Passing By

 "As they approached Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting beside the road. When he heard the noise of the crowd going past, he asked what was happening. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by." Luke 18:35-37

The story of Jesus and the blind beggar is one of my favorites. After people in the crowd told him who it was that was passing by, He began to cry out for Jesus to come to him. Those around him tried to silence his cries, but he persisted even more loudly. Jesus heard him, came to him, and asked what it was that He could do for him. The beggar said simply, "Lord, I want to see." Jesus touched his eyes and his sight was restored to him.

There is much to explore in this passage; the persistence of crying out to Him in prayer, of being specific in what we would ask of Him, and of course, His miraculous response to a deep, seemingly impossible need. That is not what I see first though. What I see, for the blind man, and for you and me, is that in some way, Jesus passes by in our lives in endless ways, and He does so daily. Do we notice Him, and if we do, do we cry out with the persistence of the blind beggar? Are we determined that we will not miss this opportunity that He brings us with His presence? Or, by our "blindness" caused by only seeing everything but Him, do we miss Him as He goes by? And what is it we have missed as He does?

I believe that the average professing believer has become spiritually dull. Our spiritual sight and discernment is clouded. We can see all the things of the natural well enough, so well that they are all we can see. As a result not only is our sight and discernment diminished, so is our faith. Jesus, in a myriad of ways, presents us opportunities to see, to behold Him, to grow in our faith and walk. How many do we miss? How many did we miss today? Where did He "pass by" in the form of another person, especially in the form of a person we may well have been repelled by? Where did He pass by in the form of a desperate need that was right before us, but we didn't notice because we were so focused on ourselves? Where did He pass by in the form of an impossibility, but that He desired to work the miraculous in? Where did He pass by in the form of a person, one that we saw as an annoying interruption in our day, instead of a divine appointment arranged by Him? In these ways, and infinitely more, He passes by us every day. He means to work His wonders in us, to us, and through us in every passing. How many have we ever noticed? Can we even begin to think of all that we have missed because we never saw or sensed Him going by?

Jesus actively ministered for three years before His crucifixion. The number of people that He walked by during this time had to be in the thousands. How many noticed Him, and more, how many called out to Him? The blind beggar lacked physical sight, but when he was told that it was Jesus passing by, his heart "saw" who He was, and he would not miss his opportunity. I believe Jesus was fully aware of the blind beggar's presence, but He would have gone on had the man not shouted out to Him. When He appeared to His two disciples on the Emmaus Road right after His resurrection, Scripture says that He would have gone on when they reached their destination. They pleaded with Him to stay. He will constantly pass by us in all of our need and circumstance, but He will not forcibly intrude upon us in them. He waits for our call. Today, in our need, your need, as He passes by, will we call out to Him, and invite Him into all of it? Or, will He go on, unnoticed?

Blessings,

Pastor O