"I want to see!"

“And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’ And stopping, Jesus called them and said, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, let our eyes be opened.’ And Jesus in pity touched their eyes and immediately they recovered their sight and followed Him” Matthew 20:29-34.

It makes me sad when I think of all the times I’ve been the crowd telling someone to hush, it’s Jesus, be more respectful. Be more reverent, stop yelling, stop waving you hands, stop dancing. Stop doing things in His presence that might not fit into my box of what Jesus wants. Stop. I bet the crowd was thinking, or at least the people in the crowd like me, “I know more than ya’ll do about this guy. He wants to tell me something wise right now, not heal you. Be quiet. He doesn’t have time for you, He’s helping me. If you would come at Him like I do then maybe you’d get more response.”

But here’s what’s interesting. The men didn’t seem to care. It was to their extreme advantage that they’d probably been persecuted and put down their entire blind existence. They had already learned to cope with people telling them to be quiet and from years of learning to ignore the put downs they continued in their pursuit of the Lord who could heal. I wonder if I have the faith and character to endure years of hardship to help grow me and mature me for one such moment as this? I wonder if I could ever get so far past people’s opinions that I didn’t even blink when it came to deciding between listening to them or getting to Jesus?

Another thing I find interesting is what they requested. “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” Another version says, “Lord, I want to see!” Their blindness altered their entire existence. They knew the great limitations it presented them. Do we know our great depravity from spiritual blindness? Are we willing to push through the crowd to get to Jesus? Are we willing to run down the aisle to reach Him faster? No shortcuts are acceptable, but running shortens the journey. Lord, I want to see. And I’m not willing to take any other healing but full healing. I’m not willing to stop until you have pity on me and I recover my full spiritual sight. Are we that relentless?