The Blind Man of Jericho Healed – Father Gavril Galev
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“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
This Gospel reading (Luke 18: 35-43) was read a few weeks ago and we should remember its interpretation. Now I would like to emphasize the most important point of this event which is essential for us. That is the personality of the blind man and his answer, that is, his goal.
The blind man represents the whole human race, the whole of the humanity as spiritually blind. We are all spiritually blind because we are held captive by the passions and our mind is darkened, so we supposedly see something, but in reality we see nothing.
And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.” Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; and now you say, ‘We see,’ therefore your sin remains.” (John 9: 39-41)
We are blind and we do not see what is the essence, what is the goal in this life, in this world and we miss it. However, this man, although physically blind man, knew exactly what this was, more precisely Who this is. It (He) is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the promised Messiah, the Son of David.
Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging; and hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” (Luke 18: 35-38)
When the blind man learned from the people that Jesus of Nazareth was in close proximity to him, as the people had declared the Traveller to be an ordinary man, he immediately cried out with a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Although he was blind, he shows knowledge of the Scriptures, he knew that the Nazarene was not just an ordinary man born of flesh from Nazareth, but the Nazarene is the promised Messiah, the King of Israel, the Saviour Who will come to give sight to the blind…
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which He anointed Me. He sent me to proclaim good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach liberty to the captives and recovery of the sight to the blind; to declare the good year of the Lord!” (Isaiah 61: 1)
And when the people had rebuked him again, he cried with even louder voice, saying, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus Christ approached him, He asked him clearly in front of everyone, what he wanted.
And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” (Luke 18:41). The blind man told him directly that he wanted to see. He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight!” (Luke 18:41)
Now comes the most important thing – Why did he ask to see?
Because he knew what blindness means, he knew what powerlessness, dependence, immobility (disability) means (was), and that is why he wanted to see, so he could be set free and to follow Christ, to follow the One Who is the true freedom, light and life. He loved only Christ and wanted to follow Him wherever He would lead him, therefore he began to follow Him. He did not want to enjoy the earthly pleasures that the world offers us, because by enjoying the pleasures of this world, serving this world, we are trapped by passions and we become spiritually blind.
Through the example of the blind man clearly all three stages of the spiritual life can be seen.
At the first stage, man was blind, he was held captive by the passions, he was held captive by sin, yet he had faith and hope, and he prayed. He prayed/begged incessantly even though he was rebuked and warned to stop call out to Jesus, to be quiet, but he cried out and prayed all the more.
After God descended on him, that is, He purified his heart from the passions, restored his sight and gave him spiritual sight, he got up and followed Him.
Then said Jesus to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God. (Luke 18: 42-43).
This is the second stage of the spiritual life – when we walk, that is, we live according to God. At the second stage of the spiritual life the prayer becomes focused in the heart (The prayer of the mind in the heart), but we still say it ascetically, instigated by us.
The third stage of the spiritual life is deification, when man becomes similar to God. Then we glorify God, and the prayer becomes unceasing, gracious, and is constantly created in the heart.
Let us learn from this blind man, who teaches us how to confess Jesus and how to live for Him.
Unfortunately, although we have eyes, we are spiritually blind and not even close to the blind man. We also do not have the same goal as him. Globally, mankind does not live according to Christ. He lives in darkness and aimlessness. Man, today seeks more earthly things and an earthly kingdom than God and the Kingdom of God. We live lavishly and carelessly in this world, enslaved to sin and the passions.
We need to know that whenever we seek Him – we will receive Him and always, by having Him, we in fact become His sons and His co-heirs, which means sons of the King, sons of God and everything that is His is ours and there is absolutely nothing that will we lack. May we not fear anything.
However, when we ask Him for something else, other than a relationship/union with Him, then we miss the goal and we will always have something that we will miss, we will always ask for something, we will always be dissatisfied about something, we will be unstable and unhappy. Without seeking Him as our Goal in our life – we do not follow Him, we are lost and wandering around, then our “last condition will be worse than the first.” as Christ says on another occasion:
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12: 43-45)
With repentance and weeping, let us awaken and strive to advance in the spiritual life. Let us not be blind, i.e. held captive, bound, nailed and immobile by the passions. Let the words of prayer always be in our minds and in our hearts so that we may have Christ. The prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” may it constantly be on our lips, may the words of the prayer resonate (echo) in our minds.
Let us seek God with all our heart, with all our mind (psyche) and with all our strength, let us love our neighbour as ourselves, let us forgive each other and love one another. Let us not hold a grudge, let us not allow satan to stand between us, and let us not make up nor create films about the situation and the world around us, but simply let us turn to God and follow Him wherever He would leads us. Amen!
Fr. Gavril Galev
Abbot of the monastery “St. Clement of Ohrid”,
Kinglake, Melbourne, Australia
07 / 02 / 2021
Photo by: Fr. Gavril Galev
