Guest Post: Do You Believe?

by Jackie

Matthew 9:27 – 31 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Lord,” they replied.

Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith will it be done to you!”

Commotion? I’d never heard anything like it. There were people running past – I could tell because occasionally someone would catch at my cloak and I’d lose my balance. I reached out for my friend’s arm. I was scared, I suppose. I didn’t know what was happening. I could hear a lot of shouting, but I couldn’t make out the words. Then I felt someone grab hold of me. ‘Did you hear what he did?’ It was a man’s voice. He was breathless. He sounded frightened and excited all at once.

‘Who?’ I asked. ‘What who did?’

‘Jesus’, said the man. ’He just brought a girl back from the dead!’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked. I couldn’t take it in.

‘I swear to you,’ the man replied. ‘The girl was dead, and now she’s alive. She’s eating breakfast! It’s Him, I tell you. It must be Him. It’s the Messiah….’ And then he was gone.

The Messiah? Here? Now? After generations of waiting? Was I to see him in my lifetime?

I clutched at my friend. ‘The Messiah,’ I said. ‘He’s here!’ And then there was more shouting, and more scurrying, and I could hear people calling his name. I knew he was walking past. It was now or never.

‘Son of David’ I called. I heard my friend gasp. Then he shouted too. ‘Son of David, have mercy on us!’

Everything went quiet. I couldn’t hear a sound. All the people were still. I wondered for a moment if I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life. Maybe they would stone me. But then I felt a hand take hold of mine, and I knew from his touch that I hadn’t made a mistake. Don’t ask me how I knew. I just knew.

I was still clinging to my friend’s arm. We followed him into a house….and, well….you know the rest of the story. It’s a good job you do, because I wouldn’t be able to find the words to tell you what happened to us that day, or what it felt like, or the joy that we felt afterwards. Not just at being able to see for the first time – the joy of that would have been enough to last anyone a lifetime, but there was another kind of joy. The sort you get when you’ve found what you’ve been looking for.

Later that day, when I was alone, I went over it all again in my mind. He’d asked,

‘Do you believe that I can make you see?’ And I gave what was probably the most honest answer I’d given in my whole life. ‘Yes, Lord’, I’d said. I did believe.

I suppose, when you read about what happened that day you might just think it’s a nice story. A man who had compassion on two other men. Two blind men. He made them see. You might think it’s a nice story, but one that’s got nothing to do with you.

But you might be wrong. You see, there are other kinds of blindness. Blindness to your own faults. Blindness to the needs of others. You can be blinded by prejudice, or resentment or bitterness. Many people think they can see perfectly, but in reality, they’re just as blind as I was.

Can you see yourself in the story, or are you blind to it? Do you want to see? Do you believe he can make you see? Tell Him. He can cure every type of blindness.

Dear Father, I want to see as You see. I believe You can make me see.

Amen