Often, when something unfortunate takes place in our lives, we attempt to find a reason. And so, in this Sunday’s Gospel, when the Disciples encounter a man born blind from birth, they ask the Lord, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2) At this time, it was believed that disabilities, illness, even the inability to have children, were the result of God’s displeasure. However, our Lord reframes their understanding, telling them: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him” (John 9:3). Taking His spit and making clay from dust, Jesus anoints the man and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, where his new eyes are opened.
After the miracle, the blind man’s problems are far from ended. On one side, both his neighbors & his own parents are uncertain, and on the other, the Pharisees interrogate him. Listen to the bitter irony that they also share the Disciples’ limited view of disability, after the man defends Jesus: “‘Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ They answered him, ‘You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?’” (John 9:32-34). Though the man is cast out from the synagogue, Jesus approaches him, asking, “‘Do you believe in the Son of man?’ He answered, ‘And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you.’ He said, ‘Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped him’” (John 9:35-38).
It is commonly understood that Christ’s words to the Disciples, “…that the works of God might be made manifest in him” refer to the miracle that is about to be performed, yet, even more, this could be understood as Christ affirming that because every human being is made in God’s image & likeness, this means that every difference—great or small, visible or invisible—is a means to make God manifest in the world.
I am reminded of a similar quotation on Christ’s healing miracles, one made by Pope Francis: “Jesus’ gestures are inclusive: he draws to himself the poorest, the oppressed, the blind, making them participants in his new vision of things. His is not a restorative gaze. He does not heal the blind so that they can enjoy this world as a spectacle, but so that they may be able to see God’s action in history. The Lord does not come to liberate the oppressed merely to make them feel good, but to send them out to act."
As we conclude the Paschal period next Wednesday, preparing ourselves for the Lord’s Ascension, and then the coming of His Holy Spirit at Pentecost, let us not view every difference or disability as burden or a cross to bear, but instead seek to learn and grow so that we may make the works of God manifest in each one of God’s children.
+SEVASTIANOS
Metropolitan of Atlanta
Greek Orthodox Nun Elucidates the Plight of Christians in the Holy Land
Dear Brother Archons and friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Mother Agapia Stephanopoulos, a Greek Orthodox nun who has lived in the Holy Land for many years, recently granted a lengthy and detailed interview to journalist Tucker Carlson on the persecution of Christians in the Holy Land. If you have not watched this interview in its entirety already, I strongly urge you to do so, as Mother Agapia provides a uniquely illuminating perspective on the difficulties that our sister and brothers in the faith face on a daily basis.
As you watch this revealing and often shocking interview, please remain in prayer for the Greek Orthodox Christians of Israel and its environs, and for all the embattled Christians of that war-torn region.
Watch the interview here, and see a full transcript here.
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