READING: Matthew 20:1-16, Mark 10:32-34, Matthew 20:17-19, Luke 18:31-34, Mark 10:35-45, Matthew 20:20-34, Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-19:27
“Keep quiet,” the crowds told the blind man (or at least the one of two blind men who was the most vocal one). He was, after all, an outcast, a beggar because of his condition. Little in his culture would have allowed a beggar like he to interrupt and bother the rabbi. The crowds may have thought it was simply not appropriate to distract Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem. He surely had more important matters to attend to than blind people by the side of the road.
The order of the crowd to keep quiet did nothing but strengthen the blind man’s resolve, however, to get Jesus’ attention. Now he not only had to cry out to Jesus, but he also had to do so over the clamor of the crowd against him. He had heard about Jesus’ ability to heal, and he had no intention of missing this opportunity to seek healing for himself; for that reason, he was “crying out all the more” (Mark 10:48). Desperation does that, you know – it drives us to cry aloud to Jesus even if others see our cries as problematic. When you deeply need God to intervene, you just don’t worry about who’s around when you call out to Him. In fact, you’ll find Him to be compassionate toward you when the crowds see you otherwise.
He hears our cries over the loud voices of the unbelieving. That’s a good thing to remember in our desperate moments.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Are you crying out to Jesus for any reason today?
DAILY PRAYER: “Lord, thank You that You don’t missing hurting people by the side of the road.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Mark 14:3-9, Matthew 26:6-13, John 12:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, John 12:12-19, Luke 19:41-44, John 12:20-36