Receive your sight; your faith has made you well

 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet, but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

- Luke 18:31-43

On Saturday, we read that people brought infants to Jesus that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  ' Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow Me."  But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"  But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."

 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.  My study bible tells us that "the saying was hidden not deliberately, but because the disciples could not comprehend the reality and meaning of the Passion events predicted by Jesus."  This is called the "Third Prophecy of the Passion."  Luke's Gospel serves us continual reminders that Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem, and that He is preparing them for the times when He will not be with them in the flesh.

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.   My study bible says that "Luke and Mark report one blind man, whereas Matthew mentions two.  But the lesson remains the same."

And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"   The cry of the blind man (Son of David!) reflects the journey of Jesus toward Jerusalem, and that He will be welcomed as Messiah.  "Have mercy on me!" is the cry of those who need help, the refrain of our religious worship from the beginning of the Church ("Lord have mercy").  We heard it earlier in Jesus' journey to Jerusalem in the plea of the ten lepers (see Your faith has made you well).

Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet, but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"   Jesus has preached, in recent readings in Luke, about the importance of persistence in prayer (see the parable of the Tenacious Widow, from last Thursday's reading).  This man is persistent, despite the voices telling him to be quiet.  I love Jesus' question, as we hear it from Him often in the Gospels:  "What do you want Me to do for you?"  In other notes, my study bible has told us that we need to be specific in prayer.  But it's a reminder that prayer is, indeed, a dialogue.  We must always remember to Whom we're praying!  Again, a recent reading taught us the difference between prayer as monologue and prayer as dialogue with God -- the Pharisee and the Publican.

He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.  The request is specific, in response to Jesus' question.  "Your faith has made you well" was Jesus' response to the one leper who returned to thank Him -- in Tuesday's reading.

I heard a wonderful sermon yesterday in which we were told a quotation from Helen Keller:  "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."  I think today's reading emphasizes very well what this means in the perspective of the Gospels.  We're first told in our reading today that Jesus warns the disciples for the third time, giving them a prophecy of what is to happen to Him at Jerusalem.  But, the text tells us, "This saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken."  That's an example of a lack of vision.  At the time, they couldn't foresee what was to happen, couldn't comprehend this staggering (and appalling) news.  That we should then be given the story of the blind man is a kind of hidden hint here:  In John's Gospel, Jesus teaches, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind."  He's speaking to some Pharisees, who understand very well that He's referring to them.  They claim to see, and therefore "their sin remains upon them."   To have our eyes opened carries with it a high sort of price of responsibility.  Blindness is one thing, but seeing is another -- and falsely claiming to see, or refusing to see, has its effects.  How we respond to One who would open our eyes carries a strong potency.  But the story today tells us several things, most notably that even on the road of faith there will be things which we have yet to understand.  It requires persistence and faith to continue onward, to learn the things we have yet to know and to see, to come to the vision that Christ has for us and promises us.  Secondly, there is persistence required both on the part of the disciples who cannot yet understand what Jesus is telling them, and on the part of the blind man who wants his sight.  Both of these things come through prayer, through dialogue, a relationship to God which is ongoing, and in which we are willing to continue onward, to learn more, to go forward.  And finally there is the persistence in prayer -- the example of the blind man becomes our key.  The prayer that he prays is a way to show persistence in faith, and, as Jesus tells him, to be made well ("Your faith has made you well").   In many of the recent readings taken together, Jesus is preparing us (and the disciples) for the time to come when He will no longer be with them as the human Jesus, after His death, Resurrection and Ascension.  Most of all, He prepares them through examples about persistence in prayer and about the power of faith.  These things are inseparable from one another!  Let us remember the road He invites us on, His Way (the Greek word that translates as "Way" is a word for "road").  One His way to Jerusalem, He teaches.  Over and over again we learn about true blindness, lack of vision, lack of faith -- and especially persistence.  We know where we've been, but there's another long road ahead.  It's a road of vision and sight, and prayer is the key to its manifestation and unfolding.  Prayer (alone, in worship, at any time)  is the key to our faith.