Lord, have mercy!

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Scripture

As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.
(Matthew 20:29 NASB)
And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”
(Matthew 20:30 NASB)
The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
(Matthew 20:31 NASB)
And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
(Matthew 20:32 NASB)
They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.”
(Matthew 20:33 NASB)
Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.
(Matthew 20:34 NASB)

 

Observation


Two blind men were aware of a large crowd of people following this man named Jesus. They had heard of him and suddenly they realize that he is coming their direction. Probably with just second-hand knowledge of this man, they cry out with words of faith. Their cry expresses the depth of their belief in this man. They call him "Lord" and "Son of David." Those are significant terms to be applied to this man. It means that they believe that he is the Messiah -- the promised One! Their cry is all encompassing. "Lord, have mercy on us!" They could have cried out that they wanted to receive their sight, but they understood that their need went to even greater depths and Jesus' response takes them beyond physical healing. Jesus -- please be merciful and compassionate -- we want our eyes to be opened. Yes, they wanted to receive physical sight, but their spiritual eyes would also be opened! Jesus, in his compassion reached out to them and they gained their sight. The physical healing was complete and they followed Jesus, the spiritual healing having begun.

 

Application


The first step toward physical and spiritual healing is to recognize the depth of our need. These two blind men realized that they needed the Messiah to have compassion on them. I am concerned that too many people today don't even realize that they are lacking -- or that they have a need! We must examine ourselves and seek to know where we are lacking so that God, in Christ, can reach down and heal us at that very point.

Realizing their need, they cried out for the mercy, or compassion of the one that they had come to recognize as the Lord, and Son of David. Jesus truly is the Son of God! His intervention in this world was to bring about our healing and restoration. It is through him that we are able to find our way back to God and to have his image restored within us. Jesus is the one who has made it possible for us to become, once again, truly human. We must recognize our need for Jesus, the Son of God, in our lives!

We are all in need of healing which often goes beyond the bounds of what may be seen on the surface. The results of sin may cause flesh wounds, but it is the unseen wounds which are usually in need of a deeper touch that are not always understood. Jesus does understand the whole picture!
We need to understand that we are a people who are in deep need of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! We must humble ourselves and recognize that we are created to work in partnership with him -- and be willing to cry out to him -- "Lord, have mercy!"

 

Prayer

Lord, have mercy. Amen.

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