Opening Our Eyes to God’s Creation
Seventh Sunday after Trinity/Pentecost Sunday
Romans 1:10-18; Matthew 9:27-35
“And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, ‘See that no one knows it.”
(Matthew 9:30)
Having performed a good deed and a great miracle, making the blind men see, Jesus forbids them to tell anyone about it... The Lord always wanted people to know about the works of God that He did so that God might be glorified in His Son. In some cases, Christ simply said:
“Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (Mark 5:19).
But the Lord knew the common human weakness, that the forbidden fruit is the most desirable, and the prohibition to tell inevitably tempts us to tell..., so Jesus expressed such a warning. And the consequences were immediately apparent:
“But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.” (Matthew 9:31)
It is a great misfortune for people to be blind, not to see this world, not to see people, trees, flowers, birds, or any creature on earth. To live in the midst of light and feel only darkness is truly difficult.
I remember one man who, as he told me, was a military engineer on a naval ship. During an expulsion, he lost his eyesight completely. He also married a blind woman. They had children...
- If I had millions, I would give it for one pleasure, one consolation - to see my children.
Sometimes, when sighted people sat with him, he would ask them to tell him about everything around: what plants, what flowers, and mostly, what people looked like, what colour the sky had, what clouds were in it, and so on. But, as I saw, that blind man was spiritually sighted, enlightened, and a believer. He even said that God punished him for his sin so that seeing people could see his misfortune and thank God that they had eyes and could see God's creations, the beauty of this world.
It is difficult for a blind man, and he understood this, and felt it, but there are spiritually blind people in the world who look at the world of God and do not comprehend it, do not feel their spiritual blindness.
Onions and carrots grow next to each other; their roots may be tangled, but one will be bitter, the other sweet, one white, the other orange. Where do the different colours come from in the black earth? Where do watermelon, melon, and carrots get their sweetness?
Nature researchers or naturalists have discovered that the root of a plant is not only a conduit for moisture and juices, but the root of a watermelon, for example, searches for and takes from the earth such components that are useful for the watermelon; the roots of a cucumber search for and absorb such food as is necessary for the growth of the cucumber, and so on.
It is simply incredible, but indeed every plant has an intelligent orientation for growth and reproduction, a force that drives its roots, leaves, and all parts to acquire from the soil, from the air, from the sunlight everything necessary for its growth. How this happens without any organs of intelligence, without a brain, is simply impossible to explain.
Scientists have also found that when a tree grows among rocks and stones and finds no food nearby, but there is food in a metre or two on the other side of the rock, the roots elongate and gradually break through the hard rock and reach the food source. It seems as if the roots have a sense of smell or taste, or they somehow see or perceive information about the location of the food. And another amazing thing is how soft roots can break through a hard stone... There is no way to explain this, but the fact remains, which has been tested many times, that soft roots are able to split, to break through a hard rock. This is truly a miracle of nature, or rather a miracle of God. And because the roots have such an amazing ability, the mountains are mostly covered with lush forests, such as the mountains in British Columbia. Canada has the best construction timber in those mountains.
There are people who try to simplify things and say that everything in nature is simple: a seed falls, a root grows, and the plant grows... But where did the seed come from? Where is the source of life in the tiny seed from which the largest plant and the largest tree grow? That seed not only contains the source of life, but also the blueprints and genes for what kind of plant it should be.
The apostle Paul testifies that through the examination, through the comprehension of God's creation, we come to know the Creator. People who do not want to recognize God the Creator in creation are “without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
A thinking honest person will inevitably come to the knowledge of God, even without the Bible. People can melt and refine various metals from ore with the help of fire, and manufacture different machines from such metals, but the wisest and most learned people cannot create a simple seed that can grow and multiply, and thus ensure eternity.
In the great wisdom of God, a seed of grass and a seed of grain provide for the existence of all animals and, at the same time, for the existence of the human race on earth.
Furthermore, the nature created by God is not only beneficial for people, providing the basis for all food products, but also, only nature, vegetation, and trees are able to refresh the air and thus refresh and restore human bodily strength. Therefore, despite any magnificent buildings, palaces, human health is most refreshed where there are trees, forest, water, and flowers. And even breathing itself clearly demonstrates the wisdom of God: a person exhales carbon dioxide (carbon) and inhales oxygen, while plants do the opposite - they consume carbon. Thus, people find it easier to breathe where there are forests.
A person must, by the sight of their bodily eyes, strive to recognize God's creation and enlighten their spiritual vision, so as not to walk as a spiritually blind person. Spiritually blind people have always existed, but in our time, spiritual blindness is especially widespread. Spiritually blind people, in many cases, consider themselves to be the most enlightened, because they are convinced that nature created itself. The Apostle Paul testifies about such people:
“Professing to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:22)
We should know that the sin of unbelief is born of pride and malice. The Evangelist Apostle John bears witness:
“He who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.” (1 John 5:10)
Spiritual blindness gives rise to unbelief. Because of their spiritual blindness, the scribes and Pharisees did not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God, even though He had done many works of God, including the healing of two blind men.
Because of the Jewish people's unbelief, God punished them many times with slavery, scattering throughout the world, and, apparently, destruction. God can also punish us for our unbelief and lack of faith. The Lord testified:
“He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)
Let us pray to God to enlighten us with the Truth, so that we may know God, our Lord Jesus Christ, both through the Holy Scriptures and through the study of nature, His creation.
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
