The Blindness of the Soul
A discourse concerning the blind man whom Christ healed, and concerning Zacchaeus, and concerning judgment and almsgiving. Many and diverse are the teachings of the holy Scriptures, but one grace shines upon all, and one source of teaching is the Spirit of truth.
Whatever the law forbids, whatever the prophets teach, whatever the apostles proclaim, and whatever the Gospel of piety dictates, all flow from one generous and fruitful source, the Holy Spirit; and there is nothing solemn to say, nothing right to think, nor wonderful to do, without the Holy Spirit confirming the things said, thought, and done. For even if someone has a soul strengthened by a morsel of human wisdom and by human reasonings, but rejects the word of God, it is nothing, and it will be accounted as nothing. Therefore the prophet says: 'They have done away with the word of the Lord' (Isa 5:5). What wisdom is in them?
For us, then, the Scriptures of piety are the flowers of truth; and the flowers are many, but the meadow that feeds the flowers is one; the luminaries of the teaching are many, but the true light is one; the stars are many, but the heaven that carries the stars is one; the branches are many, but the root is one; the fingers are many, but the hand that writes through the fingers is one; the strings are many, but the lyre of the Spirit is one; the teachings are many, but the source of piety is one.
But I marvel how this blind man, not having read the law, not having passed through the prophets, not having encountered the Gospels, and not having been confirmed by the apostles, called upon the Savior of the inhabited world, saying, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me' (Mk 10:47). From where did you learn to call these things, without having learned what you invoke? Deprived of sight, you did not read books; you did not study teachings, having one business in life — begging, or rather, begging alms; from where...
So he knew the light of the world, whom he neither saw in the heavens nor upon the earth, being deprived of sight. But truly that which was said by David was fulfilled in this: The Lord makes the blind wise (Psalm 146:8). There was a great crowd around Jesus, and the blind man did not know the light of truth, but he knew its operation; he seized it by intention, which the sight had not received.
What, he asks, does the crowd intend? They say to him, "Jesus the Nazarene is passing by" (Matthew 9:27). Oh, the wonder! Other things are being taught, and other things are being preached; he hears Jesus the Nazarene, but he does not call him Jesus the Nazarene, but Jesus the Son of David (Matthew 20:30). Those seeing from presumption were speaking, but the blind man was preaching from truth. "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Matthew 20:30).
Therefore, each one making the voice his own, let him pour out a confession from the heart, and let each one say this voice for himself, "Son of David, have mercy on me." And just as, brothers, when many go to mourning, and see a corpse lying there, and being wept over by its own kin, all weep—some sharing in the mourning, others searching out their own matters; and often a woman wails and laments, but indeed not for the one lying there (for he is a stranger), but for her own one who has passed before, and the stranger becomes a hypothesis for the remembrance of one's own evils—so each of you, brothers, when he learns the things being preached by the saints, let him make the word his own, speaking on behalf of his own wounds, "Son of David, have mercy on me."
And let each one say it now, being awakened from his own evils: one, because his intellect is blind; another, because his soul is mute; another, because his reasoning is lame; another, because his opinion is leprous. For the sufferings which Christ healed upon the bodies, these also happen upon the souls, and they need help from above. There is a blind soul, begging for a looking up; a blind soul, not seeing the wonders of the law; a blind soul, the...
Greek
De caeco et Zacchaeo (olim sub auctore Joanne Chrysostomo) Εἰς τὸν τυφλὸν, ὃν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐθεράπευσεν, καὶ εἰς τὸν Ζακχαῖον, καὶ περὶ κρίσεως, καὶ ἐλεημοσύνης, ὁμιλία. Πολλαὶ καὶ διάφοροι τῶν ἁγίων Γραφῶν αἱ διδασκαλίαι, μία δὲ χάρις ἡ πᾶσιν ἐπιλάμπουσα, καὶ μία πηγὴ διδασκαλίας τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας. Καὶ ὅσα νόμος διαγορεύει, καὶ ὅσα προφῆται διδάσκουσιν, ὅσα ἀπόστολοι κηρύττουσιν, ὅσα τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον τῆς εὐσεβείας ὑπαγορεύει, ἀπὸ μιᾶς ὥσπερ τινὸς εὐθαλοῦς πηγῆς καὶ γονίμου περιέρχεται, τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου· καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν οὔτε εἰπεῖν τι σεμνὸν, οὔτε νοῆσαι δεξιὸν, οὔτε πρᾶξαι θαυμαστὸν, μὴ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐπιβεβαιοῦντος τὰ λεγόμενα, καὶ τὰ νοούμενα, καὶ τὰ πραττόμενα. Κἂν γάρ τις τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ σοφίᾳ κομᾷ, καὶ λογισμοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις ὠχυρωμένην ἔχῃ τὴν ψυχὴν, τὸν λόγον δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀποσείηται, εἰς οὐδέν ἐστι, καὶ εἰς οὐδὲν λογισθήσεται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησιν ὁ προφήτης· Τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου ἀπεποιήσαντο. Σοφία τίς ἐστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς; Ἡμῖν τοίνυν ἄνθη τῆς ἀληθείας αἱ Γραφαὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας· καὶ πολλὰ μὲν τὰ ἄνθη, εἷς δὲ ὁ λειμὼν ὁ τὰ ἄνθη τρέφων· πολλοὶ τῆς διδασκαλίας οἱ λαμπτῆρες, εἷς δὲ ὁ φωστὴρ ὁ ἀληθινός· πολλοὶ οἱ ἀστέρες, εἷς δὲ ὁ οὐρανὸς ὁ φέρων τοὺς ἀστέρας· πολλοὶ οἱ κλάδοι, μία δὲ ἡ ῥίζα· πολλοὶ οἱ δάκτυλοι, μία δὲ ἡ χεὶρ, ἡ διὰ τῶν δακτύλων γράφουσα· πολλαὶ αἱ χορδαὶ, μία ἡ κιθάρα τοῦ Πνεύματος· πολλαὶ διδασκαλίαι, μία ἡ πηγὴ τῆς εὐσεβείας. Ἀλλὰ θαυμάζω πῶς ὁ τυφλὸς οὗτος, οὐ νόμον ἀναγνοὺς, οὐ προφήτας διελθὼν, οὐκ Εὐαγγελίοις ἐντυχὼν, οὐκ ἀποστόλοις βεβαιωθεὶς, ἐπεκαλεῖτο τὸν Σωτῆρα τῆς οἰκουμένης, λέγων, Ἰησοῦ, υἱὲ ∆αυῒδ, ἐλέησόν με. Πόθεν ἔμαθες ταῦτα καλεῖν, μὴ μαθὼν ὃ ἐπικαλῇ; Οὐκ ἀνέγνως βίβλους, τῶν ὄψεων ἀπεστερημένος· οὐκ ἐσχόλασας διδασκαλίαις, μίαν ἔχων ὑπόθεσιν τῆς ζωῆς, τὴν αἴτησιν, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸ προσαιτεῖν· πόθεν οὖν ἔγνως τὸν φωστῆρα τοῦ κόσμου, ὃν οὔτε 59.600 ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἐθεάσω, οὔτε ἐπὶ γῆς, τῶν ὄψεων ἐστερημένος; Ἀλλ' ἀληθῶς ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἐπληροῦτο τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ εἰρημένον· Κύριος σοφοῖ τοὺς τυφλούς. Ὄχλος πολὺς ἦν περὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν, καὶ ὁ τυφλὸς τὸν μὲν φωστῆρα τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ᾔδει, τῆς δὲ ἐνεργείας ᾔσθετο· ἥρπασε τῇ διαθέσει, ὃ μὴ παρέλαβεν ἡ ὄψις. Τί, φησὶ, βούλεται ὁ ὄχλος; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ, Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος παρέρχεται. Ὢ τοῦ θαύματος! ἄλλα διδάσκεται, καὶ ἄλλα κηρύττει· ἀκούει Ἰησοῦν Ναζωραῖον, οὐ καλεῖ δὲ αὐτὸν Ἰησοῦν Ναζωραῖον, ἀλλ' Ἰησοῦν υἱὸν ∆αυΐδ. Οἱ βλέποντες τὰ ἐξ ὑπονοίας ἔλεγον, ὁ δὲ τυφλὸς τὰ ἐξ ἀληθείας ἐκήρυττεν. Ἰησοῦ, υἱὲ ∆αυῒδ, ἐλέησόν με. Τοίνυν ἕκαστος τὴν φωνὴν ἰδιοποιούμενος, ῥήξῃ ἀπὸ τῆς καρδίας ἐξομολόγησιν, καὶ ἕκαστος ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ ταύτην εἴπῃ τὴν φωνὴν, Υἱὲ ∆αυῒδ, ἐλέησόν με. Καὶ ὥσπερ, ἀδελφοὶ, ἐπειδὰν εἰς πένθος πολλοὶ ἀπέλθωσι, καὶ ἴδωσι σκήνωμα προκείμενον, καὶ δακρυόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων, πάντες δακρύουσιν, οἱ μὲν συνδιατιθέμενοι τῷ πένθει, οἱ δὲ τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἐρευνῶντες πράγματα· καὶ κλαίει πολλάκις γυνὴ καὶ ὀδύρεται, ἀλλ' οὖν οὐ τὸν προκείμενον (ἀλλότριος γὰρ), ἀλλὰ τὸν ἑαυτῆς τὸν προαπελθόντα, καὶ γίνεται ἡ ἀλλοτρία ὑπόθεσις ἰδίων κακῶν ὑπόμνησις· οὕτως ὑμῶν ἕκαστος, ἀδελφοὶ, ὅταν τὰ παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων κηρυττόμενα μανθάνῃ, ἰδιοποιείτω τὴν λέξιν, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἰδίων τραυμάτων λέγων, Υἱὲ ∆αυῒδ, ἐλέησόν με· καὶ λεγέτω καὶ νῦν ἕκαστος ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων κακῶν διεγειρόμενος, ὁ μὲν, ὅτι τυφλός ἐστι τὴν διάνοιαν, ὁ δὲ, ὅτι κωφὴν ἔχει τὴν ψυχήν· ἄλλος, ὅτι χωλὸν ἔχει τὸν λογισμὸν, ἕτερος, ὅτι λεπρὰν ἔχει τὴν γνώμην. Τὰ γὰρ πάθη, ἃ ἐθεράπευσεν ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτων ὁ Χριστὸς, ταῦτα καὶ 59.601 ἐπὶ τῶν ψυχῶν γίνεται καὶ δεῖται τῆς ἄνωθεν βοηθείας. Ἔστι τυφλὴ ψυχὴ, δεομένη ἀναβλέψεως, τυφλὴ ψυχὴ, ἡ νόμου θαυμάσια μὴ βλέπουσα, τυφλὴ ψυχὴ, ἡ
About this text
Two healings of blindness, physical and spiritual: the blind man and Zacchaeus side by side.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 65 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.