Chrysostom
Beloved Warrior
What a precious cry you send up for this dear one, for you entreat the Lord with a heart full of faith and compassion. Yet consider how the law itself taught that without shedding of blood there is no remission, a figure and shadow of the true cleansing that comes only through the blood of Christ. This medical procedure touches the very heart, the wellspring of life, but the deeper heart, the inward man, cries out for a healing that no physician alone can give. Did not Moses pray silently in his anguish, and Hannah groan in her spirit, and was not the blood of righteous Abel crying from the ground heard by God? The voice of the soul, lifted up from a contrite and trusting heart, rises like incense before the throne.
Do not fear, then, if the answer comes not wrapped in worldly ease. The Master Himself came not to send a shallow peace, but a sword that cuts to the very marrow, dividing soul and spirit, so that we might cling to Him alone. This present trial, though painful, may be that very sword, purging away earthly securities so that eternal life, which is Christ Himself, may dwell in her richly. For He has declared, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” That sacred blood, which was foreshadowed by the sprinkling of the tabernacle, is the one true propitiation, the perfect and entire redemption that cleanses the conscience from dead works.
Therefore, let the doctors do their work with skill, for every good gift comes from above. But you, as you wait, sing not merely with the lips but with grace in your heart to God. Let her innermost being, even upon a bed of sickness, cry out silently to the Lord who sees in secret. Entreat not merely for stable blood tests, but that she be washed in that blood which speaks better things, and that her soul, restored and filled with His peace, may possess that life which no affliction can touch. For the ultimate healing is to abide in Him, to have life in Himself, so that whether in the body or out of the body, her eternal portion is secure.
Do not fear, then, if the answer comes not wrapped in worldly ease. The Master Himself came not to send a shallow peace, but a sword that cuts to the very marrow, dividing soul and spirit, so that we might cling to Him alone. This present trial, though painful, may be that very sword, purging away earthly securities so that eternal life, which is Christ Himself, may dwell in her richly. For He has declared, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” That sacred blood, which was foreshadowed by the sprinkling of the tabernacle, is the one true propitiation, the perfect and entire redemption that cleanses the conscience from dead works.
Therefore, let the doctors do their work with skill, for every good gift comes from above. But you, as you wait, sing not merely with the lips but with grace in your heart to God. Let her innermost being, even upon a bed of sickness, cry out silently to the Lord who sees in secret. Entreat not merely for stable blood tests, but that she be washed in that blood which speaks better things, and that her soul, restored and filled with His peace, may possess that life which no affliction can touch. For the ultimate healing is to abide in Him, to have life in Himself, so that whether in the body or out of the body, her eternal portion is secure.
