Homily Three on the Seventh Sunday of Luke
(24th Sunday After Pentecost)
By St. John of Kronstadt
(24th Sunday After Pentecost)
By St. John of Kronstadt
In the Gospel read today, two miraculous benefits bestowed by our Savior were spoken of: upon the woman with an issue of blood and upon Jairus, the ruler of the Jewish synagogue. The Lord healed the first in an instant, through her touching His garment; in the case of the other, He raised from the dead his only daughter, who was twelve years old.
First of all, in this Gospel account, the faith of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, is instructive for us. His only daughter is at the point of death, and he turns for help not to physicians, but to Jesus Christ, believing that He can heal her with a single word. So also you, my brothers, when you fall ill, or when your wife or children fall ill, or any of your relatives, acquaintances, or servants, first turn to Jesus Christ with a prayer for help. He is the Physician of our souls and bodies, swift to come to the aid of all who have recourse to Him with faith. Invite your spiritual father into your home with the divine Mysteries of the Lord's Body and Blood, and believe that, like Jairus, you will not be put to shame in your hope. How many examples there have been, even in the course of my own priestly ministrations, of sick people who first turned to God for help, had recourse to repentance and Communion, and quickly recovered after receiving the Holy Mysteries! I can name many who have been granted such great mercy from God. Jairus, whom the Gospel mentions, was not put to shame in his faith in the divine Wonderworker. "Do not be afraid; only believe," the Lord said to him when word was brought to Jairus that his daughter had died, "and she will be saved"; and, according to the Lord's word, he believed without doubt that his daughter would be raised from the dead, and indeed he saw her risen. So, when your soul, my brother, is put to death by sin and passions and falls into the depths of evil, do not despair of your salvation, but believe that the Lord, who came into the world to save sinners, can save you also and raise you up from the depths of sin. Awake from the sleep of sin: "Arise, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you" (Ephesians 5:14).
Further, in this Gospel story, the faith of the woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years is instructive, as are the circumstances of her illness. According to the account of another Evangelist, before touching the Savior's garment, this woman thought to herself: "If I only touch His garment, I shall be healed." And with such faith she touched the hem of His garment and was immediately healed; whereas, having previously been treated by physicians for about twelve years and having given them all her possessions, she had received no benefit from any of them, but, on the contrary, had become even worse. How many Christians there are today who, when ill, turn only to physicians, forgetting to turn to Jesus Christ, who also gives wisdom to physicians, especially those who believe in Him. And, like the woman with the issue of blood, they remain ill and undergo treatment for a long time, and give the physicians almost all their possessions, yet receive no benefit, or only a small benefit. Meanwhile, if they had turned to the Savior soon after falling ill and invited His minister to them with the life-giving Mysteries, and had partaken of the life-giving food, they would soon have received healing and glorified the Lord for His power and goodness. But because of their little faith, they are punished with prolonged illness and the expenditure of their possessions on medicines and physicians. It is noteworthy that the woman with the issue of blood was healed immediately upon touching the Savior's garment. This serves as an image of our spiritual healing. Our souls are healed immediately when, with faith and in repentance, we call upon the all-saving name of Jesus Christ, or when we partake of the most pure Body and Blood of the Savior. What life, sweetness, and stillness suddenly spread through the soul and body after receiving the Holy Mysteries! The flow of sinful thoughts and passions is stopped instantly; in their place come holy, heavenly thoughts; the whole soul becomes healthy and joyfully glorifies the Lord, the Giver of Life. Thus, thus touch the Lord with heartfelt faith and repentance, touch the Body and Blood of the Savior, and thus partake of them, and you will be healed. And how few there are who sincerely touch the Savior, who sincerely partake of His Body and Blood with deep faith and fervent love! During the Holy Great Fast, on Saturdays at the Liturgies, the people surround and press close to the Lord in His Holy Mysteries, seeking to partake of the most pure Body and Blood of the Lord. But how many receive Him with the faith with which the aforementioned woman touched Him? I think that even today the Lord would ask those receiving Communion: "Who among you touched Me?" That is, who among you touched Me with faith and through faith received the power that went out from Me—the power that cleanses, sanctifies, brings peace, enlightens, and strengthens? Do not many receive Communion without living faith and, after receiving it, depart just as spiritually ill as they were before, and sometimes even worse? But those who receive Communion with living faith obtain cleansing from sins and peace of conscience, for in their conscience they clearly hear the voice of the Savior: "Take courage, man! Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
What else should we direct our attention to in the Gospel reading presented to us? Let us direct our attention to this also: when the Lord saw the relatives and acquaintances of Jairus's deceased daughter weeping and lamenting, He said: "Do not weep; she has not died, but is sleeping." These words are very comforting to us. The Lord, the Giver of Life, calls our death sleep. Why? Because there will be a general resurrection of the dead, like a general awakening from sleep, and this will take place by virtue of His death and Resurrection; for "Christ has risen from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep" (1 Corinthians 15:20). Just as all die because of Adam, so all will be made alive because of Christ. But what happened after Jesus Christ called the maiden's death sleep ("she has not died, but is sleeping")? They laughed at Him, knowing that she had died. This is not surprising: they did not yet know the mystery of the resurrection. Nor is it surprising that some today may mock when they hear of the resurrection, even today, when the Resurrection of the Dead has become as certain to us as the certainty of the present day. Nevertheless, let us not be surprised: this is how people act who are Christians only in name, but pagans in their deeds, slaves of the belly and of unrighteous wealth, worshipers of this world, for whom there is no higher pleasure than the pleasure of the throat that savors sweet foods and drinks, and the pleasure of worshiping the golden calf. But their end will be according to their deeds. Let us, however, turn our attention to the magnificent spectacle of how our Giver of Life raises Jairus's daughter.
Having sent everyone out of the room where the deceased girl lay, except Peter, James, and John, as well as the father and mother of the deceased girl, "He took her by the hand and cried out: Maiden, arise!" And what happened? "She immediately arose, and He commanded that food be given to her." Behold, brothers, an image of our future resurrection: the dead will hear a voice like this from the Son of God at the Second Coming of the Son of God, and, having heard it, they will come to life: "and those who have done good will come out to the resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment" (John 5:29). Here is your lesson about the resurrection: commit it well to memory; remember that you will rise again. And is that all? No, also live in a Christian manner, so that you may attain the blessed resurrection. Be temperate and chaste, patient, free from malice, humble, forbearing, merciful, and of one mind. Urge one another on; draw one another into the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
