with teachings and signs, and especially the simple-minded people. For on holidays both farmers and city artisans usually come together, who on other days are engaged in work. — The bathhouse was called the “sheep pool” because sacrificial sheep were brought to it and their entrails were washed in it. Many thought that the water received some divine power from the mere fact that the entrails of the victims were washed in it, which is why the Angel descended on this water as the chosen one and worked miracles. It seems that Divine Providence arranged a miracle in this bath in order to lead the Jews from afar to faith in Christ. Since baptism was to be granted, which has great power and the greatest gift, for it cleanses from sins and revives souls, God pre-depicts baptism in Jewish rites and gives the Jews, for example, water that cleanses them from impurities, although not essential, but imaginary, for example, from uncleanness due to touching a dead person or a leper, and many similar things; also gives the miracle of this bath, leading them to receive baptism. An angel descending from time to time disturbed the water and imparted healing power to it. For it was not from the nature of water that it healed by itself (in this case it would always be), but everything depended on the action of the Angel. So with us, the water of baptism is simple water, but through the divine descent, having received the grace of the Spirit, it destroys mental illness. Is anyone blind, that is, has damaged spiritual eyes and cannot distinguish good from evil; Is anyone lame, that is, motionless to doing good and succeeding in good; If someone has completely dried up, that is, is in a state of despair and has nothing good in him, this water heals everyone. And then weakness did not allow some to receive healing, but now we have no obstacle to baptism. For after the recovery of one, the others are not left without healing; but, even if the whole universe comes together, grace will not decrease.

Here was a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. Jesus, seeing him lying down and learning that he had been lying there for a long time, said to him: Do you want to be healthy? The sick man answered him: Yes, Lord; but I do not have a person who would lower me into the pool when the water is troubled; when I arrive, another has already descended before me.

The patience of a paralytic is amazing! He was sick for thirty-eight years, every year he expected deliverance from the disease, but he was preceded by the strongest; however, he did not lag behind and did not despair. Why does the Lord ask him, wanting to show us the patience of this man. He asks not in order to find out, because it is not only unnecessary, but also crazy to ask a patient whether he wants to be healthy. So I said that He asks in order to show us the patience of this person. What is he? He answers very meekly. Yes, he says, Lord, I wish, but I do not have a person who would lower me into the water. He does not express any blasphemy, does not reject Christ as having proposed an inappropriate question, does not curse his birthday, as we, cowardly ones, do, and, moreover, in mild illnesses, but answers meekly and timidly. Although he did not know who was asking him, perhaps he considered Christ useful to himself even in the fact that he would lower him into the water, and therefore wants to attract and win over with his speeches. “Christ didn’t say: Do you want me to heal you?” - in order not to seem vain.

Jesus says to him: get up, take up your mat and walk. And he immediately became well, and took up his bed and walked. It was on the Sabbath day. Therefore the Jews said to the healed man: Today is the Sabbath; You shouldn't take the bed.

He orders him to take the bed so that no one will consider him a ghost. For if the patient’s members were not strengthened and strengthened, he would not be able to carry the bed. - It does not require faith from him before healing, as from some others, because the sick person has not yet seen Him perform a sign. For from those from whom the Lord demanded faith, He demanded it not before miracles, but after performing miracles before them. “Look, perhaps, how he heard and believed at once.” He did not think to himself and did not say: is He not joking that He orders me to stand up immediately? After thirty-eight years of illness, I have not received healing, and now I’m suddenly going to get up? He didn’t think anything like that, but he believed and stood up. - Heals “on the Sabbath,” teaching people to understand the rites of the law differently and to place the veneration of the Sabbath not in a bodily sense of inaction, but in abstinence from evil. Because the law, being the law of God who always does good, cannot prohibit doing good on the Sabbath.

He answered them: He who healed me said to me: take up your bed and walk. They asked him: Who is the man who said to you, “Take up your bed and walk?” The healed one did not know who He was, for Jesus hid himself among the people who were in that place.

One must be amazed at the courage of this man before the Jews. They persistently tell him: you must not take your bed on the Sabbath; and he boldly preaches to them his benefactor: “He who healed me told me.” He seems to be saying this: you are crazy when you order me not to listen to the One who healed me from an illness that was so long and difficult. - The Jews do not ask him Who healed you, but “Who said to you: take the bed?” So they voluntarily closed their eyes for good, and constantly exposed the imaginary violation of the Sabbath. - Jesus hid partly so that in His absence the testimony of healing would be free from any suspicion and they would not think that this man was favorable to Him, but testifying to the truth; partly in order not to further inflame the rage of the Jews. For the mere sight of the hated gives the haters a considerable spark of hatred. Therefore He leaves this matter to be investigated on its own. For the Jewish accusers, having transferred the event to research and reasoning, make it all the more public.

Then Jesus met him in the temple and said to him: Behold, you are healed, sin no more, lest anything worse happen to you. This man went and announced to the Jews that the one who healed him was Jesus. And the Jews began to persecute Jesus and sought to kill Him because He did such things on the Sabbath.

From the words of the Lord to the paralytic: “Behold, you have recovered, sin no more,” we learn, firstly, that the illness happened to this man because of his sins, and secondly, that the doctrine of Gehenna is true and that torment is eternal. Where are those now who say: in one hour I committed sin, for which reason will I bear endless punishment? For this man did not sin for so many years as he suffered punishment; but he spent almost his entire human life in punishment. Sins are judged not by their duration, but by the very nature of the crimes. Let us also learn together that although we will suffer severe punishment for previous sins, if we fall into the same sins again, we will suffer even greater punishment. And quite fair. For whoever has not improved from the first punishment is subject to great torment, because he is insensitive and careless. - Why, you say, is not everyone punished like this? For we see that many wicked people enjoy health and prosperity. But the fact that they did not suffer anything here will be a reason for greater punishment there. Pointing to this, Paul says: “Being judged by the Lord,” that is, here, “we are punished, so as not to be condemned with the world,” that is, there (1 Cor. 11:32). For the sufferings here are admonitions, and those there are punishments. - Are all illnesses really from sins? Not all, but most. For some of them are for sins, as happened with this paralytic; and in the book of Kings we see that someone fell into gout for sins (2 Kings 5:27; 15:5). Others happen for glorification and discovery, as happened with Job, so that his virtue would be revealed. Others occur from absent-mindedness, for example from intemperance and drunkenness. - Some of the words of the Lord “sin no more” suggest that the Lord knew that this paralytic would announce Him to the Jews and point him out after meeting Him in the temple, and about this he said: do not sin. But not like that. This man turns out to be pious. For Jesus finds him in the temple. If he had not been pious, he would have returned home and given himself up to rest and pleasure, and would have fled from the wrath of the Jews and the contention of words. But nothing like that distracted him from the temple. - Having recognized Jesus, see how wisely he announces Him to the Jews. He does not say how they wanted to hear that Jesus said: take up the bed, but: “he healed me,” which they did not want to hear, accusing Him of breaking the Sabbath. - If the Jews began to persecute the Lord, then what is the fault of this man who announced Him to them? He preached about the Healer for a good purpose, in order to attract others to the faith. If they began to persecute the Benefactor, then it is their fault. — By the sheep's font, perhaps, understand the grace of baptism, with which the Lord Jesus, the Sheep slain for us, washed himself, being baptized for us. This font has five moves. For in baptism there appear the four virtues and contemplation with dogmas. So, human nature, like a paralytic, broken in all its spiritual powers, lay in illness for thirty-eight years. For he did not have a sound faith in the Trinity, he did not firmly believe in the future age, that is, in the resurrection and in the judgment for all life. It didn't receive healing. For there was no Man who would lower him into the pool, that is, then the Son of God, who had to heal through baptism, was not yet a Man. And when he became a man, then he healed our nature; He commanded to take the bed, that is, to make the body light and thin, and to rise from the earth, not weighed down by the flesh and earthly worries, but to rise from indifference to good and walk, that is, move towards doing good, - Disturbance of the water in the bath means that that the spirits of evil are indignant in her, crushed and trampled under foot by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Oh, if only we could get health! We, who are weakened and motionless towards every good deed, and do not have man, that is, human meaning, are as if like senseless cattle, so that he lowers us into the font of tearful repentance, into which whoever enters first receives healing. For he who hopes for a later time and puts off repentance, and is not in a hurry to repent here, but is late, does not receive healing. So, try to enter first so that death does not take you. — This font of repentance is outraged by the Angel. Which? Angel of the great council of the Father, Christ and Savior. For if the divine teaching does not touch our heart and does not create indignation in it with a reminder of torment in the next century, then this font will not be effective, and there will be no health for a weakened soul. “She can rightly be called a sheep.” For in it, like sheep, the entrails and thoughts of the saints and gentle ones are washed, preparing themselves as living sacrifices pleasing to God. Oh, that we too would receive health and, upon recovery, would be in the temple, that is, would not be defiled by unholy thoughts, so that a worse punishment would not befall us in the future.

Jesus said to them: My Father is working until now, and I am working. And the Jews sought even more to kill Him because He not only violated the Sabbath, but also called God His Father, making Himself equal to God.

The Jews accuse Christ of performing healing on the Sabbath. And He, as equal to the Father in honor and power, says: just as God and My Father does on the Sabbath, and you do not blame Him, so you should not blame Me. What is the Father doing to this day? Moses says that God rested from all His work (Gen. 2). Do you want to know what God is doing up to now? Look at the universe and understand the works of Providence: the sun rises and sets; look at the sea, springs, rivers, animals, in general at everything created, and you will see that the creature does its job, especially that it is put into action and movement by the ineffable way of Providence. Without a doubt, Providence does its work on Saturday too. Therefore, as the Father does and governs the creation on the Sabbath, so do I, His Son, do justly. “But they, incited by envy, sought to kill Him not only because He calls God His Father, making Himself equal to God. By calling Himself the Son, He necessarily made Himself equal to God. For every son is of the same nature as his father. Where is Arius? Truly, he is blind in the light. Calling Christ the Son of the Father, he did not admit His consubstantiality with the Father, but recognized the Son of the uncreated Father as a creature. He needed to learn at least from the Jews, who persecuted the Lord because He called Himself the Son of God, and from this it necessarily followed His equality with By God. If the dignity of the Son were not important and He did not make Himself equal to God through it, then why would they persecute Him?

To this Jesus said: Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless He sees the Father doing, for whatever He does, the Son also does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whomever He will.

The Son cannot create from Himself, because he has nothing alien or different from the Father, but is not like the Father in everything, and has no other being to have a different power, and, consequently, a different action, but as a Being he has that the same, then it has the same Power. Therefore the Son does the same and cannot do anything other than what the Father does; for there is no other power, less or greater than the Father's, but the Father and the Son have one Being, one power, one action. So, you say. But the Father becomes, as it were, the Son’s teacher, showing Him what he should do? For the Son does not create anything unless he sees the Father doing it. So, I ask Arius and Eunomius, who say this: how does the Father teach the Son, whether by wisdom or not? Without a doubt, wisdom. Who is the Wisdom of God? Isn't it the Son? Yes, without a doubt. This means that the Son teaches Himself. How foolish of you! You entrust the Son to the Father as if he were some kind of youth for teaching. And I, in accordance with the wisdom of God, affirm that if the Father knows anything, he knows not without the Son, for His wisdom is He; whether the Father can do anything, not without the Son, for His Power is He. That this is true, listen: “What the Father does, the Son also does also,” If the Father has authority and power, and the Son also; This means that the Son is no less than the Father. If it is said humbly: “shows Him everything” and “shows Him more than these,” then there is no need to marvel at this; for He speaks to people who cry out against Him and are consumed with envy. If He did not everywhere combine the humble with the sublime, then what would they not do when they rebel and while He speaks most of the time in a humiliating manner? - What does this mean: “he will show more than these”? Having strengthened the paralytic, He intends to raise the dead; That’s why he says: “If you are surprised that I healed the paralytic, you will see more than this.” That the derogatory expression “shows” He said with the intention of softening their foolishness, then listen to what follows, He says: “As the Father raises the dead, so the Son gives life to whom He will.” So, the Son resurrects “like the Father.” This shows the indifference of power, and the words: “whoever he wants” - equality of power. The Arians put all this against the glory of the Son, but we, the Orthodox, understand it in favor of it.

For the Father does not judge anyone, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Christ, having performed many signs, proved that He can do good. But since he did not convince and did not attract them to worthy veneration of Himself, he says that the Father gave all judgment to the Son, so that the fear of judgment would incline them to pay homage to Him. For we people, especially the most unreasonable among us, usually learn what is necessary more through fear than through good deeds. Understand the words “The Father gave judgment to the Son” to mean that He begot Him to be a Judge, just as you hear that He gave Him life, and understand that He begot Him to be Living. Since the Father is the cause of the existence of the Son, it is said that everything that the Son has, he received from the Father, as having it from Him by nature. Thus He has judgment from the Father, just as He has the Father. So that we, hearing that the Father is the cause of the Son, do not begin to understand that He produced Him, like creatures, and thereby introduce a decrease in honor, for this He says that there is no difference between the Father and the Son. For whoever has the power to punish and reward as he wants, he has the same power as the Father; therefore, He should be revered in the same way as the Father; “so that,” he says, “all may honor the Son as they honor the Father.” Since the Arians think of honoring the Son as a creature, it turns out that they also honor the Father as a creature. For they either do not honor Him at all, and therefore must stand in line with the Jews, or, if they honor Him as a creature, and He should be honored as the Father, then they are decisively convicted of the fact that they honor the Father as a creature. —And otherwise, judging by the addition, how do those who do not honor the Son honor the Father? For he adds: “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father,” that is, whoever does not honor the Father in the same way. If anyone says that He is a creature superior to all creations, and thinks that such honor is falsely and vainly given to Him (as the Son), he decisively dishonors the Father who sent Him. He said “who sent” so that they would not become bitter, as we said above. For He, as it has been said, miraculously unites the teaching: sometimes He gives a lofty testimony about Himself, as it should be, sometimes a humble one, due to the rage of the hostile Jews. For if, after His resurrection from the dead, after His ascension into heaven, after the discovery of His power through the apostles, Arius and Eunomius rebelled against His glory and brought Him down into creation, then the Jews contemporary with Him, seeing Him walking in the flesh, eating and drinking with publicans and harlots as one of many, what would they not have done if He had spoken only highly about Himself, and had not added the lowly? Therefore he adds: “He who hears My words and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.” Thus, the fact that those who hear His words will believe God calms their minds. For he did not say: he who believes “me”, but “he who sent” me. He who believes in Him does not come to judgment, that is, torment, but lives eternal life, not subject to spiritual and eternal death, although he will not escape physical and temporary death,

Truly, truly, I say to you, the time is coming, and has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and having heard it, they will live. For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave also to the Son to have life in Himself, and gave Him power to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the time is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have done good will come out to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

Above he said that whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, and announced something lofty about Himself. So that His words are not mistaken for pomposity and empty arrogance, He also provides confirmation from deeds. He says: “The time is coming.” Then, so that they do not think about a distant time, he says: “and it has already come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son,” that is, Me, who now lives with you. He says this about the dead whom He had to raise, such as: about the son of a widow, about the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, and about Lazarus. Then he adds mental proof of his words. “Just as,” he says, “the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son to have life in Himself,” so that He might revive those who listen to His voice. And He gave Him the power not only to revive, but also to carry out judgment, that is, to punish and torture. — He often inserts speech about judgment in order to attract listeners to Himself. For anyone who is convinced that he will be resurrected and will have to give Him an account of his crimes will, without a doubt, hasten to Him to appease Him as his future Judge. - “Do not be surprised that He is the Son of Man.” Although He is the Son of Man, He is also God. Therefore he justly has the power of judgment as the Son of God. Although He is apparently a man, don’t be surprised. - You need to know that Paul of Samosata, passing off the Lord as a simple man, read this place like this: “and he gave Him the power to carry out judgment, because He is the son of man.” Here, placing a sign, he read from a different beginning: “Marvel not at this.” This reading is completely unreasonable. For the Father gave judgment to the Son, not because He is the Son of Man, but because He is God. And he, not tolerating calling Christ God, but calling him the Son of Man, understood that He was a judge not as God, but as the Son of Man. We understand it as it is said. Having spoken about the private resurrection, that is, of Lazarus and others who previously died, he now speaks of the general resurrection: “the time is coming when those in the tombs will hear the voice” of God. Here he speaks of the general resurrection. Since he said above that a believer does not come to judgment, so that we do not think that faith alone is sufficient for salvation, he says that “those who have done evil will rise in the resurrection of condemnation, and those who have done good - in the resurrection of life.” This means that it is not just faith without works that justifies, but one must also have works; for then only is faith true. - See how the teaching is dissolved by fear and mercy. For the thought that those who have done evil will be condemned is terrifying, but that those who have done good will be resurrected into life motivates with mercy.

I cannot create anything on my own. As I hear, so I judge, and My judgment is righteous, for I do not seek My will, but the will of the Father who sent Me.

These words: “I cannot create from Myself” and similar ones, as said above, indicate the equality of the Son with the Father. I cannot create anything new and alien from the Father; for I have neither will nor power different from the Father. “As I hear” from the Father, “so I judge,” that is, as the Father Himself judges, so do I. - He says this, as we have often said, in order to show indifference in deeds, and in words, and in courts So that some, seeing Him as a Man, would not be tempted, as a visible Man can carry out righteous judgment, while, according to David, “every man is a lie” (Ps. 115:2), He said ahead: do not be surprised that I am Son of Man. And now he says: “My judgment is righteous, because I judge as I hear from My Father who judges.” “For I do not seek My own will, but (the will of) the Father.” Whoever wants to assert his will may be suspected of violating the truth, and whoever does not have himself in mind, what excuse will he have to pronounce unjust judgment? But I do not seek My will; for I do not have my own will, but whatever the Father wants, that is what I desire.

If I testify about Myself, then My testimony is not true. There is another who testifies of Me; and I know that the testimony with which he testifies about Me is true. You sent to John, and he testified to the truth. However, I do not accept testimony from man, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a lamp, burning and shining; and you wanted to rejoice in its light for a little while.

Here the Lord apparently contradicts Himself. For He repeatedly testified about Himself, for example, He said to the Samaritan woman: “I am Christ” (John 4:25.26), to the blind man (John 9:35-37) and at other times several times. If this is false, how can we hope for salvation? But this is not the only contradiction, there is something else no less. After this (John 8:14) He says: if I myself testify about myself, my testimony is true. How can we reconcile this apparent contradiction? When He says: if I testify about Myself, My testimony is not true, then He speaks in relation to the concept of the Jews. Perhaps they intended to tell Him that You testify about Yourself, and in testifying about yourself no one deserves faith. Therefore, He urgently says: I do not testify about Myself, for in that case, in your opinion, I would not be worth believing, but there is another who testifies about Me - John. When he says: “If I myself testify, my testimony is true,” he says so out of compliance. Yielding to the thoughts of the Jews, he says: let it be that I testify about Myself; but if I Myself testify, My testimony is true. For I, being God, am worthy of faith. Therefore, the first said urgently that it is not I who testify, but the Forerunner, and the second - by opposition or compliance: if I also testify, My testimony is true. “I,” he says, “have three witnesses: “John, the works of Mine and of My Father.” John is the first to exhibit. So that someone would not tell Him that He testified about You to please (You), he says: you yourselves sent to John. And, without a doubt, you would not have sent to ask him if you did not consider him worthy of faith. Therefore you yourselves testify that John was true. Although I, as God, do not need the testimony of man. The Lord is in the servant’s testimony, but since you consider him more truthful and listen to him more than Me, and you resorted to him, but you do not believe Me even during miracles, therefore I also remind you of John’s testimony and do everything, I accept even the unworthy My deity, if only you would be saved. - Calls John a “burning lamp” because he had earthly origin, and the light did not come from himself, but from the grace of the Spirit, and “for a time”; When the day of the Lord, that is, the teaching, came, the lamp was closed. They accepted everything he said “for the time being” and rejoiced about Him, and then they forgot what he said about Me and remained with the same unbelief. For if you had once firmly believed in him, he would soon have brought you to believe in Me.

But I have a testimony greater than John: for the works that the Father gave Me to do, these very works that I have done, testify of Me that the Father has sent Me. And the Father who sent Me testified about Me. But you have never heard His voice, nor seen His face; and you do not have His word abiding in you, because you do not believe Him whom He sent.

John, he says, has testified about Me, John, whom you consider most trustworthy. But how could some slanderers come along and say: what do we care? John favored You, and therefore gave You a very good testimony? Therefore he says: you sent to John and asked him, without a doubt, considering him to be true. However, I have another testimony, greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave Me, that is, entrusted Me to do, testify of Me. He calls miracles works, for example, the healing of a paralytic and others. Since they accused Him of doing these things on the Sabbath, and they said that He is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath, He declares to them that He is doing what the Father commanded Him, and even more so from God, that He is doing works entrusted to Him by God. “The works,” he says, “which the Father has given Me to do.” If the Father gave them, then by resisting such things you are resisting God. - “And the Father who sent Me has himself testified of Me.” Where did the Father testify about Him? Some say that at baptism, when he said: “This is my beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17). But I think it is better to understand that God testified about Him in all Scripture, in the law and the prophets. “You,” he says, “have not heard His voice, that is, the Father, nor have you seen His face, and He is absolutely unknown to you, because you do not have His word abiding in you, that is, you do not know the Scriptures that testify about Me, although you think that you know, and boast that you have been entrusted with the words of God. That you do not know the Scriptures is clear from the fact that you do not believe Him whom He sent. And just as you have not heard the voice of God, for God does not have a sensual voice, nor have you seen His face, for He has no form or image, so you do not have His word in you, that is, the Scriptures that testify about Me.

Search the Scriptures, for through them you think you have eternal life: and they testify of Me. But you do not want to come to Me to have life. I do not accept glory from men, but I know you: you do not have the love of God in you.

He told them that the word of God does not abide in you, that is, the Scriptures that testify about Me. Teaching how they can receive the word of God within themselves, he says: search the Scriptures, for you think through them you have life. Look, he didn’t say: you have, but you “think.” He said “you think,” declaring that they truly did not receive any benefit from them (the Scriptures), since they expected salvation from reading alone, without applying faith. They (the Scriptures) testify about Me, but you do not want to come to Me to have life. From this we learn that they were evil at will. For he did not say: you cannot come, but “you do not want to come.” - Let the Manichaeans hear that evil does not consist in nature, but in free will. - When he reminded them of John’s testimony, of the Father’s testimony and the testimony of His works, solely out of a desire for their salvation, and meanwhile many might have thought that He was saying this out of love for glory, then therefore He said: I do not accept glory from people, that is, I do not need glory, and I do not have a Nature such that I need glory from people. - You are persecuting Me under the pretext that you love God. But it’s not like that, no. For I know about you that you do not have love for God in yourself, although you pretend everywhere that you persecute Me out of love for God. The Jews really did not have love for God, because they persecuted self-existent Love - the Son of God. Indeed, they did not even have His abiding Word within themselves, for they rejected the Word and God.

I have come in the name of My Father, and you do not receive Me; but if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from each other, but do not seek the glory that is from the One God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: you have an accuser, Moses, in whom you trust. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me, because he wrote about Me. If you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?

I, he says, came in the name of My Father. Everywhere he glorifies the Father and says that he was sent from Him and that He cannot do anything on His own, and in general expresses a lot of humiliating things, wanting to suppress any pretext for not recognizing Him. And another will come, that is, the Antichrist, who will prove that he is only one God. So, you do not accept Me, Who came in the name of the Father, that is, I say that I was sent by the Father, but you will accept him. This will happen to you because he promises you the glory of this life, which you seek, desiring to receive glory from one another and rejecting the glory that comes from God alone. And I do not promise you anything attractive in life, but in My words you see a lot of difficulties. That’s why, he says, you don’t believe Me, because you don’t hope to receive any worldly pleasures from Me. And otherwise: you do not believe Me because you love glory from one another. For the rulers and teachers, desiring only to be in glory among the people, do not receive Me, lest their glory be diminished. But the people, seeking love from their leaders, do not want to turn to Me, lest because of Me they lose honor from their leaders. - Since they constantly referred to Moses, the Lord says that he will accuse you, because he wrote about Me. Where did he write about Him? In many places. So the saying “The Lord will raise up for you a prophet” applied to Christ, and much more, partly in words, partly in signs and symbols. For example, the miracle over the bush (Ex. 3:2). Here the fire meant the Divinity, and the thorn bush meant the sinful nature, which the fire of the Divinity took on and, however, kept it unburnt, illuminating it with light and bestowing it with its radiance, but not accepting its shortcomings. This saying of Moses also greatly contributed to faith in Christ. If, he says, a prophet arises, working miracles and distracting from God, do not believe him: this is the Antichrist. If a Prophet arises, working miracles and leading to God and the Father, especially not distracting from Him, believe Him (Deut. 13: 1-3). So, Christ, who came in the name of the Father, performing miracles and not distracting them (the Jews) from piety, was the same one about whom Moses prophesied. “If you do not believe the writings of Moses, how will you believe My words?” He, he says, wrote, and the Bible is always before your eyes, so that even if you forgot, you can easily remember, and yet you do not believe what is written: how can you believe My unwritten words? “Why are you saying this, Lord, when you know that they won’t believe it?” Although, he says, I know that they will not listen, however, I say so that they do not respond later, that we would believe if You said. And otherwise: His ungrateful contemporaries did not believe; but it was unfair to deprive those who had time to believe of the benefits of the words of Christ.