Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 5: Year 1
Morning, Psalms 56 and 57; Evening, Psalms 64 and 65;
Deuteronomy 30:1 to 10; 2nd Corinthians 10:1 to 18; Luke 18:31 to 43:
“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.” (Luke 18:35 to 43)
Jesus had just finished telling the twelve about what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem but they couldn’t see it. This blind man asked what was happening and when he heard that it was Jesus, saw very clearly what was good for him to do regardless of the pushback from the crowd.
The crowd tried to hold him back but he was persistent. “Have mercy on me.” Often we are denied the call of our faith through pressure from our friends, (social media, virtual or face to face). We must learn about what is good for us. We must see clearly even before we are given our moral sight back.
Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” What would you ask our Lord Jesus for if given the one opportunity? The blind man in our passage for today just wants to be back where he was when he could see and know the difference between good and bad. He said, ‘Lord, let me see again.
Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you. Again, his cure was already in him just as ours is already in us, our faith. We must take our faith to the living Jesus who is waiting to do for us whatever we want. This blind man did and, “Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God.” I wish we had his name. Are you following our Lord Jesus? Do we have your name?
Let us live in order that we might love, rather than just live to live, and let us listen to what the Spirit is saying to, and through, the saints of God, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
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