Blindness

Text: “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked Him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” (Mark 10:51)

There is no question that we have many people in the world who are physically blind. Sometimes we know the reason they have lost their sight and other times it is unknown.

There are people, who have sight, but the images are not clear and things appear as shadows. There are children who are born blind because some part of their optical system did not develop.

On the other hand, there are people in the world who have perfect 20/20 vision as indicated by the eye chart, but are blind as to what is going on around them. They are so concerned about their own life and their own needs and wants that they are oblivious or unaware of the people around them. Both you and I know some of these people.

People in this group tend to stick together and associate with those who think, act, do, and live the same lifestyle. Fortunately for us, Jesus is not like this.

Jesus is not impressed with things of the world as some people are. He is not interested in what people possess, but He is interested in what they need. He is not interested in only the upper crust of society, but He is interested in all His children regardless of whether they are rich or poor.

Jesus reaches out to those who have small or big concerns. He is not blind to what is going on in the world. He is not blind to the sinful nature of mankind. He sees what is going on in our life. He sees what we are going go do before we ever do it. Jesus is not blind.

Some people are impressed with large crowds of people which follow them and listen to what they have to say or observe what they are doing, but Jesus is different. He doesn’t object to multitudes of people following Him, but He is interested in and ready to assist individuals in their time of need.

There are times when we, you and I, have been approached by someone in need or someone who wants to talk to us, but we put them off because we have something else to do. We may be in a hurry and choose to ignore their cry for our attention. That’s the way many of God’s children treat other people, but we need to thank Jesus for showing interest, compassion, understanding and love for us when we approach Him with some concern on our mind. Jesus is not blind.

Jesus was in Jericho and was in the process of leaving the city with His disciples and heading for Jerusalem. He was being followed by a multitude of people who knew of Him or who were curious about Him and what He was saying.

In Jesus’ day, it was very common to see beggars sitting along the streets. Jericho was a resort city with many people coming and going, so naturally, it was a profitable place for beggars. Today, we call those people “panhandlers”.

Imagine, being in the crowd and seeing Jesus and His disciples moving out of the city. Crowds are not usually very quiet, so imagine them being quite noisy. Now imagine one little lonely voice crying out for help. Could you have heard this voice? I don’t think so. At times, we don’t even hear when people are talking directly to us because we are not tuned in.

If we were like Jesus and followed in His footsteps, our attention could turn from the noise of many to the voice of one. With Jesus, there is no crowd too large that He cannot hear a single voice, a single cry, a single request for help. We are so fortunate and yet we are so blind.

Jesus is not blind nor is He deaf. His attention is given to any person who desires it. Jesus does not sleep or slumber, but He is always on duty. He always has time to care for the needs of His children. He is never in a hurry, because He considers you the most important and most precious.

As Jesus, His disciples and the crowd moved along the road, one lowly little voice cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47) Wow! What a beautiful request, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

He did not ignore that request. He did not say something like we might say, “I’m sorry fellow; I am on my way to this big important meeting of CEO’s at the Convention Center and I don’t want to be late.” No! Jesus didn’t do anything like that. “Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called” (Mark 10:49).