St. Matthew, Chapter 20, verse:33, Open our eyes.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The blind men at Jericho) Part 8.

What would you have me do for you is the question that Christ asked the two blind men?  What do you want?  He heard their cries.  He heard their sorrows.  He heard their hearts calling out to him over the din of the crowd.  He did not see them.  He did not know them.  But through all the noise and all the people that followed him he heard their hearts calling out to him.

They were two blind men sitting by the roadside begging for their daily needs.  They had no work.  They had no income.  They had no way of providing for themselves.  They were blind.  They depended upon the mercy of those who passed them by.  They depended upon the goodness in the hearts of men and women who had pity upon them.  Many thought that they were sinners and did not deserve their help.  Many thought that they had sinned or someone in their family had sinned.  But here they were sitting by the roadside asking for help that they might survive.

And then the word came to them.  The word that spread throughout the land of Christ's deeds and his miracles spoke to their ears.  The word traveled by mouth, from one person to another.  The mouth spoke the word and all listened.  The mouth spoke the word and the two blind men heard.  They believed the word.  They hoped in the word and what it could mean for them.  And the will of God came their way.  Their hearts were filled with joy.  They believed that they might have the opportunity for their dreams come true.  And when they heard that he was there, they cried out.  He heard them and asked: "What would you have me do for you?"  They said to him, "Lord, that our eyes be opened."

Lord open our eyes!  This, more than anything else was their hearts desire.  They wanted to see.  They wanted to know.  They wanted to be delivered from the darkness, from the endless despair, from the hopelessness.  They wanted to live in the light.  They had their hearing.  They had their sense of smell and taste and touch, but they could not see.  They could not experience all that was, without their sight.  And they could not provide for themselves without their sight.

Do you live in hopelessness?  Do you live in despair?  Are you on the merry-go-round of life not knowing your purpose or place in this world?  We see so much joy and happiness in others in the media.  Our appetites are fed with the material pleasures that we could have in our lives.  Yet we live our lives in momentary pleasures that are here today and gone tomorrow and then we fall back into the daily grind of life.  Most of us live by the wayside like the two blind men.

Why do we hurt?  Why do we feel such pain, such anguish?  Why is it that we are not happy within ourselves?  What more is there to life that we are missing?  Our joy, our happiness, our peace is not real but only fleeting.  Is there more?  Is there something that is real that we can latch onto?  Can we not feel true joy within?  Can we not be truly happy within?  The two blind men only wanted to see.  What is it that you want?  Lord open our eyes that we may see!

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ.   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 20, verse:30b, They cried out.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The blind men at Jericho) Part 3. 

The word was a powerful thing in those days.  The people did not have television.  They did not have radios.  They did not have books and many did not know how to read.  All they had was what they heard by word of mouth.  And the words about Christ spread like wildfire; all wanted to hear of his deeds.  Even those who were not spoken to directly heard.  They were near to where the words were being spoken.

And then there were the two blind men sitting by the wayside going about their daily business of begging their food, begging for their needs.  This is how they provided for themselves.  Many saw them as sinners because they were blind.  It was believed that someone had to commit a sin in order for them to suffer the fate of being blind.  But the word did not discriminate.  It came to all who would listen.  It came to all who could hear.  It came even to the blind.

The blind men spoke to all who came by.  They begged loudly for a penny, or a quarter, or anything that would help them.  Their voices were heard by all who passed by.  And then they heard that Christ was coming to their town.  They heard that Christ was in their village.  They heard that Christ was traveling the road that they were on.  Their hearts were uplifted.  For surely Christ would hear their plea.  And when he came near, they "Cried out, saying, 'Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!' " 

Fortune shone on them that day.  Their opportunity knocked on their door.  The Lord and Savior of the world walked passed their begging place and they cried out with a loud voice.  They would not be silenced.  They would not speak quietly.  They would not stop calling his name.  They knew that this day was their day to be heard.  All the days of their lives they never thought that they would have this opportunity.   All the days of their lives they never imagined they would be near the presences of the Lord.  They had heard of his miracles.  They had heard of his deeds.  They knew that he had made the cripple walk, expelled demons from the sick, opened the ears of the deaf, and even raised the dead.  Why was it not possible for him to give them sight?

Christ comes to us in many forms.  He may come in an unexpected gift, or through a person, or through an awakening that we have never experienced.  He may even come to us in a life saving event that made us aware of how vulnerable we are in this world.  We go about our lives everyday without acknowledging how fragile we are.  We take our lives for granted not expecting anything to harm or destroy that which we have.  And when tragedy strikes and we come to realize the truth of our existence. 

The world around us is dying, everyday.  Our existence is dying.  Our lives as we know it can be taken in an instant.  Why not be ready?  Why not be prepared?  Why not know who you are inside?  The inevitability of our lives is that death awaits us.  The truth of who we are is that we are eternal beings, the death of the body is not the death of the soul.  For those who believe, God is our Father.  He created us in his image and his likeness and our Father is eternal.  Whether we accept who we are or deny it, the outcome is still the same.  We face a physical death and then the spiritual life within is transformed.  Where we end up is our choice.  Acceptance is the key.  Love is the vessel.  And Christ is our savior.  Come!  His love awaits you!

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ.   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.