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Upon reading the Scripture for the day, you may notice how flush the readings are with preoccupation on eyesight and hearing. Particularly, eyesight, how one sees (or doesn't), is a theme traced through the readings from Isaiah, Matthew and Psalm 27.
For instance, Isaiah reads, “...and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see.” The antiphon from the psalm proclaims, “The Lord is my light and my salvation.” The psalmist ardently desires to “...gaze on the loveliness of the Lord,” and he believes that he “shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living.” Finally, the Gospel is a story of two blind men who, though blind, somehow follow Jesus into a house where they are confronted with a question: Do you believe that I can do this?
Jesus, the Messiah, came to shed light on the darkness; the darkness in our lives, in our country, in all of human history. Our country currently suffers from a near 15% poverty rate, a struggling economy, a polarized people, and a toxic culture. Natural disasters have crippled parts of the globe. There is just so much going on, the desire to hide ourselves from this reality is great. It is too much. Often, our culture is good enough at hiding it for us
We all also face our own darkness, our blindness. We all have blind spots. We may not be physically blind, but can be blind to the truth. We all pray for liberation, and want to be part of the freedom of the sons and daughters of God. We are told that the Kingdom is here among us, but then why all this darkness?
Do we believe that Jesus can do this? Do we truly wish to see? These readings should give us hope. As Christians, we are leaven for the world, salt of the earth. Sometimes we don't wish to see, or we turn a blind eye to the problems at our doorstep. Jesus seems to be asking, “I'm ready to heal you (and the world) and am in fact healing you; but, are you ready to see?”
Ask yourself today, and often, what this means for you
- Joel Yablunsky is a former FaithJustice Fellowship volunteer and LeaderworX alumnus.
