“Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Lord, I want to see,’ he replied. Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.” (Luke 18:40–43, NIV84)

Have you ever seen blind people along the road calling out and begging for assistance? I have. And I must admit, sometime I don’t give them much thought. But Jesus did! In this verse He stopped what He was doing to make sure that He provided time and attention to a blind beggar’s plea. The beggar heard a commotion (a lot of people going by) and he asked out loud for anyone to answer, “What’s happening?” He was told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. The blind beggar must have heard stories about Jesus’ teachings and miracles, and so he called out with a loud voice, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy upon me!” There must have been a lot of noise on the street at that time as Jesus’ entourage was passing, so much talking and beggars calling out to the group. But, among all the noise, Jesus heard this beggar’s call. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped everything and asked for the man to be brought to Him.

What made Jesus stop? What about this beggar got His attention? It was the faithful cry of one of His faithful children. The crowd tried to silence him, but he cried out louder and louder. It wasn’t the volume that got Jesus’ attention. Jesus heard the beggar call Him the son of David. The beggar understood and believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and he verbalized it. Jesus asked for the beggar to be brought to Him. Jesus asked the man, “What do you want Me to do for you? The beggar replied, “I want to see!” And Jesus restored his sight. The seeing beggar and the entire crowd began to praise God for this amazing act of mercy and grace.

We have a lot in common with this beggar. We, too, have been blind to the truth of God’s will for our lives. We have groped in the dark trying to find meaning and purpose. May we, like the beggar who WAS blind, faithfully cry out to Jesus to meet our needs. Let’s not let anyone or anything silence our cry for mercy. May we rejoice and praise God when we hear Jesus say to us, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Peace!

Pastor Tom

www.firmlyrooted.church