Skip to main content

Desire is a step toward receiving

As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, “Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!” When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, “Do you really believe I can do this?” They said, “Why, yes, Master!” He touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe.” It happened. They saw. (Matthew 9:27-29)

Become: arrive at; grow into; develop into. If someone were to walk up to you and tell you to "become what you believe", what would you become right here and now? What would you "grow into" or where would you "arrive at" in your life? This might be a very telling question for some of us. Most of us don't really have a plan for where we'd like to "arrive at" or what we truly would like to "grow into" in a spiritual sense, much less a physical or emotional sense. We simply live day by day, making the best of each moment, and wonder what the next will hold. I don't think God expects us to "plan out" every moment of our lives, but I do think he has a unique place in our lives for the faith to believe for great things in him. Imagine being blind in a crowd. It is one thing to be blind when you can pick your way along a street you may know like the back of your hand. There will still be untold unanticipated obstacles in your way, but at least you know the path you are traveling. These two men were blazing new territory on this day - the crowds pressing hard toward Jesus and they were in the thick of it. Maybe these men were just being "ushered" along by the crowd, but they know where they wanted to be and they were headed in that direction! Jesus was their aim! Healing was their hope!

They cry for mercy. They ask the great Healer for his favor - not for their healing, but for his favor. I wonder if they secretly really believed for their healing - asking for his "favor" to accomplish this? If we really understand this word "favor", then we know it is something we cannot "justify" - we have no reason to expect it based on anything we deserve, but we are counting on the goodwill of another to grant what it is we wish for. They pressed along with the crowd and right into the living room of Jesus' house! Yep, it says that when Jesus arrived at home, they went right inside with him! They weren't willing to remain on the outside, listening for some "beckoning call" from the Healer that might suggest to them they could enter into a privileged place. They just press right into his presence. I think God honors this kind of faith - the faith which presses beyond what someone might say are the "acceptable boundaries". Going into someone's home uninvited was just not acceptable then and it isn't any more acceptable today.

Don't lose sight of the fact that Jesus did not have them thrown out! He simply took notice of them there. I wonder what difference we might accomplish in life if we put ourselves in a similar place with Jesus - in the place where he cannot help but take notice of us. This was in the place where he was the most "intimate" with others. Think about it - isn't your home the place where you associate with others in closeness. This is what intimacy really is - close personal relationship with others. These men put themselves in a place of "close personal relationship" with Jesus. In so doing, they find themselves up close and personal with Jesus! The Healer's home became their place of greatest hope! In response to their confidence and trust in their Healer he asks: "Do you really believe I can do this?"  I wonder how many times we actually take our "faith" to Jesus and he looks back at us with this question? I think it may be more than we imagine. The question is pointed - do YOU believe I can do this? Not that YOU can do it if you just believe hard enough, but that the Master can do it. I guess I would have seen these men's faith as already answering the question. Yet, Jesus poses the question. Why? Perhaps it was a confirmation of their intense desire and fervent hope.

I think there are times Jesus is asking us to clarify and confirm our desire - what it is we envision we will "become" - arrive at, grow or develop into. There is nothing wrong with Jesus asking this question. It clarifies the purpose of us drawing near. It is one thing to arrive in the presence of God, it is quite another to be sure what it is we need once we are there! They had a "vision" of seeing! Their desire was to arrive at sight! Jesus usually goes one better than what it is we desire - have you ever noticed that? They want physical vision - I think he probably was bringing some clarity to their spiritual vision first! In response to their faith, he tells them to "become what they believe". If Jesus were to say this to us, I wonder what we'd become right here and now? Often, what we believe is what either holds us back or propels us forward. Their belief drove them further into the presence of Christ. I wonder where our belief will drive us today? Will it find us pressing through the crowd and right into the very "personal" space of Jesus? If it does, what is it we will seek there? Knowing what it is we really desire is often the first step in receiving what it is we will receive. Just sayin!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What did obedience cost Mary and Joseph?

As we have looked at the birth of Christ, we have considered the fact he was born of a virgin, with an earthly father so willing to honor God with his life that he married a woman who was already pregnant.  In that day and time, a very taboo thing.  We also saw how the mother of Christ was chosen by God and given the dramatic news that she would carry the Son of God.  Imagine her awe, but also see her tremendous amount of fear as she would have received this announcement, knowing all she knew about the time in which she lived about how a woman out of wedlock showing up pregnant would be treated.  We also explored the lowly birth of Jesus in a stable of sorts, surrounded by animals, visited by shepherds, and then honored by magi from afar.  The announcement of his birth was by angels - start to finish.  Mary heard from an angel (a messenger from God), while Joseph was set at ease by a messenger from God on another occasion - assuring him the thing he was about to do in marrying Mary wa

A brilliant display indeed

Love from the center of who you are ; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply ; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. (Romans 12:9-12) Integrity and Intensity don't seem to fit together all that well, but they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually complement each other. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it." God asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it). They are indeed integral to each other. At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within. I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye. In the most literal sense,

Do me a favor

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4) Has God's love made ANY difference in your life? What is that difference? Most of us will likely say that our lives were changed for the good, while others will say there was a dramatic change. Some left behind lifestyles marked by all manner of outward sin - like drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, or even thievery. There are many that will admit the things they left behind were just a bit subtler - what we can call inward sin - things like jealousy,