Then he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon; 33 and after they have scourged him they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise.” 34 But they understood nothing of this; the word remained hidden from them and they failed to comprehend what he said.
35 Now as he approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, 36 and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” 39 The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” 40 Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.” 42 Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.” 43 He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.'
Luke links this passage about Jesus’ prediction of the Passion to what is demanded of the disciples. He was telling them that what he expected of them (Lk. 18:18-30) was no more than what his Father was asking of him. Jerusalem will be the end of Jesus’ journey where he will be handed over to the Gentiles where he will be mocked, insulted, spat upon, scourged, killed and then rise on the third day to go back to his Father and be glorified. Luke explained the disciples lack of understanding of what Jesus told them as, “The word remained hidden from them (v. 34; Lk. 9:45).” It would not be until after Jesus’ death and resurrection that they would understand what he had told them and its significance.
Jesus was sent by the Father to, “Proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind (Lk. 4:18).” Jesus always showed compassion for the poor, the sick, and the needy. The crowd would have believed that the blind beggar should not have been bothering Jesus, the Holy one of God (Jn. 6:69), because if he or his parents had not sinned (Jn. 9:2-3) he would not be blind, so they kept trying to stop him from calling out to Jesus. The blind man shouted, “Jesus, Son of David (v. 38; Mk. 10:47)” which indicated that the blind man understood that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for. The Kingdom of God had arrived. Jesus ordered the man to be brought to him and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see (v. 41).” Jesus’ response, “Have sight; your faith has saved you” indicated that faith is required for one to be completely healed by God (Mk. 5:34). Because of the blind man's persistence and faith, he was healed both physically and spiritually and followed Jesus ‘on the way (Mk. 10:52).’ This contrasts with the disciples’ inability to understand what Jesus told them (v. 34).
Almighty God, grant us the faith and persistence to follow your Son and cry out to him in our blindness and poverty knowing that he will hear our cry and heal us. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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