Blindspots

” As they left Jericho, a great crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on us!” The crowd warned them to be silent, but they called out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on us!” Jesus stopped and called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They answered him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” Moved with pity, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight, and followed him. Matthew 20:29-34

I find it interesting that the crowd tries to silence these men. I wonder why? Can you almost hear them being chastised to not bother Jesus? Sometimes, when I am in a bad mood, my oldest daughter hushes her sisters left and right so that nothing sets my crankiness off, I wonder was Jesus getting cranky? Was he starting to get tired in his ministry, after all he was human and that was a lot of walking, preaching and healing.

However, what the crowd didn’t understand is exactly what my daughter doesn’t understand. Jesus doesn’t want to dismiss any one’s needs just because he is in a bad mood. If one of my kids needs something, I want to be the first to know. If I can make things right, I want to be the first to do it. I believe that is what Jesus did. “what do you want me to do?”…or how can I help, or what are your needs? It is all the same. Interestingly, the only thing they want is to see….wait the only thing? It sounds so mechanic and casual (then he saw them, and then he healed them…). But imagine how they felt when they were healed. Two men go from blindness to sight! But really, the whole crowd is given the gift in witnessing the miracle and hopefully a little lesson: don’t stop anyone from coming to Jesus.

So I ask myself today, am I a member of the crowd that sushes the needs of people who want to get closer to Jesus to be healed? Do I believe or insist that they can only be close if they subscribe to a certain pattern of behavior, or set of rules, or particular church or religion? Am I member of the crowd that thinks that I know Jesus better than Jesus? If so, that line scares me, because that takes some serious arrogance!

Today I pray that my eyes be opened to the blindness that I have. If somehow my blindness interferes with the coming of the kingdom, may my eyes be opened to it so that in this penitential season, I can truly repent and change and if necessary make amends. I pray, believing that if I persist, Jesus will hear me and heal me too.