Day 27: Undeterred

 

Mark 10:46-52

...a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. He heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth and began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted even more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

^“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus.

Comments

Jesus could have asked the man why he was shouting so loudly and persistently. He could have asked him what had happened to make him blind. Instead, Jesus had but one simple question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Reflections

The crowd tried to get the desperate man to stop shouting . Who do we try to silence today? Do we at times give nonverbal clues to people that they “shut up” about their problems?

It would have been easy for Jesus to assume he knew what the man wanted. How often do you ask people the simple question, “What do you want?”

Prayer

Help me, Lord, not to try to silence the cries of the desperate, but to ask instead what it is that they truly want.