Table of Contents

Readings

  • Vespers:  Psalm 66:1  & Matthew 14:15-21
  • Matins: Psalm 62:1, 2 & Matthew 28:1-20

 

Liturgy

  • Pauline epistle: 2 Corinthians 2:12 – 3:6
  • Catholic epistle: 1 Peter 1:22 – 2:5
  • Praxis: Acts 13: 36 – 43
  • Psalm & Gospel: Psalms 33:1 – 2 & Mark 2:1 – 12

Introduction

“He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions.” (Ps.107:20). 

“So that Your sons, whom You loved, O Lord, might know that it is not the fruits of nature which feed men, but Your word, which preserves those who believe in You.” (Wisdom 16:26). 

You are the King of ages, the Immortal, the Everlasting, and the Logos of God who are above all, the Shepherd of the rational sheep (Fraction for the Son, said on Bright Saturday). 

Man labors, not by words, but by hands; for he is created and, his word has no entity. But the word of God is, as says the apostle, “Living and powerful”. Now as He is the creator of all, and without Him nothing was made that was made (John 1:3), it is not meet for us to ask why the word of God is not as that of ours; understanding that God is not like us.
[Saint Athanasius the Apostolic – Commentary on Hebrews 4 – Priest Tadros Yakoub Malati]

“And when He saw their faith,”. Great is the Lord; that He may forgive some people because of the prayers of others, and receive the supplications of some for the forgiveness of others! The servant of God has got the right to pray for you, and has got favor so as to be answered.
[Saint Ambrose – Commentary on Luke, 5 – Priest Tadros Yakoub Malati]

O you sick, learn how to supplicate. And if you do not have hope for your sins to be forgiven, resort to her who may meddle for you; to the church who prays for your sake; for whose sake you will receive forgiveness from the Lord.
[Saint Ambrose – Commentary on Luke, 5 – Priest Tadros Yakoub Malati]

How can I be carried unto Christ, so long as the roof is uncovered? For the roof means our understanding, the most valuable attribute in us! Here we see heaps of the dust coming from the mortar (mortar is a mixture of lime or cement used as a bonding bricks & stones) of the roof. By mortar, I mean these temporary things which, when being taken away, the virtue of understanding within us would be set free from heaviness. It is then that we can come down; that is, be humble. For by putting away the heaviness from understanding, we learn how to walk in humility rather than to be haughty. 

[Bishop Theophylact of Ohrid – Commentary on Mark 2 – Priest Tadros Yakoub Malati]

Observations on the Readings of the Day

The Vespers Psalm of this Day (Ps.66:1) and the Matins Psalm of the second Sunday of Paope (Ps.66:2), together form the Matins Psalm of the first Sunday of the Month of Paone (Ps.66: 1, 2). It is the Psalm which talks about Gods revelation (to humanity) and His salvation for mankind; which is what the Lord proclaimed to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven” and is read on the first Sunday of Paope and the second Sunday of Paone. 

The Catholic epistle of the Day (1 Peter 1:22 – 2:5) is similar to the Catholic epistle of the fourth Sunday of Epep (1 Peter 1:25 – 2:10). The former reading (the first Sunday of Paope) begins from verse 22, which refers to the role of the word of God that gives new birth. This is also shown in the gospel of the liturgy: “And He preached the word to them” (Mark 2:2). Subsequent to this was the spiritual birth of the paralytic: “Your sins are forgiven you” (Mark 2:5), and his carnal healing: “Arise, take up your bed” (Mark 2:11). 

However, w.r.t. the latter Reading on the fourth Sunday of Epep, five verses are added which are verses 6 to 10, which indicate the importance of faith in the chief cornerstone, our Lord Jesus Christ, just as our Lord said to Martha, if you believe you will see the glory of God (John 11:40). Similarly it refers to the call of the Lord to the souls to come out of darkness to His marvelous light; just as He called Lazarus from the darkness of Hades and the grave, towards His divine light (which is the theme of the Liturgy Gospel of that Sunday). 

The reading of Acts (Praxis) of this Day (Acts 13:36 – 43) is same as that of the 30th of Koiahk. The reading on this day (first Sunday of Paope) talks about forgiveness of sins which is the gift given to the paralytic, who was carried by the four men (the Liturgy Gospel of this Day). However on the 30th of Koiahk, the same reading illustrates the salvation and righteousness that came through the incarnation of the Word. 

The Liturgy Psalm of the Day (Ps.33:1 – 2) is the same psalm as that of Matins of the second Sunday of Paone and it is those two Sundays in which the Gospel of the Liturgy is about the miracle of the healing the paralytic who was carried by four men.

Explanation of the Readings

The readings of this Sunday speak about the Logos; the lifegiving Word (the Word of life): our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be all glory.

The Psalms show that the initiative to approach us, should proceed from God. For we cannot understand Him; but it is He who reveals Himself to us (Vesper Psalm). However he tests His revelation to those who thirst for Him (Matins Psalm) and so our life will flow with joy and praises (Liturgy Psalm). 

Through the Vesper Psalm we see that the creation’s knowledge of the Son of the Word begins with His revelation to us and with His face shining upon us. For mankind will never know the way of their salvation unless His compassion and mercy are shown to them: 

“God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us, That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.” (Psalm 66: 1, 2)

Yet this will never be achieved without the human will and his effort, just as shown in the Matins Psalm: “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.” (Psalm 62: 1, 2)

Therefore the fruits of knowing Him come forth as: blessing, praising, boasting in Him, and bringing others towards Him, just as shown through the Liturgy Psalm: 

“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad.” (Psalm 33: 1 – 2)

 

The readings continue to speak about the faithfulness of the ministers of the word (Pauline Epistle), the work of the word in our lives (Catholic Epistle), and its justification for man (Praxis). 

The Pauline Epistle makes clear the importance of being faithful in the word which we preach and of the purity of our service of the word, and also the Importance of serving in the spirit of the word & not by the letter: 

“When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel” (2 Cor. 2:12) … 

“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved among those who are perishing” (2 Cor. 2:15) … 

“For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God” (2 Cor. 2:17) … 

“You are our epistle” (2 Cor. 3:2) … 

“written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God” (2 Cor. 3:3) … 

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:5,6)

Through the Catholic epistle, Saint Peter shows the essence of God’s living word in giving us a new birth, and how the steadfastness of its work (the work or the word) is like ‘pure milk of the word’, its glory differing from that of the world which passes away, and its power to build up souls so as to become “living stones”.

“Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because ‘All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever.’” ( 1 Pet. 1: 23-25) …

“As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood.” (1 Pet. 2: 2-5) 

As such the Praxis confirms the justification of the word of life for the man of the New Testament, the annunciation of joy (that is, the good news) which is the forgiveness of sins which the Law was unable to provide. This is the essence of the calling of the word: 

“that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses.” (Acts 13:38 – 39) …

“So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath … many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.” (Acts 13: 42, 43)

 

The Vesper Gospel shows the riches of the crowds and the church that follow His word. After the crowds had stayed three days with the Son of God to hear the word of life, then came the blessing, the prosperity and satiation with the simplest things in the simplest of ways. Through the word of blessing which Jesus prayed to God the Father, He poured His divine riches abundantly upon the multitudes until they were all filled; thus revealing that this is the responsibility of the church along all generations: “You give them something to eat” (Matt. 14:16). That is why the church seeks the word of life and His divine presence; that He may continually be the mystery of the riches of her children: “We have here only five loaves and two fish … and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. So they all ate and were filled”. (Matt. 14:17-20)

 

As for the gospel of the Liturgy, it shows that the word of life is the subject of our preaching, and the source of our spiritual healing (i.e. forgiveness of sins) and of our bodies (the curing of diseases); thus asserting that the significance of our spiritual healing and the forgiveness of our sins, is through the health of the body:

“Immediately many gathered together… And He preached the word to them” (Mark 2: 2) …

“Son, your sins are forgiven you.” (Mark 2: 5) …  

“‘But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’ – He said to the paralytic, ‘I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.’” (Mark 2: 10,11) … 

“and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed.” (Mark 2: 12)

What is extraordinary here is that the Lord forgave the sins of the paralytic because of the four men’s faith, despite that they did not ask for such a matter nor did the paralytic himself ask for this. This gives hope to whoever is concerned with the salvation of others and the forgiveness of their sins. So if we cry out for the sake of the others that their sins may be forgiven, the Lord will certainly answer. However, we must not forget that this happened “when Jesus saw their faith.” (Mark2:5)

The verse, “‘But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins’” may be also be interpreted as follows. The Rabbis knew that man could never be healed of any of his diseases unless all of his sins had been wholly forgiven. This means that the Lord Jesus Christ, having healed the paralytic, proved that He had forgiven the sins of the paralytic, just as He said. (Reverend Father Antonius Fekri – Commentary on Matthew, chapter 9).

Summary of the readings

As the Logos of God reveals Himself to us who are thirsty, our lives will be overflowing with joy and praises (Vesper, Matins and Liturgy Psalms). The faithfulness of His word will be shown in us and through the change of our lives and by the righteousness of the New Testament (Pauline Epistle, Catholic Epistle, Praxis). It will also be shown through the multitudes who follow Him for the sake of hearing the word of life and so He satisfies their carnal needs, and heals their souls and bodies (Vesper and Liturgy Gospels).

Short commentaries by the church fathers about the Liturgy Gospel

Jesus charged the paralytic to perform an action of which health was the necessary condition (AMBROSE).
One need not be paralyzed bodily, however, to be paralyzed inwardly (AUGUSTINE).
The healing of body and soul occurs interconnectedly (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA).
The ministry of forgiveness is not the exercise of an independent power or right but points to God’s own saving work (AMBROSE).
The administration of forgiveness, which according to the scribes is the office of God alone, acutely raised the question of Jesus’ identity. Being God incarnate, of the same nature as God, he had authority on earth to act as God (CHRYSOSTOM).
If Christ forgives sins, he must be truly God, for no one can forgive sins but God (IRENAEUS)

Source: Oden, T.C. & Hall, C.A. (1998). Mark (The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New testament part II). Illinois ( USA ): InterVarsity press. Page 26.