As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ The crowd sternly ordered them to be quiet; but they shouted even more loudly, ‘Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!’ Jesus stood still and called them, saying, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, let our eyes be opened.’ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight and followed him. Matthew 20:29-34
Folks who were traveling with Jesus tried to silence the blind men aching to see again. Maybe folks knew these two men all too well and knew they were begging for money. We don't know why they tried to silence them, but their cries got to Jesus. He heard their cries, was filled with compassion and healed them. They, in turn, got up and followed Jesus. We can pass this off as another miracle story, but I think it impacts our lives today. We forget to raise our voices in need, forget that God's heart is full of love and compassion, and we try to silence the voices of others way too often. Jesus is moved, even today, by our cries for help and healing is always possible. May we get up and follow the one who is, love, compassion and healing today.
Gracious Creator, you are healing and compassion
you breathed your breath into our infant lungs
and you hold us throughout our live and in eternity.
We get the notion that we don't need a savior
thinking we can silence all the noise in our lives
and conquer all the pain, fear and suffering we carry.
Lord, help us to be like the honest blind men
give us voices so we might shout out our needs
and follow you as responding with compassion to all. amen.
