The Sunday following the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women is called the Sunday of the Paralytic. The reading for this Sunday is from the Gospel of John 5:1-15 concerning the paralyzed man who was unable to reach the pool near the Sheep Gate when the waters were stirred.
He said, “I have no man to put me in the pool when the water is stirred!” And the Savior, moved by compassion, said to him, “For you I became man; for you I took on flesh – and you say I have no man? Take up your bed and walk.”
The man was then healed, not by the waters of the pool but by the Lord’s word, the power of the Lord’s voice was stronger than the chronic hold of the disease. No longer would his bed be his grave, rather he cried out, “He who healed me commanded me to do so!
Jesus’ saving words and works to the paralytic continued in the words and works of His Apostles. It is His assurance of Faith and Divine Authority that lie behind these words, “Get up and walk!”
Jesus’ Apostles were men of moving faith, men full of the inner power of the Holy Spirit. They could invoke God’s power with the great faith and the joyous confidence to heal and free man, not only from physical afflictions but also inner paralysis.
You see, my dear brothers and sisters, the Light of God has shone upon us and frees us from the prison of physical and spiritual paralysis, the type whose symptoms are bitterness, hatred and despair, and seem to consume us with sinful passions taking control of our hearts.
Christ has risen from the dead to free us, liberate us, making us loving, joyful, kind, patient and forgiving people. The Risen Christ is always there for us, caring for us and every ready to help us, for He is the Great Physician of our souls and bodies!
Christ is the fulness of grace and truth! He is the shepherd, the gate and the vine. He is the Light, and the Resurrection, because He is the Resurrection, He opened the eyes of Bartimaaeus, He gives fulness of life to the Paralyzed Man, He cured the woman with the issue of blood, He showed mercy to the daughter of the Canaanite Woman possessed by an evil spirit, He healed the Centurion and many other miracles, for He is Life!
May the Risen Lord bless all of you with His abundant love and healing power!
Christ is Risen – Indeed He is Risen!
