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

Yesterday we read that people also 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 came 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 is deeply and clearly explicit with the disciples; He's telling them everything that is going to happen, the thing which they are going toward in Jerusalem.  My study bible says that the saying was hidden from them not by God, but because they could not understand 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."  There is a spiritual interpretation given to this story by tradition:  the blind man represents those of future generations who will only know Christ through hearing about Him, and not seeing Him.  (See John 20:29.)  All those who warn the man to be quiet are those tyrants and persecutors -- who will come in various forms -- who seek to silence faith.  But under persecution, the more the Church confesses Christ.  My study bible says that the story also tells us that Christ knows whatever it is that we need before we ask.  But He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  We note that the blind man clearly realizes Jesus is Messiah, addressing Him as son of David.  As He goes toward Jerusalem, Jesus' enlightenment is for all of the people who await in expectation of the Messiah.

What is the sight that Jesus is bringing people?  Certainly there are many expectations placed on the Messiah.  Among other things, perhaps we might consider expectations of a political Messiah, one who would be a  conquering king like David.  This would be a person who would dispel the enemies of Israel, her colonizers like the Romans, and other warring states vying for power in the region.  Like the kings and rulers who brought goods to their country, such a king could also bring plenitude to Israel's fortunes, and glorify the country through prosperity.  Peace would come perhaps through power and conquering.  But Jesus is Messiah with a completely different mission.  His enlightenment will be for the world once He is rejected by the leadership.  It won't be a kind of kingdom He is bringing here like that of a material state.  It will not be a kind of conquering by force but by a different sort of power that is operating within people.  What is the kingdom of God?  Where is it?  Jesus has already answered that question, when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."  (See the reading from Thursday.)  This is a kind of voluntary kingdom that depends on faith.  It depends upon the love of God.  And it is open not only to Jews but to all those who would come to it through faith, a voluntary acceptance, a relationship of love.  As Jesus travels on His way to Jerusalem, His encounters tell us a story of what is coming, what kind of Messiah this is.  His healings come not as an expression of power, but a sign of the presence of the Kingdom, and most particularly in response to faith.  this is corroborated by His words to the blind man, "Your faith has made you well."  It is faith that shores up citizenship in this Kingdom, the basis of relationship and steadfast love that makes its covenant between its people.