picture from sodahead.com
Another familiar biblical event for us today: Jesus acknowledging the call of a man, a blind man, who desires to be healed of his blindness. Jesus responds as we would expect of him. Surely this was an event in the early day of the first century. We might consider what the message is for us today.
Today we live in a world and time when wars, abuse of so many kinds, economic depression and so forth. One must wonder what it is that brings about so much evil in our own times. What is the blindness that prevents seeing the reality that would bring about an end to such evils in our societies.
In today’s gospel there is an answer to some of our questioning. We encounter a blind man begging most likely because he cannot find any employment. He was not, however, a man who would simply live in his blindness, feeling sorry for himself. Albeit degrading, he was not ashamed to beg for his sustenance. He must have heard about the young preacher, Jesus, who was traveling about announcing something new. His message so often was about healing. It is not surprising that this man would call out to Jesus when he was told he was passing by.
Those seeking something for themselves, those who could see, those who could make their way along with Jesus, try to silence the voice calling for healing. Seemingly they did not want a societal misfit to distract Jesus from their own wants. Today we might see in the various evils of our times the voices and pressures that seek to keep us from overcoming evils in our lives.
We ourselves might reflect upon our actions, our personal points of reference: does Jesus have a healing part in our heart? Do we have the faith that the blind misfit had when he was determined not to allow the rebukes of the crowd put down his call for needed healing? Do we have the kind of faith that Jesus recognized in the blind man? Do we have the same kind of faith in our sometimes dire circumstances to call out to Jesus, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me”? Would Jesus reply to each of us with the same words: “... your faith has saved you”?
