5th Sunday in Lent, April 3. “Let us see”

Prepare to Listen.  As you slow down, still your heart and mind with this prayer: See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life. (Ps 119:40)
 
Prayerfully Read Luke 18:31-43
31Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.  32For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon.  33After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.’  34But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
 
35As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.  36When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening.  37They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’  38Then he shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’  39Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’  40Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, 41‘What do you want me to do for you?’  He said, ‘Lord, let me see again.’  42Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’  43Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
These two stories seem unrelated, but Luke has placed them together for a reason.  In the first, Jesus, as he neared Jerusalem, again told the disciples, this time in brutal and frank detail, what would happen to him.  The disciples, “understood nothing,” it was “hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.”  Jesus said nothing about their failure to see and Luke tells the second story of a blind beggar.  When Jesus heard his loud shouting, he stood still, called him over, and asked, “What do you want me to do for you.”  He could have asked for money or food, since that’s what beggars commonly needed.  But he didn’t, instead daring to ask for the impossible: “Lord, let me see again.”
 
The beggar’s prayer is the link between these two stories.  It’s a prayer the disciples, who failed to understand Jesus’ plain words, needed to make their own.  They couldn’t see and should have asked, “Lord, let us see.”  It’s a prayer request that is much needed today as well.  We live in a time when many, including Christians, are unable to see clearly and thus are easily led into wrong paths.  With the blind beggar, we too can keep praying. “Lord, let us see again and discern your truth.”  I wonder, did it dawn on the disciples that the beggar requested exactly what they needed?  I hope so.
 
Prayerfully Reflect
What connection did you see between Jesus’ words to his disciples and his act of healing the blind man?
 
Respond to Jesus
Lord, let us, your church around the world today, see again, the truth about who you are and how you want us to live and be.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  May your eyes be made to see again.