Son of David, have mercy on me!

 

 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 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 ties 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.   My study Bible comments that the saying was hidden not by God, but because the disciples 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.  This blind man greets Jesus as Son of David, which is a title my study Bible refers to as one deeply associated with the Messiah.  Although He knows what we want before we ask, my study Bible says, Jesus calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.   In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, there are two blind men in this story.  There's a spiritual interpretation to that miracle, in that future generations coming to Christ would do so only by hearing, without benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  Those trying to silence the men are the persecutors and tyrants who, in each generation, try to silence the Church.  But even under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.  

There are some interesting ways that we could look at today's story of the blind man (in parallel with the two blind men found in Matthew's Gospel).  First of all, it's interesting that, as this man is deprived of his sight, he is nonetheless blessed with the resources and gifts of his voice and his hearing.  It's interesting that voice and hearing are linked through patristic interpretation with freedom; that is, the freedom of the Church to proclaim and confess Christ.  In a sense, the story is an illustration of St. Paul's experience, in which he prayed several times for God to take away a particular infirmity.  St. Paul writes, "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).  Like St. Paul's mysterious infirmity, which he called a "thorn in the flesh," the affliction of blindness nevertheless functions in some way to enable this man to find and use his hearing and his voice to call out to Jesus.  His title for Jesus, "Son of David," reveals that, even in the absence of sight (or perhaps because of it), he "sees" that Jesus is the Messiah.  Perhaps due to his blindness, Jesus is not diminished in his sight by viewing his human stature, but rather in hearing the multitude he is stirred to action.  There's another parallel to blindness in understanding the Scriptures and that is its association with sin and error; we are blind to that which we do not know and need to learn.  Jericho was a place traditionally associated with sin, with people, as the expression goes, who sat in darkness (Isaiah 9:2, as quoted in Matthew 4:16).  Despite the fact that he sits in darkness, this blind man can "see" who Jesus is better than the crowds can; he can use his hearing and his voice to make the connection of faith, to respond to Jesus' question with a specific prayer to receive his sight.  This perception on the part of the blind man is clear to Jesus, who is our ultimate guide to good vision, when He tells the blind man, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  This formerly blind man can now be on his way to Jerusalem, following Christ.  And in that image of Jesus on His way to Jerusalem there is another tie with blindness in today's reading, and that is in the disciples.  Jesus gives very specific and almost graphic and detailed expression of what is going to happen to Him:  In Jerusalem, "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 the disciples sat in darkness, so to speak, in that they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.  This is another form of darkness, a blindness in their lack of understanding.  But they also will be illumined by faith.  Perhaps today's lesson from the reading is about times of our own blindness, when we can't see clearly ahead of us to understand which way life is pointing us forward, and need a light in the darkness; we pray, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Or better yet, the Jesus Prayer it inspired:  "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me."