When two blind men approached Jesus for healing, the people around Him criticized them and tried to shoo them away. Despite this ill treatment by others, the men kept calling out to the Lord – not for sight but for mercy.
No wonder! If the reaction of the crowd was typical of the way these men were usually treated, their suffering and rejection by others might have felt worse than their blindness.
Reading
the story in the King James Version below,
Jesus’ response seems odd and unexpected. i.e., He doesn’t go to the blind men.
He stands still and calls them to Him.
Jesus calls and gives us the choice to follow.
Although
obvious to everyone, Jesus did not presume the men wanted to see. Remember?
They had prayed only for mercy. So the Lord called them to Him. The Lord waited
for them. Then Jesus asked them what they wanted to ask Him.
Matthew 20:30-33
from the King
James Version
And, behold, two
blind men
sitting by the
way side,
when they heard
that Jesus passed
by,
cried out,
saying,
Have mercy on us,
O Lord, thou son
of David.
And the multitude
rebuked them,
because they
should hold their peace:
but they cried
the more, saying,
Have mercy on us,
O Lord, thou son
of David.
And Jesus stood
still, and called them,
and said,
What will ye
that I shall do
unto you?
They say unto
him,
Lord, that our
eyes
may be opened.
From the Book of
KJV Prayers - actual prayers from the King James
Version of the Bible (KJV) collected by Mary Sayler
Matthew 20:31b-33
paraphrased
Lord, Son of
David,
have mercy on us!
Lord, Son of
David,
have mercy on us!
Lord Jesus,
we want to see.
From the Book of Bible Prayers – actual prayers of the Bible collected
from a variety of translations researched on Bible
Gateway then paraphrased into everyday
English by Mary Sayler
Having
the Lord Himself ask us to tell Him what we want shows His compassion, grace, and mercy! And
so, we ask:
Dear Lord God, help us to receive Your mercy and see more clearly in
Jesus’ Name.
…
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