In spiritual terms, ‘blindness’ is the inability to notice, understand and integrate sacred things with ordinary things. If we cannot do this, we are the poorest of the poor. Not to know that we are loved more than we could ever know creates a spiritual homelessness in our hearts.
We become beggars. We stretch out our hands and our hearts as we long to understand the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Blind, we sit by the roadside, on the road that runs from Jericho to Jerusalem where this revelation will unfold. We need to go to Jerusalem. But only Jesus can raise us to our feet and invite us to follow Him there.
Jerusalem is the place where Gods’ unconditional love will be revealed. This is the Love that will not fail. Its light will cure our darkened eyes and illuminate our darkened hearts. In our poverty, our begging becomes bolder. Obstacles must be overcome – especially those that come from other people. They are troubled by our naked desire. Our heartfelt plea for mercy offends their more moderate ways. If we persist, the One who hears all cries for mercy will come and stand before us. Anyone who begs from the heart for sight will always be heard by the clear sighted one. His call lifts us up from the ground. But still – He will test the strength of our desire.
The Beloved Son is not a magician. He is the Teacher, who wants to reveal to us the ways of God. We have always longed for this
but Jesus calls for a new way of seeing. His death and resurrection are a new revelation; old eyes are blind to it. Now that He has opened our eyes, we know where we must go. There is no turning back. With new eyes we must follow Him into a new understanding.
We join the others who are following Him. “They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them;
they were amazed and those who followed were afraid.” (Mark 10:32) The need to understand the longing for the Truth which will set us free is in all of us. Those who follow their hearts desire touch the door to a mystery – a mystery to which someone else has the key. Usually, by the time we arrive at the door, our desire will have transformed us into beggars.
The Son of Timeaus is driven to see and understand the revelation of the Son of David. When the Son of David hears his cry, he perceives the fury of his desire. The crowd cannot crush it. Jesus matches his passion with a summons that’s brings him to his feet. Eye to eye – what a meeting!
But the one with the revelation has met many who are not able to understand it. Only faith will empower this person to take the first step. Only faith will fuel his desire to go deeper. Any great desire will transform us into beggars.
In ‘Zorba the Greek’, Zorba tells his boss that the first time he heard the ‘Sunatri’- a musical instrument – it took his breath away and he could not eat for three days. He knew he had to learn how to play it. His father berated Him. But Zorba gathered his life savings and bought a Sunatri. He then travelled to Salonica and threw himself at the feet of the Turk, Retsep Effendi. He begged him to teach him, even though he had no money. “Are you really crazy about the Sunatri?” The twenty-one year old Zorba answered, “Yes!” “Well you can stay”, answered Retsep.
No amount of money can purchase our deepest desire. We must beg the Teacher to teach us. For us, as Christians, our deepest desire must be the longing to understand the meaning of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Every day we must begin by asking God to heal our blindness. The Father will ask, “Are you really crazy about Jesus?”
