WEBVTT 00:00:01.330 --> 00:00:05.849 Today, as we pretty consistently do during this 00:00:05.849 --> 00:00:10.330 period of time, the Gospel readings are from 00:00:10.330 --> 00:00:12.589 St. John the Theologian. The Epistle readings 00:00:12.589 --> 00:00:17.109 are mostly from the Acts of the Apostles. Both 00:00:17.109 --> 00:00:22.269 of them, such gifts to us. The Acts of the Apostles 00:00:22.269 --> 00:00:26.609 is a unique book in the Gospel because it tells 00:00:26.609 --> 00:00:28.629 about things that we wouldn't hear about in any 00:00:28.629 --> 00:00:31.089 other way. We have the Pauline letters. mostly 00:00:31.089 --> 00:00:33.189 talk about his journeys and activities there 00:00:33.189 --> 00:00:35.990 but the acts of the apostles really takes us 00:00:35.990 --> 00:00:39.170 back to the pentecostal jerusalem and traces 00:00:39.170 --> 00:00:43.310 all of that all the way through and so the stories 00:00:43.310 --> 00:00:46.229 and information we get is absolutely unique to 00:00:46.229 --> 00:00:50.170 the book of acts thank you saint luke and john 00:00:50.170 --> 00:00:52.969 the theologian is a different type of gospel 00:00:52.969 --> 00:00:56.409 not like the synoptics but is a theological gospel 00:00:56.409 --> 00:01:01.299 and you notice i'm sure that on the evening of 00:01:01.299 --> 00:01:03.820 Pascha, you would think that we would read some 00:01:03.820 --> 00:01:06.640 kind of resurrectional gospel, like we do, say, 00:01:06.700 --> 00:01:10.200 Matthew from out on the porch. But at the service 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:13.319 of Pascha itself, we read the prologue of St. 00:01:13.379 --> 00:01:15.280 John, at least a portion of it. In the beginning 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:18.959 was the word and so on. And the reason for that 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:22.680 is that historically, the catechumens would not 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:25.739 hear the gospel of John until they were illumined, 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:30.560 until after their baptism. So then during the 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:33.239 Paschal tide, the Paschal period, they would 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:36.060 come to church every day just like we do, right? 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:41.140 And they would hear the readings from St. John 00:01:41.140 --> 00:01:44.599 because it being a theological gospel, now that 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:48.260 they're illumined, they can understand it. Now, 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:50.819 we think that's kind of quaint and interesting 00:01:50.819 --> 00:01:54.599 and so on, but that's really how they lived. 00:01:55.180 --> 00:01:58.230 That's really how they believed. And they felt 00:01:58.230 --> 00:02:02.129 that, the church felt, I should say, that to 00:02:02.129 --> 00:02:05.269 read John the theologian before illumination, 00:02:05.370 --> 00:02:08.909 it was impossible to understand it. It couldn't 00:02:08.909 --> 00:02:10.930 be brought into the heart and into the soul. 00:02:11.449 --> 00:02:14.389 So it's really a beautiful custom that we have, 00:02:14.530 --> 00:02:16.849 but it's really more than a custom. It really 00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:20.629 does have to do with Paschal illumination, both 00:02:20.629 --> 00:02:23.250 for the newly illumined that you baptized at 00:02:23.250 --> 00:02:26.560 Pascha. And for all of us who, in a sense, have 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:30.659 a re -baptism at every Pascha. And then we sort 00:02:30.659 --> 00:02:34.500 of bask in the beauty and joy of that in the 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:37.259 weeks that follow. Can't quite get enough of 00:02:37.259 --> 00:02:39.699 it. Bright week's not enough. And then every 00:02:39.699 --> 00:02:43.319 Sunday thereafter. So it just continues. And 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:46.460 we're bathed in that and the great joy and illumination 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:50.500 that comes with it. Today's Gospel. is one that 00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:52.759 you're all very familiar with. It's the healing 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:56.819 of a paralytic, but not just any paralytic, a 00:02:56.819 --> 00:03:00.219 paralytic who had been so for 38 years. Can you 00:03:00.219 --> 00:03:04.400 imagine? And everyone knew him, you know, in 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:07.759 Jerusalem. It was not as big a town back then. 00:03:08.340 --> 00:03:13.400 And so the Lord is in Jerusalem because of Pentecost, 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:17.419 Old Testament Pentecost. the law being given 00:03:17.419 --> 00:03:19.939 at Mount Sinai. And remember that the Lord came 00:03:19.939 --> 00:03:23.400 to fulfill the law and the prophets. So he was 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:27.520 an observant Jew. He followed the customs and 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:31.259 literally fulfilled the law and the prophets. 00:03:31.419 --> 00:03:34.379 He's the only one who ever lived who could fulfill 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:37.460 the law because he is the only one who didn't 00:03:37.460 --> 00:03:40.900 sin. So fulfillment of the law, as the scripture 00:03:40.900 --> 00:03:44.210 tells us, is impossible for humans. But for the 00:03:44.210 --> 00:03:47.810 Lord, it was. So it's kind of like, I often think 00:03:47.810 --> 00:03:50.430 of it this way, the fulfillment of the law and 00:03:50.430 --> 00:03:55.210 the prophets, is that the law was like a chalice 00:03:55.210 --> 00:03:58.469 that could never be filled. But when the Lord 00:03:58.469 --> 00:04:01.689 came, he filled it unto overflowing and it finished. 00:04:02.409 --> 00:04:04.509 And the same thing with the prophets, because 00:04:04.509 --> 00:04:09.990 most of the prophecies are messianic in nature. 00:04:10.110 --> 00:04:11.930 So they're talking about the coming of the Messiah, 00:04:12.150 --> 00:04:15.159 what he'll do. Today, we're seeing one of the 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:18.439 signs from Isaiah, and that's the healing of 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:21.879 the paralytic. So he is fulfilling the prophets 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:25.819 as well. So when he fulfills each of them, the 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:28.339 law and the prophets, then the new covenant comes 00:04:28.339 --> 00:04:31.420 because all of that's completed. No more temple. 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:34.120 Ultimately, it was gone within 30 years and has 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:37.779 never been restored. And even Judaism without 00:04:37.779 --> 00:04:41.139 a temple is not really Judaism. It's become rabbinical 00:04:41.139 --> 00:04:43.199 Judaism, which is an entirely different thing. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:45.680 You could say it's Judaism without sacraments 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:48.560 anymore, because they can't make the offerings 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:53.579 in the temple. So he's piece by piece, as St. 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:57.000 John shows us, because remember, he's more interested 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:00.060 in, it isn't so much, here's an event, here's 00:05:00.060 --> 00:05:01.740 what happened next, here's what happened next, 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:05.019 as it is, I want you to know this, I want you 00:05:05.019 --> 00:05:07.759 to know this, and I want you to know this. And 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.319 what he's showing us today is the fulfillment 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:14.160 of one of the messianic signs, the healing of 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.540 a paralytic. And it's important that the man 00:05:17.540 --> 00:05:21.639 is a paralytic for 38 years because then there's 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:24.120 no question about it. You know, a new paralytic, 00:05:24.180 --> 00:05:27.300 maybe the healing, you know, was just sort of 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:30.600 a restoration or something like that. But for 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:34.120 38 years, for the people to know this man, to 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:37.689 see him healed. is an absolutely remarkable thing. 00:05:37.850 --> 00:05:40.629 He's at the sheep's pool, the sheep's pool called 00:05:40.629 --> 00:05:45.930 Bethesda. And this is where the sacramental lambs 00:05:45.930 --> 00:05:48.990 would be brought to be washed and prepared to 00:05:48.990 --> 00:05:52.709 be offered for sacrifice. So people would be 00:05:52.709 --> 00:05:55.389 there. An angel is the way that the scripture 00:05:55.389 --> 00:05:57.490 describes it. An angel would stir the waters 00:05:57.490 --> 00:05:59.470 and the first person who would get in the water 00:05:59.470 --> 00:06:02.949 would get healed. Well, the paralytic, no chance. 00:06:03.209 --> 00:06:05.920 You know, how does he get in? He can't. So someone 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:09.199 always gets in before him and gets the advantage 00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:13.399 of that healing. So the Lord comes to him. And 00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:17.379 this is an interesting thing, too, in that, let's 00:06:17.379 --> 00:06:20.540 say, on an average day like this, maybe there 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:24.860 were 40 people there. Just guessing, but maybe 00:06:24.860 --> 00:06:30.000 50, maybe 10. I don't know. Blind, lame, with 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.360 various diseases and illnesses. But he only healed 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:37.550 one person. Which is kind of like our experience, 00:06:37.790 --> 00:06:42.410 too. You know, in the epistle this morning, we 00:06:42.410 --> 00:06:45.649 heard about the healing of Aeneas, which is Peter, 00:06:45.790 --> 00:06:50.129 the apostle, within the Pentecostal power of 00:06:50.129 --> 00:06:52.829 Christ, healing someone. And then he raises someone 00:06:52.829 --> 00:06:59.899 from the dead. But the Lord... Sort of in my 00:06:59.899 --> 00:07:02.160 idea of how it should be, he would just kind 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:04.600 of sweep the crowd and go, everyone's healed 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:08.000 up. But he didn't do that. He was very particular. 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:11.360 He was in many places many times, but physical 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:14.800 healing didn't always happen for everyone. There's 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:16.899 an important lesson for us in that. We'll come 00:07:16.899 --> 00:07:21.680 back to it. So he healed this man, and he said 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:25.920 to him three things, three commands. Arise, take 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:29.910 up your bed, and walk. Now, there's a beautiful 00:07:29.910 --> 00:07:35.350 statement from St. Ephraim the Syrian that I 00:07:35.350 --> 00:07:38.750 want to read to you, where he comments on this, 00:07:38.850 --> 00:07:43.009 and he said, Would it not have sufficed to say, 00:07:43.009 --> 00:07:47.930 arise and go? Would it not have been a miracle 00:07:47.930 --> 00:07:51.189 that he, who was not able to turn himself about 00:07:51.189 --> 00:07:57.899 on his bed, should arise easily and go? that 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:00.420 he had given him a complete healing, the Lord 00:08:00.420 --> 00:08:04.759 also made him carry his bed. Not like the sick 00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:08.899 who come back to health gradually, even if he 00:08:08.899 --> 00:08:14.079 were silent, his bed would cry out. It's very 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:16.839 reminiscent of the Lord's triumphal entry into 00:08:16.839 --> 00:08:19.759 Jerusalem, isn't it? Even if they silence the 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:24.560 children, the rocks will cry out. So the Lord 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:27.860 heals him. an important moment before that as 00:08:27.860 --> 00:08:29.839 well, because the Lord comes to him and says, 00:08:30.019 --> 00:08:33.539 do you want to be made whole? Translated better 00:08:33.539 --> 00:08:35.679 would be healed, really. Do you want to be healed? 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:41.100 And, of course, that word is completely connected 00:08:41.100 --> 00:08:44.700 to sason, to salvation for us, because for us 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:47.980 salvation is not a born -again experience at 00:08:47.980 --> 00:08:51.500 a tent meeting, but rather it's a lifetime of 00:08:51.500 --> 00:08:54.720 dedicating. our lives to god that brings about 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.820 an internal healing that ultimately prepares 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:01.460 us to be fit for the kingdom so he comes to the 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:03.220 man he says would you like to be healed and the 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:05.899 man's thinking on the track of i got to get in 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:09.379 the water but he says to him the man says to 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:14.539 the lord i have no man i have no man very important 00:09:14.539 --> 00:09:18.159 statement and really kind of a commission for 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:21.970 us so he had no one to help him the lord didn't 00:09:21.970 --> 00:09:25.470 put him in the water in this case, but simply 00:09:25.470 --> 00:09:27.809 healed him on the spot. Well, he took up his 00:09:27.809 --> 00:09:30.990 bed and walked. What would that be like? 38 years 00:09:30.990 --> 00:09:34.330 of paralysis and all of a sudden, you know, those 00:09:34.330 --> 00:09:37.909 muscles have energy and life in them again. The 00:09:37.909 --> 00:09:40.169 sinews are put back together. You're up and you're 00:09:40.169 --> 00:09:42.350 moving and you literally can pick up your bed 00:09:42.350 --> 00:09:45.049 and walk. I mean, talk about a complete healing, 00:09:45.190 --> 00:09:49.909 head to toe. So, of course, what happened? This 00:09:49.909 --> 00:09:53.299 was a sign. for the people of jerusalem to see 00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:58.000 that the messiah had come and the in the scripture 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:02.240 it says and the jews didn't like it but this 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:05.700 always means the temple elders when john uses 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:08.559 the expression in that way the average jewish 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:11.440 person in jerusalem was probably thrilled but 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:14.620 the temple elders didn't like this it was dangerous 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:19.100 for their future and they knew it so early on 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:23.100 There's confrontation that goes on time and time 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:25.820 and time again. Rather than looking at the healed 00:10:25.820 --> 00:10:28.860 man and going, glory to God. Look, the Lord has 00:10:28.860 --> 00:10:32.059 acted through this man. He's healed this man 00:10:32.059 --> 00:10:35.059 who, you know, what a joy. After 38 years of 00:10:35.059 --> 00:10:37.960 paralysis, now he's up and he's able to move. 00:10:39.059 --> 00:10:44.120 But rather than doing that, they say, what are 00:10:44.120 --> 00:10:46.059 you doing carrying your bed on the Sabbath? Don't 00:10:46.059 --> 00:10:49.230 you know that's illegal? And so they just never 00:10:49.230 --> 00:10:54.110 quite grasp it, that the law is being fulfilled 00:10:54.110 --> 00:10:56.750 before their eyes. Because what was the Sabbath 00:10:56.750 --> 00:10:59.610 for? A time of rest and healing and regeneration. 00:11:00.149 --> 00:11:02.649 Well, what could be more regenerative than to 00:11:02.649 --> 00:11:07.330 have a 38 -year paralytic up and moving about? 00:11:08.769 --> 00:11:15.750 Well, we're reminded, as John always does, of 00:11:15.750 --> 00:11:18.289 the fact that the Lord is the Messiah. He's the 00:11:18.289 --> 00:11:21.590 one to come. And he fulfills all those signs. 00:11:22.289 --> 00:11:26.830 But you know, the guy who was healed after 38 00:11:26.830 --> 00:11:30.970 years still died. Lazarus, raised from the dead, 00:11:31.129 --> 00:11:36.590 still died. Tabitha Dorcas still died. So, you 00:11:36.590 --> 00:11:39.669 know, our humanity continues even when that type 00:11:39.669 --> 00:11:43.190 of a healing or restoration takes place. Because 00:11:43.190 --> 00:11:47.350 what really matters is not so much that we get 00:11:47.350 --> 00:11:50.269 physically healed, because that's somewhat rare 00:11:50.269 --> 00:11:52.950 throughout the life of the church. It's somewhat 00:11:52.950 --> 00:11:56.809 rare for that to happen. And why someone is healed 00:11:56.809 --> 00:11:59.509 and another isn't is an absolute mystery to us. 00:11:59.549 --> 00:12:03.370 We don't know. We simply don't know why. And, 00:12:03.370 --> 00:12:07.950 you know, St. Basil the Great in his Inafra puts 00:12:07.950 --> 00:12:10.029 in our mouth the words, we thank thee for the 00:12:10.029 --> 00:12:11.870 things we know and the things we do not know. 00:12:12.509 --> 00:12:14.769 because we have to live with a lot of do not 00:12:14.769 --> 00:12:17.450 know, and that's just fine. Mystery is fine with 00:12:17.450 --> 00:12:20.809 us. If the Lord heals someone, that's wonderful. 00:12:21.230 --> 00:12:24.049 But the healing that we're really looking for 00:12:24.049 --> 00:12:29.309 is the healing of soul and body. And it's interesting. 00:12:29.529 --> 00:12:32.649 I used to be a hospital chaplain, and some of 00:12:32.649 --> 00:12:37.529 the most alive and glowing people I would meet 00:12:37.529 --> 00:12:40.649 were people who were right on death's door. because 00:12:40.649 --> 00:12:43.450 they got rid of everything superfluous in their 00:12:43.450 --> 00:12:47.549 lives, and they were just very focused. And I've 00:12:47.549 --> 00:12:50.029 seen that in the parish time and time again. 00:12:50.710 --> 00:12:53.309 You know, when people, the sicker they would 00:12:53.309 --> 00:12:56.450 get, the more alive they would get. As their 00:12:56.450 --> 00:13:00.330 outer man perished, their inner man came fully 00:13:00.330 --> 00:13:03.750 to life. And that's the goal that we have as 00:13:03.750 --> 00:13:06.669 well. It's wonderful when a physical healing 00:13:06.669 --> 00:13:10.700 takes place, and it does. Again, the healing 00:13:10.700 --> 00:13:12.799 that we're really after, that we're really looking 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:16.340 toward is that Sosun healing, salvation healing, 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:19.039 long term. And this is why you can't be part 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:22.419 -time Christians. It doesn't work if you are. 00:13:22.580 --> 00:13:24.519 You can't just sort of do a church on Sunday 00:13:24.519 --> 00:13:28.580 thing and that's it. We all have to follow that 00:13:28.580 --> 00:13:31.519 way of the cross continuously throughout the 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:34.019 course of our lives, deepening our faith and 00:13:34.019 --> 00:13:37.039 deepening our love for the Lord and our knowledge 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:42.019 of his love for us. And as I was saying earlier, 00:13:42.139 --> 00:13:46.860 the man who was lying there who needed the healing 00:13:46.860 --> 00:13:50.379 didn't have anyone to help him. He was paralyzed. 00:13:51.139 --> 00:13:54.440 And that we also have to be attentive to as well. 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:59.139 Because there are thousands, millions of people 00:13:59.139 --> 00:14:02.620 in the same position who are paralyzed by atheism, 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:06.659 paralyzed by any number of isms. or thoughts 00:14:06.659 --> 00:14:08.679 that they've had or bad experiences that they've 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:11.679 had or whatever the case may be and they need 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.840 a person they need someone to come along and 00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:18.460 help them and to bring them to the place of healing 00:14:18.460 --> 00:14:22.659 which is where we are we all are right now we're 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:27.279 not forceful about that kind of thing but i believe 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:30.039 that if we're mindful and our hearts are open 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:33.440 and we listen carefully that on a regular basis 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:36.240 god will bring into our lives People who are 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:40.700 like this man, who are stuck and need to be brought 00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:44.860 to the church to be healed. They probably don't 00:14:44.860 --> 00:14:47.899 even know it yet. And we have to be very subtle 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:50.960 and careful in the way we approach them and respectful. 00:14:51.259 --> 00:14:55.700 But at the same time, it really is our job. It 00:14:55.700 --> 00:14:59.899 really is our job to hear that voice out there 00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:03.480 saying, I have no one. I have no one to help 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:07.440 me. I'm stuck. And we need to respond to that. 00:15:09.299 --> 00:15:11.399 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy 00:15:11.399 --> 00:15:12.299 Spirit. Amen.