Take Heaven by Storm #1
Reflections on the Gospel story of the healing of the blind man
Mic. 7:8-10, 18-20; 2 Tim. 2:1-10; Luke 18:35-43
From everything I’ve read it seems to me that Jesus did not go around announcing that he is the expected Messiah and has come to save the world, and neither did he say, I’m here to heal your every wound or ill. Yet when the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked whether he, Jesus, is the one they have been waiting for, he said: Tell John what you see, those who are blind see, the sick are made well, the lame walk, and the poor have the word of God shown to them.
The Lord also said this: The things you see that I do, you will do, and even greater things than these. And we can see some of this happening in the healing arts today, and through the volunteer medical people who travel around inside and outside of the US.
I can imagine that if some of us had developed the great gift of evoking spontaneous healing in others, we might want to begin, after our own communities, with visiting the clinic in Cambridge, on to the SW VT Medical Ctr., and then to Albany with St. Peter’s Hospital, Albany Med. and the rest. And what a following we would attract to assist us in this humane and godly work!
We would quickly agree that there are not enough hours in the day to do this, much less to move on to NYC, Africa, Asia, or even simply the earthquake zone in Haiti! What a fantasy this is!
Yet inevitably, and more seriously, we and they discover that we often or maybe, inevitably, value less whatever we are given for free, or what we might receive without the asking. The corresponding interior change, the inner healing, and joyful gratitude do not really come about. In the end we are no different or better off.
Almost as an answer to this peculiar situation, Jesus said that heaven can only be taken by storm, that it is better to be either hot or cold, and consequently the tepid and lukewarm don’t have a chance, to put it nicely.
We can see this illustrated in today’s Gospel story. In fact, I noticed, if I am not mistaken, that there are five accounts in the gospels of the miracle of giving sight to someone who is blind, when Jesus was near the towns of Jericho and Bethsaida or else in Jerusalem. One story is about two men who ask for their sight to be restored, and several other stories are with the poor fellow we read about today; and let’s not forget about the man born blind who had several run-ins with the Pharisees.
We can notice in these a bit of how Jesus used his gifts; somehow he was moved only by the Spirit and he did not act out of a desire for personal satisfaction. (We see that He encouraged and made it possible for a determined seeker to attain healing, and a cure, along with the word of salvation or redemption).
So here was Jesus with a band of travelers, listening and teaching as they moved along. He would say something, and those near him would pass it on down the line (hopefully hearing and repeating it correctly!) Now they approach a village and hear some loud shouting, which interrupts their conversation, and they tell the man to shut up, and probably gave him a few shekels. But he would have none of this: he didn’t want to be out there begging for food, he wanted a life! Obviously he had already heard all about the miracles and compassion of Jesus.
So with all the shush’s and insisting that he be quiet, he must have seen his chances in life running out pretty quickly: and this was just too much! From deep in his soul and his belly, he literally screamed out his request: Jesus, Master, Son of David! This was a pretty startling appeal and tribute at the same time, and finally Jesus stopped and asked him what he wanted.
Beloved Rabbi, that I might see! He certainly was taking heaven by storm! Or, as some might translate it, by violence! His desire and passion were unmistakable. The man could already see what many were blind to about Jesus. And Jesus made use of this in granting him what he wanted.
In another of these stories, the man begins to see light and shadow, with people vaguely moving about looking more like trees. So then Jesus completes the task and grants him his full sightedness.
I thought of how often we too can go through times of half-seeing, half-sightedness, with half insights half of the time, as well as with half understanding, uncertainty, and indecision.
But if this is true, at least we do have that half! We can examine what we do know, and what we have glimpsed or tasted. In this life we can only see certain things through a glass darkly, in St. Paul’s words. Might it not be that only God could know and see it all? It seems so obvious we cannot be God, yet when decisions have to be made, and choices deliberated on, it is a tough discipline to not get stuck because of what you think you don’t know.
In his healings, and teachings, Jesus was bringing God’s invitation to us. Jesus welcomes us with the hospitality of faith into the house of God, into the kingdom of God. This is now an invisible spiritual state, a country not of this world, and not subject to the laws and corruptions of this world. The eyes of faith open up for us the possibilities of new life, renewal, dreaming and envisioning and foreseeing, and the knowing of the heart. This call, sometimes joyful and fearful at the same time, opens to us a new way of seeing the world, in the light of God’s grace and love, rather than laboring to see God through the distorting prism of the world and its attitudes, as one writer put it. The first is an opening of our eyes and the second a blind futility.
All of us can at least half see, and this is the beginning of the healing of human nature and of our souls. For now, we can see to our fullest extent though our faith and devotion.