Have You Seen It?

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded him 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 recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (Luke 18:35-43 ESV).

The bluebonnets have been beautiful this year in Texas. As I was driving along yesterday it seemed that they have begun to bloom a bit more since our warmer weather has begun to be more consistent. And, as I drove a bit more, my “window time” took me to thoughts of how I might describe the beauty of the bluebonnets to someone who was blind. And, naturally that took me to thinking about how many people fail to understand the incredible gift of grace God has given us in the sacrifice of Jesus. That takes us to today’s reading. It is very revealing. The blind man responds to Jesus and says, “Lord, I want to see.” Ironically, even as a blind man, he saw more clearly than those around him whose sight was ostensibly perfect. The crowd of people walking with Jesus only said “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” The blind man saw deeper, presumably having heard that this is no mere man from Nazareth. He sees Jesus as the Son of David, a Messianic term. When he calls out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” he’s confessing that Jesus has the power to heal his blindness. The blind man sees. The seeing crowd is still blind. The crowd rebuked the blind man and tried to silence him. The more they rebuked, the more persistent the blind man became, seeing that encountering Jesus could make a profound impact on his life because of who Jesus is and what he is capable of doing. The crowd wants him quiet, but the man shouted all the more. Far from disrespectful, it’s a bold and confident proclamation that God’s promised Messiah is in his midst. He sees spiritually: Cry Out, Have Mercy! Jesus stops and orders, commands that the man be brought near. Jesus doesn’t run from people in dire straits. He draws them near. In response to the man’s cry for mercy, Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man responds, “Lord, I want to see.” Instead of me trying to describe the greatness of grace, maybe what I need to do is merely beg you to cry out to see it for yourself. Then Jesus will give you that “sight.” It is beautiful. I’ve seen it!