Lenten Devotions - Day 25

“Jesus asked, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man answered, ‘Master, I want to see!’” Mark 10:51

What is it with Jesus and blind men? With the first, it would seem Jesus practiced to get it right. Now, he does not seem to understand that a blind man would want to be healed of his blindness! Surely that can't be right. So why should Jesus bother asking a blind man such a lame question, “What do you want me to do for you?” That would have been obvious to anyone present who knew the man was blind!

Perhaps we should back up just a little in the story Mark was telling. James and John had just been asking Jesus for a favor. One of them wanted the privilege of being second in command in Jesus' coming kingdom. The other wanted the next position in line. To be honest, they both really wanted the point position of full command, but knew that was simply beyond their reach. Since they couldn't be God, they would settle for the positions next in line.

“Master, say 'Yes!'” was their request. Jesus stopped to ask them what it was they were wanting. Once they clarified their desire for power and position, Jesus told them that in the coming reign of heaven, power was not to be wielded for personal privilege. Position and power were concerned with issues of service and sacrifice on behalf of others. Rather than enjoying the rewards of position over others, they were being called to a life of service and the kind of love that pours itself out on behalf of the world for whom God cares.

It must have seemed that Jesus' ministry had been wasted. The disciples were just too dense to grasp the core values and principles of the kingdom. They had not really heard the Sermon on the Mount. They had missed the point when Jesus talked of loving our enemies. Their ears were clogged when Jesus had spoken of God’s reign requiring more than the Law. It had gone in one ear and out the other. They had fallen back on the ambitions of childhood—the things their culture and society taught them to crave. They wanted power, privilege, and control over others. They wanted to use the tools of the world to advance the reign of Christ. The ends do not justify the means, however. In the reign of Christ, the means are the end.

Jesus turned to the blind man and asked the same question he had asked of these two. “What do you want me to do for you?” “Master, I want to see!” There was no concern for power over others. There was no ambition to place others under himself. There was no yearning to wield the tools and weapons the world so desperately seeks. There was the message for the disciples, however, that they needed to concern themselves with living according to God’s perspective.

It is so easy to see the failure of these two disciples. The others wanted the same, but had not been brazen enough to ask Jesus for position first. It is a pity that we aren't very different. We also fail to see the issues with the eyes of Christ Jesus.

It is hard to rely on God to meet our needs when we live in a world where power dictates the distribution of food. Allow God to make love your priority and trust God to meet your needs.

“Lord, grant me the courage to trust that as I live the love Jesus preached your love will cover my needs. Help me to see life according to your priorities, not my own.”

—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/

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