Monday, January 31, 2005
Unmercenary Healers Cyros and John
2nd Vesp Hierarchs: Deuteronomy 10:14-21 Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:8 Gospel: St. Matthew 10:1, 5-8
St. Matthew 10:1, 5-8, especially vs. 8: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.
Freely you have received, freely give." The Lord Jesus' dispatch of His Twelve disciples at this point - a third of the way
into St. Matthew's Gospel - is similar to an operatic prelude in that it contains many of the themes of the Great
Commission (Mt. 28:19-20) and of all the drama and glory that have occurred from the opening of the Book of Acts right
up to the present day.
There are significant differences, to be sure, but what the Lord commissioned in these verses has continued in splendor
since the Day of Pentecost. In the power of the Holy Spirit, the impinging of the Kingdom of God into this world is
preached and actualized over and over again: the sick are healed, lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, demons are
exorcised, and all these wonders still are given freely by God through His own appointed successors to those first twelve
disciples. What we are living today is no Lohengrin or Aida, but the true Light, the heavenly Spirit, the true Faith, the
worship of the undivided Trinity Who hath saved us.
What a striking moment for the Twelve! They had heard it all, seen it, and lived through such acts as witnesses of this
incredible man Jesus Whom they followed as their Master. Then, in one moment, He turned the Kingdom upon them and
made them His heralds. There, you have seen it and known it directly; now go, announce it, and do it all. Out of kindness
and necessity for what else remained to be done in Jerusalem, on Golgotha, and in their gatherings later when He would
come to them triumphant from the grave, He narrowed the task to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (vs. 6). This was
to be a preliminary trial, a pre-test, a foretaste. They still were disciples - trainees - and not yet fully prepared to be
Apostles. That would come in time. One of the reasons for keeping the focus of the Twelve on their Jewish brethren was
to reduce cultural barriers, so that these undeveloped and hesitant fledglings might actually experience God working
through them first hand. They would find resistance enough, going out "as sheep in the midst of wolves" (Mt. 10:16) and
failures when "they could not cure" (Mt. 17:16). Still, they did directly experience what God could do through them -
unbelieving and imperfect as they were. As Seventy others found when they were similarly dispatched (Lk 10:1), "Lord,
even the demons are subject to us in Your Name" (Lk. 10:17).
By directing the Twelve to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, the Lord also foreclosed any complaint on the part of the
Jews that He avoided them in the proclamation of the Gospel. Their Messiah came to His own, but by and large, "His own
did not receive Him" (Jn. 1:11). Of course, the Twelve were Jews, as were the Seventy, and the thousands of others in
those first days of the first century who became followers of the Way subsequently - even before the Mission moved out to
announce the Kingdom of God to other peoples, tribes, and nations.
On this feast day of Cyros and John, we must not fail to identify that, even at this early juncture, the Lord Jesus made it
perfectly clear that the healing power He imparts to His Church is freely given and must be passed on freely to others with
no open or hidden charges (Mt. 10:8). Christ gives to each of us "the grace of God and the gift by the grace of [Himself]
the one Man, Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:15). There is no room for the mercenary motive. This is why we give thanks to God
for the witness of unmercenary healers such as Cyros and John. They were not loathe to point out that illness comes upon
people mainly through sin and that men should cleanse their souls from sin by repentance and prayer to be restored in body
and soul.
O Holy unmercenary healers, Cyros and John, glory to Him Who hath given you power; glory to Him Who crowned you,
glory to Him Who through you accomplishes healing for all.
