But there are those who say that this phrase [That the glory of God should be made manifest] isn’t causative, but expresses the consequence of the miracle; as when He says, ‘I came into this world for judgement, so that they who do not see may see, and that they who see might be made blind’. Yet it wasn’t for this that He came- that those who saw might be made blind. Again Paul says, ‘because that which may be known of God is manifested in them, that they may be without excuse’. But He didn’t show them in order to deprive them of an excuse, but so that they might obtain an excuse. And again, in another place, he says ‘the Law entered, so that the offence might abound’; but it wasn’t for this that it entered, but that sin might be checked. Do you see that in all these cases the proposition defines the outcome? Just as an excellent builder might construct part of a house, and leave the rest unfinished so that he can prove to doubters that he really was creator of the whole, so God also joins together and completes our body, as if it were a dilapidated house: healing the withered hand, bracing paralyzed limbs, straightening the lame, cleansing the lepers, raising up the sick, making cripples well, recalling the dead from death, opening eyes that were closed, or adding them for those who had none. By correcting all of these things, which are blemishes arising from the infirmity of our nature, He showed His power.
“Saint John Chrysostom”
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