As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God. (Luke 18:35-43 NASB)
In Greek, one of the words translated “to know” is actually “to see”. I’m pretty sure this isn’t where the phrase, “seeing is believing” comes from, but it does testify to the antiquity of such belief. To see is to know. In so much of life this is true, and this truth spurs explorers to go and see what no one else has seen, therefore to know what no one else knows.
The blind can’t see, so you’d expect that they wouldn’t know much. But this one apparently heard and believed what he heard. In fact he seems to know more than the sighted ones around him. This man hears that Jesus the Nazarene has arrived, but knows this man is the “messianic Son of David”. Now, how exactly does he know that, and no one else around him does? In fact, as he cries out, “Son of David have mercy on me” he is told repeatedly to pipe down. It is as if this blind man sees, and therefore knows, more than the crowd flowing around his begging corner.
His persistent cries to the Son David are heard by Jesus, and He calls for the knowledgeable blind man. Jesus then asks one of those obvious questions that is almost laughable. Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” The man is blind. Duh! Of course he wants to see! But then remember that those in the crowd don’t get who Jesus is, they were telling the blind man to be quiet. But the blind man does know. Jesus isn’t asking the blind man what he wants because He doesn’t know, He’s using the occasion of this very insightful blind man to teach the crowd who He is. He will confirm to them that He is the Son of David.
The blind man’s faith made him well. He believed Jesus was the Son of David, an insightful leap of faithful logic. And his faith was the occasion Jesus used to create faith in those around the man. They all glorified and praised God. So, my question is “when have I been the occasion used by my Master to create faith in others?” When has my insight helped another see Jesus for who He is? Or am I too busy seeing I miss believing in Jesus? Do the things I see around me distract me from what I know about Jesus? Because if they are, then I’m no longer available to my Master to use as an occasion of belief in others.
In so many ways I’m blind. I don’t see the spiritual realm where the armies of darkness war fruitlessly against the King of Glory. I don’t see the minute structures of the material around me. I don’t see the unimaginable power and grandeur of even the galaxy of which I’m a part, let alone the vast number of galaxies spread across this universe. I don’t know a vast amount of stuff, it’s staggering and overwhelming really. I don’t know the future, and I have little understanding of even the recent past. I barely understand what’s going on now.
But I know that Jesus is my Master, that He is my King, that I am His servant, and He calls me His knight. I know He loves me, He has my back, and that I am at His service. I know He calls me to wait, worship, and walk before Him. That I know. Much of the world around me escapes my notice, my view, and my understanding. But I know in Whom I have believed, that He is able to make good on what He has promised, to keep that which I have entrusted to Him, and that He will call me home one day. If I know that, why isn’t that what I talk about? Why isn’t all that what makes up my conversations with friends, family, and neighbors. Why am I not that annoying guy and neighbor that always talks about God? Why am I not that guy?
Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me!
What do you see through your knothole in the fence?
Knothole Theology 
“If I know that, why isn’t that what I talk about? Why isn’t all that what makes up my conversations with friends, family, and neighbors. Why am I not that annoying guy and neighbor that always talks about God? Why am I not that guy?”
Maybe because the crowd “were sternly telling him to be quiet”. Maybe because even Jesus had to get from somewhere to somewhere and those conversations are not (worthy of being?) recorded. Maybe because if we are those “annoying guys” – all we do is convince others that Jesus is not for them. And maybe – perhaps mostly – because when we talk we are not listening. And Jesus is THE perfect listener (as proven in these verses).
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Still, I think Jesus wants me to talk about Him more. I believe He wants to be more of what’s on my mind and the driving force behind my answer to, “How are things going?”.
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I am affectionately curious to see where He and you take that thought 🙂
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I’ll let you know. I’ve had three opportunities so far, and they’ve gone pretty well. But they were easy, with people I already knew or knew were believers. Time take it wider?
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“I know He loves me, He has my back, and that I am at His service. I know He calls me to wait, worship, and walk before Him. That I know.”
And when we know that, our walk reflects His heart and His words, which are often much more important than our words.
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And so I hope, Susan, so I hope. I think maybe I think too much about what others think, and that distracts me from Him, and my walk then reflects that line of thought…I think. Heeheee. Thanks for the comment.
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