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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 Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You." So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."
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. Jesus and the disciples get ever closer to Jerusalem, as He is on His way to His Passion. This is the third time He's prophesied to them, telling them what is to come. This time He tells them more details, like that He is going to be delivered to the Gentiles, and mocked and insulted and spit upon. He's be scourged, they'll kill Him. And then the mysterious repetition of these words: "And the third day He will rise again." We can imagine how baffled they must be. My study bible says that this saying was hidden not by God, but because the disciples could not comprehend its meaning until the events of the Passion had taken place.
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. It's important that we remember that Jericho is considered a great place of sin, someplace undesirable, to say the least. So this blind man who cries out to Jesus does so perhaps as a kind of loner in a crowd. His desperate plea for Christ could be likened to the plea of someone lost in sin, and blind because of it, but realizing a desperate need for a better life, a life healed by Christ so that he may truly see. The title "Son of David" indicates this is His liberator, the Messiah. A traditional interpretation in the Church is that the people who admonish him to be silent are symbolic of oppressors who would silence the gospel, but this man who knows his need for Christ cries out all the more. He symbolizes those "future generations" after Christ's departure, who know of Him only by hearing and not by sight. My study bible also says that Jesus knows what we want before we ask, but calls us to ask freely so we might learn of His mercy. This persistent blind man, despite those who tell him to be quiet, surely shows his faith by crying out "all the more."
It's interesting that my study bible gives an interpretation citing persecution of the Church, and our response under persecution must like this man, to confess Christ all the more. We see persecution of brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world at this time, and we, too, must consider what this means for us. Certainly it means that we increase our prayers, in addition to trying to help address this problem in whatever ways we can. Surely, by modern standards, an attempt to help those who are thus persecuted is also an affirmation of the rights of all human beings to worship freely. As we all suffer in the Body of Christ when our brothers and sisters suffer, so we must see our prayers as helping to strengthen all those who confess Him. I have readers in many countries around the world who directly face such persecution, and my prayers also go to them. My grandparents' generation suffered for their Christian faith, and were also under persecution and survivors of genocide because of this faith. And faith is under attack in myriad other ways as well, in neighborhoods where fear and violence claim lives every day, where organized crime rules with cruelty, harassment, and preys on children, and through all kinds of addictions, anxieties, and endless cares and worries. Many have extended family in need of care, and uncertainty alone fuels many problems. In these circumstances, too, our brothers and sisters need strengthening and helping prayers -- as well as whatever other assistance we can help with. In the beginning of our reading today, Jesus delivers the terrible news of His own persecution and death for the third time, but the disciples simply cannot take in this bad news. One doctor once told me he had seen this phenomenon many times; things that are just too difficult to "take in" simply aren't heard, aren't understood. In contrast to the good news, this "bad news" simply stuns, as evil acts in the world will do. Perhaps that is why the next verses, of the blind man healed by faith, take place in Jericho, a notorious place of sin in Jesus' time. It is an affirmation that no matter what is "at hand" and no matter what surrounds us, no matter the oppressive circumstances and terrible afflictions, we are to hold fast to our faith in Him, to increase our prayers, our confession. If we wish to truly "see" and understand our lives, this is the one place we must continue to put our faith, and to increase our efforts to do so. Perhaps now we are in such a time; we are certainly hearing stories of persecution, and ominous increases of the oppressive power of those who rule by death and torture and enforced silence through increasing cruelties. It's always time for our prayers, our liberator, and turning and following Him in true good sight.
