Do you earnestly believe I can do this? (Friday's readings)

Matthew 9:27-31

27 As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, "Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!" 28 When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, "Do you really believe I can do this?" They said, "Why, yes, Master!" 29 He touched their eyes and said, "Your faith has healed you." 30 It happened. They saw. Then Jesus became very stern. "Don't let a soul know how this happened." 31 But they were hardly out the door before they started blabbing it to everyone they met. 

Food for thought!

It is worth noting that Jesus did not answer the blind men at once; they had to follow him into the house. Why does Jesus not answer our needs at once? Why has he not answered some of our prayers? Well, for the two blind men Jesus wanted to be quite sure that they were sincere and earnest in their desire for what he could give them. He wanted first of all to be sure that their request was genuine, and that their sense of need was real.

It is true that there are people who in actual fact do not wish their chains to be broken. There are not a few people who in the depth of their hearts do not dislike their weakness; and there are many of us who, if we were honest, would have to say that we do not wish to lose our bondage. Jesus had first of all to be sure that these men sincerely and earnestly desired the healing he could give.

Another noteworthy thing in today's gospel, is that Jesus compelled these people to see him alone, in private. Because he did not answer them in the streets, they had to come to him in the house. When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. It is the law of the spiritual life that sooner or later we must confront Jesus alone. It is all very well to take a decision for Jesus when we are in a gathering, or in some little group which is charged with spiritual power; it is easy to choose Jesus when we are in a church; it is not so easy when we are home or at work.

After the crowd has gone, everybody must go home and be alone; after church service we must go back to the essential isolation of every human soul; and what really matters is not what we do or say in the crowd, but what we do when we are alone with Christ. Jesus compelled these men to face him alone, away from the crowd. This is why our true prayers are not those we say inside the church, but those we say in our bedroom, in our homes where we are alone; under such environment we don’t pray to impress anyone but God.

Jesus asked these men only one question: "Do you really believe that I can do this?" The one essential for a miracle is faith. There is nothing mysterious or theological about this. No doctor can cure a sick person who goes to him in a completely hopeless frame of mind. No medicine will do a man any good if he thinks he might as well be drinking water. The way to a miracle is to place one's life in the hands of Jesus Christ, and say, "I know that you can make me what I ought to be." 

The last thing to note, not everything Jesus does for us or tells us is for public consumption; there are things Jesus tells or does for us that he expects us not to tell everybody. Unfortunately some of us are the two men: “But they were hardly out the door before they started blabbing it to everyone they met.”