Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Christ is Risen!

Congratulations with this last Sunday of the Paschal season!

Today, as is always the case on this last Sunday of Pascha, we heard the wonderful Gospel reading about the healing of the blind man. It is wonderful because much of it points to the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not by chance that Christ, while healing the unfortunate blind man, performed certain actions that demonstrated in pointed fashion His divine nature, for right before the events that we heard about today, He was in the Temple in Jerusalem conversing with the Jews, trying to persuade them that He in truth was the Saviour of the world, the Son of God, sent by God the Father into the world to draw mankind into heaven. This discussion (or, perhaps, it’s better to characterize it as an argument), drew many to faith in Jesus as the Saviour, but the priests and pharisees, the Jewish elite, did not wish to understand Him, but instead took stones to cast at Him.

Christ, as a true Good Shepherd who is always looking for lost sheep, did not abandon the Jews who wanted to kill Him, but tried to convince them a different way. Since they would not listen to His words, He showed them with actions that He is not just a man, but man and God, the Saviour of the world. He healed the blind man not with a simple word, nor through a touch, but through an action that clearly demonstrates His divinity. He took earth and mixed it with His spittle and anointed the eyes of the blind man. This action clearly harkens back to the way God in the beginning created Adam, when He took earth, formed it into a man and breathed the spirit of life into him. Here Christ created not a whole person, but only that which was missing, i. e. only the eyes.

As we heard at the end of today’s Gospel reading, even such a vivid and unheard-of miracle could not convince the Jews that Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah. Although they did not come to believe in Christ, the blind man not only believed, but fearlessly preached Him before them. The Lord granted to him not only physical sight, but also the Grace to see spiritual things.

Today, let’s remember that we are sinful people and not always able to see the spiritual reality in which we find ourselves. We could go through life thinking that we are living correctly and pleasingly to God, but in reality would could be mistaken, just as was the case with the Jews. Let’s pray to our Lord Jesus Christ that He not abandon us, that He enlighten our spiritual eyes so that we can see the reality of our life and follow after Him.

priest Alexis