35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Jesus is coming into Jericho, a thriving city politically and commercially, where this blind man is on the edge of town, doing the only thing he can: begging for a living. Since his sight was gone, his sense of hearing was sharp; he had heard lots of crowds come by heading toward Jerusalem, but nothing like this. It did not sound like an army; what could it be? It was a parade for a King. When he heard that, the man changed from begging for money to begging for mercy. He saw himself as totally unable to help himself and Jesus as totally capable of doing what no one else could: renew his sight. Jesus was very intentional; He stopped, sent for the man, and met his need. He is faithful to hear the cry of those who call out to Him for mercy.
No comments:
Post a Comment