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, now 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 of 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, 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. My study Bible comments that the two blind men greet Jesus as Lord, which is the common title for God, and they also call Him Son of David, a title deeply associated with the Messiah.  It notes that although Jesus knows what we want before we ask, He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  There is another, spiritual interpretation to this miracle in patristic literature, with the blind men symbolizing future generations who would come to faith only by hearing, without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  In this spiritual interpretation, the ones who tried to silence the blind men are seen as persecutors and tyrants, who in each generation try to silence the Church.  Nonetheless, under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.  

We might ask ourselves how, in light of the spiritual interpretation of this story noted by my study Bible, we respond when others wish us to keep silent in expressions of our faith.  Such an expression can be as simple as wearing a cross pendant, or perhaps at times giving indication of prayer, such as giving thanks before a meal in a public place.  In the West, we can't really say we face mass movement of persecution for some things, although depending upon where we are, there are times when culturally or socially speaking, such expressions rub others, who are hostile, the wrong way, and are found to be objectionable.  This is the state of things in the Western world for some of us.  But what do we do when our expressions of compassion, inspired by faith, are seen to be objectionable?  Without any overt reference to our faith, there are times when people will seemingly find offensive things that our faith inspires us to do, which we believe are doing good for others.  Some very political matters currently come to mind, like the debate over giving gender-changing hormones to very young people who have not yet physically matured sufficiently, so that the effects on their bodies will be drastic and lifelong (see, for example, this article).  That's in addition to historical understanding of psychological maturity to make such life-altering changes which will follow for the rest of their lives, regardless of later choices.  Other issues that surround us simply have to do with the objections of those who may be hostile to faith for any reason, and don't want to be reminded of it.  But what is important is our own prayerful response to what we find in our lives, our social interactions, and our own struggles with the questions that come up for choices in the ways we live our lives.  There is a level at which we struggle to balance compassion for others with respect for different opinions.  Tolerance itself would seem to be a virtue born out of Christianity, for it is Christ Himself who faced hostility for actions such as healing these men, or preaching His gospel, a hostility born out of envy or resentment by those with official religious authority (Matthew 27:18).  What we find is that the very issue of God's kingdom breaking into the world will present spiritual challenges that don't necessarily have the explanations that justify them on logical or even legal terms, and this is because, in St. Paul's words, "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  There are times when things that are nominally good will present as a threat to those who reject the Author of the good.  These things manifest in psychological terms, and without obvious explanation.  But we will find that secondary reasons can be created to defend even irrational hatreds.  The blind men are in some ways perfect examples of this phenomenon, because of the symbolic values inherent in the setting.  Jericho was a very ancient city, even predating the development of agriculture, to 10,000 BC.  As such, during Christ's time, its reputation was one of sinfulness and iniquity, connected perhaps to the practices of the various gods worshiped throughout its history.  The parable of the Good Samaritan is set on the road going down to Jericho from Jerusalem (the opposite direction that Christ now travels in today's reading), about a man beset and beaten by robbers and left abandoned and neglected by the side of the road.  So the blindness of these men who call out to Christ in today's reading is easily seen as symbolic of the blindness of a place like Jericho, notorious for its bad practices and abuses.  Clearly in Biblical language blindness is often associated with the darkness of ignorance and therefore sin.  The lack of illumination of sight is another metaphor for spiritual blindness, light that does not "enter" into the eye.  As such we can see them as those who, unlike the ones mired in and blind to the sinfulness of their surroundings, are different in that they are aware of their affliction.  They call out to Christ the Savior, the Messiah and Deliverer (Son of David) to take them out of their state and to help them.  Even in Christ's request asking them to state what they wish from Him we see the spiritual need to name our ailments, to identify them, so that we may be healed and come to Christ in that state of awareness for His intervention in our lives and for our problems.  But what makes these blind men stand out so that people seek to make them be quiet is precisely their awareness of both their sad condition, and Christ's capacity to heal them for which they shout.  Those who are complacent with going along with blindness and spiritual darkness will resent such awareness and its overt expression of need -- and there we have a deeper metaphor for the spiritual obstacles for those whose hearts have turned to that light and desire it greatly for themselves.  Simply by loving Christ, we may find ourselves a target for offense without cause.  What we must find for ourselves is not necessarily a sense in which we must openly challenge or materially change such responses, but rather remind ourselves that our mission is to endure in faith, because this is what Christ has taught.  In His teachings and warnings of times of difficulty to come, His words declare to us that "he who endures to the end will be saved."  This message is repeated twice in Matthew's gospel, at Matthew 10:22 and 24:13, emphasizing its significance in Christ's teachings to His disciples.  We must consider what it means to endure, to simply persist in being faithful regardless of our experiences.  For a prayerful life, and endurance in faith, is powerful -- and that is what is asked of us.  Let us consider what it means to be like the blind men, aware of what we lack, and yet persisting in seeking what we know we need -- even when others who do not seek the same may be disturbed by that very seeking.  The spiritual life is powerful, and there are those who sense and feel it, even when its very existence is denied.  In this context, it's important to remember the history of monasticism within Christianity, and the faith in the power of prayer to save the world -- even on a mountain or in the desert.  "Have mercy on us, O Lord" (Ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς κύριε)  would become the prayer of the Church for the whole of its existence, and remains so today