There’s Always Time for This. . .
Matthew 20:29-34, NIV - As Jesus and his disciples
were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by
the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord,
Son of David, have mercy on us!”
The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but
they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do
for you?” he asked.
“Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes.
Immediately they received their sight and followed him.
Today,
we read about yet another healing performed by Jesus. This time, two blind men receive their
sight. But’s it’s clear from the way
Matthew tells this story that the healing is not the reason he felt compelled
to tell this story. After all, Matthew
had already included countless healings in his gospel account thus far. Jesus’s power to heal is more than
established at this point. There were
undoubtedly dozens, if not hundreds of healings Jesus did that were never recorded
in the gospels. Why even include this
story?
Remember
that Jesus, earlier in this same chapter, warns his disciples about the events
that are coming. The setting for the
healing of these two blind men is on the road between Jericho and Bethphage, a
15-mile trek. In Bethphage, Jesus will
secure a donkey and ride into Jerusalem, setting in motion the events that lead
to His death. My presumption is that Jesus’s would have been preoccupied with
thoughts about those coming events during that walk to Bethphage. If it had been me, I imagine that I wouldn’t
be able to think about or pay attention to anything else. He is a dead man walking.
So it’s
pretty significant that Jesus even notices two men crying out on the side of
the road amidst the large crowd following Him to Bethphage. The crowd even tries to shush these
insignificant fools trying to get the attention of the popular Miracle-Worker. Jesus not only hears these cries for mercy,
but He stops to see what the men who are making the pleas want. The men say they want to see and then, “Jesus
had compassion on them and touched their eyes.”
Jesus had compassion on them
and gave the men their sight. It is not
the healing that compelled Matthew to include this story, but the compassion. In the gathering shadows of coming events,
Matthew remembered that Jesus wasn’t too preoccupied for compassion.
I can’t
often say the same about myself. In the middle
of mounting stress, my capacity for compassion often fails me. In fact, I’m sure that I could document a
correlation in me between rising stress and declining compassion. The greek root words for which we get the word
compassion are “com pati,” which means “suffer with.” Jesus, thinking about his approaching
suffering, is not too busy to stop and suffer with others. I, like Matthew, am moved by this character
trait of our Savior. Further, I pray
that as I continue to follow Jesus, my capacity for compassion would look more
like that of Jesus.
Question: Have you
ever experienced a time when your own stress and/or suffering blinded you to
the suffering of others?
Prayer: Oh Jesus, we
are inspired by your amazing compassion and love for not just us, but for
people we might not ever notice. Help us
to be more and more like You. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for God to bless some specific people that you have never prayed for before.
Song: Give Me Your
Eyes – Brandon Heath
