March 22, 2022

Matthew 20:29-34, NASB
As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. And two people who were blind, sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” But the crowd sternly warned them to be quiet; yet they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

What motivates you to do something?

Maybe it is the thought of a reward. “If I do this thing, then I will get this in return.”

Maybe it is fear based. “If I don’t do this thing, I’m afraid that I will get into trouble or hurt the relationship of the person who asked me to do it.”

Maybe it is because you are a people pleaser. “I have to do this thing so that people think I am this, that, or the other”

Maybe it is because of guilt. “I didn’t do this other thing, so I better do this so everything will smooth out and be ok.”

I can type all these things because I have responded in all these ways. I'm sure there are a plethora (yes, I know what a plethora is) of other reasons we can list. I don’t know where you are at, and your reasons. But I can be sure that every response we have is driven by some type of motivation.

I love reading the Gospels, and seeing the way Jesus lived life, interacted with people, and took the time to be interrupted by people, especially people who were hurting. And this story is no different.

Two blind people were crying out to Jesus for mercy, because they heard that Jesus was passing by. Whatever they have heard or learned, they knew Jesus could change their situation.

Let’s be honest for a minute. Most of us don’t really know what it is like to have little to no sight at all. These two men were blind. We don’t know if they were blind from birth, or if they developed blindness over time. We don’t know their age. All we know is at this moment and time, they were blind.

So I reached out to a couple brothers from our church, Mark and Chuck Resor, who have experienced loss of sight in their lifetime. Here are some of the things they talk about as being an everyday challenge that most people don’t experience nor understand:

1. Lack of independence
2. Lack of mobility
3. Unable to help others as much as I would like to
4. Unable to see the smiling faces of my grandchildren, family
5. Not being able to do things you know how to do, because you can’t complete it as well
6. Hearing construction projects but not being able to see the end results
7. Unable to see what they have found on Mars. I have heard the sounds, but wish I could see it, and see what the Rover looks like.
8. Wish I could see “Galaxy’s Edge” or “Star Wars Land” at Disneyland
9. Not being able to see food served to me (It’s very challenging. I, pastor Brian, went to a “Dining in the Dark” event, where they blindfold you and turn off the lights and serve dinner. Another friend, Ryan, who has very limited sight, coached me and told me you just have to use your hands to touch the food on your plate to know where it is, then just kind of shovel it onto your utensil, and get it into your mouth….think how hard it would be to eat rice and not being able to see it)
10. Grocery stores and grocery shopping
11. Not able to see artwork and paintings

On the flip side, they noted some other interesting things as well. Mark said, “It makes one more humble, which I think is a positive thing. It does allow one to be a better listener.” And Chuck also said this, “It has shown me how kind mankind can be…I believe needing help from people (who can see) has proven to be very helpful and shown that mankind is generous and loving.”

I want to thank Mark and Chuck for helping me put this together. We often take things for granted, including having our eyesight. Maybe it helps us understand why the two men in this story cried out, and then cried out all the more to Jesus.

But there is something else in this story which I think is amazing. It is three simple words about Jesus that get me every time: “Moved with compassion…”

The Greek word for compassion is one of the best words ever: splagchnizomai. Just so you know, spell check doesn’t like that word. How do you say it? What does it sound like? Like this: spla (like spa with an “l” added to it), gch (it sounds like you’re clearing your throat) knee - zo -my. Splagchnizomai.

Why is it one of my favorite words? Because it literally means to be moved in the bowels. To feel it in your gut. To double over. Jesus didn’t just have pity, he had empathy. He felt their need. He was gutted to the core (as a note, in the first century culture, it was believed that the bowels were the seat of love and pity).

Why did Jesus help these two men? To look good to the crowd around him? No. Out of obligation because He has healed other people. Nope. Because He felt guilty because He could see and they couldn’t. Not a chance.

Jesus was moved to action because of love, mercy, grace, compassion. It didn’t matter if there were a crowd of people there or not. In front of Him were a couple people in desperate need, and Jesus couldn’t stand to look the other way.

If I’m being honest, sometimes I relate more to the “crowd” in this story. Sometimes I am all too eager to push aside the “distractions” so I can keep moving forward to the destination.

And yet God’s Word pushes me to be more. God challenges me to be more like the two blind men. Who cried out for mercy, and when told to be quiet, cried out all the more. What do I have to learn from two blind men? Their great faith! They knew that a better life fully depended on Jesus and nothing else could help them.

Too many times I keep things to myself. I’m not that important. I don’t want to bother God. I can probably figure this out on my own (which never works out very well).

I am thankful for these two men, because they challenge me. They challenge my faith. They challenge my understanding of myself. And they challenge me to cry out to God.
Second, I am challenged by Jesus. Jesus, moved by no other emotion or reason then compassion, listens and heals. Not because of guilt, or obligation, or to please the crowd…or any other reason. Moved…with…compassion.

Lord God, I pray, I cry out, that you would help this broken heart. That you would chisel off the parts that have turned to stone. That you would redirect the areas where I have allowed false motivations to creep in. Help me to see others the way you see them. God I pray that you take away the guilt and all the other distractions, that I would be left with one thing….compassion. Your compassion.

-Pastor Brian