Devotional GIVE EAR TO JESUS

“And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying , Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying , Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David. And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you? They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.” Matthew 20:29-34.

Rev. Alberto Ortega

GIVE EAR TO JESUS

“What will ye that I shall do unto you?” (Matthew 20:32) was the question that our beloved Savior Jesus Christ asked the two blind men of Jericho who lived in darkness. Jesus once said, “The light of the body is the eye” (Matthew 6:22), and yet the lights of the body of these men were hopelessly damaged. There was no human solution and no medical treatment for them to see the light again; they were beyond all hope of getting their eyesight back.

What else could those passing by Jericho do but pity them and give them alms? However, one day, Jesus went by this place of despair, poverty and impossibility. Jesu is the light of the world; the One who created the human body, soul and spirit without flaws; the fixer of the spiritual and moral perversions of the human nature; the only that can take us back to the glorious fellowship with the Father.

Some time ago in England, insurance companies were allowed by government decree to request a genetic map from those who wanted to buy an insurance policy. This genetic map let them see if the buyer had some genetic condition, or disease not yet detectable in test results but likely to manifest in the future.

If these two blind men were living in England today, they would be denied their right to acquire an insurance policy. This is just an example of the unfairness of the 21st century. Some genetic scientists are avowed atheists who feel like gods and claim to be fixers of nature’s mistakes. They do not know that the sin committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the real cause of much of the human physical and emotional suffering. Humankind is suffering the dire consequence of living away from God, and yet no scientist takes time to

think about a way to fix human behavior, to recover the peace with the Almighty that we lost in Eden.

Jesus approaches the hopeless, the forgotten, the hurting. And so He passed by the blind men and, “when they heard that Jesus passed by,” they used whatever they had within reach to call His attention. God can work when we use what we have. These blind men give us a great lesson. First, they gave ear to Jesus, as the Bible says: “so then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). Then, they went further: they not only listened to Him, but “they cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.”

Paul reminds us: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10). How good it is to give our ear, heart and mouth to the Lord! When we do, He will ask us, “What will ye that I shall do unto you?”

Jesus is now passing by you. Perhaps the law, doctors or society have labeled you as hopeless, but why do you not give ear to Jesus right now? Why do you not cry out: Lord, have mercy on me!? Right where you are, on your own way to Jericho. Only then you will get His response, healing and victory. “So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him” (Matthew 20:34). Dear readers, Jesus has not changed. He is still calling, still asking: “What will ye that I shall do unto you?”