St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov)
Rating: 10|Votes: 10
This commandment of the Lord has enormous importance for us. It teaches us that we are subjected to sickness and other catastrophes of this earthly life for our sins. When God delivers us from sickness or catastrophe but we return to a sinful life, we are again consigned to catastrophes that are more onerous than those which were our first punishments sent from God to bring us to our senses.
Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
How tragic today's story of the life of Christ is. A man had been paralysed for years. He had lain at a short distance from healing, but he himself had no strength to merge into the waters of ablution. And no one - no one in the course of all these years - had had compassion on him.
Dr. M. R. Brett-Crowther
The gospel reading shows the diakonia carried out for the body of the crucified Jesus. The anointing done by Mary in Bethany (John 12: 3-8) is now to be done for the actual burial. But the King of Palm Sunday has already become the King of Life. This reading tells the story from Joseph of Arimathea’s taking possession of the dead body by permission of Pilate and enshrouding it and burying it with a stone being rolled against the door of the tomb. Joseph of Arimathea, an admirer of Jesus, has declared himself, by taking a risk to help.
Fr. Stephen Freeman
The verse in John implies just the opposite – hell (condemnation) is what it is – only because we want it so. As a priest this portrayal of condemnation has been by far the most helpful approach in dealing pastorally with people. It is not the threat of what someone (God) may do to them, but the existential reality of what you are doing to yourself – even now.
Rating: 2,3|Votes: 3
With the expectation of the Messiah, and the events of Christ’s ministry on earth, word travelled quickly around Judea that Jesus was the one whom the prophets had spoken about and whom everyone was expecting. Yesterday Christ performed a miracle by raising Lazarus from the dead, the miracle that foreshadowed his glorious resurrection next Sunday. Now everyone is convinced that this is the Messiah-king who will save the Israelites.