Sunday of the Blind Man 2020 Fr. Lawrence Margitich

Christ is risen. What a story. Amazing grace.

How great, how great to save a wretch like me.

Once I was blind, but now I see. The source of

that well -known hymn, that song, is in this

gospel. We might summarize this gospel with the

following. short little parable. In the sunlight,

mud becomes hard and cracked. In the sunlight,

wax becomes soft and pliable. Our soul is going

to be one or the other. We're approaching the

end of the Paschal season, and so we have this

reading. in which Jesus reveals himself as the

light of the world to this man, and last week

he revealed himself to the woman at the well.

And soon, from Wednesday night on, we're not

going to be saying Christ is risen anymore. We're

going to move on to something else, and something

greater, if there could be something greater.

We began, think back now, we began the Paschal

service, the midnight service, in the pitch black.

Do you remember how it was? Why is that? Why

do we begin the Paschal Matins in the pitch black

at night? Why must it be at night? Is it for

some kind of dramatic effect? No. No. It's nothing

even quite lovely. It's something that ought

to be to us quite frightening. Because we hear

what Jesus said in the beginning of the Gospel

of John. Light has come into the world. He is

the true light. And men love darkness rather

than light because their deeds were evil. Cover

up their deeds. They don't want them to be seen.

For everyone that doeth evil hates the light,

neither comes to the light, lest his deed should

be exposed. This darkness is the darkness of

death, the darkness of the tomb, the darkness

of this world without Christ. The darkness of

no understanding. And today we see illustrated

so well the darkness of the denial of the truth.

And this whole gospel that we read today is about

that denial of the truth, the insanity of those

who deny the truth, and the incredible light

of Christ, this wonderful miracle, which is more

than a miracle. It's a sign of the kingdom of

God. This darkness and this insanity reminds

me of the horrible plague of the darkness in

Egypt. that came upon Pharaoh, which we read

about in Exodus, the denial of God's power, because

this was demonic darkness that he had in his

heart, Pharaoh did. On the other hand, you had

the pillar of fire leading the Hebrews, the pillar

of the fire of the Holy Spirit. This darkness,

it's sad to say, is the condition of our world.

and was once the condition of ourselves before

we knew the lord's immeasurable love and mercy

you notice in this gospel nowhere in the gospel

does jesus launch into a diatribe rail against

the powers that be of the roman empire he speaks

about the heart he speaks about repentance he

speaks about the truth and the light when we

see our own sins Yes, we should grieve, but we

should also rejoice because God's present, or

else we wouldn't see it. On Pascha, in that darkness,

you remember, maybe not this year for most of

you, but you remember, you're standing in the

church and then one candle and the holy altar

is lit. Why the holy altar? Why not just out

here someplace? It's because the light... is

a revelation from the kingdom of God. We cannot

discover this on our own. It comes to us. He

comes to us. And then, from that candle, that

light of faith, the light of understanding, the

light of knowledge of God, one candle after another

is lit. And then another. And then the whole

church is filled with the light of faith and

song. Thy resurrection, O Christ our Savior,

the angels in heaven sing. We sing to enable

us on earth to glorify thee in purity of heart

because we can only glorify God with purity of

heart. And the darkness then flees. It flees

with the light and the song. And each candle

being lit, each voice singing is the heart, the

mind, the soul, the life of each person being

illumined in baptism, first in repentance, in

baptism, in faith. By the one whom we heard in

the gospel today say, I am the light of the world.

About whom St. John the theologian says in that

first chapter of John, which we heard on Pascha

night, that the light shines in the darkness

and the darkness did not overcome it. He opens

the darkest tomb to the brilliant light of life

eternal. This isn't just some general or pious,

religious -sounding words and statements about

Christ. The depths of our heart await his illumination.

Or, if we turn away, then we're in the state

of the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees, who deny

what they saw. This man, you... You couldn't

have been born blind because now you see. And

that man is a sinner, so he couldn't have healed

you. So just give glory to God. No, these aren't

just general sounding statements. This is about

the state. This is about the situation, the condition

of our heart. And so we have these amazing stories

from the gospel and the epistle today with both

concluding with acts of faith. Lord, I believe.

And he worshipped Jesus. And the jailer, rather

than killing himself, came to faith and he was

baptized. Notice, it wasn't by a long argument

either. It wasn't by a lot of words. It wasn't

by trying to talk somebody into something. It

was because the gospel was given from purity.

from the power of God with his love. What Jesus

did for that blind man on that day, which began

with Jesus running out of the temple because

they were going to stone him, and then the apostles

seeing the man said, who sinned, this man? Prenatal

sins? It's kind of a trick question, I guess.

Or his parents? And Christ reveals who sins at

the end. It was those who denied the truth. What

the blind man received, we received in baptism.

Step by step, this man's faith grew. Remember,

in opposition, he had opposition to his faith.

And that made him mature. And Christ gave him

something to do. So obedience to Christ is a

key for us. Before he could see Christ, he had

to follow the commandments. A spiritually sighted

person, to whom the Lord has opened the eyes

of that person, sees that without Christ, without

being obedient to the Lord, he stays in darkness.

A spiritually enlightened person sees the hand

of God in everything and rejoices that God is

with us, understanding that the events of this

life are not coincidences. A spiritually seen

person knows and is aware that the cause of many

of his troubles and sorrows lies in himself.

And that God's grace is sufficient in our weakness.

This is our path, brothers and sisters. We receive

this gospel today. To encourage us. To warn us.

And to remind us of what God has given us. And

will give to those who are going to be baptized.

Illumination. Vision. First of their own sins.

We see everybody else's sins so clearly. But

that's not illumination. Illumination is to see

our own. And then we give glory to God. We remember

this means. staunch faith, his courage, and his

enlightenment. Amen. Christ is risen.