Homily on the Sunday of the Blind Man #
This Sunday is called the Sunday of the Blind Man, or of the healing of the man born blind. The Gospel reading today, from the Gospel according to John, recounts this great miracle. Jesus Christ, walking through the city of Jerusalem, saw a blind man who was begging for alms. The disciples asked the Lord, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” The Jews believed that all misfortunes happened to people only as punishment for their own sins or the sins of their parents. This belief was based on the Law of Moses, which states that God punishes the children for the iniquity of the fathers to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 20:5).
Christ answered the disciples, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” Then Jesus explained to the disciples that He was sent by the Heavenly Father to fulfill the works of God, the works of light, because He Himself is “the Light of the world,” that through the miracle of healing it might be revealed that Christ came into the world to enlighten those dwelling in blindness—not only bodily, but spiritual as well.
The blind man heard the Lord’s words, and such thoughts and feelings may have arisen in his heart: Why is he blind, while all around him others see? Why can he not distinguish between day and night? Why does he not behold the beauty of the world? Why does he wander in perpetual darkness, stumbling against stones and wounding his feet? He had never seen the shining sun, nor the image of his Creator in human form. So speaks the stikhera of this day, in which the blind man cries out to the Lord: “I pray to Thee, O Christ God, look upon me and have mercy on me.”
And the Knower of hearts, in response to this supplication, performed the miracle of healing. Of course, the Lord could have granted him sight by a single word, but here He employed visible actions—likely in order to strengthen the faith of the one being healed, and to help him grasp the meaning of the miracle that was about to occur. “He spat on the ground, made clay of the spittle, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, and said unto him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.”
The pool of Siloam had been constructed over a sacred spring which flowed from beneath Mount Zion, at a place much revered by the people of Israel. The Evangelist explains the symbolic meaning of this spring, stating that “Siloam” means “sent,” likely signifying that Christ is the true Messenger of God, fulfilling the Divine commandment of His Father. When the man born blind washed in the waters of Siloam, he received his sight.
This miracle made a great impression on all who had known the blind man, so much so that some even doubted whether he was indeed the same person they had seen begging. But the one who had received sight confirmed that it was indeed he. The man who had been blind was brought before the Pharisees, that they might give their opinion about the miracle—especially because this extraordinary deed had been done on the Sabbath, when, according to the Pharisees’ interpretation of Sabbath rest, it was forbidden even to heal the sick.
The man who had been healed told the Pharisees about his healing. The Pharisees ought to have acknowledged this miracle, repented of their blindness and hostility toward Jesus, and given glory to God, who had granted such great signs to the people of Israel. But for this, the scribes and Pharisees would have had to humble their pride—and that was too great a burden for their arrogant and haughty minds. Thus, they resolved to refute the miracle at all costs.
They interrogated the blind man repeatedly about what had happened and how. They summoned his parents, demanding that the man acknowledge his Healer as a sinner. They questioned him again about the healing, evidently hoping to find something in his words to dispute or twist the miracle. But the man who had received sight spoke plainly, declaring his belief: “He is a prophet.” Yet the Jews insisted that he confess Jesus to be a sinner, a violator of the Sabbath commandment.
The man, exasperated by the Pharisees, gave them a profound reply: “Whether He be a sinner or not, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. We know that God does not hear sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth. If this man were not of God, He could do nothing.”
At this, the Pharisees, stung and indignant, snapped back, “Thou wast altogether born in sins,” and cast him out. The obstinate unbelief of the Pharisees led them to reject even a manifest miracle wrought by the Lord.
When Jesus heard that the man had been cast out and excluded from the synagogue, He Himself sought him out. Desiring to enlighten the eyes of his soul and strengthen his faith, He asked him, “Dost thou believe in the Son of God?” The man replied, “Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him?” Then the merciful answer came: “Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that talketh with thee.”
The Lord, having revealed Himself to the formerly blind man, led him to faith in the Son of God. The man saw the Lord with his healed eyes and cried out with joy: “Lord, I believe!"—and he worshipped Him. True enlightenment is always accompanied by worship of God.
This newfound faith of the healed man gave Christ occasion to express a solemn truth about the spiritual blindness of those who refused to believe in His divine mission: “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind” (John 9:39).
At this rebuke, the Pharisees asked Him, “Are we blind also?” Jesus replied, “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” That is, had the Pharisees truly been blind in the way Christ meant—ignorant through no fault of their own—their unbelief might have been excusable. But since they prided themselves on being experts and interpreters of the Law, who claimed to see the truth therein, their stubbornness and hardness of heart against the divine truth amounted to the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, of which it is said: “It shall not be forgiven, neither in this world, nor in the world to come” (Matthew 12:31–32).
When the true Light came into the world, enlightening every man, it was those who sought this Light in the simplicity of a humble heart—those who considered themselves “blind”—who were able to see and believe in Christ. But those who, in their pride, imagined themselves to be “seeing” and all-knowing, who saw no need to believe in Christ—these self-assured wise men proved to be miserable spiritual blind men, who rejected the light of truth brought into the world by Christ.
To our great sorrow, spiritual blindness still prevails even now among those who rely solely on worldly knowledge and their own limited reason, and who do not seek, in humility and prayer, the wisdom of divine illumination. How many are blind around us—not with bodily blindness, but with something far more terrible: blindness to the meaning of life, blindness to love and compassion for their neighbors, blindness to everything that might transform our life into a victory over sin and death.
The blind man sought the Savior, met Him face to face—and Christ healed him. We, likewise, must go forth to meet Christ, just as He once came into the world two thousand years ago. Each of us must take up our own cross and follow after Him, manifesting His presence in the world. Christ has given us an example that we must follow. Our calling is not to remain in helplessness and weakness, always as passive recipients of divine care, expecting that God will continually pour out His mercy and grace upon us; rather, our calling is to follow Christ and, by doing so, to transform the world—overcoming sin, becoming heralds of divine love, compassion, and truth in this world—forgetting ourselves and casting off fear.
The Apostle Paul understood this when he said that he was filling up in his own body—that is, in soul and flesh—“that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ,” so that he might become a Christian in whom others could recognize Christ Himself.
When Christ answered the disciples’ question—“Who sinned, that this man was born blind?”—He revealed that it was not a punishment for sin that caused his blindness, but rather that “the works of God might be made manifest in him,” that the glory of God might be revealed. But was the glory of Christ truly revealed in the fact that a man lived many years in deprivation and suffering, just so that a miracle might occur and people might glorify God? The miracle of healing was not performed so that Christ might receive praise—indeed, we see that for this miracle, He was reproached and persecuted. “Evidently, the blindness was necessary for the blind man, so that through his affliction his soul might mature, so that he might behold both the world and Christ—might see in Christ God Himself. His sickness was a blessing,” writes Bishop Mikhail Semyonov in his sermon Illness and Sin. Through the miracle, the man’s soul came to possess an experience of faith, an encounter with God, a gratitude toward Him—and this is far greater than physical sight.
How often we see that people do not glorify the Lord when things are going well in their lives. They take for granted health, safety, provision, and freedom. Few are they who truly appreciate these things as unearned gifts from God, as a cause for continual joy and thanksgiving to the Creator. God, in His mercy and care for our salvation, does not allow us to perish in the dull comfort of prosperity. He often reminds us—whether gently or sternly—of our spiritual blindness and our indifference to His loving care.
And how does the soul’s enlightenment come about? A person, still spiritually blind, may at first recognize only great and obvious sins: murder, fornication, theft—sins as large as mountains. If he repents and mourns over these sins, they begin to crumble. Then he begins to see new sins—those he had never noticed before, or had considered insignificant. He may begin to perceive how many things separate him from God: envy, pride, anger, greed, selfishness—he sees these sinful stones. He begins to repent of them, to understand their roots, to struggle against them. And then those large stones begin to break into many smaller ones.
And when a person is horrified, seeing his soul clothed in sins like in a filthy, unworthy garment, when he begins to mourn over his fall and realizes that his sins are as numerous as the sand of the sea—then we may say that true spiritual vision has begun. So it was with the saints, who labored greatly to repent of their sins, to weep over them, to hate them, and who devoted their entire lives to acquiring spiritual sight.
When we behold the multitude of evils we have committed, we begin to understand that our own will is powerless to free us from this sea of sin—that we cannot cleanse ourselves by our own strength. Then we begin to cry out to God for help: “Lord, cleanse me; grant me strength to see and overcome my sins.” And as the soul is purified with God’s help, the image of Christ begins to shine forth within it, filling it with light, and we may say with the Apostle: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me.”
Spiritual enlightenment begins when a person’s sins are revealed to him—when he begins to repent and the fear of God enters his soul. One who has received spiritual sight must avoid all defilement of sin, remembering the words of the Apostle: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy” (1 Corinthians 3:16–17).
Spiritual blindness is healed by the tears of repentance, when a person continually labors in the soul to be cleansed. Only the struggle against sin will reveal to us our weakness, as Saint Symeon the New Theologian teaches; only this struggle will show us the truth and grant us the experience of acquiring faith. For the enlightenment of a soul darkened by sin, we need the clay made by Christ—healing through the grace of the Holy Spirit; we need cleansing through the sacraments of Confession and Communion, so that within us may occur a transformation from a dark, sinful life to one that is radiant and truly Christian.
The kontakion of the Sunday of the Blind Man declares: “I am blind in the eyes of my soul; to Thee I come, O Christ, as did the man blind from birth, and with repentance I cry unto Thee: Thou art the Light most radiant of those in darkness.”
Let us also, brethren, cry out to the Lord in prayer, that He might deliver us from the blindness that gives birth to sinful passions, that the eyes of our soul may be opened, and that the miracle of enlightenment may be accomplished within us, just as with the blind man who longed to see the world and his Creator, though he had never before known His beauty and glory.
And if we—though not yet seeing the beauty and glory of the Kingdom of Heaven—will still ask the Lord to illumine us with His light, and strive with all our strength toward salvation, then the Lord, in His mercy and in response to our faith, may grant us this miracle also, and bring us into His eternal Kingdom.