Daily Devotional • November 26
A Reading from Luke 18:31-43
31 Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be handed over to the gentiles, and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. 33 After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.” 34 But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
35 As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 Then he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him, and when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me see again.” 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.” 43 Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God, and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.
Meditation
he story of the blind man, Bartimaeus, is a wonderful exercise in faith. When he heard Jesus was passing by, he had to take it on faith since he couldn’t prove it for himself. When he shouted out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” he did so in faith that Jesus would hear. Even when told to be quiet, he persisted.
Then when Jesus calls him, we hear in Mark’s account that Bartimaeus throws off his mantle to get to Jesus. Lest we forget, he was blind. Tossing something so valuable by the wayside in his hurry to get to the Lord is in and of itself an act of faith because he did so believing that there was something more valuable waiting for him in his interaction with Jesus.
He has faith not only that Jesus is able but willing to do so. That’s why he boldly asks for his sight. And Jesus responds, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.”
Before Jesus called him or restored his sight, Bartimaeus already believed in his heart. He took on faith all that he heard about the Lord and so called on the Son of David, the Messiah. It was faith that led him to action, not his actions that led him to faith.
May the Lord have mercy on us that we may recognize our own blindness and so call on him when he draws near.
The Rev. Benjamin Hankinson serves as Director of Community Life and Operations for his alma mater, Nashotah House Theological Seminary. He also serves as Priest-in-Charge of St. James Episcopal Church in West Bend, Wisconsin.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Kindu – Province de L’Eglise Anglicane Du Congo
St. Joseph of Arimathea, Hendersonville, Tennessee