THE HIDDEN QUESTION
Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." Matt. 9:28, 29, R.S.V.
Two blind men, pleading for money, approached Jesus. Obviously they wanted to be healed of their malady. But the way in which they asked revealed that they accepted what was traditionally held to be the reasons for blindness. They asked for mercy, believing their blindness to be evidence of God's disfavor (see John 9:2).
Jesus met their request with a question. Did they believe that He could heal them? Surely, they knew He could! They must have seen Him heal others or heard a good report. We might well imagine that their answer came quickly, "Yes, Lord!" But was more involved than His power to heal physically?
Was Jesus gently nudging them into new patterns of thinking? Maybe later, as they lay on their back looking at the intense blue of the Mediterranean sky, the question came back as softly as the delicate wisps of clouds above. Was there a hidden meaning in His inquiry? As they mused on this were new thoughts awakened in their minds? Did they begin also to see with spiritual eyes?
Jesus came to reveal the truth about the Father to His troubled earthly children, to explain that God loved them and never arbitrarily induced pain as a means of punishment. He came to bring weary hearts back into fellowship with the One who could give them rest. Did they begin to grasp a deeper meaning in Jesus' question? Do you believe that God would want to do this? Do you realize how much God wants to be involved with sinners? That it is in keeping with who He is, to bring sight to your eyes?
Surely Jesus was telling them that God is never arbitrary. He never acts out of anger. He deals with reality, even as He desires us to do. He wants us whole. Yet it would be a big step for these humble men to believe such things in the face of all that the priests taught. It would put them at odds with their friends, because then they, too, would have to address similar concepts.
The blind men had believed and went away seeing. I only hope that they had the courage to let that be only the beginning.
Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord." Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you." Matt. 9:28, 29, R.S.V.
Two blind men, pleading for money, approached Jesus. Obviously they wanted to be healed of their malady. But the way in which they asked revealed that they accepted what was traditionally held to be the reasons for blindness. They asked for mercy, believing their blindness to be evidence of God's disfavor (see John 9:2).
Jesus met their request with a question. Did they believe that He could heal them? Surely, they knew He could! They must have seen Him heal others or heard a good report. We might well imagine that their answer came quickly, "Yes, Lord!" But was more involved than His power to heal physically?
Was Jesus gently nudging them into new patterns of thinking? Maybe later, as they lay on their back looking at the intense blue of the Mediterranean sky, the question came back as softly as the delicate wisps of clouds above. Was there a hidden meaning in His inquiry? As they mused on this were new thoughts awakened in their minds? Did they begin also to see with spiritual eyes?
Jesus came to reveal the truth about the Father to His troubled earthly children, to explain that God loved them and never arbitrarily induced pain as a means of punishment. He came to bring weary hearts back into fellowship with the One who could give them rest. Did they begin to grasp a deeper meaning in Jesus' question? Do you believe that God would want to do this? Do you realize how much God wants to be involved with sinners? That it is in keeping with who He is, to bring sight to your eyes?
Surely Jesus was telling them that God is never arbitrary. He never acts out of anger. He deals with reality, even as He desires us to do. He wants us whole. Yet it would be a big step for these humble men to believe such things in the face of all that the priests taught. It would put them at odds with their friends, because then they, too, would have to address similar concepts.
The blind men had believed and went away seeing. I only hope that they had the courage to let that be only the beginning.
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