A thirty-year-old rabbi from Nazareth was walking through Jericho, and his reputation had preceded him. Crowds were gathered along the road, as he and his disciples walked through town. The disciples were a rag tag bunch, not like typical disciples of rabbis of the time. Typical disciples were the crème de le crème of the religious schools. However, these folks following the Nazarene were fishermen, tax collectors, or just regular people.
As this small procession moved through town, a blind man called out to the rabbi, also known as Jesus. Help me! Even after getting scolded by the fellow bystanders to sit down and be quiet, he shouted out again. Help me! He was respectful in his request, and persistent. This sequence of events reminded me of Saturday’s reading about the persistent widow. Being persistent can pay off.
Jesus heard the blind man, as He hears us. A short conversation took place, and the man asked for his sight, and Jesus said OK. The story is complete, right? Well, almost.
Gift
I was moved by the persistence of the blind man, who overcame the peer pressure of the crowd to not ask Jesus for help. There is plenty of peer pressure these days to turn from the Divine toward the Human. Yet another theme from the story also struck me.
The blind man was no longer blind, and his lifelong dream was miraculously answered. With this new gift of sight, what do you think he would do? Would he run home to his family to tell them about the cure? Would he dance and sing and party to celebrate his rebirth as a “normal citizen” of society, rather than being an outcast who had to beg for food? Would he run to the synagogue to tell the chief religious people in town?
Actually, the story says nothing of the sort. He follows Jesus. He does not go home first, to the market, to the temple, or to his old neighborhood. He follows Jesus straight away, with no hesitation.
When we have prayers answers, and the receipt of our gift from God is in hand, where do we go? How do we celebrate? Who do we share with? I think the formerly blind guy has it right and is a fitting example for us all.
Very nice. You painted a very visual picture.