The Holy Martyr Anysia;. The Venerable Zoticus, Presbyter abd Protector of Orphans.
Post-feast of the Nativity of Christ.
Hebrews 9:8-10,15-23; Mark 8:22-26.
Read Mark 8:22-26
The healing of the blind man is a lesson about faith. Jesus and His disciples came to Bethsaida. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: “Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (Mt. 11:21). Bethsaida was an unrepentant village, a faithless village. When a blind man was brought to Jesus at Bethsaida, Jesus first leads him out of the village. The man’s healing was not instantaneous but only happened gradually, in accordance with the man’s increase in faith. Once the man was fully restored, Jesus sent him away, saying, “Do not even enter the village” (Mk. 8:26). Symbolically, this shows us that once we have repented and been forgiven for our sins, we cannot turn back to how we once were. Once we are led from faithlessness to faith, we must live our lives as men and women of faith.
Jesus brought sight to this blind man after spitting on his eyes and laying hands upon him. In the Gospel of John, after Jesus declares, “I am the light of the world,” we also read an account of Jesus healing a blind man by spitting onto the ground, making clay with it, and then anointing the man’s eyes with the clay (see Jn. 9:1-12). In the Book of Genesis, we read how God formed Adam in the Garden of Eden: “Then God formed man out of dust from the ground, and breathed in his face the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). When Jesus anoints the man’s eyes with clay and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam, it reminds us that Jesus is God, the same God who fashioned Adam from the clay and breathed into him the breath of life.
When we posses the light, we can see clearly. When these blind men encountered Jesus, the Light of the World, by their faith they were healed and could finally see clearly. Following the light of the star, the pagan Magi were brought to adore and worship the Christ-child, the true Sun of Righteousness. By faith, we can see clearly and not be stumbling about in the darkness of this world. By cleaving to our faith in Christ, we too can be healed of our spiritual blindness and walk in newness of life.