Saint John the Baptist Orthodox Christian Church
  • Home
  • Orthodox Christian Faith
    • What we believe
  • Parish
    • Our Patron Saint - Saint John
    • Our History >
      • Where we were and where we are...
      • "Remember your leaders..." (Hebrews 13:7)
      • What's in the name?
    • Administration
    • Saint John's Faith Formation: Christian Education
    • Chapel
    • Become a member!
    • Parish Library
    • Service request form
    • Donate
  • News
    • Sermons & Articles
    • Pictures & Videos
    • Weekly e-Bulletin
    • Quarterly Newsletter
    • Friends & Neighbors
    • Looking Ahead to Next Sunday (LANS) [archived]
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Useful Links
    • Choose Life!
    • Online Christian Bookstores >
      • St Vladimir's Seminary Press
      • St Tikhon's Seminary Press
      • Holy Trinity Bookstore, Jordanville
      • Eighth Day Books
      • Hermitage of the Holy Cross Monastery, WV
      • Nevsky's Books
      • Fr Daniel Sysoev Bookstore
      • Издательство Московской Патриархии
      • Магазин Сретенского Монастыря, Москва
      • Православный Книжный Магазин
    • Orthodox Intro
    • Orthodox Christian Radio

Power given to human beings [text & audio]

8/1/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
6th Sunday after Pentecost
​on the Gospel lesson from Matthew 9:1-8
In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
​
Last Sunday we heard Christ healing two demon-possessed men in the land of Gergesenes, which was on the shore opposite of the town where Jesus resided. After He healed the two men, and cast the demons into the pigs, who swiftly rushed off the cliff and drowned in the sea, the people of the land came, in fear and astonishment, and asked the Lord … to get out.

​Today’s Gospel lesson is the continuation of last week’s reading. After being asked to leave, Christ got into a boat and came to His town. As the book of Wisdom says, “Christ will not enter a deceitful soul, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin” (Wisdom 1:4).

The Gergesenes people were enslaved to sin, there was no place in their heart or in their country for Christ. If we desire to have nothing with the Lord, He will have nothing with us. He does obey our wishes.

In His own town, the people also witnessed Jesus do a miracle, heal a person. The initial reaction of the crowd was similar – fear and astonishment. But, this fear and astonishment led them to glorify God, instead of kick Him out. The people glorified God because He had given such great power to human beings – the power to heal physical sickness and forgive sins.

It’s interesting that in these two healings, last week and today, only one group correctly identified Jesus as the Son of God. Do you remember who it was? The demons. When Christ got off the boat in the country of the Gergesenes, the demons saw Him and cried out, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God?” They knew His Name, they knew Him.

The demons recognized Jesus, while the people on both coasts saw a man who either ruined their plans to sell bacon or who was a blasphemer (as the scribes thought Him to be) or who had great power from God. But nobody actually recognized Him as God, only the demons.

So the crowd was astonished at the healing of a paralyzed man, who was able to walk again. But the real healing was the forgiveness of sins. Notice that no one asks Jesus for anything specific when the paralytic is brought to Him. A group of people simply brought their friend to the Lord. And it was kind of clear what they wanted.

They did not bring him to have his sins forgiven, that’s for sure. However, when Christ forgives the man’s sins, He is subtly saying that being unable to walk is not his real problem.

Our real enemies are not other people, no matter how wicked they may be. Our real enemies are the demons who constantly afflict us. And our real problem is not physical sickness, but sin. It is possible to be physically sick and still be saved, to inherit the Kingdom of heaven.

There are numerous saints who were either blind or lame or leprous or had other diseases, yet lived a holy life. Do you know what kind of saint does not exist? The sinful one, the unrepentant one. It is impossible to be stuck in sin and be saved. The real problem is sin.

And so Christ came to conquer sin and give the same power to the faithful who are in His Church. He heals people physically as evidence of the healing of the soul. There is no direct connection between sickness and sin, of course. But on the grand scale, the reason there is sickness and death in the world is because of sin.

The purpose of all the physical healings is not to show how powerful Jesus is. Because no matter how great the miracle, the people being healed eventually die. Even Lazarus, who was resurrected by Christ four days after dying, still died.

The healings are the signs of what God is doing through Christ in the whole world. The Jews eagerly awaited the coming of the Messiah to judge the “bad” people, their enemies, and reward the “good” people, themselves.

But what Christ is doing is turn this expectation upside down. He is healing the bad people, making them good. That’s because God has come in the person of Christ, and all He’s found are evil people. All He’s found are people who are corrupted by sin. People who are on the wrong track, leading to death and destruction.

And by the way, this was true 2000 years before Christ, this was true in the first century, and this is true today. If left to our own devices, we abandon God, and quickly get on a highway to hell (as the song goes).

So instead of condemning us all, God heals and restores us. A good person is not the one who feels to be good in their heart (because feelings can be treacherous). Rather, we become good and righteous by acknowledging that we are bad, and through repentance we are purified and healed.

The people were astonished at the power given by God to human beings. The word ‘power’ here comes from a Greek word that can also be translated as ‘authority.’ So what power or authority has been given to human beings? And how do we exercise it? There is no point in having this power if we don’t exercise it, right?

Jesus Christ could heal and forgive sins because He shares the one essence with the Father. He is God because He is of one essence, one nature with God the Father. We do not share in God’s essence because by nature we can never become God. But through Christ we share in God’s energies. God’s energies are His working in this created world, His activity, His operation.

And the power given by God to human beings is our ability to participate in God’s energies, His activity in the world.

And this is first and foremost expressed in the forgiveness of sins, through which we conquer sin. We do this as a church, as a community that is faithful to Jesus Christ. And we exercise this power in confession.

Confession is a private event in the sense that it is only between the penitent and the Lord, with the priest being a witness. Being private, the confession is still corporate because it is made to the whole Church since the priest, who hears our confessions, is a representative of the Church, meaning all the faithful.

Through the power of the Church, where Christ is fully present, our sins are forgiven. All that we can offer when we come to Church is our sins. We have nothing else, just our sins. And what is offered back, through the power given by God, is forgiveness.

During the Ascension, Jesus said, “All authority, all power, in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-19).

“Go therefore,” meaning He is giving us, as the Church, the same authority to forgive sins. And bring people home, as the paralyzed man who was healed was told to go home. Home is where God is present, where He knows us and we know Him.

To Him Who gives us power to forgive sins and Who forgives our sins, we give glory, honor, and worship, always, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
​
Amen.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016

    Categories

    All
    9/11
    Abortion
    Adam's Rib
    Addiction
    Advent
    Akathist
    AmazonSmile
    American Saints
    Anaphora
    Announcement
    Annual Report
    Annunciation
    Apostles Fast
    Archbp Dmitri Royster
    Ark Of Salvation
    Asceticism
    Baptism
    Baptismal Liturgy
    Beheading Of Saint John
    Be Still
    Bible
    Bible Study
    Bishop
    Calendar
    Canaanite Woman
    Children And Life
    Christian Burial
    Christianity
    Christ Is Risen!
    Christmas
    Christmas Sermon
    Clay In The Hands Of God
    Clean And Unclean
    Coming Home
    Compassion
    Conception Of The Theotokos
    Confession
    Conform To Christ
    Conversion Story
    Converts
    Coronavirus
    Courage
    Creation
    Creed
    Cross
    Death
    Deny Yourself
    Depression
    Division Vs Unity
    Donate
    Donations
    Dormition
    Dormition Fast
    Doubting Thomas
    Drug Of The 21st Century
    Elected By God
    Eve
    Faith
    Fasting
    Father Alexander Schmemann
    Father Andrew Stephen Damick
    Father Chad Hatfield
    Father Lawrence Farley
    Father's Day
    Father Sergei Kosich
    Father Stephen Freeman
    Father Thomas Hopko
    First Light
    Forgiveness
    Forgiveness Sunday
    Foundations
    Freedom In Christ
    Fullness Of Faith
    Funeral
    God's Invitation
    Gospel
    Grace Of Christ
    Great Flood
    Great Lent
    Grief
    Halloween
    Health & Happiness
    Help Wanted
    Hollywood
    Holy Friday
    Humility
    Icon Of Nativity
    Iconography
    Infant Baptism
    Interview
    Jesus Christ
    Journey
    Joy
    Keeping Kids Christian
    Kids And Faith
    Kids And Porn
    Kids Vs Technology
    Kiss Of Peace
    Kitchen Upgrades
    Knowing God
    Lamb Of God
    Lesson
    Life After Death
    Liturgical Commentary
    Liturgical Year
    Liturgy
    Living Together
    Lost Sheep
    Love
    Love Your Neighbor
    Maintenance
    Marked By God
    Marriage
    Mary
    Memory Eternal
    Mission Of A Parish
    Mission Of Orthodoxy
    Moral Compass
    Nativity Fast
    Nativity Of Christ
    Nativity Of Saint John The Baptist
    Nativity Of The Theotokos
    Newsletter
    New Testament
    New Year
    New Year Resolutions
    Normal?
    No War
    Nudity And Movies
    Orthodox Christianity
    Orthodox Church
    Orthodox Community
    Orthodox History In America
    Orthodox Saints
    Orthodox Wedding
    Orthodoxy & Catholicism
    Orthodoxy In America
    Orthodoxy Is Life
    Orthodoxy Is Not Religion
    Orthodoxy & Lutheranism
    Orthodoxy & Protestantism
    Paralytic
    Pascha
    Patience
    Patron Feast Day
    PayPal
    Pictures
    Pilgrimage
    Podcast
    Polemics
    Porn
    Porn And Brain
    Porn Is A Lie
    Porn Kills Love
    Power In Weakness
    Pray At Home
    Prayer
    Prayer Of St Ephraim
    Prayer Rule
    Prayers To The Theotokos
    Procession
    Pro-life
    Publican And Pharisee
    Reading Bible
    Relics
    Religion
    Repentance
    Resist Porn
    Royal Priesthood
    Sacraments
    Sacred Space
    Saint Alexander Hotovitzky
    Saint Alexis Toth
    Saint Herman Of Alaska
    Saint Innocent Of Moscow
    Saint James The Brother Of The Lord
    Saint John Chrysostom
    Saint John The Baptist
    Saint Juvenaly
    Saint Nicholas
    Saint Patrick Of Ireland
    Saint Peter The Aleut
    Saint Raphael Of Brooklyn
    Saints Peter And Fevronia
    Saint Theophan The Recluse
    Saint Thomas Sunday
    Saint Tikhon Of Moscow
    Salvation
    Sanctity Of Life
    Seal Of The Holy Spirit
    Search For Christ
    Self-care
    Sermon
    Seventh Day
    Sexual Revolution
    Sharing Faith
    Silence
    Sin
    Skillful Children
    Sower
    Sunday Of Orthodoxy
    Sunday Of The Blind Man
    Sun Of Righteousness
    Teaching The Faith
    Telling The Truth
    Temple Of God
    Temptation
    Thanksgiving
    Theophany
    Theotokos
    Thorn In Flesh
    Tolerance
    Tree Of Life
    Triumph Of Orthodoxy
    Unchangeable Christianity
    Unity
    Weakness
    Why Confess To A Priest
    Woman
    Words
    Youth Ministry
    Zacchaeus
    Антоний Сурожский
    Архим. Ианнуарий Ивлиев
    Вера и знание
    Воспитание
    Дети
    Иоанн Златоуст
    Исповедь
    Молитва
    Новый Год
    о. Александр Шмеман
    о. Ианнуарий Ивлиев
    Пасха
    Подготовка к исповеди
    Подготовка к Причастию
    Подготовка к Рождеству
    Пост
    Причастие
    Проповедь
    Проповедь
    Пятидесятница
    Рождественский Пост
    Рождество
    Современное поколение
    Троица
    Христос Воскресе!

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016

Picture

Jesus said to the crowds about John, “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John the Baptist.” (Luke 7:28)


Address

29 Weaver Street
​Little Falls, NJ 07424

Email

StJohn.Singac@gmail.com

Telephone

(973) 256-0314

Join our mailing list

* indicates required
Picture
Picture
Picture

Search our website

  • Home
  • Orthodox Christian Faith
    • What we believe
  • Parish
    • Our Patron Saint - Saint John
    • Our History >
      • Where we were and where we are...
      • "Remember your leaders..." (Hebrews 13:7)
      • What's in the name?
    • Administration
    • Saint John's Faith Formation: Christian Education
    • Chapel
    • Become a member!
    • Parish Library
    • Service request form
    • Donate
  • News
    • Sermons & Articles
    • Pictures & Videos
    • Weekly e-Bulletin
    • Quarterly Newsletter
    • Friends & Neighbors
    • Looking Ahead to Next Sunday (LANS) [archived]
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Useful Links
    • Choose Life!
    • Online Christian Bookstores >
      • St Vladimir's Seminary Press
      • St Tikhon's Seminary Press
      • Holy Trinity Bookstore, Jordanville
      • Eighth Day Books
      • Hermitage of the Holy Cross Monastery, WV
      • Nevsky's Books
      • Fr Daniel Sysoev Bookstore
      • Издательство Московской Патриархии
      • Магазин Сретенского Монастыря, Москва
      • Православный Книжный Магазин
    • Orthodox Intro
    • Orthodox Christian Radio