What do you want Me to do for you?

 

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

 

The blind men ask Jesus for one thing:   "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  This is in some sense a strange phrasing of their desire.  Jesus has asked what they want Him to do for them.  They don't say, "We want you to open our eyes."  What they say is the final result they want, the reality they seek for themselves -- to have eyes that have been "opened."  In the Greek, when Jesus asks, "What do you want Me to do for you?" that word for "do" is a specific word that actually means to create, to form, to make something.  It is ποιέω/poieo in the Greek, the root from which is derived "poem" and "poetry."  In Genesis 1:1, when the text tells us, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," the Septuagint text uses this word translated as "created."  John the Baptist uses this same word in Matthew 3:8, when he demands that the religious leaders "bear fruits worthy of repentance" (in this case we understand it as akin to the command to "produce" something).  So, taking this word with its associated meanings, we see that Jesus is essentially asking the men what they want Him to create for them; or rather, what they want Him to produce using His powers as Creator.   Their response makes sense of this:  they want an outcome in which their eyes have been opened.  In a sense, in order to make this response to Him in reply to His gracious offer, they have had to envision what they would truly desire as an outcome, what thing they really want in life, and this is truly what Jesus is asking them.  Perhaps we should think this way, in terms of creation, and outcome, when we stop to think what our deepest and dearest desires are.  What would we want God to create or make for us?  Do we desire our relationships to be better?  Would our dearest wish be to have talents that we don't have?  Or how about simply that our eyes also be opened?  That is, to have the ability to see what we don't see, to detect what we don't detect, to perceive what we don't perceive.   Thinking about it in these terms, this is more than a request just to see as everyone else sees.  It is a request to truly see, that one's eyes may be opened to what Christ might give us the capacity to see, what the Creator may make us capable of seeing if God should be the One who opens our eyes.  Think then, what that kind of creative power might enable us to see!  The fullness of this request, then, becomes a request for all of us.  For there are so many things that we don't really see, that we can't commonly perceive.  But there are ways in which the God can open our eyes to perceptions that aren't part of everyone's every day experience.  Think of the ways in which the Holy Spirit makes possible for the apostles to see what they didn't see even when Christ was still with them.  Think what it might mean to have our perceptive faculties made open by God, by Christ.  Then how far might we possibly see?  How deep might our perceptions become?  What things could we see that we are blind to right now?  This is, in fact, a way to think about the creative power of God, that gracious call extended to these men by the One who asks, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  Let us consider all the ways we might answer that question, and how the question itself opens up so much more than we ever might have considered.  Elsewhere, Jesus teaches, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind" (John 9:39).  Let us be the ones who seek what He wants us to see, which might be so much more than we know.

 

 

 

 

 

I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world

 Another parable He put forth to them, saying:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."

Another parable He spoke to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."

All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

"I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."

- Matthew 13:31-35

Yesterday we read another parable given by Jesus (after the parable of the Sower, see here and here):  "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.  But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field?  How then does it have tares?'  He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.'  The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?'  But he said, 'No, lest while you gather the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'"

 Another parable He put forth to them, saying:  "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."  Another parable He spoke to them:  "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened."  My study bible notes that the mustard seed and the leaven represent the disciples.   Theophylact comments that they began as just a few men, but "soon encompassed the whole earth."  These parables also stand for faith entering a person's soul, causing an inward growth of virtue.  Such a soul can become godlike and can receive even angels, my study bible says (the birds of the air come and nest in its branches).  

All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:  "I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world."   Matthew quotes from Psalm 78:2, indicating that by using parables, Jesus reveals mysteries of the reality of God at work in the world. 

The two parables given in today's reading are perhaps the simplest and yet the most profoundly impressive, because they teach us about the growth of the Kingdom, and most certainly the growth of the soul.  Theophylact is quoted above (from my study bible) as applying them to the explosive growth of the Church in the wake of the mission of the apostles into the world after Pentecost.  But, also as noted in my study bible, these parables apply to the inner growth of the soul.  What's noteworthy are the different forms of growth implied in the parables.  A mustard seed, which Jesus calls the least of all the seeds, grows into a tree (perhaps a great sturdy bush) in contrast to other herbs, great enough so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.  Birds are quite clearly reminiscent of angels, the messengers of the air who find a home in such a tree.  It's also a picture of a home for ministry, for those who minister, a harbor for the thoughts and teachings and impulses that make for ministry.   Such a seed allowed to grow and expand becomes a place of nurturing for the world in this picture.  Then we come to the parable of the leaven.  Leaven is enzymatic in its work (our word enzyme comes from the Greek word for leaven).  It changes and transforms flour -- making bread more digestible for human beings and changing the consistency of dough.  Just a little leavens the whole and works to transform.  This image of the growth of the Kingdom is a picture of the work of the Kingdom in us or in community; the mysterious changes are those we cannot claim nor control nor dictate, but the outcome is one that is good for us -- at once easy to take in and nourishing.  The transforming effects of leaven create an outcome from the inside out; such is the effect of the Kingdom within ourselves as well, and the work of the Holy Spirit.  To utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world implies the act of Creation; and that which existed before Creation and was and is active both in the creation of the world and the continual life of the world.  (If we look at Genesis and at Revelation, the tense of "create" is ongoing; for example, Revelation 21:5 can more literally be read, "I am always making all things new.")  This secret reality and work is like the hidden enzymatic action of the leaven.  It is hidden from our awareness, but made clear by the outcome suddenly apparent to us.  Christ offers us wisdom and opens the door to mystery through His parables.  The parables themselves hold a key to our understanding -- there are instruments of wisdom hidden in plain sight, couched in words and meaning but available to spiritual eyes and ears, so to speak.  How are we to receive them, or to understand?

Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men

 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

- Matthew 4:18-25

Yesterday we read that when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:  "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:  The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned."  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets.  He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  These first disciples, the brothers Simon and Andrew, and James and John Zebedee, had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist, and they were prepared to accept Christ immediately.  Although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion, my study bible tells us, these "people of the land" whom Jesus calls will be revealed at Pentecost to be the wisest of all.

And Jesus went about all Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.  Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.  Great multitudes followed Him -- from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.  When Jesus had begun to preach repentance ("Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," a repetition of the words of the Baptist -- see the final verse in yesterday's reading, above), the crowds did not swarm Him.  It was only when He began to heal and work miracles (today's reading) that this phenomenon of immediate public interest and fame occurred.  My study bible says that this fact shows that the people misunderstand the true nature of the Kingdom.  It is also showing that Christ made concessions "to give credibility to what He teaches" (in the words of Theophan) among the fickle multitudes.

Jesus' fame quickly grows and spreads.  These first disciples respond to His call immediately.  As Jesus begins His public ministry, things happen quickly.  People do not respond so wildly to the call for repentance, but the manifestation of holy power is compelling.  And, of course, it is the fulfillment of traditional expectations of the Messiah, one who will heal and work miracles.  My study bible says that it shows that people misunderstand the true nature of the Kingdom.  What is that true nature?  In yesterday's reading, we considered this question, pondering on the notion that the Kingdom is present wherever Christ is.  Maybe there is a hint in the immediate response of these first disciples when they are called.  They are prepared for Him; it's understood that they have heard and known the preaching of John the Baptist and were most likely his disciples first (see John 1:35-42, in which the unnamed disciple is most likely John Zebedee himself).  But what is the call?  They are called to become fishers of men.  It's noteworthy that these men are not pre-qualified for this job, although they are prepared to respond to His call.  In the language of the Gospel, Jesus says, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."   The word used for "make" both here and in the same command found in Mark's Gospel is the Greek word ποιήσω/poieso, a verb akin to "create."  It gives us the root for the word "poem," a manifestation of what it is to create.  It is, in effect, an extension of His power as Creator.  It is His holy power that will "make" these men fishers of men.  It's not a simple call to take on a role or to fill a job.  It's rather a call to mission for which only Christ's holy power is capable of rendering them what they will become.  Hence, "follow Me" is more than a command.  It's a kind of qualifier.  By following Him, in faith and in keeping His word, we become something more than what we started out and can be on our own.  In John 14, in His final sermon to the disciples at the Last Supper, He makes this promise twice.  He first tells them, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:15-18).  And then promises again, in response to a question as to how this can happen, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me" (John 14:23-24).  Living in His word, keeping His commandments, loving Christ, means that both the Helper, the Holy Spirit, and the Father, will dwell forever with that person, creating ongoing discipleship, making of us what is necessary for that living Kingdom, which is clearly a synergy of holy power and human beings.  To live in His word -- true repentance -- is an ongoing process of being made into something, of this holy power to create at work in our lives.  As my study bible noted when these illiterate and unlearned men were called, they "will be revealed at Pentecost to be the wisest of all" because of this ongoing creative work of God within them.  Where one member of the Trinity is, as we noted in yesterday's reading, so are all three, as promised by Christ in John 14.  What we look to, then, is this transformational and creative reality, making us into something that we can't make of ourselves, fashioning us for  a purpose and for participation in something beyond ourselves and greater than we can know.  It is a creative power in which we are invited to participate, growing closer in this indwelling "home" where Father, Son, and Spirit may live forever with us.  It's an awesome thing to ponder, but one for which we simply need to accept what is, and allow ourselves to accept where He leads when we follow.   More powerfully than we can know, the work of God is, after all, to believe in Him whom He sent (John 6:29).