My beloved spiritual children in Our Risen Lord, Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN!

SUNDAY OF THE GOSPEL ON THE MIRACULOUS HEALING OF THE MAN BORN BLIND (St. John 9:1-38)

"As Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying: "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered: "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him..."

Today's Gospel describes one of the innumerable wonders (miracles or Gk. thavmata) wrought by God, through which Christ's love for suffering men is shown, and His Divinity once more revealed.

At that time, as "Jesus passed by, He saw a man which was blind from his birth." Before this, it says that the Jews took up stones to cast at the Lord in the Temple itself, because He had spoken the truth. But while the wicked Jews were thinking only how they might act maliciously towards the Lord, He was thinking only of how to do good to men. A man was sitting in front of the Temple, blind from birth, asking for alms. None of these wicked persecutors of Christ, the shameful leaders and elders of the people, was prepared to take any thought for this poor man. Even if one of them threw a few coins into his lap, this was ore to make a parade before men than out of love and compassion for the man. Right back in Moses' day, the Lord said of these people: "They are a very forward generation; children in whom is no faith" (Deuteronomy 32:20). The compassionate Lord stopped by this man, ready to be of real help to him.

"And His disciples asked Him, saying: "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Before this, the Lord had healed the paralyzed man at the Sheep Pool, and had said to him: "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (St. John 5:14), from which it is clear that that man, who had been sick so many years, had brought his suffering on himself by his own sins. But the case with the man born blind was unclear, and the disciples, therefore, asked for enlightenment: "Who sinned?"

The most wise Rabbi replied to the disciples' question: "Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." That is, as Saint John Chrysostom says: "that he sinned, or his parents, is not here the cause of his blindness". It is not said of Job that either he or his parents had sinned, but he was attacked by a terrible sickness so that he was constrained to cry out: "My flesh is clothed with worms... my skin is broken, and become loathsome" (Job 7:5). Apart from one's parents and one's own sin, there must be other causes of men's suffering on earth. In the case of the man born blind, the cause consisted in that "the works of God should be made manifest in him." Blessed are they in whom the works of God are made manifest; who feel them, and use them for their soul's salvation. Blessed is the poor man whom God's mercy makes rich and famous, and he feels this mercy of God's with thanksgiving...the works of God are manifest in all of us every day, for God is with us all our days on earth. These works of God in us are for the salvation of each one of us as individuals. But the works of God in the man born blind were for the salvation of many. It was, by these works, shown that there are, among men, many more blind in spirit than in body. It was further shown by them how a wise man, given a bodily gift by God, will use it to enrich his soul with True faith. Foreseeing all these fruits of the healing of the man born blind, the Lord said with great joy to His disciples: "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." As though to say: leave aside for now the question of who sinned: he or another. It is not important at the moment. If he and his parents have sinned, I have been able, at this moment, to forgive them, taking their sin on Myself and proclaiming them forgiven. All this is now secondary to that which is to be manifested. And the works of God--not one, but many-- are to be manifested in him and will be recorded in the Gospel for the salvation of many. Indeed, the years of suffering by the man born blind will be rewarded a hundredfold, the reward for those who suffer for God's sake even for a day, is imperishable. One wise commentator on the Gospel Nicephoros, says about this man born blind: "A man born blind, who had never had an idea of what sight could mean, would feel incomparably less sadness that a man who had once seen, and had then lost his sight. He had been blind and had later received the reward for this small and almost unfelt sadness. For he received a twofold sight: physical sight, by means of which he saw the world around him; and spiritual sight, by which he recognized the Creator of the world."

Woe to those who have seen Him eye to eye, and have not known Him, but have rejected Him and remained in their deadly darkness. But this reply of His is also for us; we are His contemporaries, for He is alive forever and ever. And today we have the confirmation of His words: "As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." As long as He is in a man's soul, He is the Light of that man. As long as he is in the midst of a people, He is the Light of that people. As long as He is in a school, He is that Light of that school. As long as he is in a workshop, He is the Light of the work and the workers. Anywhere from He withdraws His presence, a total darkness prevails; the human soul without Him becomes hell; a people without Him become of famished and ravening wolves; a school without Him becomes a poison-factory of folly; a workshop without Him becomes a place of grumbling and hatred. And think of hospitals and prisons without Him--they become dark caverns of despair! Indeed, whoever thinks on the days of his life, of a day without Christ and days with Him, the man has in himself a witness to the truth of those words of the Lord's: "As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world."

Christ's Light, by which He illumines the world and enlightens men, reveals itself before our eyes in its true radiance only when we see it against human darkness. And what followed on from the miraculous healing of the blind man present, in very truth, the thickest and most-frozen darkness of the human heart and mind; a darkness that, in today's Gospel, lies like a deep shadow under the blazing Light of Christ the Sun. This is the terrible darkness of the blind and minds of the Pharisees. Not only did the Pharisees not rejoice that the blind beggar in front of their Temple could now see, but they were even insulted and embittered. This Temple of theirs had already been turned into a guardian of the Sabbath, in the same way that their whole faith had been turned into the worship of the Sabbath as a goddess.

"Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when He had found him, He said unto him: 'Dost Thou believe in the Son of God?' The blind man who has been healed had passed the first test: he has shown himself to be meek (humble) and obedient when the Lord sent him with clay-smeared eyes to wash himself in the Pool of Siloam. That was the test of obedience. He then passed the second test: he showed himself to be persevering under temptation, and would not betray the Lord to the Pharisees' lies. This is the test of temptation. Then the Lord confronted him with the third and final test; the greatest test: that of true faith. "Dost thou believe in the Son of God?" And Jesus said unto him: 'Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee." And he said, "Lord, I believe," and worshipped Him.

As his bodily eyes had earlier been opened, so now were his spiritual eyes. And he looked with both his bodily and spiritual eyes, and saw before him the God-Man. God in human flesh.

Our God is indeed great, and doeth wonders; and there is no end to the tale of His wonders. We also, believe, O Lord Jesus Christ Our Savior; we believe that Thou art the Son of God and the Light of the world. We, together with the choirs of Angels and Saints in heaven, and Thy whole Church on earth, worship Thee, O Most-gracious Lord: Thee and Thy Father and the Holy Spirit-the Trinity consubstantial and undivided, now and forever and through all time and eternity. Amen. (Source: Homilies by Saint Nikolai Velimirovic)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Divine Resurrection,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George