Can a lake without water be called a lake? No, but rather a dry abyss.

Can a person who does not carry God within himself be called a man? No, but rather a dry grave.

Just as water is the main content of a lake, so God is the main content of man. Neither a lake without water is a lake, nor a man without God is not a man.

But how can a person receive God into himself if he is closed from God on all sides, like a dry lake from water, like a dark grave from light?

God is not a stone that was once thrown at a person, and he stays there and lies against the human will. God is a force finer and more powerful than light and air; a power that fills a person by the infinite mercy of God or leaves him, in accordance with the will of the person himself. Thus, even for two days, man is not filled with God in the same way. This depends, first of all, on his openness to God. If the human soul were completely open only to God (and this at the same time means closed to the world), then man would return to the original enjoyment of the contemplation of God. But since this is difficult to achieve in the perishable world, where the human soul resides, there remains only one gate through which man can enter into communion with God as the Source of Life, and that is faith. And faith means: first, remembrance of the lost original contemplation of God - remembrance that has remained imprinted in conscience and reason; secondly, the acceptance as truth of what God revealed to the clairvoyant prophets and saints who were vouchsafed to behold the Truth; and thirdly, the most important thing is the recognition of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the visible image of the invisible God (2 Corinthians 4:4). The third condition in itself is sufficient, embracing and fulfilling both the first and the second perfectly. This faith revives and saves. This is the greatest gate by which God enters into man, according to the measure of his desire and good will.

That is why our Lord Jesus Christ often asked the sick and suffering: Do you believe that I can do this? That is, "Wilt thou open the door unto Me that I may enter?" To believe is nothing else than to open the door of the soul and allow God to enter. "O God, cleanse me from me, and dwell in me Thyself!" - These words express the practical essence of faith.

And today's Gospel reading describes one of the many miracles that occur when a person opens himself by faith and lets God into himself. For God is the Wonderworker in all His works. Where He is, there is a miracle. From Him all laws, natural and human, flee like shadows from the sun, and only His power, wisdom and love remain - all that is precious, sweetest and most glorious.

After the Gadarene pagan darkness, where the Lord did not find faith in people, even after performing such a great miracle as the healing of two demon-possessed men, suddenly there follow several cases when Christ's love is met with great human faith; when the Lord knocks, and people gladly open the door of their souls; and He works miracles. Whenever love and faith meet, a miracle is born. At first, people showed their faith, bringing the paralytic and lowering him through the roof. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, "Be of good cheer, child! thy sins are forgiven thee... Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. Are these not words of boundless love? And he arose, and took up his bed, and went to his house. Is this not a miracle born of love and faith? Then the woman, who had been suffering from an issue of blood for twelve years, touched the hem of His garment, saying to herself, "If only I touch His garment, I will recover." This is faith! And Jesus said to her, Be of good cheer, daughter! Your faith has saved you. These are the words of true love. The woman became healthy from that hour. This is a miracle born of love and faith. And then Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, came up to Christ, grieving, and said, "My daughter is now dying; but come, lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live. Only lay Thy hand upon her, and she shall live! It is a faith in which there is no hesitation or doubt. And the Lord came, took her by the hand, and the damsel stood up. He took her by the hand! Is this not the love of a Friend and a Physician? And the girl got up! Is this not a miracle born of love and faith? After these wondrous examples of the meeting of human faith and God's love, here is another one, which appears to us in today's Gospel reading:

As Jesus walked from there, two blind men followed Him and cried out, "Have mercy on us, Jesus, Son of David!" Where did our Lord come from? From the house of the ruler of the synagogue Jairus, where He resurrected a dead virgin. The blind men heard Him coming, and they followed Him, crying out and begging Him for mercy. Blind Bartimaeus did the same in Jericho. He was sitting by the roadside, begging for alms. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David! have mercy on me" (Mark 10:46-47). So are these two. Hearing from their guides that Jesus the Wonderworker was passing by, they, forgetting about alms and everything in the world, immediately followed Him with a cry. Behold, they are the sons of Abraham, the friend of God, who once saw God, while these wretched ones do not even have the opportunity to see God's creations!

But why do the blind call Christ the Son of David? Because such a name was considered the greatest honor in Israel. King David was an image for all the kings of Israel, and as every righteous man was called the son of Abraham, so every righteous ruler was called the son of David. And Christ was the Ruler, though not by His position in human society, but by the true authority and power that blew from Him like a fresh wind. And that it was the custom of the Israelites to call David's distant descendants the sons of David, we see from many places in the Holy Scriptures (2 Kings 16:2; 18:3; 22:2).

It is also possible that the blind people, calling Jesus Christ the Son of David, thought of Him as the Messiah, for all the people were waiting for the promised Messiah of God from the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13; Psalm 88:28; Isaiah 8:7; Luke 1:32). "He who prays bodily and does not yet have spiritual understanding is like a blind man who cried out: Son of David! Have mercy on me (Mark 10:48). But another man, who had been blind before, when he had received his sight and saw the Lord, no longer called Him the Son of David, but confessed Him to be the Son of God (John 9:35-38)" (St. Symeon the New Theologian, Homily 56). And the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father – thus the great Archangel proclaimed the Gospel to the Most Holy Mother of God. Even the archangel himself thus uses the usual language of the people, calling David the father of Christ, although before that he called Him the Son of the Most High, that is, the Son of God (Luke 1:32).

Is not this also one of the terrible rebukes to the darkened Pharisees and scribes, who called Christ a blasphemer of God and a sinner? See how Christ shames them through those whom they considered inferior to themselves: through the heathen, the blind, and even demons! For while they, blinded by vanity, could see in Christ only a blasphemer and a sinner, the pagan centurion believes in His divine power over illnesses, the demons in Gadar call Him the Son of God, and finally, the blind in spirit see in Him the Son of David. Thus the Gentiles felt the presence of God in the presence of Christ, but the stupefied Pharisees and scribes could not feel it; the demons recognized Christ as the Son of God, but the falsely named wise men, the leaders of the people of Israel, were unable to recognize Him. And now the blind saw what they did not see.

As long as the blind followed Christ and cried out, He did not turn around and answer them. First, in order to strengthen their thirst for God and faith in Him; secondly, that many, hearing their cry, should ponder their own hearts and examine their faith; and thirdly, in order to avoid the glory of men, to show His meekness and humility: for these sufferers He will heal, not on the road, before a crowd of people, but in the house, in the presence of several witnesses. What meekness and what wisdom! Behold, He knew better than anyone else: "There is nothing hidden that is not made manifest" (Mark 4:22); I knew that the more any good deed is hidden, the more obvious it becomes.

And when he came into the house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus said to them, Do you believe that I can do this? They said to him, "Yes, Lord! So great was the faith of these blind men that they tirelessly followed Christ, despite the fact that He did not turn to them and did not answer their desperate cries. So great was their faith that they accompanied Him to the very house to which He was going. And though it was a strange and unfamiliar house to them, they dared to enter it. They felt that now was the time for their healing—now or never! They knew that there was no living person in the whole world except Christ who could restore their sight.