Humanity got edgy and proud. Individuals who thought themselves important attempted to place the blind men back into their designated livelihood stations. One disciple was kind enough to force the older man to the wall and guard him from being crushed. The older thrust forward again to reach Jesus but was restrained. “Son of David!” he bellowed. “Shhh,” scolded the disciple, “The Master is very occupied with His friends. Keep quiet!”
The perspectives were interesting as blind men saw a Healer and disciples saw an Important Social and Political Figure. Two blind beggars were subject to the institution of their religious culture. Society gave charity to blind men. This was a good thing, excepted and piously (although not honestly) discreet. After all, was it not Jesus who said, “For you always have the poor with you..” (Matthew 26:11). Therefore, they shouldn’t get overly concerned and wear themselves out for a poor man’s emotional welfare! They were a problem always present and profitable to members of society seeking social advantages. That is what beggars had become - a rung on the social and religious latter. A way to congratulate duty and honor. Then… .were they human anymore? Good question… .or, Had human hearts gone cold to their undignified position? Were we required to lift them and unburden their souls? I wonder, what was the Son of David here for? And I venture, for a very different purpose than we embrace. He came searching for honest catastrophes and here we were introducing Him to our fine religious accomplishments of the day…
If the poor are always with us, the blind, the lame and the deaf too… .if prostitutes and tax collectors will always be around, than perhaps the point is that, at any moment, we may become one also. Human beings in a fallen world can fall further on any good day. There are no guarentees. Our response to the human mess is our response to self. Undoubtedly our flesh has brushed up against a blind, beggarly, sinful and sorry condition. We are the human mess and, therefore, all messes require our compassion, for, one can only expect for oneself what one would do for others in a similar situation… .beware hypocrisy!
The Son of David knew His humanity better than we know ours. He observed the human drama with a sad sense of disappointment. Like a parent who watches their child do something utterly different than what they have been taught to do. “Have I been with you this long, and you still do not know me..?” John 14:9. From a mere fifteen feet away, separated by a raging ocean of humanity, the Son of David had pity. The throng of men and women, disciples so they presumed, became a kalidescope blur as two sympathetic eyes held the broken and straining bodies of Divinity’s creation in their gaze. He was here today, not for the throng of hypocritical friends, but for those who sought Mercy….
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