Luke 18:35-43
It is a wonderful story. A true story. It is another in a long line of Jesus’ miracles, a demonstration of God’s working in Him and of His compassion for the oppressed of humankind. of which He had become a brother. (Take a moment to read our scripture.)
The blind beggar hears the great stir and asks what it means. Jesus of Nazareth is coming. Somehow this man has heard of Jesus, His teaching and his miraculous healings, for he begins to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Son of David is a messianic phrase so this man is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah.
Despite the sharp words of those walking in front (who, by the way, could easily “see” Jesus), the beggar continues to cry out his entreaty. We are pleased, rather thrilled, to see that Jesus stops and has the sightless man brought to Him for we realize that we are this blind beggar in need of help from our Savior. We are thankful that even those who are less than whole and forced to beg can have an audience with Jesus. And, yes, we are elated that his faith is rewarded (for he truly was walking by faith and not by sight), and Jesus restores his physical ability to see.
But in our eagerness to know the outcome or perhaps in our complacency in already “knowing” the story, we tend to overlook what may be the most significant idea embedded in the whole event. Did you see it? What do you make of the question which Jesus asked the blind man: “What do you want Me to do for you?” Wasn’t it obvious that the man was blind? You didn’t have to be the Son of God to see that! Was Jesus being callous? Difficult? Or is this question (which, by the way, Jesus regularly poses to us) in order to get him to carefully consider what it is that he really wants?
Too often we ask God for junk food when we should ask for the bread of life. We ask for trinkets when we could have the true riches. If you were ushered in before Jesus today and asked by Him “What do you want me to do for you?”, what would you answer?