We have seen strange things today!

 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.  And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his be through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, he said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"

- Luke 5:12-26

Yesterday, we read that, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.  Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's and asked him to put out a little from the land.  And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.  When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."  But Simon answered and said to Him, "Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net."  And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.  So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them.  And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"  For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.  And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid.  From now on you will catch men."  So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."  Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him.   Leprosy, says my study bible, was one of the most dread diseases of this time.  It not only brought terrible physical suffering, but it was also cause for complete banishment and isolation from society.  Leprosy is also symbolic of our sin.

And He charged him to tell no one, "But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded."  However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.  So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.  Christ gives the command to follow the law of Moses.  Cyril of Alexandria comments that by doing so, it will convince the priests by a tangible miracle that Christ is superior to Moses.  They held Moses to be greater than Christ, but Christ heals the leper immediately and with His own authority, while Moses healed Miriam only with help from above and after seven days (Numbers 12:10-15).    The text notes that Jesus increasingly withdraws into the wilderness for prayer; this is where His strength comes from.  He also takes important time for rest in prayer.  It's an important example of true health for all of us.   In Saturday's reading, the text also mentions that Jesus departed and went into a deserted place.  It reminds us of time for withdrawal as a necessity for His work, particularly time used for prayer.

Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.  And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.  Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.  And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his be through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.  When He saw their faith, he said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you."  And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies?  Who can forgive sins but God alone?"  But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts?  Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Rise up and walk'?  But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house."  Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.  And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, "We have seen strange things today!"  Jesus' fame in His ministry has spread far and wide, so that even the teachers of the Law and the religious authorities now come from all over Israel and are present to hear Him teach.  But so often in Luke's Gospel, healing takes place as part of this teaching ministry, and those who come to Him do so for such help.  In this case, a man's friends bring Him.  My study bible says that faith is collective as well as personal; here a kind of corporate or communal faith is instrumental in bringing this man to Christ and responsible for the healing.  It teaches us a great deal about helping others through prayer, the communion that isn't held back by restrictions of space or even time, nor apparently even of the individual heart in its immediate effects.  There are three signs of Christ's divinity on display here, notes my study bible:  He knows the secrets of the heart, He forgives sins which is a power that belongs to God alone, and He heals by the power of His word.  This is the first encounter with such authorities; in both stories of today's reading Jesus' power is openly on display for members of the religious ruling classes.

Again, as in yesterday's reading, we come back to questions of faith.  What is faith?  How does it work?  How does it work within us?  Today's reading teaches us about two kinds  of faith.  There is first of all the great faith of the leper, by which He understands that Christ can "make me clean," "if You are willing."   This is not just the earnest desire of the heart, but it is also the heart turning to Christ and trusting in Christ, understanding that His will is capable of cleansing; in this context of leprosy with its long associations and history of the Old Testament, that would include the faith that Christ could forgive sins, although the text does not overtly make a connection between leprosy and sinfulness.   But the second story in our reading does quite overtly make some connection between the man's paralysis and sinfulness, although it's not necessarily a direct connection nor a general statement about physical illness and sin.  What we do understand is that paralysis is a very apt symbol for some sort of sin, a kind of way in which we might be stuck in some way of thinking or habitual behavior or even a problem, say, of addiction of some sort.  Sinfulness can take on many forms; we need not associate it with overt or deliberate evil.  Since this is an act of corporate healing, we may also take this man's sins as those which will be found in community, in any community, within our parishes and faith communities.  In that sense, we're taught in some way by this story that sin is a problem for community; within our communities we're going to have many sorts of problems and different types of sins.  In some corporate way, we're all affected one way and another.  But the truly good news here is about our prayer; our prayer also heals community.  The example here shows an effectiveness of corporate prayer, meaning that within community also no one need be alone in suffering, but rather the focus can be on every level of healing.  Our prayers may reach out to help others even when there can be no direct means of opening up communication or action.  In the end, it is God's work that will respond to prayer, known and unknown, and in this we can take trust and learn about love.  There's a profound way in which the story lives on several levels; there is the prayer of the man's friends, which we can liken to private prayer or corporate prayer of any kind.  There is also the judgment of the leadership, and then there is Christ, whose power goes deep into the heart and knows all hearts.  But as the corporate Body of Christ, all of these layers intersect; there is nowhere this connection of communion cannot go.  It's a kind of network, in which each link in the chain is functional and important.  In that analogy, we could view paralysis as a kind of place in which one unit in a network isn't functioning fully or well.  But the action of the rest can help to heal and to restore.  In all of Christ's healing miracles, there is a kind of connection that is made with faith in order to be effective, for His power to work.  It seems safe to assume the power of the Holy Spirit works this way in our midst, in the here and now, as He is "everywhere present and filling all things," as the Orthodox prayer tells us.  Do you have a sense of communion in prayer?  What kind of "net" may we be a part of when we pray (perhaps analogous to the role of the nets of the fishermen who will catch men, from yesterday's reading)?   How do we live and thrive best within this "sea" of those who are connected through the energies of God, and through prayer?  Let us consider the connections and how they work.  They are restricted by nothing but the love and power of God with which they may connect.  If this seems "strange" or unusual, consider the response of the witnesses in today's story: "We have seen strange things today!"  In the Greek this word indicates something unexpected, but more clearly and precisely, something outside of the accepted opinion, not "traditional."  In fact, it is the word "paradox" (Gr. παράδοξα).  Let us remember that God is always greater than we know, beyond our understanding; and yet, God is revealed to us through paradox.