Homily Two for the Sixth Sunday of Matthew
(6th Sunday of Pentecost)
By St. John of Kronstadt
(6th Sunday of Pentecost)
By St. John of Kronstadt
During today’s Sunday Liturgy, beloved brothers and sisters, the Gospel of Matthew was read about the healing by our Lord Jesus Christ of a paralytic lying on a bed. I will convey to you this Gospel story in Russian, copied from that very Gospel:
“At one time Jesus came to His own city,” that is, where He lived, Capernaum. “And behold, they brought to Him a paralytic laid on a bed. And Jesus seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, ‘Child, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.’ Then some of the scribes said within themselves, ‘This man blasphemes.’ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Rise and walk?" But that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins,' he then said to the paralytic - 'Rise, take up your bed and go home.' And he arose, and took up his bed, and went to his house. And when the people saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men" (Matthew 9:1-8).
Here ends the Gospel for this day. Have you seen the twofold gift of the Master Christ God to a weak man — the gift of forgiveness of sins, and the gift of healing of the body? But in order to understand how great a gift it is, especially the gift of forgiveness of sins, it is necessary to know in detail what a great loss, misfortune, and destruction sin is for a man; for bodily infirmities are more visible and their misfortune is more or less obvious to everyone, but the disaster and destruction of sin for many, either through pride and unbelief, or through blindness and ignorance, are imperceptible or unknown, or, at least, not obvious.
So, in order to understand the greatness of the gift to the paralytic - the forgiveness of his sins by the Lord, let us clarify to ourselves what a great misfortune and what a great destruction sin is for man in general. Sin is, first of all, lawlessness (1 John 3:4), according to Scripture - that is, the violation of the law of God given to man, and above all the law of love for God and neighbor. It is rebellion against God, His greatness, holiness and truth, disobedience to Him and agreement and union with the devil, the originator and instigator of every sin - the rebellion of man the sinner against himself, against his soul and body, against his conscience, this guardian of the soul and body, their holiness and purity. It is a distortion, perversion, desecration in us of the image of God, according to which we were created in the beginning. Sin is a vile impurity of the soul, which removes it from God, the Source of life. It is the charm of the enemy, shameful captivity and voluntary bonds of the soul, sorrow and tightness. It is hellish darkness, moral chaos, disorder, weakening of the powers of the soul and body, demonic confusion, a spiritual storm, tossing the poor soul of the sinner here and there, the loss of the spiritual quiet haven, which is God. In sin is voluntary illness and disease of the soul, and, if the sinner does not repent, there is petrification of the heart and death, temporary and eternal.
Such is, in general terms, the destruction of sin. And yet many, many sinners commit every sin, often love sin, play with sin, repeat sins, adding sin to sin. And from such spiritual and physical misfortune the Lord delivered the paralytic, as He delivers us. Why did the Lord deliver the paralytic? For the faith of the bearers and himself: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Child, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.’” You see how strong faith is. How many evils are we delivered from faith alone! Have faith in God; and if anyone does not have it, then ask it of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach: “and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). With faith, life is blessed; without faith, it is hard and joyless. Having faith, one can be delivered from sins seventy times a day and be honored as many times with the peace of God and the truth of God, but without faith it is easy to perish completely in sins, as many perish.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, faith is an invaluable, imperishable treasure of heaven; let us all take care to acquire this treasure. He who believes lives in the light; he strives to live holy, - in every way guards against sin, and if he sins through human weakness, then he immediately brings heartfelt repentance to God and is deemed worthy of pardon.
But let us return to the subject of our conversation, and continue our discussion of the bad consequences of sin for our body and the blessings of the Lord for the very body of the repentant sinner, and especially for the soul. Since the consequences of sin are usually disastrous for our body, because of the close connection between soul and body, the sinner is subject to various illnesses, the Lord, having mercy on the soul of the believing and repentant sinner, has mercy on and heals his body as well. “Behold, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (John 5:14).
Such are the bounties of the Lord to the repentant sinner! His entire being is healed and renewed. When the sinner's sins are forgiven, he reconciles not only with God, but also with the heavenly beings, with himself, and with the Church, this holy community of the saved in Christ; he once again is honored from God the sonship or adoption which he had boldly renounced before by committing sin, and he receives anew the grace and power to do good works, to which each of us is called by his Christian vocation. He is granted the hope of future inheritance in the kingdom of Christ God, which any one who remains in sin deprives himself of; to him returns heavenly peace and tranquility of conscience, inner light, freedom, and spaciousness of soul and body, as well as boldness before God and man. In a word, the sinner, having been shown mercy by God, is renewed and transformed with a good transformation, becoming a new creation, and remains so as long as he guards himself against new temptations to sin. But if he again falls into the same or similar sins, then his punishment is indeed aggravated, doubled, and tripled for having rejected God's grace and for being ungrateful to God, the Benefactor.
Therefore, see, brethren, how great a gift the paralyzed man mentioned in today’s Gospel was deemed worthy of: all his sins, which were the cause of his illness, were forgiven him, he was healed from the disease itself, reconciled with God and with his conscience, and, as it should be presumed, he believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, became a Christian, a child of Christ, and an heir of the Kingdom of Heaven. Do you see what a great gift of God repentant sinners receive for their faith? May we also be deemed worthy, brethren, by the Lord's great mercy - the forgiveness of all our sins and His future all-blessed inheritance, and joy with the saints. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
