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Reflections for Paschaltide 2026: The Paralytic Man

Reflections for Paschaltide 2026: The Paralytic Man

Last updated on: April 26, 2026 at 1:59 am by Henry Karlson

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Reflections for Paschaltide 2026: The Paralytic Man 2026-04-26T01:59:36-05:00 Henry Karlson

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Anthony van Dyck: The Healing of a paralytic man / Wikimedia Commons

Sin corrupts and destroys those who follow its ways. The more people sin, the more it creates structures in the world, structures that turn into shackles which limit the freedom of those touched by them. Sin is its own punishment, for every sin not only corrupts those who sin, but they bring in their wake various kinds of pain and sorrow. After every time we sin, we find ourselves in a new, worse situation, though how much worse depends upon the gravity of our sin (as not all sins are equal). The more we sin, especially the same kind of sin over and over again, the more we find ourselves forming habits which take over our lives, so that, in the end, we find we no longer have the freedom we once had. While we might struggle against the formation of those habits, more often than not, we give in, at least to some of them; they begin to dominate and control us, so that, in the end, we find it difficult, if not impossible to do anything else. This is what it is like to be paralyzed by sin. Christ’s resurrection from the dead heals us our sins; it liberates us, freeing us from our shackles, giving us our freedom back. The more we turn to Christ and cooperate with the grace he gives to us, the greater our liberation will be. And, as long as we keep turning to Christ, Christ will work with us, giving us more and more of the strength of will which we voluntarily gave away by sinning, so that in the eschaton, we will no longer be paralyzed by sin; instead, we will find ourselves being given even more freedom than we ever had before, thanks to deifying grace.

This is why during the Paschal season in the Byzantine tradition, we read the story of Jesus healing a paralytic man. We not only learn of someone he healed in the past, we are to discern in it the kind of healing grace Christ’s resurrection has brought into the world, so that we can see how Christ not only heals us physically, but also spiritually, so that in eternity, after our own resurrection from the dead, we can experience true freedom, with sin no longer able to keep us held down:

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, in Hebrew called Bethzatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed. One man was there, who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked. Now that day was the sabbath (Jn. 5:1-9 RSV).

While the simple reading of the story gives us insight into Christ’s healing abilities by showing us a time when he healed a paralytic man, we should discern with it a spiritual implication, that is just as Christ can heal someone from their physical infirmities, so he can heal us from our spiritual paralysis as well. Christ comes to give us a chance to spiritually walk in directions we never thought we would be able to do. And as the eschaton is immanent in Christ, we can experience it, at least in part, during our temporal existence; that is, we can see the work of Christ’s spiritual healing beginning to take effect on us as he gives us grace, grace that gives us the strength we need to fight and possibly overcome at least some, if not all, of our sinful habits. Christ is telling us to get up and walk, that is, to cooperate with grace, for then we will find ourselves being freed from the shackles we have placed upon ourselves every time we sinned. But we should not just do this. We should not only cooperate with grace so as to be healed from our spiritual paralysis, we should use the grace we have been given and share it with others, helping them to become free as well. If we do so, we will find ourselves participating in Christ’s healing ministry, and in doing so, we might find we might not just help people spiritually, but also physically as the Acts of the Apostles shows us Peter did:

Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints that lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord (Acts. 9:32-35 RSV).

By way of the incarnation, the one who is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, that is, the eschaton, came into the world not only to reveal to it the truth about God, but also to heal it from its infirmities. That healing has both spiritual and physical qualities to it. When we join ourselves to Christ and his eschatological mission, we will imitate him, sharing the grace we have been given to others, hoping to help heal others in ways we have been healed. There are many ways we can do this. Every time we free people from oppression, liberating them from their bondage, helping them experience freedom, every time we bring healing medicine to those in need, every time we bring food to the hungry, every time we give shelter to the homeless, and every time we reveal some truth to people which give meaning to their lives, we share the grace of the immanent eschaton with others. In doing so, we help draw them into the eschatological reality with us, the reality which has been especially revealed to us through Christ and his resurrection from the dead. Thus, while the story of the paralytic man reveals to us Christ’s healing ministry, we are to discern in it the way Christ not only heals people from their physical infirmities, but the way he brings grace to free us from the spiritual paralysis sin has caused us to have. We do not have to be paralyzed by sin. We must, of course, get up and walk, that is cooperate with grace; the more we walk, the more we cooperate with grace, the more we will experience the freedom which had once been denied us, the freedom to do the good which we want to do, and with it, the freedom to follow that good, not in a selfish, self-seeking fashion, but in the way the good works, which is, to share that goodness with everyone we can.

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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