Will You Be Healed?
4th Sun after Pascha The Paralytic – May 15, 2022; John 5: 1-15
CHRIST IS RISEN!
In today’s Gospel, the Paralytic has been waiting for healing for 38 years. The first thing that Jesus asks the man is; “Do you want to be made well?” Why did Jesus even ask? Seems obvious that after waiting for 38 years, the man wanted to be healed. But, Christ sees that this man, after such a long time, like most of us, has become rather comfortable in his situation, and resigned himself to his fate. Had his presence at the pool just become a habit? Had his faith that he would be healed been eroded over the years, as God’s timing and his expectations did not line up? When Christ asks if he wants to be healed, rather than an enthusiastic YES, the paralytic delivers a tale of woe! He has no help after all. He had seen dozens of others healed, but obviously this was not going to happen to him. After 38 years, he has given up, become comfortable in his routine and situation.
Did you note the Kontakion today? “So raise up my soul, paralyzed by sins and thoughtless acts;” Unfortunately, we all tend to get comfortable in our own sin and paralyses. The longer we stay in our broken and wounded condition, the more comfortable and familiar it becomes. We get good at making excuses. We may even start to get resentful of those who love us and push us to deal with our wounding’s, and to seek Christ’s healing embrace. Do we really want to change? Do we truly seek forgiveness and repentance? Or do we justify ourselves, and blame others for our actions and attitudes? We know we are to forgive others, and to ask forgiveness for choosing to stay hurt and resentful. This is not optional, not dependant on how badly we feel we have been treated. This is everyday basic Christianity 101 living. But we often feel it’s just so hard! Look what we have to deal with Lord. We may join St, Teresa of Avila in saying. “Lord if this is how you treat your friends no wonder you have so few!” We will be wounded. None of us get to coast through life without being hurt. Suffering is to be expected, but we are to turn to God in all things, in sickness and in health, when unfairly persecuted or praised. Our friends and family will cause us to be hurt. Unintentionally, and sometimes even intentionally, as they lash out in their wounded state. No, the problem is not that we are wounded, but that we choose to stay wounded. Nursing our pain, as our thoughts feed on how poorly we were mistreated and misunderstood.
“Do you want to be healed?” Christ asks each of us, and He honours our choice. Without our willingness we should not expect Christ to heal us. His healing often comes in the form of grace and love, empowering us to choose to forgive and even to love and be thankful for those who have hurt us. We then need to choose to accept and act on this gift. But we often want God to change the situation and the other’s attitude. We insist on defining just how God should respond to our prayers and change the other rather than us.
Our purpose in being here on planet earth is to work towards an ever-closer union with Christ. Theosis! As members of Christ’s body we know this, yet we commonly forget. So many things to do! Christ in His love for us, often allows circumstance to bring us back to call on Him. He loves us and wants what is beneficial for our eternal growth and salvation – not necessarily for our bank account or our pride, although we would prefer they are one and the same. We are to give thanks in all things, even pain and adversity. This is the medicine, enabling us to grow in love, humility and dependence upon Him,
Today’s paralytic finally agrees, he wants to be healed. He is willing to be changed even if it means a great leap into the unknown. He then experiences Christ’s great forgiveness and healing. When we accept the ever-available grace which God is so faithfully offering to us in every circumstance, we too find healing. He never forces, but always awaits our willingness. Thirty-eight years is a long time to go without receiving healing and forgiveness of sins. However, as long as we have breath, it is not too late to call out to Christ in repentance and ask for forgiveness. But we need to remember, that we do not know when we will be taking our last breath, so the time for repentance is always right now. After Christ heals him He tells the man to, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” indicating that in his case, his infirmity was connected to his own personal sin. He was now called to follow a new path, establishing new habits and thinking on the road to salvation. He would have to continue to show that he wanted to be healed, choosing either the helpful or the destructive path in his thoughts and actions throughout the day.
The Fathers teach that while personal sin can result in physical, or psychological illness, there is no clear indication of when this might be the case. All suffering is connected to sin and the sinful state we find ourselves born into, but it is never the punishment of a wrathful God. There is certainly much suffering that would not be connected to personal sin, and would even be redemptive and of spiritual value. It may be that our own unloving thoughts, leading to sinful actions may initiate illness. It may be our lack of repentance which keeps us sick. But when you read the lives of many of the Saints, they are grateful for their suffering. Indeed, a read of the Martyrs lives would show unparalleled suffering, coupled with great joy in the midst of it. St. Paul tells us (2nd Cor.12:10) “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Yet no-one would conclude that all of St. Paul’s trials were a result of his personal sin.
God is concerned with the eternal development of our soul and spirit. and there is always much more going on than we are aware of. We need to learn to trust God, even when we don’t understand what it is He is doing in our lives, and especially we should never judge the lives of others. God is God and we are not. Athletes are fond of saying “short time pain for long term gain.” Good advice to apply to this short-term earthly journey, and the pain we all encounter, and look to the long-term goal of eternal life in the kingdom!
This is the human journey. Every day, every hour, even every minute, St. Herman said we are to train ourselves to choose the path to God, rather than the path of laziness and selfishness. When our thoughts turn to someone who has done us wrong, we immediately get to choose whether we pray for them, or curse them. When we are tired at the end of a work-day, we get to choose whether to pick up our bibles or a good book or podcast, or click on Facebook or switch on the TV for another dose of the world’s often confused, vengeful and immoral values. Someone needs our help, are we just too tired and comfortable to make the effort? Will we make the effort, or decide to just rest up?
So, let us give thanks in all things, and tenaciously hang on to our Paschal joy! Let us renew our prayer and cry out as the healed Paralytic proclaimed to the Jews, that it is Jesus that has made us well! Let us choose to go and repent and sin no more, sharing with all we meet that… CHRIST IS RISEN!