Sixth Sunday of Great Lent

We have reached the last Sunday in Great Lent – the Sunday of the enlightenment and spiritual insight, and of the washing by the Spirit in baptism, and God’s encounter with the man born blind. Repentance bears its holy fruits in the fasting. Those who are satiated with the Father’s bossom, live by the heavenly treasure and are armed with His word, seeking His righteousness, growing in His knowledge and experience, and are always working with Him to obtain the discernment that knows the truth, to live on Him and testify of Him.

Baptism is always related to the preaching the kingdom and its revelation (Mark 1:10). During His baptism the heavens were split and our nature was renewed, to be able to receive God’s spirit for permanent indwelling in us. Baptism is the door to the kingdom (John 3:5) In baptism, we receive the ‘action’[1] and the power of the Christ’s death – to whom be all glory – and His resurrection as well (Rom. 6:4). The eternal life, which the Lord has revealed through His incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension, was sown and planted in our human existence as a seed that contains all the “minutes” of life (i.e. our temporary life on earth) as well as the heavenly inheritance that was endowed to us, in Christ. The Son of Man, our Savior, the Lord Jesus, took it (i.e. the eternal life) and planted it in our garden through baptism and we accepted it with joy, tended to it, hence it grew and became a big tree. Therefore today’s readings demonstrate the beginning of the revelation of the kingdom in us, our joy and how we ‘tasted’ this kingdom, and our testimony of it before the world.

Psalms

The Psalms start with talking about the divine truth that requires repentance with which we become perfect (i.e. holy), as it exposes the whole man, purifying him continuously with the divine fire, day after day, throughout life’s journey. The Vespers Psalm speaks about the purification of the divine fire for the human soul. “You have tested my heart, when You have visited me in the night; You have tried me in the fire and found nothing unjust in me.” (Ps. 16: 3, 5 from the Coptic translation) The Matins Psalm confirms these words by the exposing and the examination of the mind and heart, revealing man’s depth and the soul’s behavior with respect to the divine truth. “Prove me, O Lord, and test me. Try my reins and my heart in the fire. For Your mercy is before my eyes, And I was well-pleasing in Your truth.” (Ps. 25: 2 – 3  from the Coptic translation) Likewise, the Liturgy Psalm declares the absolute human need for the divine truth. “Hear me speedily, O Lord; My spirit faints within me; Give ear to my supplications in Your truth.” (Ps. 142: 7, 1  from the Coptic translation)

Vespers & Matins Gospels

The Gospel of Vespers illustrates the fullness of (opportunities for) repentance for mankind and the fullness of the king’s work. Although the Jews feel distinguished from other nations, amongst others by God’s choice for them in the past excluding other peoples for the sake of His divine economy for the Incarnation, they were rejected because of their iniquity and lack of repentance – despite all the promises, the law and the sacrifices – as a divine warning to all people and nations. “When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity’ … and yourselves thrust out. They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13: 25–27, 28, 29) As St. Augustine has said ‘I do not know you in my righteousness and light.’ The reading also shows the consequence of refusing repentance and the divine healing, which the Incarnate Logos has offered by His cross and resurrection. “‘I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’ … How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Luke 13: 32, 34–35)

As for the Matins Gospel, it explains the narrative of how the Jewish nation rejected the righteousness and divine light. The reading mentions the false witnesses, the blind guides and the reasons for God’s rejection of them in the fullness of the time which are, a deceptive life, iniquity towards others, hypocrisy, change on the outside only and the corruption of the heart. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? … Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. … Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. … Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matt. 23: 16–17, 23, 25, 28) The reading also shows the punishment and the result of continuous refusal and unremitting lack of repentance, the most dangerous and difficult thing being the absence of the divine presence from the people and not being able to see Him because of lack of discernment. “See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Matt. 23: 38–39)

Pauline Epistle

The Pauline Epistle speaks about ‘putting off the old man’ and all the deeds of uncleanliness (through the rite of baptism), and ‘putting on the new man’ which is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and all His lifegiving deeds. The reading demonstrates the essence and purpose of the perfect repentance: the image of the Son, the splendor of the new man and love, which is the bond of perfection: “… since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him … Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies … But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” (Col. 3: 9–10, 12, 14)

Catholic Epistle

The Catholic Epistle affirms the purpose of the Incarnation of the Logos: the enlightenment and discernment to know the true God, to be united with Him, and stand fast in Him. “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5: 20)

Praxis

The Praxis presents the story of the survival of the 276 people on the ship. The reading shows the difference between the enlightenment of God’s children for the sake of the survival of others and their salvation, and the guile of the children of the world for the sake of their own survival, even if it is at the expense of the destruction of others. “And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, ‘Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.’ Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off. … ‘Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.’ And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship.” (Acts 27: 30–32, 34–37)

Liturgy Gospel

The Liturgy Gospel concludes with the man born blind as an example for all those in need of the divine light, of washing in the water of spirit and renewal of nature, and encountering the Son of God, the Creator – He who created two new eyes for the blind man to see the visible and granted him divine understanding to perceive the heavenly and to recognise the Son of God and worship Him. “‘As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. … Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, ‘Do you believe in the Son of God?’ He answered and said, ‘Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.’ Then he said, ‘Lord, I believe!’ And he worshiped Him.” (John 9: 5–7, 35–38) The reading also warns against the refusal of the light of the new covenant, and God’s judgement of those who refuse His divine righteousness. “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.’” (John 5: 39)

What is remarkable is that the topic of the last three liturgy gospels of Great Lent is related to water. Whereas the water of the Samaritan woman and her pot were left behind, and the water of the paralytic man needed stirring from the angel, the water of the man born blind is the water of healing with the word and spirit i.e. it is the water of baptism and the door to our salvation. Furthermore, we see the testimony of the man born blind about Christ – to whom be all glory – that “He is a prophet” (John 9:17) as we have seen the testimony of the Samaritan woman about Him: “I perceive that You are a prophet.” (John 4:19) Seeing Him as “the Son of God, the Messiah” requires a divine revelation from the Son of God. Hence Christ – to whom be all glory – revealed Himself to the Samaritan woman that He is the Messiah (John 4:26) and He also revealed Himself to the man born blind that He is the Son of God. (John 9:37) This is also what Lord Jesus said to Peter when he bore witness to His divinity, that flesh and blood has not revealed this to him, but My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:16-17) This is the essence of the readings of Great Lent and holy Pascha, in revealing the nature of the Trinity, His goodness, His love, His righteousness and His holiness. This is the revelation that comes from the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, just like the saying of St. Athanasius the Apostolic and St. Basil the Great, as is explained in detail in the chapter “the relevance between the readings of Great Lent, Pascha and the Holy Fifty Days.”

There is an opinion that asserts that the encounter of Lord Jesus with the man born blind was at the periphery of the town, and that the pool of Siloam was on the other side of the town. In order for the blind man to go to the pool of Siloam, he had to walk through the whole town, and be seen by the inhabitants. And because the whole town knew him, his appearance before them with the mud on his eyes will have raised the question from some people: who put mud on his eyes? It might have also provoked sarcasm from others, and yet maybe a third group of the people may have raised suspicions by asking: why didn’t He heal you by putting His hand on you as He had done with others? As such, the man born blind going to the pool of Siloam, is a declaration of his faith in the word of the Lord Jesus to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Similarly, after being healed by washing himself in the pool, and all the inhabitants of his town seeing how he gained sight again when he was walking back before them, they realized, amidst their astonishment and confusion, the might of the Lord Jesus and His power of creation. Anyone of the people of his town who knew him may have asked him and will have known the source of his healing and his sight. Therefore, the return of the man born blind from the pool of Siloam to the periphery of the town after being healed, is a revelation of his testimony to Christ – to whom be all glory – before all the inhabitants of his town, which was crowned with his testimony before the scribes and Pharisees.

[1] The word ‘action’ here w.r.t. death is not meant to describe the act of death itself, but rather what Christ effected for us through his crucifixion and resurrection. As St. John Chrysostom explains in his homilies on the Acts: “Even Christ’s passion may be called action, for in his passion Christ performed that great and wonderful act, by which he destroyed death and effected all else that he did for us”