Seeing is Believing

Matthew 20: 29-34 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Back on track today. It is like the fog has cleared. Maybe I had a brain-cloud? I hope you can see clearly what our Lord has planned for you.

Seeing is believing. How many times have you doubted something until you saw it with your own eyes? Seeing is believing is an idiom first recorded in 1639 that means “only physical or concrete evidence is convincing.” Our faith is based on believing that the words in the bible, which we can actually see, are all the evidence we need. We did not actually see the events unfold, as the disciples did. But we believe them to be true. Our faith flies in the face of the phrase seeing is believing. Maybe that is what makes having faith so difficult for some people. They truly have to see to believe.

Have you ever stopped to think that you are just like the blind men in Matthew Chapter 20? Think about it. The blind men had never actually seen Jesus. They had never physically been able to gaze upon his miracles. They had only heard about him from those who had seen him, or who maybe had only heard of him. And yet there they were sitting beside the road calling out to Jesus. “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The blind men were shouted down by the nearby crowd, yet the shouting of the crowd only inspired the blind men to shout louder. “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

Now, what about you? Here you are. You have not actually seen Jesus. You have only heard about him, or read about him. Yet there you are shouting at Jesus to have mercy on you. The world around you is trying to drown out your cries, doing its’ best to distract you so that you will miss Jesus as he passes by. The world may try to convince you that your sins are too great and that Jesus will just pass you by so stop shouting. However the truth is that we need to be just like the blind men. We need to have their faith that Christ can heal us. We need to be able to see the love God has for us. We who are broken in sin need to see that our Savior is always there for us. We need to have the faith of the blind men because we who have not seen still need a Savior we have only heard about or read about. John Chapter 20 relates how Jesus tells Thomas “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen yet have believed.” We belong to the group that has not seen, yet believe. We are truly blessed by our awesome Savior. We need to hang on to the faith that makes us just like the blind men in Matthew 20. We need to shout to Jesus.

Prayer: Lord and giver of life, help us in our lives to see what we must see. Help us to overcome the blindness that grips us. Show us what we need to see. Help us to find the lost and those who are blind to Your love. Guide us along the path of Your choice. Help us to drown out the crowd shouting down those who are searching for You. This we ask in the name of Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.