Christ is risen. What a story. Amazing grace.
How great, how great to save a wretch like me.
Once I was blind, but now I see. The source of
that well -known hymn, that song, is in this
gospel. We might summarize this gospel with the
following. short little parable. In the sunlight,
mud becomes hard and cracked. In the sunlight,
wax becomes soft and pliable. Our soul is going
to be one or the other. We're approaching the
end of the Paschal season, and so we have this
reading. in which Jesus reveals himself as the
light of the world to this man, and last week
he revealed himself to the woman at the well.
And soon, from Wednesday night on, we're not
going to be saying Christ is risen anymore. We're
going to move on to something else, and something
greater, if there could be something greater.
We began, think back now, we began the Paschal
service, the midnight service, in the pitch black.
Do you remember how it was? Why is that? Why
do we begin the Paschal Matins in the pitch black
at night? Why must it be at night? Is it for
some kind of dramatic effect? No. No. It's nothing
even quite lovely. It's something that ought
to be to us quite frightening. Because we hear
what Jesus said in the beginning of the Gospel
of John. Light has come into the world. He is
the true light. And men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. Cover
up their deeds. They don't want them to be seen.
For everyone that doeth evil hates the light,
neither comes to the light, lest his deed should
be exposed. This darkness is the darkness of
death, the darkness of the tomb, the darkness
of this world without Christ. The darkness of
no understanding. And today we see illustrated
so well the darkness of the denial of the truth.
And this whole gospel that we read today is about
that denial of the truth, the insanity of those
who deny the truth, and the incredible light
of Christ, this wonderful miracle, which is more
than a miracle. It's a sign of the kingdom of
God. This darkness and this insanity reminds
me of the horrible plague of the darkness in
Egypt. that came upon Pharaoh, which we read
about in Exodus, the denial of God's power, because
this was demonic darkness that he had in his
heart, Pharaoh did. On the other hand, you had
the pillar of fire leading the Hebrews, the pillar
of the fire of the Holy Spirit. This darkness,
it's sad to say, is the condition of our world.
and was once the condition of ourselves before
we knew the lord's immeasurable love and mercy
you notice in this gospel nowhere in the gospel
does jesus launch into a diatribe rail against
the powers that be of the roman empire he speaks
about the heart he speaks about repentance he
speaks about the truth and the light when we
see our own sins Yes, we should grieve, but we
should also rejoice because God's present, or
else we wouldn't see it. On Pascha, in that darkness,
you remember, maybe not this year for most of
you, but you remember, you're standing in the
church and then one candle and the holy altar
is lit. Why the holy altar? Why not just out
here someplace? It's because the light... is
a revelation from the kingdom of God. We cannot
discover this on our own. It comes to us. He
comes to us. And then, from that candle, that
light of faith, the light of understanding, the
light of knowledge of God, one candle after another
is lit. And then another. And then the whole
church is filled with the light of faith and
song. Thy resurrection, O Christ our Savior,
the angels in heaven sing. We sing to enable
us on earth to glorify thee in purity of heart
because we can only glorify God with purity of
heart. And the darkness then flees. It flees
with the light and the song. And each candle
being lit, each voice singing is the heart, the
mind, the soul, the life of each person being
illumined in baptism, first in repentance, in
baptism, in faith. By the one whom we heard in
the gospel today say, I am the light of the world.
About whom St. John the theologian says in that
first chapter of John, which we heard on Pascha
night, that the light shines in the darkness
and the darkness did not overcome it. He opens
the darkest tomb to the brilliant light of life
eternal. This isn't just some general or pious,
religious -sounding words and statements about
Christ. The depths of our heart await his illumination.
Or, if we turn away, then we're in the state
of the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees, who deny
what they saw. This man, you... You couldn't
have been born blind because now you see. And
that man is a sinner, so he couldn't have healed
you. So just give glory to God. No, these aren't
just general sounding statements. This is about
the state. This is about the situation, the condition
of our heart. And so we have these amazing stories
from the gospel and the epistle today with both
concluding with acts of faith. Lord, I believe.
And he worshipped Jesus. And the jailer, rather
than killing himself, came to faith and he was
baptized. Notice, it wasn't by a long argument
either. It wasn't by a lot of words. It wasn't
by trying to talk somebody into something. It
was because the gospel was given from purity.
from the power of God with his love. What Jesus
did for that blind man on that day, which began
with Jesus running out of the temple because
they were going to stone him, and then the apostles
seeing the man said, who sinned, this man? Prenatal
sins? It's kind of a trick question, I guess.
Or his parents? And Christ reveals who sins at
the end. It was those who denied the truth. What
the blind man received, we received in baptism.
Step by step, this man's faith grew. Remember,
in opposition, he had opposition to his faith.
And that made him mature. And Christ gave him
something to do. So obedience to Christ is a
key for us. Before he could see Christ, he had
to follow the commandments. A spiritually sighted
person, to whom the Lord has opened the eyes
of that person, sees that without Christ, without
being obedient to the Lord, he stays in darkness.
A spiritually enlightened person sees the hand
of God in everything and rejoices that God is
with us, understanding that the events of this
life are not coincidences. A spiritually seen
person knows and is aware that the cause of many
of his troubles and sorrows lies in himself.
And that God's grace is sufficient in our weakness.
This is our path, brothers and sisters. We receive
this gospel today. To encourage us. To warn us.
And to remind us of what God has given us. And
will give to those who are going to be baptized.
Illumination. Vision. First of their own sins.
We see everybody else's sins so clearly. But
that's not illumination. Illumination is to see
our own. And then we give glory to God. We remember
this means. staunch faith, his courage, and his
enlightenment. Amen. Christ is risen.