On “It Is Not Possible” · §3 · Amphilochius of Iconium

Why the Son says he can do nothing of himself

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An interlocutor asks Jesus why he said the Son can do nothing of himself, and Jesus answers that the saying was meant to calm Jewish rage, not to subordinate him to the Father.

“If that is not how it is, master,” someone says, “why do you say, ‘The Son cannot do anything of himself unless he sees the Father doing it’?”

Jesus answers: “To weaken the madness of the Jews who think I am legislating against the Father. Since they accuse me about the breaking of the Sabbath, I said, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working’ (John 5:17), wanting to show equal honor from both sides. But those utterly foolish people thought I was building works against works and introducing one opinion against another, and they were stirred to envy. So to correct their opinion I said, ‘The Son cannot do anything of himself unless he sees the Father doing it’ (John 5:19). What I meant was this: ‘Why are you so angry with me, you ill-timed examiners of the Sabbath, because I break the Sabbath? I am not opposing the Father. It is not that he wants to establish the Sabbath and I to dissolve it. I am not fighting against him; I am not rebelling against his will. He does not will one thing while I wish something different. What he wills, I will; what he wishes, I wish; what he does, I do.’ For in this way I do nothing and will nothing outside of him. I make the statement impossible when I say, ‘Amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything of himself.’ I do not have an opinion separated and cut off from the Father. Since the nature is one and the will is one, the result must also be one. So the Son cannot do anything of himself, because he cannot do anything without the Father, having the Father whole within himself: ‘I am in the Father and the Father is in me’ (John 14:10). If the works of soul and body are indistinguishable because of their union—even though their nature is divided, the body being one thing, mortal, and the soul another, immortal—how can my works and the Father’s be distinguished? Where counsel and word and knowledge and wisdom and nature and divinity are one, the Son cannot do anything of himself because he is not separated from the Father, unless he sees the Father doing it—that is, unless he sees the Father willing it. Since I have a will that runs together with the Father’s one and the same nature, I accomplish what comes to be. If I were carrying out a bodily labor, the construction of what comes to be would have to be divided up. But since willing is sufficient to bring things that do not exist into being, for this reason the creation of all things knows the Father and the Son as creator, with the Spirit not excluded.”

Greek

Εἰ οὖν οὐκ ἔχει οὕτως, δέσποτα, διὰ τί λέγεις Οὐ

δύναται ὁ υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐδέν, ἐὰν μή τι βλέπῃ τὸν πατέρα ποιοῦντα; Ἵνα τὴν Ἰουδαίων ὑπεκλύσω μανίαν τῶν νομιζόντων με ἀντινομοθετεῖν τῷ πατρί· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐγκαλοῦσί μοι περὶ τῆς λύσεως τοῦ σαββάτου, εἶπον ὅτι Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι, ἑκατέρωθεν τὸ ὁμότιμον δεῖξαι θέλων. Ἀλλ' οἱ πάντα ἄφρονες νομίσαντές με ἔργα ἔργοις ἐπιτειχίζειν καὶ γνώμῃ γνώμην ἀντεισάγειν ἐκινοῦντο πρὸς φθόνον· ὅθεν διορθούμενος αὐτῶν τὴν γνώμην ἔλεγον Οὐ δύναται ὁ υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐδέν, ἐὰν μή τι βλέπῃ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα ποιοῦντα ἀντὶ τοῦ Τί μοι οἱ ἄκαιροι τοῦ σαββάτου χολᾶτε ἐξετασταί, ὅτι λύω τὸ σάββατον; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀντιπολιτεύομαι τῷ πατρί, οὐ γὰρ αὐτὸς στῆσαι τὸ σάββατον θέλει κἀγὼ λῦσαι· οὐκ ἀπομάχομαι πρὸς αὐτόν, οὐ στασιάζω πρὸς τὴν γνώμην, οὐκ αὐτὸς θέλει, ἐγὼ δὲ ἕτερα βούλομαι· ἃ θέλει θέλω, ἃ βούλεται βούλομαι, ἃ ποιεῖ ποιῶ. Οὕτως γὰρ οὐδὲν ἐκτὸς αὐτοῦ οὐ ποιῶ, οὐ θέλω, ὅτι εἰς ἀδύνατον καθιστῶν τὸν λόγον λέγω· Ἀμὴν λέγω οὐ δύναται ὁ υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐδέν· οὐ γὰρ ἔχω κεχωρισμένην καὶ ἀποτετμημένην τοῦ πατρὸς γνώμην. Μιᾶς γὰρ οὔσης τῆς φύσεως, ἑνὸς ὄντος τοῦ θελήματος, ἀνάγκη τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα ἓν ὑπάρχειν. Οὐ δύναται οὖν ὁ υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐδέν, οὐ γὰρ δύναται ἄνευ τοῦ πατρὸς ποιῆσαί τι ὅλον αὐτὸν ἐν ἑαυτῷ ἔχων· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί. Εἰ γὰρ ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος ἀδιάκριτα ἔργα διὰ τὴν ἕνωσιν, καίτοι διῃρημένης τῆς φύσεως, ἄλλο μὲν σῶμα θνητόν, ἄλλο δὲ ἀθάνατος ψυχή, πῶς δύναται ἐμοῦ τε καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς διακριθῆναι τὰ ἔργα; Ὅπου βουλὴ καὶ λόγος καὶ γνῶσις καὶ σοφία καὶ φύσις καὶ θεότης μία, οὐ δύναται οὖν ὁ υἱὸς ποιεῖν ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ οὐδὲν διὰ τὸ μὴ κεχωρίσθαι τοῦ πατρός, ἐὰν μή τι βλέπῃ τὸν πατέρα ποιοῦντα, τουτέστιν ἐὰν μὴ τὸν πατέρα θέλοντα ἴδῃ. Ὡς μιᾶς γὰρ καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς φύσεως σύνδρομον ἔχων τὸ θέλημα ἀποτελῶ τὰ γινόμενα· εἰ μὲν γὰρ σωματικὴν ἐξεπλήρουν τὴν ἐργασίαν, ἀνάγκη διανέμεσθαι τοῦ γινομένου τὴν κατασκευήν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ θέλησις ἐστὶν ἀρκοῦσα πρὸς τὴν τῶν μὴ 2 ὄντων παραγωγήν, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργία τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν οἶδε δημιουργὸν οὐκ ἐξωθουμένου τοῦ πνεύματος.

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About this text

A bishop unpacks what it means for the Son to act alone, blending scripture and logic to reveal deeper truths about divinity and human limitation.

Amphilochius of Iconium (c. 340–c. 395) wrote this homily for a Christian audience he addresses directly as “you” and once as “master.” He was a fourth-century bishop of Iconium in Lycaonia, a first cousin of Gregory of Nazianzus and a close friend of Basil the Great. He preached to defend the Son’s equality with the Father against interpretations that would make the Son a mere subordinate agent or deny his freedom.

The homily is an exposition of John 5:19, where Jesus says that the Son can do nothing of himself. Amphilochius argues that this does not mean the Son is weak or compelled. The saying must be read with its continuation: the Son does whatever he sees the Father doing, as one of the same nature and will. A reader will meet Jesus, the Father, the paralytic healed at the pool after thirty-eight years, the Jews who object to the Sabbath healing, the apostle Paul, and the apostles. Jesus’ words from the Gospel are quoted and explained, the paralytic and the Jews speak briefly, Paul is cited on the impossibility of animal blood removing sins, and the apostles are cited from Acts on the impossibility of not speaking what they had seen and heard.

To follow the homily, a reader should know that “cannot” here distinguishes impossibility from unfittingness, and “of himself” means acting independently or on one’s own apart from the Father. The Son does the same works “in the same way” as the Father, not merely similar works, and shares one nature, will, and authority with him. The Son works together with the Father, not under him, and receives equal honor. Bible citations use old book names and numbering; they are given here in modern form, such as John 5:19, Acts 4:20, and Hebrews 10:4.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 39 (Greek)

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