Verse 19... Why do you seek to kill me?3 If the law says; Thou shalt not kill, then how then do you try to kill Me, not keeping the law, not honoring Moses, who gave it to you? It is shameless to break the law to accuse another of breaking the law.

Verse 20. And the people answered, and said, Is it the devil of the Imashi? Who seeketh thee to be killed?4 This is what the people say, desiring to please the rulers, and to dishonor him who stands above all honor, in order to honor the rulers who are worthy of all dishonor. The people deny their desire to kill Jesus Christ, both out of hatred for Him, and so that, unguarded by anyone, He could be more easily seized by malefactors (Knowing that they are shameless and come to anger again, Jesus Christ leaves more to rebuke them, so that they do not become even more shameless; He did not want to constantly kindle anger in them.

Verse 21. Jesus answered and said to them, "One work you have done, and all be amazed."5 By one deed he calls the healing on the Sabbath of a 38-year-old paralytic, which is narrated in the fifth chapter. And all be amazed, that is, be troubled, troubled; these were those who at that time were raging and from that time onwards sought to kill Him. Further, Jesus Christ said that Moses gave circumcision, and they circumcised on the Sabbath, when the eighth day of the child was on the Sabbath; and then draws this conclusion; if a man is circumcised on the Sabbath (and circumcision is a deed), then why do you accuse Moses, who commanded the work on the Sabbath?

Verse 22. For this reason Moses has given you circumcision, not as it is from Moses, but from the fathers: and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man.6 Homilies; for this reason – do not have a causal meaning here, but are simply placed according to the Jewish custom. So Jesus Christ says that Moses will give you circumcision... and on the Sabbath you circumcise a man, and He put all the middle words to show that although Moses also transmitted circumcision, it is older than it. He said, "Not as it is of Moses," i.e. Moses handed down to you circumcision, not as having received its beginning from his legislation, not as having begun from that time, but from the fathers, namely Abraham, since it was commanded to him first. And although it seems to have already been borrowed (into legislation), it nevertheless becomes more important than the Sabbath.

Verse 23. If a man accepts circumcision on the Sabbath, let not the law of Moses be destroyed, are you angry with Me, for you made all man healthy on the Sabbath?... 1 – that the law of Moses concerning circumcision should not be broken. He called it the law of Moses, as handed down by him, as we have said. And so, Jesus Christ says: "If a man accepts circumcision on the Sabbath, are you angry with Me, because you have made all man healthy, while you were not indignant with Moses, who before Me commanded circumcision to be performed on the Sabbath? He said the whole man, because He healed his entire paralyzed body, or thereby showed that He healed not only his body, but also his soul.

Verse 24. Do not judge by faces... 2 Do not judge him partially, absolving him from guilt, as great and glorious among you, but accusing me as despised and inglorious.

Verse 24... But judge righteous judgment, looking not at persons, but at deeds; or in other words: circumcision was a sign only of the Jew, and the work I have done is the complete healing of every person sealed by Me.

Verses 25-26. For some of the people of Jerusalem said, "Is not this one, whom they seek to kill?" And behold, he speaks without hesitation, and they speak nothing to him,3 because he has silenced them.

Verse 26... How did the princes make up their minds, for this is the Christ?4 There were also rulers among the people at that time.

Verse 27. But when Christ comes, no one knows whence it will come.5 But your rulers, in answer to Herod's question, "Where will Christ be born?" said, "In Bethlehem of Judea" (Matt. 2:5), and even cited a prophecy pointing to this; how then do you talk, saying that when Christ comes, no one knows where he will come from? Moreover, if you know this, whence He comes, how then do some say that they do not know from whence He is (John 9:29)? This is not understood by malice, which contradicts itself and is obviously false, since it is a kind of intoxication of the soul. If someone had understood the word not about place and fatherland, but about family and father, he could say that they said: we know his family and father, i.e. Joseph, as we thought; but the lineage of Jesus Christ and His Father no one knows, because it is not subject to knowledge.

Verse 28. For Jesus cried out in the church, and said, "And I am tidings, and tidings, whence I am... 6 He cried out to shame them, as having acted with evil intention, and to reveal all that they had spoken among themselves in secret. He says, "And I know that I am God, and I know from whence I am, namely, from God the Father," although you pretend to say that you know that I am from Joseph. And they knew Jesus Christ, as He Himself said, from the testimony of John, "And this is to bear witness of Me" (John 5:32), from His works, of which He said, "That works which I do bear witness of Me" (v. 36), and from the Scriptures, of which He likewise said, "And this is she that beareth witness of Me" (v. 39). But why did Jesus Christ say in the eleventh chapter (v. 27) of the Gospel of Matthew: "No man knoweth the Son but the Father?" Because it was He who spoke about the nature of His Godhead, or simply about knowing that He is God and the Son of God.

Verse 28... And I did not come about Myself... 7 And this, he says, you know; this is what the above testimonies teach you, and especially that I seek not My own glory, but the glory of Him who sent Me (John 7:18).

Verse 28... But true is He who sent Me... 1 The Father and God, who sent me, as he promised through the prophets; and if the Sender is true, then surely the Sent One is also true, being of one and the same nature.

Verse 28... Him ye do not know.2 because ye have denied him by your works; and the Apostle says: "Those who know God will confess God, but His works will be rejected (Titus 1:16).3