Archbishop Dmitri Royster - The Miracles of Christ

Our Lord Jesus Christ began His public ministry with a call to repentance, and immediately He told His hearers why they must give heed. They must reorient their whole life, He said, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” John the Baptist had issued the same call and the same admonition. Jesus’ repetition of it at the very beginning unquestionably authenticates John’s work and confirms his relation to Jesus as His forerunner. The Lord’s prophet, the last and greatest, prophesies. Jesus Christ fulfills.

No greater reason for the need of repentance is possible, if by “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” we understand that God Himself has come to reclaim His creation and exercise His lordship over the human race. In other words, heaven—that is, God—will reign, and He will become King indeed. This coming had been promised by Israel’s history and Israel’s prophets. Jesus Christ is the promised and expected Redeemer and Savior.

Because Jesus Christ was God incarnate, His very presence made the assertion “is at hand” (or “has drawn near”) a literal fact: where God is, there is the kingdom. Still, He will reign in the hearts of men and women who repent; He will not force His reign upon those who reject Him.

Archbishop Dmitri (Royster) – The Miracles of Christ

Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1999. – 164 pp.

ISBN 0-88141-193-0

Archbishop Dmitri (Royster) – The Miracles of Christ - Contents

Introduction. 1

Part I

• 1 Readings for the Sundays after Pentecost - 2 The Fourth Sunday - 3 The Fifth Sunday - 4 The Sixth Sunday - 5 The Seventh Sunday - 6 The Eighth Sunday - 7 The Ninth Sunday - 8 The Tenth Sunday - 9 The Seventeenth Sunday - 10 The Eighteenth Sunday - 11 The Twentieth Sunday - 12 The Twenty-fourth Sunday - 13 The Twenty-seventh Sunday - 14 The Twenty-ninth Sunday - 15 The Thirty-first Sunday

Part II

• 1 The First Sign: The Wedding at Cana (John 2:1 -11) - 2 The Second Sign: The Nobleman’s Son (John 4:46-54) - 3 The Third Sign: The Paralytic (John 5:1-15) - 4 The Fourth Sign: The Feeding of the Five Thousand (John 6:5-14) - 5 The Fifth Sign: The Blind Man (John 9:1 -38) - 6 The Sixth Sign: The Raising of Lazarus (John 11:1 -45) - 7 Final Comments on Sections I and II

Part III

• 1 The Healing of a Possessed Man (Mark 1) - 2 Peter’s Mother-in-law (Mark 1) - 3 The Cleansing of a Leper - 4 The Man With a Withered Hand (Mark 3) - 5 The Calming of the Tempest (Mark 4) - 6 The Demoniac, the Ruler’s Daughter, the Woman With an Issue of Blood (Mark 5) - 7 Feeding of the Five Thousand, Jesus Walks on the Sea, The Deaf and Dumb Man (Mark 6-7) - 8 The Feeding of the Four Thousand, The Blind Man (Mark 8) 

Epilogue