Cry For Mercy II!”(Mt.20:29-34).
Two blind men were sitting by the roadside and heard that Jesus was going by. They shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The large crowd that was following Jesus rebuked 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?'” They answered “Lord, we want our sight.” “Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”
Few days ago I was chatting with a friend. I noticed that his voice was croaking and asked to know why. He told me that he had a little malaise and somebody prescribed that for quick relief he should mix metizan with something and take. He instead went and mixed indocine. He said when he took the mixture he ran into a crisis and vomited the whole night. He then developed sorethroat, catarrh and cough.
In Africa almost everybody is either a chemist, pharmacist or one kind of medical practitioner. As soon as you complain of a sickness, whoever you complain to has a prescription to offer.
The reason for laboratory tests and x-rays is for proper diagnosis so as to know the proper prescription. There is certainly no hard and fast rule for treating the same kind of sickness. What works for Doh may not necessarily work for Kah.
It is in the same way that Jesus did not have a hard and fast rule for the way he healed people. To another blind man he used spit and mud and asked the man to go and wash the eyes in a pool. To another he said receive your sight and it happened. And in the case above he merely touched their eyes and they received their sights.
We do not stand in the same need before the Lord Jesus Christ. A few points to note from the story above:
- When you have a need, do not miss the opportunity when you hear that the gospel is being proclaimed.
- Do not allow yourself to be intimidated by the crowd that rebukes you and ask you to be quiet. Become the more persistent until Christ stops to listen to you.
- You have to know what you want from the Lord. Let it not be that when Jesus stops and ask, “What do you want me to do for you?”, you start beating about the bush.
- It is important to know who you are addressing. Son of David was a Jewish messianic title. Even in their blindness the two men knew that Jesus was the Messiah.
- We do not come to the Lord as saints. We come to him as fallen humans who stand in need of God’s mercy. Our first prayer should be a request for mercy.
- Of course, the best for the last: The Compassion of the Lord cannot be gainsaid! The Savior has compassion on all of us because he sees us “harrassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd “(Mt.9:36).
My friend, the one thing we have in common when we come to the hospital of the Lord is that we are all sick. The treatment administered to each one of us depends on each person’s type of disease. Be certain of this: the compassion of the Lord will cause him to heal you accordingly. And when you are healed, become a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.