Tell the Blind People So They Don’t Miss Their Meeting
Luke 18:35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.
Luke 18:36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant.
Luke 18:37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
Luke 18:38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Luke 18:39 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!”
Luke 18:40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him,
Luke 18:41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.”
Luke 18:42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 18:43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Once upon a time I was sitting on a bench on Main Street in Evansville with a blind man named Dean. Dean had a huge smile, mirrored sunglasses, a pin on his shirt with a picture of Ronnie Milsap, and if you ever showed up at the Rescue Mission at dinner time and there wasn’t a person to lead the music, he’d lead everyone in singing a hymn.
“That bus is running awfully early.” Dean said to me.
“What do you mean?” I was impressed already. The city bus was just coming past us.
“Well it’s not quite on the hour and the bus doesn’t usually get up here to 6th street for a few more minutes.”
The court house bell and the sound of the bus were part of his geographical positioning system.
“We’re at the corner of 2nd and Main, Dean. Not 6th.” I didn’t say it mean, but he had to know the truth of where he was, right?
“Oh shoot!” Dean jumped up. “Can you give me an elbow down to 6th? I’m supposed to meet somebody there right now!” And with that, we got up and Dean grabbed my elbow and we walked the 4 blocks up to his meeting. Dean thanked me and made explanations about being off for 4 blocks all of the way up the street.
Like Dean, the guy that was blind in this event with Jesus was perfectly fine right where he was. For all he knew, he was in the right place. But when he heard those words ”
Whatever that guy heard about “Jesus of Nazareth” turned into a testimony of “Son of David” who was able to “show mercy” and help the man “recover his sight.”
Those are all huge deals worthy of meditation. That guy had heard of Jesus. Whatever he had heard, was enough to build some faith up so that when he had the chance, he bet his whole being on Jesus being the Messiah. People even rebuked him when he called out, but that didn’t stop him.
There are people, right now, blind, desperate to hear the simple truth that Jesus is near. They need it as sure as Dean needed to hear he was on the wrong block, in order to meet the Lover of their Souls.
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Extra credit: Dean’s Obituary in case any of you ever met Dean
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