A message for the week starting on Sunday 24 October 2021
Lectionary Week: Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
Prescribed Texts: Job 42:1-6, 10-17, Psalm 34:1-8,19-22, Hebrew 7:23-28, Mark 10: 46-52
The Obstinate Blind Man
Focus Text: Mark 10:46-52
The blind man in our text is obstinate. He does not want to hear. He does not listen when people tell him not to bother Jesus. It is hope that makes him so persistent. He refuses to let go of the hope. It is a hope driven by faith.
The blind man in our text is poor. He does not have anything. He begs for food. He has no status. Society pushes him away. No, he does not have nothing. He has hope. And faith. And that is everything.
He also has a voice! And with that voice he calls to Jesus. “Jesus, notice me and heal me”. The people try to silence him, but Jesus hears. Respectfully Jesus speaks to the man, the poor, blind man: “What do you want me to do for you?” “I want to see”, the man says. And then Jesus says the healing word: “Go!” And the man – who now can see – takes an important life decision. He decides how he will live out his healed life! He throws of his beggar’s cloak and becomes a follower of Jesus.
Maybe you also feel that you have nothing today, that you have nothing left. Maybe you feel that everything was taken away from you when you heard that you are HIV positive. But no-one can take your hope and faith away from you. This you should stubbornly cling to. It has been given to you to keep forever.
But what can you hope for? The blind man was blind for a long time. But when his healing came, it came quickly. Jesus healed him immediately. Perhaps you hope for sudden and immediate healing?
Maybe healing comes to you in a different way. Maybe it comes to you in the form of wonderment. Maybe HIV teaches you to be amazed about life and about God. The beauty of a flower, the doors God open for you, the friends God provides. Maybe HIV teaches you to walk through life with greater purpose, to look with amazement at how things happen and how things grow, to notice how people reach out to each other and show their humanity.
Maybe your healing comes in the form of acceptance. Maybe it heals you to realise that you CAN live with HIV. That you are in charge and that God takes your hand and walks with you. The blind man saw his healing come closer. Don’t stay blind to your imminent healing! Don’t turn a blind eye to the healing God offers you. It is God that allows the blind to see. It is the faith and hope that God gives you, that open your eyes.
To think about: What does hope for healing mean in my circumstances?
Written By: Prof Christina Landman (UNISA)