8-24-2015

        Good Morning All!!

        Matthew 9:27; “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”

    They were just two men.  They were probably brought together by family members and then pretty much left on their own.  Two blind men, out on the streets in Capernaum, all alone fending for themselves.  Their only way to survive was to beg.  They would beg for food, money, something to drink; basically anything and everything they had was given to them.  They probably rarely had much more than what they would eat for today.  Sometimes they would go for a day or two without anything to eat.  They were always at risk of being robbed, beaten or attacked.  Their hearing was probably keen but they always sat in darkness.  They never saw the man or woman who stopped and talked to them.  They never saw how many people passed by them on the other side of the road.  So how did they know that the person they were following was Jesus, and know enough to hail him as the “Son of David?”

    They probably lived by the same beggar code that exists in most of the world today.  A different beggar told them.  A different man, who probably witnessed one of Jesus miracles, told them, “Here comes Jesus!”  Others had told them about the wonders of this rabbi from Nazareth.  He had calmed the storm and drove demons out and healed others all around Galilee and the region “across the sea.”  There was a very strong discussion about Jesus; was he a prophet?  Was he truly the Messiah?  Some even claimed he was the Son of God!  The two blind men probably didn’t get into the argument too much; they only sought some type of relief.  Perhaps it would be a meal or two and maybe, just maybe, he would heal them.

    As he passed by, he stopped and healed them.  Jesus had compassion and showed them mercy and healed them.  In all aspects and respects of our life, we are like these two blind men.  We have nothing except what is given to us by God.  We are blind to all hope; we only have God to give us all we need.

    Martin Luther wrote it the best; “before God we are all beggars”.  I am a beggar and you are a beggar.  We have no other hope and like beggars all through history; we share what we know.  What I know is that Jesus saves us, Jesus heals us and we have no other hope.  He speaks his words of forgiveness and redemption through his Word and through his sacraments.  He nourishes us and he gives us hope.  He heals our blindness to his great truth of salvation.  He heals us of our pain and releases us from our fear.  He gives us this freely because he loves us.  He gives this to me and he will give this to you.  Trust his love and share in his loving kindness.

Father, we beg you for your mercy, yet even before we ask, we have received it.  Guide us by your Spirit that we may always know to rely on you.  Lead us to share this wonderful news with all the beggars we meet.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret