Homily One for the Seventh Sunday of Matthew (St. John of Kronstadt)

Homily for the Seventh Sunday of Matthew
(7th Sunday of Pentecost)

By St. John of Kronstadt

“Two blind men approached Him (Jesus Christ). And Jesus said to them, 'Do you believe that I am able to do this?' They said to Him, 'Yes, Lord.' Then He touched their eyes, saying, 'According to your faith let it be to you'” (Matthew 9:28–29).

Such is the amazing power of faith in the Lord! By faith in His omnipotence, two blind men instantly receive sight. We read about this in the Gospel today (Matthew 9:27–31).

And so, I repeat: what a power of faith! What a precious treasure is sincere, firm, and undoubted faith in Christ, if through it one can receive all kinds of blessings from the ever-flowing Source of all blessings – the Lord God! In fact, who among us has not received from the Lord all kinds of spiritual and physical blessings, if only he approached Him with sincere faith and sincere repentance, and moreover, many times in one day? Christians, who always live according to faith and are accustomed to turn to the Lord in all their needs, loudly testify that according to their faith the Lord performs in them, in their inner world, and often outside of them, innumerable miracles of His goodness and power, that they destroy mountains by God's grace, not earthly mountains, although they also obey the believer, but mountains of sorrows and the burdens of the enemy that fall on the soul, that they heal their spiritual and bodily infirmities, conquer the passions, cleanse themselves of the filth of sins, receive moral strength that they did not have before, and do all righteousness.

But if faith is such a good for man, why does not everyone possess it? Why does not everyone strive to acquire this treasure, the most precious of all earthly treasures? Why are there more non-believers than believers? For God is no respecter of persons, and is ready to squander His treasures on all, to all who earnestly desire and seek. Many do not have faith, do not possess faith because of their ignorance, and because they do not seek it and do not ask it diligently of God: for faith is a gift of God.

Others do not have faith because of pride, arrogance, or because they have turned with all their minds and all their hearts to the world and to the flesh, and not to God and His holy law, they do not value faith and see it as something of little importance, which they can easily do without, and, finally, because they do not purify their hearts with sincere repentance: for faith cannot dwell in an unrepentant heart, being a pure daughter of heaven.

That is why sincere, firm, and unfeigned faith is considered a merit to a man, and for its sake the Lord imparts innumerable blessings to him. And that is why the Lord Jesus Christ sought faith in people and forgave their sins for their faith, worked miracles, namely: He healed all kinds of diseases, raised the dead; and He gave the same power to His apostles, commanding them to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cleanse lepers. Why did the Lord require faith as a condition for receiving His blessings? Faith of the heart in man serves as hands or lips for the reception of God's gifts: as hands or lips are in a person's body, so is faith in the soul; faith is an instrument and a means to receive God's mercies. Faith is the mouth of the soul: open your mouth with prayer and repentance, and the soul will be filled with grace. In order to destroy a person's soul, the devil closes his heart's mouth, so that a person does not converse with God, does not pray, does not ask Him, does not glorify Him, does not thank Him; it is obvious that we must, as often as possible, open our hearts, kindle within ourselves a cold faith, and now and then turn to God with a prayer of faith: for we are all accursed, poor, blind and naked without God.

And here is another reason why the Lord requires people to believe in God. After the Fall, people became darkened and fell into ignorance of God, fell away from God, from His commandments, and began to worship creatures instead of the Creator, even demons were considered gods and they served them as gods, although the demons inflicted all kinds of evil on them. Correcting such a disastrous delusion of people and wishing to bring everyone to the knowledge of the true God, the Creator of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, as Creator and Master, appeared in the flesh, manifesting His divine omnipotence to all by His deeds, and demanded, as a due tribute, faith in Himself, as in the Almighty Creator, Who came down from heaven for our sake and for our salvation, – therefore He asks the blind before performing a miracle: "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" i.e. do you believe that I am the Creator who appeared to you in the flesh, and when He heard an affirmative answer, He said, "According to your faith let it be to you." And his eyes were opened.

Let us also, brethren, undoubtedly believe that even now "the Lord is at hand" (Phil. 4:5), that He "is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8): all-good, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, the knower of hearts, all-merciful, all-bountiful, good and quick to listen, comforting, gracious, and, as children, let us approach Him in our prayers with faith in repentance, as sinners, with hope and boldness: and we will accept from Him all mercy.

God! Add faith to us and heal our blindness of heart, the blindness of our sins and passions, which have become especially stronger in this corrupt time. Amen.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.