Letter 546

To Julian the Ekdikos [defensor ecclesiae, the church's legal advocate]. The pair of blind men at Jericho cried out to the Savior: "Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David; for you are God, and the same one is also man. Have mercy on us; for we call upon you as helper; we invoke you out of the midst of the gloom and the night, you who are Lord of the light and of the darkness, who are able to strike and to heal, who are sufficient to put to death and to make alive. Do not pass us by, O Master who loves mankind. Have mercy on us, you who know how to show mercy." But the crowd, unwilling that Christ should be called Son of David, but rather the child of [...], grew angry at the blind men, and rebuked them, that they might be silent; yet they cried out the same words all the more loudly. But the Master Jesus stopped when he heard "Son of David"; Jesus stopped, he who stopped the sea, who set bounds upon the waves, who laid courses for the winds; Jesus stopped, he who set up the heaven like a vault. The son of Nun, Joshua [the Greek renders both names as 'Jesus'], was once marveled at for having stopped the sun by prayer; but who would not marvel at these two blind men, who stopped Christ the Sun of righteousness, not by the command of necessity, but by entreaty and supplication? And the Lord says to them: "What do you wish that I should do for you?" Whatever you wish, I will grant you, as Lord of heaven and earth. The children of the heretics, and of the Greeks [the pagans], will incur shame, those who say: Christ cannot also do all that he wishes. What do you wish that I should do for you? If you ask me, the one who possesses nothing, to give you riches, I supply a fountain of gold; for the Lord makes poor and makes rich, he who enriched Abraham, and Job, and David, those blessed men; if you beseech that rains be sent, immediately they will come; if you ask that fountains of bread be granted to you, I will readily provide them. You have the proof in the works themselves; if you ask that water be changed into wine, the wine-bowls at the wedding in Cana are witnesses. But the blind men answered, saying: "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." You yourself, Master, who struck us, heal us; have mercy on us now, you who were angry before; once again, once again give eyes, you who are the Maker of nature; you who open the rays of light, who shut fast the gates of darkness. "And Jesus, moved with compassion, touched their eyes, and immediately they received their sight." For wherever Jesus lays his touch, all things are changed for the better. Thereafter the blind men saw a twofold light: the one of the common day, the other of the heavenly physician who had healed them, physician of souls and of bodies; and light shone forth within light. Therefore, having received their sight, they follow Jesus, like Peter and Andrew, and going up to Bethphage they behold with new eyes, [...] him who is acclaimed as descended from David by the young shoots of the palm branches, him who ever works strange and marvelous wonders.

Ἡ συζυγία τῶν ἐν Ἱεριχὼ τυφλῶν ἐβόα πρὸς τὸν Σωτῆρα· «Ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, Κύριε, υἱὲ Δαυΐδ· ὁ Θεὸς γάρ ὑπάρχεις, καὶ ἄνθρωπος ὁ αὐτός· Ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς· σὲ γὰρ καλοῦμεν βοηθόν· σὲ ἐπικαλούμεθα ἐκ μέσης ἀχλύος καὶ νυκτὸς τὸν φωτὸς καὶ τοῦ σκότους Κύριον, τὸν πλῆξαι καὶ θεραπεῦσαι δυνάμενον, τὸν θανατῶσαι καὶ ζωοποιῆσαι ἀρκούντα, μὴ παραδράμῃς ἡμᾶς, φιλάνθρωπε Δέσποτα. Ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, ὁ ἐλεῆσαι εἰδώς. Ὁ δὲ ὄχλος μὴ βουλόμενος τὸν Χριστὸν καλέσθαι υἱὸν Δαυΐδ, ἀλλὰ εἴκτονος τέκνον, ὀργίζοντο τοῖς τυφλοῖς, καὶ ἐπετίμων αὐτοῖς, ἵνα σιωπήσωσιν· οἱ δὲ μειζόνως ἐκέκραξαν τὴν αὐτὴν φωνήν. Ἔστη δὲ ὁ Δεσπότης Ἰησοῦς ἀκούσας Υἱὸς Δαυΐδ· ἔστη Ἰησοῦς ὁ τὴν θάλασσαν στήσας, ὁ μέτρα κύμασιν ἐπιβαλών, ὁ πνεύμασιν δροὺς ἐπιθείς· ἔστη Ἰησοῦς ὁ στήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡς καμάραν. Ἐθαυμάζετό ποτε ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ Ἰησοῦς, ἥλιον διὰ προσευχῆς στήσας· ἀλλὰ τίς τούτους τοὺς δύο τυφλοὺς στήσαντας Χριστὸν τὸν τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιον, οὐκ ἀνάγκης προστάγματι, ἀλλ’ ἱκεσίᾳ καὶ παρακλήσει; Καί φησι πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ Κύριος· «Τί θέλετε ἵνα ποιήσω ὑμῖν;» Ὅπερ ἐὰν βουληθῆτε παρέξω ὑμῖν, ὡς Κύριος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς. Αἰσχύνην ὀφλήσουσιν οἱ τῶν αἱρετικῶν, καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων παῖδες οἱ λέγοντες· Οὐχ ὅσα Χριστὸς βούλεται, ταῦτα καὶ ποιεῖν δύναται. Τί θέλετε, ἵνα ποιήσω ὑμῖν; Ἐὰν αἰτήσητέ με χρήματα τὸν ἀκτήμονα δοῦναι, πηγὴν χρυσοῦ χορηγῶ· Κύριος γὰρ πτωχίζει, καὶ πλουτίζει, ὁ πλουτίσας τὸν Ἀβραάμ, καὶ τὸν Ἰώβ, καὶ τὸν Δαυΐδ τοὺς μακαριστοὺς ἄνδρας· ἐὰν ὄμβρους ἐπιβάλλειν ἱκετεύσητε, εὐθέως γενήσονται· ἐὰν πηγὰς ἄρτων χαρίσασθαι ὑμῖν, ἑτοίμως παρέξομαι· Ἔχετε τοῖς ἔργοις τὴν ἀπόδειξιν· ἐὰν μεταβαλεῖν ὕδωρ εἰς οἶνον, μάρτυρες οἱ τῶν γάμων κρατῆρες ἐν τῇ Κανᾷ. Οἱ δὲ τυφλοὶ ἀπεκρίναντο λέγοντες· «Κύριε, ἵνα ἀνοίγωσιν ἡμῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί.» Αὐτός, Δέσποτα, ὁ πλῆξας, θεράπευσον· ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς νῦν, ὁ πρότερον ὀργισθείς· πάλιν πάλιν ὀφθαλμοὺς ὁ τῆς φύσεως ποιητής· ἀνοίγων φωτὸς αὐγάς, ὁ τοῦ σκότους τὰς θύρας ἀποκλείων· «Σπλαγχνισθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἥψατο τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ εὐθὺς ἀνέβλεψαν.» Ἔνθα γὰρ ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἅπτεται, πάντα πρὸς τὸν ἀμείνονα μεταβάλλειν τρόπον. Ἴδον λοιπὸν οἱ τυφλοὶ διπλοῦν τὸ φῶς, τὸ μὲν τῆς κοινῆς ἡμέρας, τὸ δὲ τοῦ θεραπεύσαντος οὐρανίου ἰατροῦ καὶ ψυχῶν, καὶ σωμάτων· καὶ φῶς ἐν φωτὶ διελαμψεν. Ὅθεν ἀναβλέψαντες ἀκολουθοῦσιν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὡς Πέτρος, καὶ Ἀνδρέας, καὶ ἀνελθόντες εἰς Βηθαφαγή, νέοις ὀφθαλμοῖς βλέπουσιν, ὑπὸ πᾶν. δον τὸν ἐκ Δαυῒδ εὐφημούμενον τοῖς νέοις τῶν φοινί- κων βλαστήμασι, τὸν ἀεὶ ξένα ποιοῦντα καὶ παρά- δοξα θαύματα.