The Transformative Power of Faith and Forgiveness
Fr. Nicholas delivers an insightful sermon on the profound power and mercy of Jesus Christ. Through the story of the paralytic, he explores the communal nature of salvation and the importance of spiritual healing. Fr. Nicholas invites listeners to carry each other in prayer and seek true healing of the heart.
Transcript
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Take heart, my son. Your sins are forgiven. Today's gospel reading gives us a profound revelation of the power and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. In just a few verses, we witness both a healing of the body and, more importantly, a healing of the soul. Let us reflect together on the spiritual depth of this passage.
The gospel begins with a remarkable statement. And behold, they brought to him a paralytic lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, note well, it was their faith, the faith of the friends by which the Lord was moved. This is a reminder that we are not saved alone. It is a powerful reminder of the communal nature of salvation. In the church, we are not saved alone. The church is a community, a body. Our prayers for one another matter. Just as these faithful friends carried the paralytic to Christ, so we are all called to carry each other in prayer, especially the weak, the sick, and the spiritually paralyzed. We pray for one another, carry each other's burdens, and intercede for our brothers and sisters just as these men interceded for their friend.
We should ask ourselves, are we carrying someone today? Is there someone we have been neglecting in prayer? Our families, our friends, those who have fallen away from the faith, those who suffer in silence. We must carry them to Christ, even if only in prayer.
Jesus does not begin by healing the man's body, but rather he says, "Take heart, my son. Your sins are forgiven." This surprises everyone. The scribes accuse him of blasphemy. This surprises us. Why? Because we are conditioned to think of health only in physical terms. But Christ reveals something deeper. The root of our suffering is sin. Not always personal sin, but the fallenness of our condition. The paralytic came for healing of the body, that Christ first restores his soul.
But what is Christ teaching us here? That the forgiveness of sins is the greater miracle. Paralysis of the body is a tragedy, but spiritual paralysis, being cut off from God, is far worse. Our Lord knows what we truly need to be reconciled to the father. And so he heals the soul first.
How often do we come to church or pray asking God for physical help, financial blessings, or the solution to our earthly problems? Yet we neglect the true healing of the heart. Christ is telling us today, come to me for your soul first. All other healing flows from that.
This is why in Orthodoxy, spiritual healing always takes precedence. Before we rush to fix symptoms, we seek repentance. The sacraments of confession and holy unction are not optional rituals. They are channels of true healing.
Jesus says that you may know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. And then he heals the paralytic. Here the Lord not only proves his divine power but also prefigures the authority he would give to the church through his apostles and their successors to bind and loose sins. In the Orthodox Church, this is the sacred ministry of confession. Christ continues to forgive sins through his priests by the Holy Spirit in the mystery of repentance.
Do not neglect this great gift. Why stay paralyzed in your soul when Christ has made a way for you to rise? Rise and walk.
The paralytic stands up and walks not only as a healed man but also as a witness. He takes his bed, the very symbol of his weakness, and now carries it as a sign of victory. Christ is calling each of us to the same healing. Perhaps we are spiritually paralyzed, trapped in sin, despair, or apathy. But he speaks to us too. Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven. Rise and walk.
When we repent, when we are forgiven, we too are commanded to rise, not to return to sin, not to remain in shame or guilt, but to walk in the new life Christ has given us.
Let us approach Christ with faith like the friends of the paralytic both for ourselves and for others. Let us confess our sins with trust like the paralytic himself and receive not just healing for the body but salvation for the soul. And let us glorify God who continues to work wonders among us. Amen.
