In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit! Christ is Risen!
There lay a paralyzed man by the Sheep Pool. He lay there waiting for a miraculous healing. And around him lay many others, as the Gospel tells us—blind, lame, withered—waiting for the stirring of the water, waiting for that miracle which healed the infirm in this Sheep Pool. Many of these people were waiting for the moment when they would be healed, and many, perhaps with envy or sorrow for themselves, looked upon those who had already been healed, and who peacefully walked away from the pool after being made whole.
The Church of God represents such a Sheep Pool. We all come here spiritually sick. Some of us are spiritually blind and do not see the blessings of God, do not give thanks to Him, but murmur and fall into despondency. Some of us are spiritually paralyzed, not having the strength to resist sin. Some are spiritually withered, lacking in love and mercy. Or rather, more precisely—each of us from time to time suffers from one or another—or even all—of these illnesses at once. We read the lives of the saints and often think, “These people attained spiritual health, but we cannot.” Again and again, day after day, year after year, we come to church and often remain just as sick as those who lay at the Sheep Pool.
But behold, the Lord came and approached one of the men lying there, and healed him with a single word. No pool was needed—the word of God instantly made the man entirely whole. And the same can happen to each one of us. The Lord healed a man who was paralyzed—an infirmity that even today is very serious; but then, when medicine was far less advanced than today, one can only imagine the suffering of a paralytic. Thus, all the more can the Lord heal the spiritual ailments of every one of us. So, why doesn’t this happen?
In today’s Gospel reading, we see two reasons—two conditions necessary for the Lord to heal a sick person. Just as He healed the paralytic then, so He will heal our ailing souls now. The first, and perhaps the most important, is that we ourselves must desire to be healed of our sins. The first thing the Lord asks this man is: Wilt thou be made whole? (Jn. 5:6). This would seem obvious, yet we ourselves know how often we in fact enjoy our sins and passions; and although we seemingly want to be rid of them, in reality, we do not. And so, the first and most important thing is a sincere desire to be healed—a desire for spiritual health.
And the second thing that today’s Gospel also points out is patience. We see that the paralytic lay by the Sheep Pool for thirty-eight years. One might wonder—could the Lord not have healed him earlier, sparing him such prolonged suffering? And yet, the Lord deemed it necessary. Likewise in our spiritual life, the Lord in His Providence sometimes does not heal us from certain weaknesses and infirmities so that we might be humbled. If we were suddenly made saints in an instant, imagine how proud we would become over those who are not yet there. Therefore, the Lord, in His wisdom, leaves us with some infirmities—so that we may be humbled, endure, ask Him for help, and strive for spiritual health.
Hieromonk Athanasius (Deryugin)
So let’s take these lessons from today’s Gospel reading. And just as that man longed for physical healing, so let us also yearn for spiritual healing, understanding that it is not a miraculous pool that will give it to us, but only the Lord.
In the canon yesterday it was said that in ancient times, the Angel of the Lord descended into the pool of Bethesda and healed one person a year, but now the Lord saves countless multitudes. The Lord can heal each one of us, if we only ask for that healing, strive for it, and wait for it with patience and trust in God. And the Lord can give us far more—and He certainly will—if we seek Him; if we seek not only healing from our passions, but also the Kingdom of Heaven.
Amen.
