St Luke 18: 35 – 42
As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ Then he shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.
Reflection
Living in London, I regularly see beggars on the streets. Now and then there’s one who is blind. They often call out asking for help. The people I see mostly pass them by.
The blind beggar in today’s reading had heard about Jesus, who he was and what he could offer. He cried out loudly to him. The crowd tried to silence him. I can imagine them thinking – ‘oh no, let’s get this fellow out of the way, don’t let him interrupt what’s going on with our following of Jesus and listen to what he has to say.’
But Jesus saw into his heart. Jesus actually wanted to stop and listen and hear what’s going on with him. He wasn’t just trying to tell him what to do. Instead, he asked ‘what do you want?’ The beggar responds by saying that he wants to see again. And the result is that Jesus opens his eyes.
It is interesting that Jesus didn’t start by telling the beggar what to do. He looked at him with love, and asked what he wanted.
It’s a challenge to know when we are being blind and need to have our eyes opened – to ourselves, to God and to God’s world. But we too can put our trust in God, that God comes to us as we are, that God hears our plea, that God opens our eyes to see God more clearly.
Our trust in God draws us into a personal relationship with God, where we can speak to God of what we need and want, and experience the Spirit’s power lifting us up. Then, as we see God more clearly – in creation, in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit – so we can see more clearly the way we’re called to live in God’s loving way in God’s world.
This gift of God’s loving way, in which we’re invited to trust and to walk, is the gift we’re asked to share with God’s suffering world.
Prayer
O God, as you opened the eyes of the blind beggar, open my eyes when they are closed to you and to your world, so that I may see more of your love.
As my eyes are opened, may I come to trust you more fully and learn more deeply of how to live in your way, for each part of your troubled world.
Amen.