I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes

 

 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

 

In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."

 

- Luke 10:17–24 

 

Yesterday we read that, having begun His long journey toward Jerusalem, the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go.  Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.  Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.  Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road.  But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.'  And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you.  And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages.  Do not go from house to house.  Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you.  And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'  But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you.  Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'  But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city. Woe to you, Chorazin!  Woe to you, Bethsaida!  For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.   But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you.  And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades.  He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."   Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."

 

  Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name."  And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.  Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."  My study Bible comments that "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" is a description of an event that took place before the creation of the world. It notes that five times Satan set his will against God (Isaiah 14:12-15; see also Revelation 12:7-12).  

 

 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.  Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.  All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."  Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it."  My study Bible defines babes as people of simple faith and open hearts (see Luke 18:15-17).  These are those who now see the things which many prophets and kings have desired to see, and have not seen it, and to hear what they hear, and have not heard it.  

 

What does it mean to reveal the things of God?  To have the things revealed to us that Christ reveals to us?  Here He makes it clear that there is none who knows the Father except the Son -- and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.  This is the reality of the revelation of our faith.  It is not understood from theories or fanciful notions about how the world should work.  Ultimately, the "all things" that are give to Christ by the Father are revealed to human beings to whom Christ wishes to reveal them.  It's an important distinction, because it reveals reality that exists in places you or I can't know and don't experience in the fullness of that reality.  Certainly visions have been given to prophets throughout the spiritual history we read of in the Bible, such as the vision of the prophet Isaiah cited above (Isaiah 14:12-15), and of course the Revelation of the New Testament Scriptures.  These are the ways that things have been revealed to us, and it's important that we understand this process.  For what we have been given is a gift, a priceless gift for each of us.  St. Irenaeus of Lyon (125-220 AD) writes:  "True knowledge is the teaching of the Apostles, the order of the Church as established from the earliest times throughout the world, and the distinctive stamp of the body of Christ, passed down through the succession of bishops in charge of the church in each place . . ."   Ultimately, we also have the Holy Spirit given to us, alive and well and at work in our world and in ourselves, and that gift is what will be celebrated this coming Sunday, the feast of Pentecost (see Acts 2).  While theology is essential to our understanding, and great saints and visionaries have helped us to understand God through their capability in their education and also in the holiness of the love of God and certainly through prayer, our foundation is in these revealed realities given to us as a gift from God.  When Christ praises and thanks God the Father for hiding these things from the wise and prudent, and revealing them to babes, He is glorifying for us this process in which we are to understand further that God does not work on worldly terms, but on God's terms, and that this gift of what is revealed is given to all of us.  So there are none left out of the great salvation plan of God, in the Son's revelation of God to the world.  The visions inspired and given by the Holy Spirit are also those things that reveal the things of God to us, such as the vision of St. Stephen which he revealed even as he was stoned for doing so.   This is told explicitly to us in Acts 7:55-56:  "But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, 'Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!'"  See Acts 7 for his entire testimony before the Sanhedrin.  These things are important for us to understand, for they give us our foundation upon which the Church and our faith is built.  All that we do, every sacrament, every element of worship and prayer, is informed through revelation -- and shaped through Christ's revelation of the Father to the apostles in order to be given to us.  Let us stand on that foundation and receive Him and His word, and the great gift and blessings of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table

 

Armenian Illuminated Manuscript:  text reads "The coming of the Holy Spirit in the upper room and distributing the fiery tongues to the Apostles" (with thanks to Deacon Shant Kazanjian of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church)

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 

- Matthew 15:21-28 

 

On Saturday, we read that, while in His "headquarters" city of Capernaum, a ruler came and knelt down before Jesus, saying, "My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live."  So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.  And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment.  For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  And the woman was made well from that hour.  When Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, "Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.   

 

 Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David!  My daughter is severely demon-possessed."  But He answered her not a word.  And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."  But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  Jesus is now in a Gentile region, north of Galilee, where He has come not to preach but to withdraw from conflict coming both from the Pharisees and now the suspicions of Herod.  Our previous reading (above) was from chapter 9, but today the lectionary skips forward to chapter 15.  By this time Jesus has sent out the Twelve on their first apostolic mission (see chapter 10), and because of His great healings and growing fame and authority among the people, and His various conflicts with them, the Pharisees have begun to demand a sign (see chapter 12).  In chapter 14, we read that Herod has also begun to suspect that Jesus is John the Baptist risen from the dead, because Herod beheaded John.  Jesus then sought to withdraw to a deserted place, but there fed a multitude of 5,000 men (and more women and children).  So by now -- due to both the Pharisees (the religious establishment) and the suspicion of Herod (who rules Galilee for Rome) -- He withdraws to this Gentile territory.  In Mark's Gospel, we read that Christ "wanted no one to know" He was there (Mark 7:24).  My study Bible notes that this story in today's reading illustrates the Jewish orientation of Matthew's Gospel.  There are two major differences between the story in this text and the one in Mark 7:24-30.  First, Matthew records Christ's words concerning the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and Mark does not.  Secondly, Matthew includes the detail that this woman uses the title Son of David, which is a Jewish term for the Messiah, and Mark does not.   My study Bible also comments that this woman shows immeasurable love in her plea to Jesus.  She so identifies with the sufferings of her daughter that she cries, "Have mercy on me," for she sees her daughter's well-being as her own and her daughter's sufferings as her own.  Jesus refuses to answer her, not only because she is a Gentile and His ministry before His Passion is first to the Jews, but also in order to reveal her profound faith and love.  Many patristic commentaries view the disciples request to send her away as an attempt to persuade Jesus to heal the daughter, as if to say, "Give her what she wants so that she will leave."  Jesus' response indicates that this interpretation is correct, my study Bible says, because He again refuses to heal the daughter.  

Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, help me!"  But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."  Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith!  Let it be to you as you desire."  And her daughter was healed from that very hour.   My study Bible comments that Jesus, having evoked this woman's love and persistent faith, Christ now reveals her humility.  She accepts her place beneath the Jews, who were the chosen people of God, yet she still desires a share in God's grace.  Christ's hesitancy was not a lack of compassion, my study Bible says, but rather it was a conscious means whereby the virtues of this woman were revealed -- both to the disciples and also for her own sake.  Her ultimate acceptance by Christ, my study Bible adds, points to the gathering of the Gentiles into the Church after Pentecost, no longer as dogs but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life.  

It is very fitting in that this week of the celebration of Pentecost, our first weekday reading is this one.  To modern sensibilities, it may be offensive and strange to hear Christ speak to someone and use the term "dog" to them.  Actually in the Greek, this word is "puppy" -- meant to indicate a house dog, as one who begs under the table.  But for Christ's time and place, even still to this day across much of the Middle East cultures, dogs are animals that belong outside.  Indoor dogs as pampered pets are rather a new thing for common people, encouraged by commerce and the export of culture, and of course the kind of prosperity that belongs to a modern world and its developments.   It is also strange to us that Jesus would provoke this woman in order to encourage her faith.  But if we think about our own prayers to God, and how they may seem to go unanswered, or often are answered in the negative, we will find that God often works this way in our lives.  We are encouraged to persist in our faith and to endure and accept -- and often that negative answer turns out to be better for us (with the perception of time) than had our prayer been answered in the affirmative.  Something better or different comes along, and we find that we have changed and grown with the times, our lives have taken on a new course.  But, as the commentary indicates, often God has a way of provoking some response from us that we didn't know we had in us, a greater endurance, a new creativity, a willingness to think outside of the box of our own old expectations and certainties, or our perceived limitations.  In terms of this woman, there is yet another phenomenon modern minds may find very strange and curious that developed in the Church, and that is the tradition of the "dog-headed saint."   Quite possibly this tradition comes from the story in today's reading, but this is meant to illustrate the commentary in my study Bible, that because of Pentecost, the Gentiles are gathered into the Church, "no longer as dogs but as children who are invited to eat the bread of eternal life."  The illuminated manuscript (above) which comes from the Armenian tradition, shows a strangely "dog-headed" person (under what looks like a door at the bottom of the illumination), who preaches the gospel to persons gathered of many nations and costumes.  This has a direct bearing on today's reading, as they are those outsiders who now even preach the gospel to the world.   While we may love dogs as pets today, we can think of a "dog-faced" person as being one not only strange to a common perspective among a group of people, but also one who is unattractive, as the expression has indicated.  But nevertheless, what is "strange" (as in "stranger" and also that which is unknown or different) is gathered into the Church, and we are all called Christian; we are all under the name of Christ.  It remains always essential to our faith to consider that it is the power of Christ -- and God's work in the world in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to all -- that gathers the outsiders and makes them insiders, even making them those who preach the gospel to the world.  In all circumstances, this we must never forget as each bears an image of Christ, and even a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple bears a reward (Matthew 10:42).  The most famous name of a dog-headed saint in the Byzantine tradition is St. Christopher.  His name means "Bearer of Christ."

 

 

Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me

 

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. 

 

- John 5:1-18 

 

Yesterday we read that after the two days He departed from Samaria and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

 

  After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Traditionally, this feast is viewed as the Feast of Weeks or the Old Testament Pentecost (as it occurs 50 days after Passover).   It is a celebration of the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  Later in this chapter, we will see many references to the Law of Moses, which confirm this interpretation.  

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  This was a double-basin pool, which was believed to have curative powers.  My study bible says that it has recently been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  The water for this high-ground pool was from underground springs.  It was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  My study bible further comments that this pool functions as a type of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  The waters were special in the sense that they offered a way to indirectly participate in the animal sacrifices in the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But in that case, only the first person to enter could receive grace.  By contrast, under the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations as a direct participation in the sacrificial death of Christ (see Romans 6:3-6) and without mediation of angels.  Thereby baptism grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, with inexhaustible grace. 

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  My study bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary as saying that Jesus singled out this particular man who had waited for thirty-eight years so that we are taught to have perseverance, and also as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time.

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  My study bible comments that Christ's question to the man is relevant for many reasons.  First, it makes public the fact that the sick man kept his faith although in a seemingly hopeless circumstance.  How could a paralytic ever be the first in the water?  Second, Christ draws attention away from the water and toward the need that we have for a man to help us.  This is fulfilled in Christ, who became that human being in order to heal all.  Finally, not all those who are ill actually desire healing.  Some might prefer to remain infirm for varying reasons, such as the capacity to freely complain, to avoid responsibility in some sense for their lives, or to continue receiving the pity of others.

 

The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Although the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, my study bible notes that it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22, and also explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.   It is made clear that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath by His command, "Rise, take up your bed and walk," and also by the man's obedience in response.  As we frequently note, in John's Gospel, the term the Jews -- as in this example -- refers to the leaders and not to the Jewish people in general.  My study bible comments on the malice of these leaders, who focus solely on the Sabbath violation in asking him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk?" and ignoring altogether the miraculous healing. 

 

Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  A note in my study bible remarks on the fact that this man was found in the temple:  it shows his great faith, for he had gone there directly to thank God for his healing, rather than leaving to someone's home or the marketplace.  Jesus tells him, sin no more.  My study bible comments that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), this connection is not always one-to-one, for the innocent frequently suffer, and the guilty are also often spared earthly sufferings (see also 9:1-3).   But there are times when our sins do lead directly to our own suffering in this world.  St. Chrysostom states that this was the case with the paralytic.  But, my study bible adds, Christ's warning is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  The only hope is to flee from sin altogether.  

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.   My study bible notes that the man doesn't report Jesus to the leaders in a malicious way, but rather as a witness to the goodness of Christ.  Although these leaders only show an interest in the violation of the Sabbath, the healed man nevertheless emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and he says nothing about carrying his bed.  

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.  Here is an explanation of the effort to persecute Jesus, but once again, Christ's response is on the work of the Father which He is working.  As Jesus declares God to be "My Father," the leaders clearly understand that it implies Christ is equal with God.  

In the first chapter of John's Gospel, John the Baptist introduces Jesus to His future disciples as the Lamb of God (1:29, 36).  Here in today's reading, the commentary of my study bible ties in that title and understanding with this reading about the pool at the Sheep Gate.  It is the pool in which the sacrificial lambs are washed before they are slain, and that is part of the perception that this water has properties through which one may indirectly participate in the sacrifice.  But, as my study bible explains, those properties are limited:  they are restricted only to the first one to enter the water, and that grace is mediated by an angel.  Expanding on this understanding, we take on the meaning of the name of Christ as Lamb of God.  In our understanding of the Cross, and Christ's sacrifice as Lamb of God, we are each invited to participate fully in His grace and His healing for us.  Thus, we understand the viewpoint of our earliest ancestors in the Church:  that Christ is an expression of the fullness of the potential in our ancient expressions of faith and reaching toward God.  Where the man with the infirmity hoped for decades to reach the pool first, now Christ is fully in the world for each of us, as is the grace with which we've been bestowed, which my study bible calls "inexhaustible."  We should not think it strange that the water that washed the lambs was hoped to heal, and also through the intervention of an angel.  In the long history of the Church, and from the beginning, it was understood that objects could retain healing power through contact with the holy.   In today's reading, we're given the third sign in John's Gospel.  It exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness, an important expansion on what we already understand of Christ's power and identity as divine Person.  In our previous reading, we were given the healing of the nobleman's son, a presumably youthful and ill boy.  But here the text goes out of its way to let us know that this is an older man with a long degenerative illness, seeking a cure here at the Sheep Gate for thirty-eight years.  His immediate restoration to wholeness through Christ tells us of the abundant grace available in the Person of Christ, and also that time is no object to His power.  That Jesus tells the man, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you," is, to my ears, an affirmation of that power, as to go and sin would be a type of deliberate violation of the grace and power that has so fully been bestowed to heal.  What has been given is given freely and abundantly, and through faith:  to go and sin would be a deliberate act against both faith and the gift of grace, and thereby risking the effects of rejection of the presence of Christ in the paralytic's life, a turning away from the gift of participation.   This is a theme from the beginning of John's Gospel, that to turn away from the light is to risk the effects of the darkness.   Let us consider the ways in which we participate in Christ's sacrifice and in the grace of God.  What good things have come to you?  Is there healing that has happened in your life in response to faith?  Let us remember that gifts of grace are myriad, and seldom spectacular, except to the one who understands God's work in oneself and one's life.  To be grateful is a key here, as my study bible notes that Christ finds this healed man giving thanks in the temple.  Let us always refresh our connection and participation in the life and grace we're offered.  The man tells Jesus, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Let us remember that in the communion we're offered and the fullness of our Pentecost, there are countless saints, and always a Helper present -- even when we feel alone.

Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

- John 5:19-29

On Saturday, we read that there was a feast (the Feast of Weeks, or the Old Testament Pentecost, fifty days after Passover), and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."  The leadership have clearly understood that Jesus implies absolutely equality with the Father.  That He can do nothing of Himself, my study bible says, proves that His every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and with the Holy Spirit.  This discourse gives us the revelation of the unity of Father and Son in nature, will, and action.  And therefore, as Jesus states here, the Son fully shares the divine attributes both of giving life and executing judgment.  Christ's judgment, we may note from today's reading, is based on both faith ("he who hears My word and believes") and works (Jesus' word at the end of today's reading:  "those who have done good").

"Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."  Jesus says that "the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God."  My study bible remarks here that the term the dead refers both to those who are spiritually dead -- who will find life in Christ, and to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.  This is confirmed by Jesus when He raises Lazarus from the dead (11:38-44) before He goes to His own death as human being.  These verses (5:24-30) are read at the Orthodox funeral service, confirming the same reward for those who fall asleep in faith.

The passages in today's reading echo, in some sense, Jesus' revelation to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well in the previous chapter.  There, He told her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  That echo of the words, the hour is coming, gives us a sense of the importance of this time, the immanence of the Kingdom and its revelations for the world.  Here in today's reading, Jesus gives a revelation to people who, if we think about it a little, also seem like those very unlikely that He would give this revelation to:  the leadership.  Contrary to the woman at Jacob's well and her townspeople, these men for the most part will not become followers, but rather they seek to put Him to death as a result of this revelation.  Should we conclude that Jesus has made a mistake?  Quite the contrary, since Jesus has just said that "the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner."   If we understand Christ, then, on His own terms as He has stated here, we see that what is happening is salvation, an attempt at salvation for these religious leaders.  Jesus is telling them the truth about His identity, and about His capacity for judgment, and also the promise of eternal life through faith.  Jesus is Himself the promise of life itself -- and this is what He offers to these leaders by speaking the truth to them.  Through them also, as the religious leadership of Israel and all the Jews, He offers to the whole nation the salvation that is a part of His promise.  That their response matters so much to His human life, to the Cross that is to come, is undoubtedly already understood as the story that will be given to us who will come later and hear.  But this is how things unfold:  everyone is offered salvation.  These men bear important places; their lives are not simply told as specific individuals, but rather as those who rule Israel.  But Jesus' words, prefaced repeatedly by "most assuredly" ("amen, amen" in the original language of the Gospel) are marked for all of us here as solemn promises we must pay attention to.  Again, there is a parallel with the revelation to the Samaritan woman.   Jesus told her about the water He would give, a "fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  Here, the leadership are responding to Jesus' healing of the paralytic who could not get down first into the pool at the Sheep Gate (see Saturday's reading, above).  Jesus' message, therefore, is quite consistent, both to the Samaritan woman and in today's reading, to the religious leaders.  But there's a great distinction, in that in today's reading, He speaks of judgment, and the importance both of faith and works.  Their rejection of Jesus is not simply a rejection of faith but also a rejection of the understanding that their works determine God's judgment, in that they will seek to put Him to death.  Let us consider the truth of His words and what they mean for each of us:  how we need to weigh our choices, how our faith impacts the very substance of our lives -- and how "everlasting life" is not so much about length of life, but rather about the quality of life itself and the abundance He offers, that which is capable of giving resurrection to those both living and dead -- in the here and the now, and in the life of the age to come.  

My Father has been working until now, and I have been working

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.

The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

- John 5:1-18

 Now after the two days He departed from the region of Samaria and Jacob's well (see this reading and this one) and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  John does not tell us which particular feast this is, but patristic commentary teaches that this feast is the Old Testament Pentecost, taking place fifty days after Passover (also called the "Feast of Weeks" or Hebrew Shavuot), which celebrates the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  The references to the Law of Moses later in the chapter confirm such an interpretation.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  This was a double-basin pool, which was believed to have curative powers, and recently it has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area.  It is, indeed, near the Sheep Gate, as the text tells us.  My study bible says that the water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs and was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  It explains that the pool functions as a type of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  The waters were special, it notes, in that they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But this grace was limited to the first person to enter.  In the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations as a direct participation in Christ's own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6) without the mediation of angels.  Therefore, baptism gives healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body -- and an inexhaustible grace.

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  St. John Chrysostom comments that Jesus singles out this man who had waited for thirty-eight years so that we are taught to have perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles which last a far shorter time.

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.   My study bible lists several reasons why Christ's question to this man is relevant.  First, it makes public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in a situation which is seemingly hopeless; how could a paralytic ever be the first to enter into the water?   Second, Jesus draws attention away from the water and toward the need we have for a man to help us -- which is fulfilled in Christ Himself.  He became Man to heal all of us.  Third, not all ill people truly desire healing.  There are many reasons why some would sadly prefer to remain infirm.

The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.   My study bible explains that although the Law itself doesn't specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22 and explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.   That Jesus is Lord over the Sabbath is made clear by the command He gives and also by this man's obedience (see also Matthew 12:1-8).  My study bible also remarks upon the malice of these leaders.  They focus only on the Sabbath violation, asking "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" but they ignore altogether the miraculous healing.  Please note that in these verses, the term the Jews is used only to refer to the leadership; all the people in the story are Jews, including Jesus, the healed man, and the multitude.

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."   My study bible notes that the fact that this man was found in the temple shows his great faith.  He had gone directly there to thank God for his cure, rather than to someone's home or to the marketplace.  Jesus tells him to sin no more;  my study bible says that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), that connection isn't always one-to-one, as the innocent often suffer and the guilty are often spared earthly sufferings (see also 9:1-3).  Regardless, there are times when our own sins lead directly to our personal suffering in this world.  St. John Chrysostom states that this was the case with this paralytic.  But Jesus' warning here is that sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  The conclusion is that our only hope is to run from sin altogether.  We should also remember that in this context, it is possible to view additional sin as a way of discounting the grace that has been given by God in this man's healing, a refusal to recognize its action in his life.

 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  The healed man does not report Jesus to the leaders in a malicious way; rather he is testifying to Christ's goodness.  Although the leaders are interested only in the violation of the Sabbath, the healed man nevertheless emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and says nothing about carrying his bed. 

But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.   Jesus declares God to be My Father, and the leadership clearly understand the implication of absolute equality therein. 

Jesus' statement of equality with God will get Him fully into disputation with the religious authorities, who regard it as blasphemy and absolutely forbidden, punishable by death.   This particular subject and dispute will continue in the reading that follows.  But here, let us note Jesus' particular emphasis on working.  In Greek, this word for work (ἐργάζομαι/ergazomai) is linked directly to the word for energy (ἐνέργεια/energeia) which literally means "working," "action," or "activity."  It is also linked to the concept of God's grace -- God's action at work in the world.  So, Jesus' emphasis on His work focuses us in on what God does in the world.  In this third sign in John's Gospel, God's divine power is exemplified in that it can restore a person to wholeness.  Jesus teaches His followers that "you will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16).  He was speaking (in the Sermon on the Mount) of "false prophets."  John the Baptist has made similar statements about individuals.  But what is true for human persons is also true of God the Trinity, and God's work in the world.  Jesus gives us evidence, in His signs, of God's presence at work in the world -- and by the fruits of God's power and work, we know God.  This is also, of course, true of the Holy Spirit, Third Person of the Trinity.  As we are also asked in the Sermon on the Mount to "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16), so the "works" that we do must be an extension and expression of the energies that are at work within us as believers.  As the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God the Father may be at work within us, transforming us and giving our identity shape through faith, so our own works -- energies -- may express also the light of God, and be cause for God's glorification in the world.  These are powerful things to think about, but they establish a direct link between God's energies, or grace, and our own energies and work and life in the world.  Our actions taken in our lives reflect who we are; therefore the joy and glory in the fullness of faith reflects out into the world.  This is, once again, a dynamic and organic process.  Faith is not something we necessarily control; its work and action in us are a product of human and divine synergy -- just as Christ has taken on human form and is both divine and human so that we may follow and be "like Him."  How do we take on this grace, this energy?  How can our works or actions take on this reflective character that glorifies God and shines the reflected light of faith?  Working within us, God's grace/energies tune us in to our own need for transformation, and give us new ways to express who we are at various opportunities in life.  Let us consider how we can live to this grace and within its energies, sharing them in our lives and reflecting the light He shines in healing this beleaguered and paralyzed man.  Those energies, like this healing, give us wholeness and help to make us "unstuck" in life.  Let us consider all the ways in which they work for good, and so that we may face our own reality and true (or not) desire for healing.