Sunday of the Paralytic #
On the third Sunday after Pascha, the Church commemorates the healing by the Lord of the paralytic—a man who had long lain helpless on a stretcher near the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem. This miracle, described in the Gospel according to John, is now remembered because, as commentators on Scripture conclude, it took place shortly after the Jewish Passover. “Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had” (John 5:1–4). So speaks the Gospel of John about this place.
In the Slavonic text, the phrase reads “на всяко лето” (“each year”), from which one might think the healing occurred only once a year. But the Greek reads kata kairon—“from time to time.” And indeed, if healings had happened so rarely, few would have hoped in this miraculous aid.
Anyone who frequently attends church services knows that this short Gospel passage—only five verses—is read at the blessing of water on the feast of the First Savior (August 1) and at all other lesser water blessings performed according to the same rite. But why? What connects the descent of the angel into the Sheep Pool in ancient times to the water blessings performed in our Church? The explanation of St. John Chrysostom provides the answer.
“What is signified here?” writes the saint. “The intention was to grant us baptism, possessing great power and the highest blessings—baptism that cleanses from all sins and makes the dead to live. […] The angel came down and troubled the water, and imparted to it healing power, so as to suggest to the Jews that the Lord of the angels is even more able to heal all spiritual diseases. But just as here it was not the natural quality of the water that healed (for then it would have always done so), but the operation of the angel—so too with us, water does not act of itself, but when it receives the grace of the Spirit, then it cleanses all sins.”
Thus, this Gospel passage, read at water blessings, reminds us that water is sanctified and acquires power to cleanse the soul’s defilements and heal bodily infirmities not by the priest himself, but by the almighty God, who acts through His minister, just as He once acted through the angel.
The Evangelist continues: “A certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, He saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered Him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.” (From these words we understand that the paralytic was not completely immobile, but could move with great difficulty.) “Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked” (John 5:5–9).
“At that time, weakness was a hindrance to those who desired healing, but now anyone may freely approach,” emphasizes Chrysostom, contrasting the sanctification of the past—before the saving Sacrifice of the Lord—with the sanctification now granted by grace. “It is not an angel that troubles the water, but the Lord of angels who accomplishes all. And now the sick can no longer say, ‘I have no man…’ […] for even if the whole universe were to gather, grace would not be diminished, nor would its power be exhausted, but remains always the same as before. Just as the sun’s rays shine each day without waning, so too—indeed, even more so—the power of the Spirit is not lessened by the multitude who receive it” (Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homily 36).
The reason for this astounding change lies in the fact that now, after the Cross and Resurrection of Christ—after the Sacrifice offered for the remission of the sins of the whole world—grace has been opened to all mankind. After rising from the dead, the Lord Himself said to His disciples: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15–16). It has now become manifest that it is not a person’s origin, nor circumcision, nor other rites given only for a time, that grant access to God, but faith in Him, and in His Only-Begotten Son, and in the Holy Spirit. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost,” said Peter to the people of Jerusalem (Acts 2:38); and “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31), said the apostles Paul and Silas to the jailer at Philippi.
The Lord Jesus does not deliver a sermon to the paralytic. He simply says: “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” And His very action becomes a sermon: the Son of God heals by a word, revealing that He is equal to the Father, that He is one God with the Father.
However, Christ does not name Himself. And the man who had been healed did not know who stood before him. When those around asked, “Who said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?” (for by doing so, he had transgressed the Sabbath rest), the man could not answer who had commanded him. Yet in allowing the Sabbath law to be set aside, Christ again revealed His divinity—for He was the very One who once spoke on Mount Sinai to the prophet Moses, giving him and all Israel the commandment regarding the Sabbath. “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath” (Mark 2:27–28), He said on another occasion.
The Evangelist continues that later Christ found the former paralytic—now healed—in the temple and said to him: “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14). Returning once more to the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, we read that Christ here “shows that health was granted to the paralytic more by grace than by merit. He does not suggest that the man was delivered from punishment as a reward, but expresses that he was saved through divine compassion. […] With the words ‘sin no more,’ Christ showed that He knew all his previous sins, and therefore He is to be trusted concerning what is yet to come.”
In summary, we are given here an image in miniature of what Christ has done for all mankind. He brought us the grace of the Holy Spirit, not requiring ritual purifications or offerings for sins, but forgiving those sins. Every person baptized in the holy font receives this forgiveness, and from that moment must guard himself from falling into new defilements. So also with the paralytic: the Lord does not reproach him for his sins, but heals his body and exhorts him to avoid sin in the future, “lest a worse thing come unto thee,” hinting at the coming judgment, of which He so often spoke to His disciples in parables.
“The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole” (John 5:15), the Evangelist concludes. Undoubtedly, in the temple—where, as we know, the Lord customarily taught—the former paralytic not only saw his Healer again, but was also able to hear His teaching. And knowing how jealous, envious, and hostile the Jewish teachers of the Law and elders were toward the Lord, he nevertheless did not fear to declare to them who had granted him so great and priceless a gift.
Likewise, let us not be silent about those moments when, by God’s mercy, we received unexpected help in distress or healing from sickness. Rather, let us glorify Him, and constantly bring to mind His warning to the paralytic: “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” So that, at the close of our earthly life, we may say with David: “Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. […] I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 114:7, 9 LXX).
Stikhera at Vespers, on “Lord, I have cried,” Glory, Tone 5
Jesus went up to Jerusalem to the Sheep’s Pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches, where lay a great multitude of the infirm. For the angel of God came down each year, stirred the water, and granted healing to those who approached in faith. And when the Lord saw a man long afflicted, He said to him: “Wilt thou be made whole?” The sick man replied: “Lord, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred; I have spent all my goods on physicians, and have not been found worthy of mercy.” But the Healer of souls and bodies said to him: “Take up thy bed and walk, proclaiming My power and great mercy to the ends of the earth.”
Stikhera at Matins, on the Praises, Glory, Tone 8
O Lord, it was not the pool that healed the paralytic, but Thy word renewed him, nor did his long infirmity hinder him—for the power of Thy voice was made manifest more swiftly. He cast off the heavy burden he could no longer bear, and bore the weight of his bed in obedience to Thy manifold compassions. Glory be to Thee!