Sermon for the Sunday of the blind man

Christ is risen!!!

On this Sixth Sunday of Pascha, the Holy Church brings before us the Gospel of the healing of the man born blind,— a miracle filled with profound spiritual meaning for each of us.
Seeing him, the disciples ask, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” They see a theological problem; Christ sees a person in pain. He looks at this man’s lifelong darkness not as divine punishment, but as an opportunity for the works of God to be revealed.
The Lord then spits on the ground, makes clay, and anoints his eyes. Just as God formed Adam from the dust of the earth, the Son of God uses clay to recreate human sight. This is not merely a healing; it is a new creation.
He then instructs the man to wash in the pool of Siloam — a prefigurement of Holy Baptism. But notice something essential here: Christ offered the healing, but the man had to respond with obedience. God’s grace does not destroy human freedom. The Christian life is always one of synergy: Christ offers the light, but we must choose to walk towards it.
Saint John also tells us that “it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay.” This is no coincidence. Again and again, Christ chooses the Sabbath to heal — the paralytic at Bethesda, the woman bent over for eighteen years, the man with the withered hand. Why? Because the Sabbath is a day for the restoration of God’s creation, a foretaste of the eternal Kingdom. By healing on the Sabbath, Christ reveals Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath and points us to the great Eighth Day — the day of the Resurrection — when all creation is made new in Him.
The true miracle, however, is the gradual opening of the man’s spiritual vision. At first he calls Jesus simply “a man.” Under questioning, he declares, “He is a prophet.” Finally, when Christ reveals Himself, the man falls before Him and cries, “Lord, I believe!” His physical eyes were opened in an instant; his spiritual eyes, slowly step by step.
Meanwhile, we see the tragic blindness of the Pharisees. They possess physical sight and know the scriptures, yet they see only a broken rule. They have memorised the law but forgotten the Lawgiver. Pride blinds them far more deeply than darkness ever blinded the beggar.
This Gospel challenges us: who is truly blind? We may have healthy eyes and still fail to see God. We are blind when we hold onto resentments. We are blind when we judge our neighbour, the homeless beggar, our colleagues, instead of seeing the image of God in them. We are blind when we succumb to pride or indifference and the list goes on. Sometimes we even prefer the darkness, because it hides our sins, while the light reveals them.
Just after the passage we have read today we have following Christ saying: “For judgement I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Indeed, the humble will receive sight. The proud will lose it.
And here, we must speak honestly to ourselves as Orthodox Christians. We are blessed to belong to the Church that has preserved the true faith — handed down from the Apostles, through the Holy Fathers, and lived in the divine services of the Church. But this inheritance can also become a danger. If we know the right doctrine yet neglect the Gospel, ignore the Fathers, and stay away from prayer and the services, we are no better than the Pharisees. They too knew the Law. And still they were blind.
Orthodoxy is not merely something to believe; it is something to live. It is not a museum piece of correct opinions, but a hospital where souls are healed through prayer, fasting, repentance, the Holy Mysteries, and most importantly love for God and our neighbours.
The blind beggar shows us the way. He swam against the current. His parents shrank back in fear, the religious authorities cast him out — yet he held fast to Christ, who is Himself the Way to our salvation. This is true Orthodox life: a daily decision to follow Christ even when the current of the world pulls hard against us.
May the Lord who opened the eyes of the man born blind also illumine our hearts, strengthen our faith, and guide us into His eternal light.

Christ is Risen!