St. John, speaking about the healing of the nobleman's son in Capernaum, says that “this is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee”. In total, St. John mentions in his Gospel seven miracles that Jesus did. This number cannot be accidental, because according to the biblical number symbolism, seven represents the whole. The seven miracles are:

·      Water turned into wine at the wedding feast in Cana

·      Healing of nobleman’s son

·      Healing the paralytic at Bethesda

·      Feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish

·      Walking on water

·      Healing the man blind from birth

·      Raising Lazarus from the dead

Today’s Gospel is full of surprises. Who is so stupid as to turn down an invitation to go to the wedding of the son of the king? What ridiculous excuses for not participating in such a glorious event: “they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise.“ Even more incomprehensible is the behavior of those who “took his servants, and treated them spitefully, and slew them“ – how can it even be possible: you are invited to a wedding feast and, instead of going, you kill the one who was sent to invite you?

Today's Gospel tells about a man who was sick of the palsy. Or rather, about quite a few men who were sick of the palsy. One of them was cured, the others were not, because they didn’t realize that they were sick and didn’t want to be cured.

We are not talking about physical paralysis here, but spiritual paralysis. When Jesus saw the man who was sick of the palsy and was brought to Him, He said: “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee!”

In Hebrew, the name Michael means “who is like God”. This name speaks of God’s greatness, power, uniqueness, and the answer to the question contained in this name is: “No one! There is no one equal to God!”

Yet there is something of God himself in Michael: he is an angel of God. Angels are God’s messengers, His envoys – that’s what the Greek word “angelos” means. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, it is said that angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation”, and Jesus assures us that the guardian angels of God’s children “do always behold the face of His Father which is in heaven”.

Today’s Gospel begins with a description of how Jesus healed a man with dropsy. Dropsy is actually not a disease, but a medical condition caused by some serious illness. For example, it can be caused by cardiac failure, lung problems, liver disease or pancreatitis. Dropsy can vary in severity, but it is uncomfortable and can be extremely painful. By healing this man, Jesus not only relieved him of his pain, but He did much more: He healed this man of the disease that had caused the dropsy.