14
Nov
Nov
Reflection: Luke 18:35-43
The healing story of the blind is situated in Jericho. Remember, Jesus is on his final days of the journey towards Jerusalem, where he will make his sacrifice. Jericho is situated on the main pilgrim route from Galilee to Jerusalem. Most pilgrims chose this route in order to bypass Samaria. Luke wants to indicate that by the conclusion of his public ministry, Jesus is guiding his disciples to gain full insight into his message. The blind man is representative of all those who wish to start their journey with the Lord. He symbolises the potential disciple, who at the beginning of his journey is blind, and gradually comes to the knowledge of the Lord and finally he is able to grasp fully the message of Jesus – he is able to see. The blind man addresses Jesus with the title Son of David. In those days, the title carried an acknowledgement of one’s allegiance to the political power centre. The Son of David, they believed, would chase the Roman and other external powers away. The initial understanding of a disciple who begins his journey is only so much. That is his blindness – he does not understand the true identity of the Messiah, because those initial information are all hearsays. He got the information from the crowd. Luke was writing his Gospel fifty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. From his angle fifty years after the death of Jesus, it was clear what kind of king Jesus was. The opportunity of the blind to approach Jesus is also the opportunity given to everyone who wishes to follow Jesus. But one has to be clear on what he or she wants from the Lord. The request of the Blind is to see again. He is guided from the darkness to the light of knowledge of Christ. Once he gains that sight of Christ, he joyously follows Christ, to Jerusalem. The Lord’s passing by is an encounter of mercy that enables us, who are in need of help and of consolation. Jesus passes by in our Life. When we realize it, it is an invitation to draw near to him, to be a better Christian, to follow Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God is before the blind man as a humble servant. Imagine the God saying to a begger: “Sir, What can I do for you? How do you want me to serve you?”. God makes himself a servant of the sinful man. “All the people, when they saw it, give praise to God” (v. 43). This is the second miracle: what happened to the blind man also enables the other people to see. The same light illuminates them all, uniting them in a prayer of praise.