As we continue through the beautiful Paschal period, this Sunday’s Gospel returns us to the ministry of Jesus. He has not yet been crucified and resurrected. In fact, the Evangelist John tells us that the subject of this week’s Gospel was one of the many instances which set the Pharisees against Jesus, because He chose to perform this miracle on the Sabbath. Christ encounters a paralyzed man lying near the pool of Bethsaida, a pool which is occasionally visited by an angel, granting health to the first person who enters its waters. This man, whose condition had afflicted him for 38 years, is seen by Christ, lying on his bed.
Christ naturally asks the man if he wishes to be made well. The man, not realizing who he is speaking to, answers that he would—only he has no way to enter the pool, and when he tries others enter the water before him. Christ, however, is not simply content to offer this man assistance. He does not ask if the paralyzed man wishes to be brought into the pool. Instead, Christ is speaking of a miracle greater than the passing blessing from one of God’s angels. For with seven simple words, “Rise, take up your bed and walk,” the man experiences the reality of coming face to face with God.
My brothers and sisters, much has been made of the physical reality of the miracle, but this story has a message for those who are able-bodied as well. Christ asks the paralytic, “Do you wish to be made well?” In this way, he speaks not simply to the paralyzed person, but those who are paralyzed by grief; paralyzed by fear; paralyzed by loneliness; paralyzed by sadness; or even paralyzed by indecision. The pools of Bethsaida are like the creations of men: as blessed some of these technologies and therapies may be (for they can be seen as the passing of an angel to trouble our society’s waters) they do not come from God alone. Only by entrusting our worries and cares to God, do we fully allow ourselves to be shaped and transformed through the peace which comes from knowing Him.
Another crucial aspect of this passage then is in the formulation of Christ’s words. He does not say, “You are healed!” When He says, “Rise, take up your bed and walk,” He does so, not only for the benefit of His disciples and the crowds: He says this to demonstrate that after we have given our troubles and passions to God, we are called upon to carry on His work. We are meant to go forward and live our lives, as best as we are able; secure in our faith and belief in Jesus Christ.
+SEVASTIANOS
Metropolitan of Atlanta
Greek Orthodox Nun Elucidates the Plight of Christians in the Holy Land
Dear Brother Archons and friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, a Greek Orthodox nun who has lived in the Holy Land for many years, recently granted a lengthy and detailed interview to journalist Tucker Carlson on the persecution of Christians in the Holy Land. If you have not watched this interview in its entirety already, I strongly urge you to do so, as Mother Agapia provides a uniquely illuminating perspective on the difficulties that our sister and brothers in the faith face on a daily basis.
As you watch this revealing and often shocking interview, please remain in prayer for the Greek Orthodox Christians of Israel and its environs, and for all the embattled Christians of that war-torn region.
Watch the interview here, and see a full transcript here.
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