Беседа 58

John 9:17–18. Again they say to the blind man: What will you say about Him, because He opened your eyes? He said: this is a prophet. Then the Jews did not believe... 1. The Jews, wanting to refute the miracle of the healing of a man born blind, confirm it even more brilliantly. – 2. Questioned by the Pharisees, the man born blind answers them boldly and praises God. 3. The rage and disappointment of the Pharisees. – 4 and 5. What is written in St. Scripture should serve as an instructive example for us. – A healed man born blind as an example of Christian virtues. - Negligence and carelessness in matters of religion. – We must not waste time and strive with thirst to know the truth. 1. Holy Scripture should not be read simply and not somehow, but with all care, so as not to fall into difficulties. So in the present case, someone can rightly be at a loss as to how (the Jews), having said: “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath” (John 9:16), say to the blind man: “What will you say about Him, because He opened your eyes?” They did not say: what do you say about Him who violated the Sabbath; but instead of accusation they now point to what could serve as an excuse. What should it say? These were not those who said: “This Man is not from God,” but those who separated from them and said: “A sinful man cannot perform such miracles.” Wanting to further stop their mouths and not to give any reason to think that they are defending Christ, they take him to the middle and ask the one who has experienced His power. Notice the wisdom of the beggar: he answers more intelligently than all of them. And firstly, he says: “This is a prophet” (John 9:17). He was not afraid of the judgment of the corrupt Jews, who contradicted and said: how can He be from God when he does not keep the Sabbath; but said that He was a prophet. “Then the Jews did not believe that he was blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight” (John 9:18). Look how many ways they use to eclipse and destroy the miracle. But such is the property of truth that, from what people think to undermine it, it becomes stronger, and shines through what they want to eclipse. If this had not happened, the miracle might perhaps have remained suspicious among many; now they act as if they were trying to discover the truth; and they would have acted no differently even if they cared about Christ in every possible way. Meanwhile, they tried to humiliate Him by the very fact that they said: “how He opened your eyes” (John 9:26), that is, by some kind of magic? And on another occasion, having nothing to object to, they tried to slander the method of healing and said: “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebub” (Matthew 12:24); and now again, not knowing what to say, they turn to time and say that He is breaking the Sabbath and that He is a sinner. But He asked you with all severity, His envious ones, always ready to reproach His deeds: “Which of you will convict Me of unrighteousness?” (John 8:46). And no one answered or said: You are blaspheming, calling Yourself sinless. And if they had something to say, they would not keep silent. In fact, the people who threw stones at Him and said that He was not from God when they heard that He was before Abraham, people who, being themselves murderers, boasted that they were from God, and about the One who performs such signs - when He healed on the Sabbath - they said that He was not from God because He did not keep the Sabbath - these people, if they had even the shadow of an accusation against Him, would not have failed to take advantage of that. If now they call Him a sinner because He apparently violated the Sabbath, then this accusation turned out to be in vain, since their comrades themselves recognized it as unfounded and insignificant. Thus encountering obstacles from everywhere, they turn to a new means, even more shameless and arrogant. Which one exactly? “They did not believe,” says (the evangelist), “that he was blind and received his sight.” How was He accused of not keeping the Sabbath? Isn't it obvious that they believed? And how do you not believe the numerous people - the neighbors who saw him? But, as I said, a lie always exposes itself by what it thinks to harm the truth, but reveals the truth more clearly. The same thing happened now. Lest anyone say that the neighbors and those who saw him did not say anything decisive, but spoke about a similar person, so they put the parents in the middle, and through this they involuntarily confirm the reality of the event - because the parents knew their son better than anyone. Not being able to frighten the blind man and seeing that he was preaching about the Benefactor with complete boldness, they hoped to damage the miracle through their parents. And note their malicious question. What are they saying? Having placed them in the middle in order to confuse them, they ask with great heat and anger: “Is this your son?” (John 9:19). And they did not say: who was formerly blind, but how? “Of whom you say that he was born blind,” as if they maliciously made this up out of adherence to Christ. Oh, lawless and utterly lawless! What father would dare to lie like that about his son; And they almost say this: whom you passed off as a blind man, and not only (gave him away), but also spread a rumor about him everywhere: “How can he see now?” What madness! This is your, they say, cunning and trick. Thus, by saying: “about whom you speak,” and: “how does he see now,” with these and other words they try to incite them to renounce. 2. Of the three questions asked: is he their son, was he blind, and how did he gain his sight, the parents answer only two, and do not answer the third. But this also served to confirm the truth that it was not anyone else who answered it, but the healed one himself, who in this case is a reliable witness. And is it possible after this to allow the parents to be favorable when, out of fear of the Jews, they kept silent about something that they knew? What are they saying? “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he sees now... or who opened his eyes, we do not know. He himself is of mature years;...let him speak of himself” (John 9:20–21). So they removed themselves, presenting him as worthy of faith. He is not a child, they say, not a minor, but he can testify about himself. “Thus answered his parents, because they were afraid of the Jews” (John 9:22). Notice how here the evangelist exposes their thoughts and intentions. I say this in relation to the remark that they made before, saying: “he makes himself equal with God” (John 5:18). If this were only the opinion of the Jews, and not the teaching of Christ, then the evangelist would have added and said that such was the opinion of the Jews. So, when the parents sent them to the one who was healed, they called him again - for the second time. Here they do not tell him directly and shamelessly: renounce the fact that Christ healed you, but they want to arrange this under the guise of piety. “Give,” they say, “glory to God” (John 9:24). To tell the parents: tell them that this is not your son and that he was not born blind seemed extremely funny; and to say the same to him would be sheer shamelessness. That’s why they don’t say this, but choose a different path: “give,” they say, “glory to God,” that is, admit that He did nothing. “We know that Man is a sinner.” Why didn’t you convict Him when He said: “Which of you will convict Me of unrighteousness?” And how do you know that He is a sinner? The blind man did not answer these words of theirs: “give glory to God,” and Christ, having met him, praised him and did not condemn him; did not say: why did you not give glory to God? - And what? “Do you believe in the Son of God?” (John 9:35) so that you know that this is what it means to give glory to God. If He were not equal to the Father, this would not be glory; but since he who honors the Son also honors the Father, then (Christ) rightly does not blame the blind man. So, while they expected their parents to take their side and renounce, they did not say anything to him; but when they saw that from this side they had nothing more to hope for, they turned to him again and said: “That man is a sinner. He answered and said to them, “Whether He is a sinner, I don’t know; One thing I know, that I was blind, but now I see” (John 9:24–25). Was the blind man afraid? Not at all. How, having said before, “This is a prophet,” now says: “Whether He is a sinner, I don’t know.” He speaks not out of fear and not because he thought so, but in order to justify them from accusations by the evidence of the case itself, and not in his own words, and to make this acquittal undoubted, since the favorable evidence disgraced them. After many words, he said that if this man had not been a worshiper of God, he could not have performed such signs; and then they were so indignant at him that they said: “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” (John 9:34). What would they not have done or said if he had said it in the first place? “Whether He is a sinner, I don’t know.” As if he were saying this: I’m not saying anything about this now, and I’m not giving my opinion yet; but I know this well, and I am ready to assert that, being a sinner, He could not have done such things. By this he removed all suspicion from himself and made his testimony impartial, because he did not speak as a well-disposed person, but was testified by the deed itself. Having thus not had time to reject and destroy the events, they again turn to the former, analyze the method of healing, like people who, looking everywhere for an animal lying in a safe place, run here and there. They return to their previous words, but again in order to show their insignificance through frequent questions. “What,” they say, “has He done to you? How did I open your eyes? (John 9:26). What about the blind man? Having defeated them and deposed them, he no longer speaks humiliatingly. While the matter required investigation and trial, he, presenting evidence, spoke with humility; and when he caught them and won a brilliant victory, he boldly attacks them. What is he saying? “I already told you and you didn’t listen; what else do you want to hear? (John 9:27). Do you notice the courage of the beggar before the scribes and Pharisees? So powerful is the truth and so powerless is the lie! The first, when it happens to ordinary people, makes them famous; the latter, even if it was on the side of the strong, reveals them to be weak. The words of a beggar mean: you do not listen to my words; therefore, I will not say any more, I will not answer your frequent and empty questions, because you are asking not in order to find out, but in order to outrage my words. “Or do you also want to become His disciples?” Here he already includes himself among the students: the expression: “or you” shows that he is already a student. And at the same time, he greatly ridicules and offends the Jews. 3. Indeed, he knew that this hurt them greatly; and therefore he said, wanting to reproach as much as possible, which showed a daring, exalted soul that despises their fury, showed the high dignity of the One for Whom he spoke so boldly, and declared that they insulted a person who is worthy of surprise. He himself was not offended, but considered it an honor for himself that he was reproached. “You,” they say, “are His disciple, and we are Moses’ disciples” (John 9:28). But this is not true. You are not disciples of Moses or Him. If you were disciples of Moses, you would be disciples of Him. That is why Christ told them above: “If you had believed Moses, you would have believed Me, because he wrote about Me” (John 5:46), since they constantly resorted to these words. “We know that God spoke to Moses” (John 9:29). Who said, who told you about this? Our ancestors, you say. So is He no more worthy of faith than your ancestors, who proves with signs that He came from God and proclaims things above? And they did not say, “We have heard what God said to Moses,” but, “We know.” What you have heard, Jews, you affirm as knowledgeable people; Do you really consider what you yourself have seen to be less reliable than what you have heard about? After all, you did not see this, but only heard it; but they didn’t hear this, but they saw it themselves. What about the blind man? “It is amazing that you do not know where He comes from” (John 9:30), and He does such signs. It is amazing that He, being a man not one of those known among you, not one of the famous and glorious, does such things; from this it is quite obvious that He is God, having no need of any human help. “But we know that God does not listen to sinners” (John 9:31). Since they had previously said: “How can a sinful man work such miracles” (John 9:16), he now turns to their judgment, recalling to them their own words. This opinion, he says, is the same for me and you; so stay with him. And note his prudence. Everywhere he puts out a sign, since they could not reject it, and draws conclusions from it. Do you see that at the beginning, when he said: “I don’t know whether He is a sinner,” he did not say it because he doubted? No, he absolutely knew that he was not a sinner; and therefore, now that the favorable time has come, see how you justified Him. “But we know that God does not listen to sinners; but whoever honors God and does His will” (John 9:31). Here he not only presented Him as free from sins, but also showed that He was very pleasing to God and fulfilled all His commands. Since the Jews also called themselves worshipers of God, He added: “and does His will.” It is not enough, he says, to know God, but it is also necessary to do His will. Then he extols the event, saying: “It has not been heard since ages that anyone opened the eyes of one born blind” (John 9:32). So, if you admit that God does not listen to sinners, but He created a miracle, and such a miracle that no man has ever performed, then it is obvious that He surpassed everyone in strength and His power is greater than human. What about the Jews? “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” (John 9:34). While they hoped that he would renounce, they considered him worthy of faith, and therefore they called him again and again. And if you didn’t consider him worthy of faith, then why, we could tell them, did you call and ask him another time? When, without being embarrassed by anything, he told the truth, and when he should have been especially honored, then they condemn him. What do the words mean: “You were born entirely in sins”? Here they mercilessly reproach him for his very blindness and seem to say: from the first age you have been in sins, meaning that this is why he was born blind; but it's unfair. Therefore, Christ, comforting him in this, said: “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see could see, and those who see would become blind” (John 9:39). “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us”? What did this man say? Did he express his opinion? Didn’t he put forward a general decision, saying: “we know that God does not listen to sinners”? Didn't he quote your own words? And “they kicked him out.” Do you see, the preacher of truth, how poverty was not an obstacle to wisdom? Do you see what he did not listen to and what he did not endure from the very beginning, and how he testified in word and deed? 4. But this was written so that we too would be imitators. In fact, if a beggar, a blind man, who had not even seen Christ, and before he received encouragement from Him, immediately showed such boldness that he stood against an entire people, raging, breathing murder and rage, and who wanted to condemn Christ with his words, and did not yield, and did not renounce his words, but with complete boldness stopped their mouths and preferred to be cast out rather than betray the truth, then - not much less, we, who have lived for so long in faith, have seen countless miracles performed through faith, have been blessed more than he, have seen with our inner eyes, contemplated the ineffable sacraments and been called to such great honor - shouldn’t we show all the boldness for Christ against those who try to slander and say something about Christians, (shouldn’t such people) stop their mouths, and not agree with them recklessly? And we will be able to do this when we have boldness and begin to listen to the Scriptures, and not listen to them somehow. And whoever comes here constantly, even if he does not read at home, but listens only to what is said here, one year is enough to acquire great experience. We do not read one Scripture today and another tomorrow, but always and constantly the same. And despite all this, there are many who are so pitiful that, despite such reading, they do not even know the names of books. And they are not ashamed and do not tremble that they so carelessly attend the divine school. If a zither player, a dancer, or anyone else belonging to the theater calls the city, everyone runs with haste, thanks him for the invitation and spends the whole half of the day listening to him alone. And when God talks to us through the prophets and apostles, we yawn, itch, and get bored. In the summer we find it too hot, so we go to the square; In winter, rain and mud again become a hindrance, and we sit at home. On the lists, where there is no roof to protect from the rain, in the pouring rain and with the wind throwing water in their faces, numerous spectators stand, raging and not paying attention to the cold, nor to the rain, nor to the mud, nor to the distance of the journey: nothing keeps them at home, nothing prevents them from coming there. But here, where there is a roof and pleasant warmth, they do not come and do not gather, despite the fact that this is necessary for the good of their own soul. Tell me: can this be demolished? That is why, being more experienced than anyone else in those things, we know less about the necessary things than children. If someone calls you a driver and a dancer, you consider yourself offended and try in every possible way to deflect this reproach from yourself; and if you are drawn to such spectacles, you do not refuse, and almost completely study the very art whose name you are avoiding. But here, where you must know the matter and have a name, and be and be called a Christian, you do not even know what this matter is. What could be worse than such madness? I wish I could tell you this all the time; but I am afraid that in vain and without benefit I will become hateful to you. I see that not only young men are going crazy, but also old men, for whom I am especially ashamed when I see how a man, respected by his gray hair, disgraces his gray hair and carries away a child with him. What could be funnier and more shameful than this? The son learns shameful deeds from his father! 5. Do these words upset you? This is what I want, to use unpleasant speeches to deter you from shameful deeds. And there are also those who are much more insensitive, who not only are not ashamed of what we say, but also weave long arguments in defense of this kind of thing. If you ask them: who is Amos, or Obadiah, or how many prophets or apostles there are, they will not be able to open their mouths, but in defense of horses and charioteers they will present reasoning better than sophists and rhetoricians. And after all this they still say: what’s the harm? What's the loss? That is why I sigh because you are not even aware of the harm and do not feel evil. God has given you a certain time of life to serve Him; and you waste it in vain and without any benefit, and you also ask: what is the loss? When you waste even a little money, you call it a loss; and spending whole days of your life on satanic spectacles, do you think that you are not doing anything reprehensible? You should spend your whole life in prayers and supplications, but you waste your life on shouting, noise, foul language, quarrels, untimely amusements and magic tricks - you waste it in vain and on your destruction, and after all this you ask: what is the loss? Or don’t you know that you should save time most of all? If you spend gold, you can buy it again; If you waste time, it is difficult to get it back, because not much of it has been given to us for real life. So, if we don’t use it for what we should, what will we say when we go there? Tell me: if you ordered one of your sons to learn some art, and he always stayed at home, or spent time somewhere else, would the teacher refuse him? Wouldn’t I have told you: you made a condition with me and set a deadline. But if your son is not with me this time, but somewhere else, then how can I present him to you trained? We must say the same. Yes, and God will tell us: I have given time for you to learn the art of piety; Why did you waste this time in vain and in vain? Why didn’t you constantly go to the teacher and listen to his words? And that piety really is an art, listen to what the prophet says: “Come, children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). And in another place: “Blessed is the man whom You admonish, O Lord, and instruct in Your law” (Ps. 93:12). So, when you waste time, what excuse will you have? Why, you say, have we been given little time? What insensitivity and ingratitude! For which you should especially thank the Lord, that He has shortened your labors and reduced your exploits, and has prepared for you long-lasting and immortal peace, for this you blame Him and are dissatisfied with it. But I don’t know how my word came here and became lasting? That is why it is necessary to finish it. And our misfortune is that here, if the word continues, we all get bored, but there they start at midday and disperse by lamps and lamps. But in order not to always condemn you, we ask and pray: show this mercy to us and to yourself - leaving everything else, devote yourself to this (the study of piety). Thus, through you we too will gain joy and gladness, we will earn praise for you and receive reward. You will receive the entire reward for the fact that, having until now been so madly devoted to spectacles, out of the fear of God and as a result of our convictions, you have thrown off this illness, broken your bonds and resorted to God. And not only will you receive a reward there, but here you will also have pure pleasure. Such is virtue: in addition to crowns there, it also prepares for us a pleasant life here. Let us fulfill what has been said in order to achieve both here and there blessings, according to the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: