Luke 18:31-43

Posted by DJL on Nov 19, 2013 in Daily Bread | 2 comments

Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.’” But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” Then he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

“Seeing” is an important category in the Gospel According to Luke and, indeed, the life of faith more generally. “See,” Jesus says as he tells his disciples – for the third time! – about what awaits him in Jerusalem. But they don’t see.  In fact, Luke records, “they understood nothing.”

But always sensitive in his depiction of the disciples – who, after all, will be the main players in Acts, “part 2” of the story he tells – Luke also gives them an out, letting us know that what Jesus said “was hidden from them.” How can you see, after all, something that is hidden?

It is no accident, then, that in the very next scene a blind man, upon learning that Jesus is coming near, calls out and begs Jesus to have mercy. The people around the blind man, embarrassed by his outburst, try to silence him, but he only calls out all the louder. Why? Because he wants to see…fervently, desperately, with his whole heart.

And Jesus, sensing his earnestness, stops and asks the simplest and perhaps most powerful question in Scripture: “What do you want me to do for you?” And the man answers in equally simple and potent words, asking not for wealth or power or influence or long life, but rather for sight: “Lord, let me see again.” And he does, as Jesus heals him and lets him know that his faith has restored him, healed him, made him whole, and saved him.

“Lord, let me see again.” I wonder, at times, what would have happened if the disciples had made this request. Would they have understood what was to come? Would they have continued on the road to Jerusalem and the cross? Would they have stayed with their Lord in his hour of need? What would have happened if they could have seen who Jesus really was and understood his purpose and destiny.

We’ll never know; they failed to ask. But we still can. “Lord, let me see.” This, it seems to me, may just be the key question of discipleship: Lord, let me see…you, your will, what God is up to and accomplishing through you, my neighbor, the need all around me, the blessings you have given me, your call to discipleship, your grace and glory revealed in the cross, your promise of new life and forgiveness in the resurrection, your love for us and all the world. Lord, let me see.

When we pray that prayer, trust me, Jesus never fails to answer.

Prayer: Dear God, open our eyes so that we may see the grace and goodness of your Son and his call to a life of grateful service and love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.