Today’s reading: Psalm 106; Luke 18
I don’t remember if I’ve talked about this guy before or not, but the blind man on the road to Jericho is really challenging to me.
I can so easily get too concerned about what other people think of me. That is true in general, but it can be especially true where my faith is concerned. Here I am with the gospel, the only message that brings reconciliation to our creator and eternal life, and yet I can be so timid about it. Our culture says that it’s fine to have your religion, as long as you don’t talk about it, and especially as long as you don’t try to convince others that you are right and they are wrong, but isn’t that exactly what Jesus calls us to do? Isn’t that exactly what we should be doing if we believe this is true and we actually care about the people around us?? And yet all it takes is a hint of disdain or a whiff of social/relational alienation for talking about Jesus, and I am immediately tempted to shut my mouth.
But what about this blind man outside Jericho? He hears a crowd walking by, asks what’s going on, and when he hears that it’s Jesus, he unabashedly starts yelling out for Him. Jesus, evidently, either doesn't hear, or just doesn't respond right away, because Luke tells us the people around him told him to be quiet. Rather than listening to the people around him, the man redoubles his efforts, yelling even louder for Jesus, until Jesus Himself calls for the man to ask him what he needs. And the reward for his brashly ignoring the people around him, looking like a fool, and calling after Jesus as loudly as he could? Sight! The blind beggar was given his sight, and an entirely new life along with it!
If that man had been as easily swayed toward timidity as I am, he would have given up, sat back down, and continued to beg when the people told him to stop yelling. Or, if I'm being honest, he may have thought about yelling for Jesus, but never even stood up in the first place because he was too afraid of the disdain of the passing crowd if he did. If that man had been like me, he never would have received his sight at the hands of our Savior. But that man considered Jesus was worth looking like a fool, and his assessment was more right than anybody else in that crowd that was telling him to quiet down.
God, give me a heart like the blind beggar's on the road to Jericho.
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