The two blind men cried out, and then they cried out again. They begged for pity, and Jesus was moved. He was not persuaded by them, but was rather “moved with pity.” In other words, the Lord felt their pain, their darkness, their loneliness, and was moved to bring relief.
He touched their eyes, and “Immediately they received their sight, and followed him.” They recognized the need, they reached out to Jesus, they received His touch, and then they responded. Yet, they did not recognize with their eyes, they did not reach with their hand, they did not run to receive His touch, and they did not respond with empty words.
Their openness to be healed led to their ability to fulfill their vocation, their mission to follow Christ. It demonstrates for us the patience of God and the patience that we are each called to have in pursuing our path to holiness and health.
We often seek to ‘do’ before we seek to ‘be.’ A clear example of this is that we often ask people “what they do,” before we ask them what they enjoy or believe. And to the question, “What are you?” comes the reply, “I’m a firemen, a lawyer, a gardener.” But, that’s what we do, not who we are….
The beauty of just existing is lost, we are blind to our own mission and vocation, and to the Lord as He walks along our path. We become frustrated and angry when we cannot do everything that we want, when we can’t be the person we want to be, or when we can’t feel the way we would like to feel. In short, we are like blind men – not sitting by the road – but trying to scale a mountain all alone with no tools. We try to beat down a door, when next to us there is an open window. All this, because there are parts of us – great or small – that God has not yet healed. Yet, He is moved with pity, and wishes to heal us….
We must allow Christ into our lives in an intimate way. Intimacy requires truth. The blind men were asked what they wanted, and they replied that they wanted to see. There was no hesitation, explanation, or groveling: Just the simple facts. This is all Jesus desires, a response, a dialogue, a genuine heart. They were given sight and the journey continued. They used their new gift to follow the Lord, to watch where He was going and to go after Him. There would be many more healings on the way, and soon there would be Calvary to climb, but the journey would not be in vain. It would no longer be in the darkness, but in the light. It would no longer be in idle anticipation, but in fruitful mission.
The same Jesus is here today.
Burning Hearts 