Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
When we take a glance at first few Sundays of Pascha, it is easy to see a pattern begin to form in the hymns and scripture readings that are called for. The first week was about the faith of St. Thomas, which was an event that occurred after our Lord’s Resurrection. Last week, we heard about the courage of the Myrrh-bearing women, who like our patroness St. Mary Magdalene, were among the first to see Christ after His Resurrection.
From this Mid-Point of our Pascha celebrations until Holy Ascension, the Church now takes us back to events that happened before the crucifixion and Resurrection. It begins today in remembering the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda. Next week we will hear the hymns speak of the Samaritan Woman at the well, who conversed with Jesus about Life-Giving Water. On the last Sunday before Ascension, we will hear about a man who was born blind, being instructed by our Lord to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. While all of these events happened before the Resurrection, they also have one very important theme that connects them to Pascha: Water! To be more specific: The Life-Giving Water of Baptism, because Pascha was always linked to baptism!
In the ancient Church and even today, many Orthodox Christians are brought into the Church on the weekend of Pascha! They would leave the baptistry or river, and joyfully go into the Liturgy of Holy Saturday and Pascha, while the chanters sing: “As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ!” Baptism and Pascha have always been intricately linked, and on this Sunday, the Church reminds us of what life was like before we had the life-giving water… before Christ and the Resurrection.
We are given the example of a paralytic who spent a majority of his life, unable to do anything for himself. He spent his days hoping that there would be some kind soul who would help him get into the pool, when the angels stirred the waters, so that he could be healed. After a lifetime of waiting…our Lord finally came.
Jesus asked the paralytic point blank: “Do you want to be healed?”. This poor man who had suffered for so long response was: “I have no man…no man to put me into the pool while the waters are stirred…”
The paralytic, who had lived patiently with this infirmity for 38 years, didn’t just need a man…he needed THE MAN, the Son of God, to come into his life, and to be set free of his afflictions. In a very real way, this is what baptism does to us! We live a life that is full of joys and sorrows!
The joys of children…the difficulties of losing relatives.
The jubilation of receiving a clean bill of health…to the despair of being diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Perhaps one that hit us all recently: The happiness of the Resurrection…the sadness of not being able to be gathered in the Church together to celebrate.
Joys and sorrows...this is our life. It is two chords wrapped into one. We have lots of happiness with the Lord because of our confidence in His victory over death and destruction, and yet we have the sadness of still living in the midst of the fallen world. But imagine for a moment, where we would be without that Chord of Joy that comes from Christ? Imagine going through life without any happiness…without any hope of the resurrection. Imagine going through this pandemic without Christ’s strength…without a prayer to offer the almighty when we are overcome with sorrow or without an icon to weep in front of.
We are born into a world that has been covered in darkness, but when we are baptized, we are given a new life. We are given access to the light and strength of Christ, so that we can experience the sickness, death, and sadness as Christians! We conquer the sorrows of life by uniting to the One Who has gone through the suffering of sickness, death, and sadness…and CHANGED THEM. This is what uniting ourselves to Christ is all about! This is what Baptism does for us!
Have said that, why would the Church remind us (who have already been baptized) of this old reality? Because there are times in our lives where we forget our baptism, and go back into a state of paralysis.
When we put our trust in the material world, and completely ignore the Kingdom, we become paralyzed by doubt.
When we forget about the Resurrection, and Christ’s conquering of death…we become paralyzed by fear.
If we spend our days obsessively checking the headlines daily, waiting to see if there is a miracle cure, treatment or vaccine that has been announced…we can easily become paralyzed by depression, anxiety, anger, and pain.
For the world who has been consumed by the ins and outs of this pandemic, waiting for a doctor or scientist to come in and “save the day”…how are we any different than the man in the Gospel today, who spent his life waiting for mankind to suddenly come to his rescue?
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, remember your baptism. Remember Who You Are…and most importantly, remember “He Whom You Have Put On”, on that transformative day that you became a Christian.
Although these last few months have been difficult, in many ways, they are a gift for us who have forgotten our baptism. We have been pulled out of the chaos and everyday hustle and bustle of the world and given the chance to slow down with our families and re-unite ourselves to Christ. The excuses that we often give for why we don’t devote our time to prayer, reading, and reflection because of too many other things to do…has been taken away from us. This time is precious, and it is an opportunity that we might not get again in our lifetimes. We cannot let it go to waste!
So on this Sunday of the Paralytic, and throughout the next few months, may we be reminded to not spend our days anxiously waiting for “a man” to come and save us…but rather to draw strength in knowing that THE Man has already come…and has already taken the sins and burdens off of each and every person who finds themselves eternally united to Him through the Holy Waters of Baptism.