Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

- Matthew 20:29-34

Yesterday we read that Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify.  And the third day He will rise again." Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him.  And He said to her, "What do you wish?"  She said to Him, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom."  But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So He said to them, "You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."  And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave -- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.   These two blind men greet Jesus using significant titles.  They call Him Lord, which is the common title for God, and also Son of David, a title which is deeply associated with the Messiah.  Although Jesus knows what we want before we ask, my study bible says, He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn about His mercy.  There is also a traditional spiritual interpretation to this miracle.  The blind men symbolizing future generations who would come to faith only by hearing, and without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (John 20:29).  The ones who try to silence the blind men are persecutors and tyrants who try, in every generation, to silence the Church.  But nevertheless, under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.

I'm always intrigued by Jesus' question to these blind men, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  It's such an open-ended and direct question.  Jesus asks it with perfect confidence.   There seems to be no doubt here that the question will be met with a reasonable answer, nor that whatever was asked, He couldn't respond fully.  There is no hesitation here.  After all, Jesus has just finished responding to a request by two of His closest apostles, John and James Zebedee, and their mother, who obviously is one of the ones traveling with His ministry, by telling them that they didn't know what they were asking Him, and furthermore, that what they wanted wasn't His to give (see yesterday's reading, above).    But this is different.  These are not people who are already His followers.  These two aren't even a part of the crowd that has come to see Jesus on His way to Jerusalem.  They only know He's there because people tell them who is passing by.  Furthermore, the whole crowd tries to tell them to be silent, but they shout all the more.  Perhaps the most important aspect of this story is just what they shout to Jesus in the first place, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  This is a prayer.  And it is such an important prayer that it would be turned into the most commonly heard prayer in Church services ("Lord have mercy") and also be made into the basis for the Jesus Prayer, the practice of monastics and others for constant prayer (following St. Paul's admonition to "pray without ceasing," 1 Thessalonians 5:17).  These blind men give us the prayer of the Church by asking, "Have mercy on us, O Lord."  It is in this context of a prayer for God's mercy that Christ asks them, "What do you want Me to do for You?"  Moreover, in their prayer is a clear recognition that He is Lord and Christ (Son of David).    These blind men, who cannot see, nevertheless have clear sight when it comes to Jesus.  They both know Him and identify Him as Messiah and Lord, and appropriately pray for mercy.    Their faith becomes the bedrock upon which Jesus then asks them His question, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  In the context of prayer, we couldn't get any better example for what our prayers should be like, because their prayer sets up the appropriate relationship between them and Christ in the first place.   One more irony in this story that is notable for early hearers of the Gospel is that this takes place in Jericho, a place considered by many to be a place of sin.  In that context it really teaches us that it matters very little what our circumstances are, what it is we may be surrounded by, or where we come from.  Their social standing among the crowd and in the town (they are most likely begging by the side of the road when they are told Jesus was passing by) is also an indication of the same.  It is faith that makes our connection with Christ, and they are most properly in relation to Him by the very text of their prayer.  Blindness is another symbol for sin, or our state of imperfect seeing; it tells us in addition that we need not be perfect to come before our Lord.  But what we do need to be is truthful.  Let us consider the usefulness of this prayer.  We may use it at any time, in its version for use in the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me" or "have mercy on me, a sinner."  There are shorter versions of the prayer.  Simply, "Lord have mercy" or "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy," are two other versions used, and others are possible with this basis.  These two blind men pray by the side of the road -- and the occasion for this prayer is always proper.  The Church in its tradition teaches us to use it constantly, without ceasing, and calls it the Prayer of the Heart.  Let us learn a lesson from our Lord's question in reply.