Matthew 20:29 – As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. 30 Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”   31 “Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them.  But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

32 When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for you?”  33 “Lord,” they said, “we want to see!” 34 Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him. (NLT)

When I was a younger Christian this passage always puzzled me. Here were two blind men, begging for mercy from Jesus.  Jesus asks what I once thought was a strange question:  “What do you want me to do for you?”  Wasn’t it obvious?  Could Jesus not see what they were in need of? 

The answer to both of these questions was – of course!  It was obvious, and Jesus knew what they needed.  Likewise, Jesus knows what we need. To understand why Jesus would ask a question with what appears to be an obvious answer, let us consider the following passage from the Book of James: “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” (James 4:1-3). 

Perhaps, we don’t scheme and kill to get what we want, or do we?  I’ve witnessed plenty of relationships destroyed over earthly desires.  I’ve seen families broken and torn apart all in the ‘pursuit of happiness’.  When we read about blind men asking for mercy, we know what they need.  When we ask for mercy, is it as clear?  What do we really need, and what is it we really want Jesus to do for us?

From these verses let us learn two things.  First, we need to evaluate the difference between our desires and our needs. Second, let us be quick to go to God for our needs. The Lord’s Prayer still stands out as a great model for prayer even after two thousand years. Those who know me well know that I am not a prosperity Gospel preacher. I do not believe that God wants us to have bigger houses or bigger cars.  If we get those, praise God, but God is in the daily bread business.

Today is a great time for us to lay aside our myriad of earthly desires so that we can tell God what it is that we need. 

Posted by Ramón Torres