KJV - Luke 18:35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: (36) And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. (37) And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. (38) And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. (39) And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. (40) And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, (41) Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. (42) And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. (43) And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.
NIV - Luke 18:35-43 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. (36) When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. (37) They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” (38) He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (39) Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (40) Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, (41) “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. (42) Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” (43) Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
There is a famous line in the movie “The Wizard of Oz”. Dorthy and the gang have made it to the Emerald City to find the Wizard. They make it to the room where the Wizard is speaking to them, when Toto the dog pulls the curtain open. To further disguise himself and to perpetuate the con, the man at the microphone projecting himself as the the Great Wizard states “Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain”. There are times in which the world encourages us to ignore the the obvious. The obvious that they want us to ignore is not the man behind the curtain but the one who created the universe. The events in this passage remind me of that statement: “Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain”.
A blind man is begging along the roadside. Due to his handicap, he is really unable to take care of himself and so begging or panhandling is all he can do to scratch out an existence. As he is begging by the roadside, there came by him a crowd of people creating a commotion. As he inquired about the crowd, he was told that Jesus of Nazareth was going by that way. Apparently, this blind beggar had heard of Jesus. In fact, he knew exactly who Jesus was because he began yelling for Jesus to have mercy on him.
As Jesus approached, the Beggar’s publicity stunt created ire among Jesus’ entourage. In fact, the Bible says they rebuked him for it. In other words, the crowd was trying to hide the beggar from Jesus. It’s as if they wanted to say: “Don’t pay attention to that beggar on the side of the road”. But it was not in Jesus’ nature to disregard a person in need. Jesus never saw anyone as being beneath him or undeserving of his time.
Even though this man got pressure to stop calling for Jesus, He didn’t. Instead it inspired him to call out all the more and even louder. The Beggar had a goal in mind and he was not going to let others distract him. The beauty is that it worked. Jesus heard him and and responded to his request. Because this man so diligently sought after Jesus, he received the reward that he was seeking.
Likewise, if we seek the right thing, we too are promised to find it.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
So often, the problem with us not reaching our spiritual goals is that we do not DILIGENTLY seek. We may think that we seek, We may go through some motions of seeking. But we allow the world to stop the process.
Luke 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
What if that beggar had quieted himself when those in the crowd told him to? There is a good chance that Jesus would not have heard him nor asserted himself to find the Beggar. We have lots of pressure in this world to not seek God as we should and therefore we are quieted by the world and quit seeking. We are distracted by the world and quit seeking. When we quit seeking before we find, we will not gain what we hope for. It is only when we are like this beggar that we keep on, in spite of the world, will we find the healing that we need.
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Reflecting His SON,
Dennis Hogan
Minister, North Hardin Church of Christ
1804 Sam Stewart Dr.
Radcliff, KY 40160
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Dennis, it does seem like we are so easily distracted. Video editing tutorials I'm viewing say to keep moving in a video, because each movement resets the viewer's attention span. TV, commercials, and movies are constantly changing views (every 3 seconds or less) for this reason. As a result, their programming has shortened our attention span to the point that paying attention during a sermon or studying the Bible is much more difficult than it used to be. Part of your "diligently seek" is being aware of the problem and counteracting the effect of the media by ratcheting up our attention, our focus, and our enthusiasm. We must rely on the Lord's promise, "Seek [keep on seeking] and you will find." Spiritual healing of our own blindness is our reward.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this devotional.