As Jesus is on His last journey to Jerusalem, on the way to the Cross, He passes by a city called Jericho, near the Dead Sea. At that time, the city was in a region known for immorality and violence. Nonetheless, Jesus was about to take the road up to Jerusalem, where He would arrive on Palm Sunday. The miracle we read about in this Gospel was one of Christ’s last miracles before His Crucifixion. His encounter with a blind man teaches us about faith, restoration, and the mercy of God. As Jesus approached Jericho, the blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. As he heard a large group passing by, he asked what the commotion was, and he was told, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” The blind man, like others in his condition during that time and in that society, suffered from poverty and alienation. There was no social care for blind people at that time and place. He could not work or provide for himself, so his physical disability left him with few options except to beg for a living. However, he could see with the spiritual eyes of his heart. His lack of physical sight did not stop his spiritual insight from awakening, nor the eyes of the soul from perceiving Christ. When he heard that it was Jesus who was passing by, he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The blind man had heard about the Lord and, with faith and hope, addressed Him as “Son of David,” which is a Messianic title. In other words, he addresses the Lord as the Messiah, the Anointed One (in Greek, ο Χριστός) who had come to save God’s people. When the blind man cries out, he already makes a statement of faith. He recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah and demonstrates faith that Jesus can heal him, by the very act of calling out to Him since he believes Jesus can heal him. Therefore, with faith and hope, he is already beginning to see spiritually, despite lacking physical sight. The blind man also uses the words “have mercy on me” (ελέησον με, in Greek), which are the same words we use in the Jesus Prayer, as well as throughout the many services and devotional prayers of the Church. With the Jesus Prayer (in Greek, η Ευχή), our hearts call out to the Lord constantly with the words, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!” (Κύριε Ιησού Χριστέ ελέησον με, in Greek). As Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia says, “The soul is sanctified and purified through the study of the words of the [Church] Fathers, through the memorization of the psalms and of portions of Scripture, through the singing of hymns and the repetition of the Jesus Prayer.” As the blind man cried out to the Lord, those walking in front of the crowd rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he cried out even more, asking the Lord for mercy. The blind man not only had faith, but he also had perseverance and conviction. He did not give up even when others told him to be silent. There was a crowd and, no doubt, many voices, but Jesus stopped at the blind man’s cry from the heart. The Lord hears those who cry out to Him in genuine faith and love. Like the blind man, exercising our faith requires that we sincerely desire the Lord’s help and open ourselves to His love without hesitation. Saint Cyril of Alexandria says, “Faith is able to resist all and to triumph over all . . . The voice of one invoking in faith stops Christ, for He looks back upon them who call upon Him in faith.” In other words, the Lord does not ignore those who approach Him in faith. With love and compassion, the Lord had the blind man brought to Him and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus did not ask because He did not know, but rather, He was giving the blind man an opportunity to put the greatest need of his life into words. God always knows what we need before we even ask, and yet, because of His love for us, He wants us to come to Him in faith and ask freely. Christ tells us to always ask, and it will be given to us; to always seek because we will find Him; to always knock because He will open the door for us; and to always pray and never lose heart. With faith, the blind man presented his need to the Lord, and He answered accordingly. The Lord wants us to ask freely, that He might answer us with love. He interacts with us in a relational way, that is, in a personal way. This requires that we exercise our free will and come to Him in trust, as in all healthy relationships. The blind man places all his trust in Christ, trusting that Christ alone can restore his sight, that Christ alone can heal him. The Lord tells him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” Immediately the blind man receives his sight and follows Him, glorifying God. All the people, when they see it, give praise to God. Notice how quickly the blind man is healed after Jesus says only those nine words. How wonderful that Christ readily receives and answers a sincere, short prayer from the heart (a cry for help such as “have mercy on me”). Christ responds to us according to the disposition of our hearts. He, the Mother of God, and all the Saints wait for our prayerful cry to be sincere before responding. Recall that the thief on the cross was the first to go to paradise, and all he asked was for the Lord to remember him in His Kingdom. The Lord answered him because he asked in repentance and humility. Even though the blind man was only one voice on the fringes of a crowd, the Lord saw his strong faith, hope, and sincerity and responded in love and compassion. The blind man asked for mercy, and he received mercy. He asked to be healed, and the Lord opened the eyes of his body as He had already opened the eyes of his soul. He received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God; when they saw it, all the people praised God! There is a progression in the story that teaches us how the love of God connects to our faith: first, in His grace, He opens the eyes of our hearts to see. Then, in faith, we present ourselves and our needs to Him, and He answers us in love. As a result, we follow Him and glorify Him. In this way, the Gospel is spread as others come to see and rejoice in God’s mercy and give Him praise. May our hearts ever be filled with faith and longing for the mercy of the Lord, so that we may always rejoice and praise God.
