Orthodox Education Day

October 4 , 1997

St. Vladimir Seminary
Crestwood, New York

This morning’s gospel reading, which recounts the healing of a paralytic, easily captures our attention because of the way the crippled man is brought to the Lord. Carried on a stretcher by his friends, the paralytic is let down through an opening made by removing roof tiles so that Jesus might take notice of the man and his infirmity. No other way was possible to reach Jesus because of the large crowd that had gathered in and around a certain house where the Lord had come to teach and to heal. Clearly, based on the information Saint Luke provides, the reputation of Jesus as teacher and healer was spreading. This is stressed by the evangelist’s reference to the Pharisees and teachers of the law “who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem” (Luke 5:17).

Hearing about the removal of roof tiles to let down a paralyzed man on a stretcher catches our attention and draws us into the unfolding miracle. Hearing about the words and miraculous cures of Jesus draws crowds of people to a certain house in an unnamed village at an unspecified time. The crowds came to catch a glimpse of the teacher and perhaps ponder his words. Certainly for the Pharisees and teachers of the law, seeing and listening to Jesus gave them the opportunity to scrutinize his words and actions.

We are drawn to this reading because of the determination and desire of a group of men to have their friend restored to health by the healing power of Jesus. With these men and with all who witnessed or heard about this miraculous event, we are seized with amazement as we glorify God (cf. vs. 26) . Yet it is precisely at this juncture of being amazed and glorifying God that this reading compels us to pause and reflect. It is at this juncture that we must ask ourselves what is it that causes us to be amazed and glorify God. At first this question may sound strange. Indeed one may respond to this question by saying it is simply natural—a miracle has been performed! What other response could be more fitting?

While the response is fitting, questions arise. “Why, at the end of his ministry is Jesus betrayed by one disciple and denied by another?” Why, at the cross, is Jesus abandoned by all who knew him—by all who were amazed and glorified God?” Saint Luke refers to this abandonment when he writes about the Lord’s passion and how “all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance…” (23:49). Yes, many were amazed and glorified God during the public ministry of Jesus, but in the end he is alone as he is suspended upon the cross.

It is the cross that exposes the amazement and glorification of God by the people who witness and hear about the healing of the paralytic. For many people, the amazement at the healing event stems from an attraction to the event itself and not to the Gospel. People are amazed and glorify God because the miracle of the paralytic is understood as its own end and not as a sign pointing to the coming of God’s Kingdom. Thus, the miracle is accepted at the cost of forfeiting the Kingdom. And this is so because the Kingdom of God can only be accepted—can only be entered—when the word of the cross is received as the foundation and core of the Gospel. “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).

The cross stands as the sign and key to understanding the Gospel which includes the miracles of the Lord. To those who sought after signs and miracles, Jesus was blunt and challenging. “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the men of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation” (Luke 11:29-30.

The healing of the paralytic, together with all the miracles of Jesus, confirm that the Kingdom of God is among us. They confirm that Jesus is the God-Man—the Messiah upon whom rests the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (cf. Luke 4:18-19; also Isaiah 61).

The miracles of our Lord help to form the contour of the new creation in which at its center is planted the cross—the tree of new and eternal life. Today we have received the miracle of the paralytic. The miracle does not stand alone but as an event which points to the cross as the weapon that has slain sin and death. The miracle of the paralytic calls us to be amazed and to glorify the Savior whose Kingdom we now celebrate for the life of the world and its salvation. To this Kingdom all of creation is called. From this Kingdom all things are made new (cf. Revelation 21) and beautiful. This is the good news the children of Adam long to hear. This is the good news that delivers us from the fear of death and draws us to the tree of life—the tree of life from where reigns the Triune and Tripersonal God.

Amen!