“‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (Luke 18:39).
I heard a little story in a beautiful homily the other day and I thought I would write it down in my own words. And the story goes like this…
One day a woman found a letter in her letterbox. When she opened the letter, she realised that it was written by Christ Himself and He was asking the woman to prepare a meal for her to enjoy with Him the following evening. The woman was very poor, but she went out that very day and bought all the most expensive ingredients that she could afford to buy and began to prepare a meal for Christ.
The next evening, as the meal was prepared the woman sat inside her home and waited for Christ to arrive. But He appeared to be running late. While she was waiting, a poor old man knocked on the door and asked for some food. The woman knew that she only had enough food for two, but felt very sorry for the poor old man, and so she decided to give him her share of the dinner that she had prepared to share with Christ. Then – after some more hours had passed, and Christ had still not visited the woman for a meal – another knock sounded at the door. This time it was a poor young woman, with a baby, who was tired and hungry. Looking at the time, the woman reached across the table and gave the rest of the food away (assuming that Christ had forgotten all about her).
Then – rather sadly – the woman went to sleep, thinking that Christ had forgotten about her entirely. The next morning, when she awoke, there was another letter in her letterbox. The woman opened it and saw that it was again from Christ, only this time He wrote, “Thank you very much for sharing your dinner with Me last night. It was delicious!”
And I have been thinking about that woman’s sharing as I have been reflecting on the Gospels. You see, we are told, “As He drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ And he cried, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to Him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ ‘Lord, I want to see,’ he replied. Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.” (Luke 18:35-43).
You see, the blind man was not shy about calling out to God. He was not embarrassed by those around him. He did not stay silent when his faith made others feel uncomfortable. Instead he called out all the louder, “‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” (Luke 18:39).
And what was the result? Well, the result was that Christ, who was merely passing by did not miss him sitting there on the road. Saint Augustine once wrote, “Timeo Iesum transeuntem et non revertentem” which means, “I fear Jesus will pass by and will not come back”. And I have been reflecting on the passing by as I have been reflecting on Christ…
You see, when Christ walked down that road He looked like a man. He worse old sandals on His feet and there was sticky sweat upon His brow. His feet were dusty with the dirt of the road and His clothes were worn and old. His pack was empty – He carried no material wealth and He was surrounded by illiterate and uneducated men and women (the poorest of the poor).
When He passed by on the road that day, Christ walked and looked and sounded like a mere man...
And yet that blind man sitting on the side of the road recognised Him as God – right there while He sweat beneath the summer sun.
And I have been thinking about that today… For I wonder if I would have the grace to recognise my Lord and my God in the poor and sweaty people passing me on the road? I wonder…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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