THURSDAY 3.30.23: Connecting With People Where They Are – Luke 18:35-19:10
Jericho was the last stop before Jesus reached Jerusalem. “The Jewish historian Josephus (A.D. 37–93) explained that the first-century [Jericho to Jerusalem] road was . . . about eighteen miles long.” 1 In the ancient city of Jericho, Jesus met two men, one physically blind and the other spiritually sightless. At Jesus’ touch on their lives, both men began to see in the way they most needed to.
Reflection
• Jesus asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” (18:41). The man clearly stated the need he felt. If Jesus had asked wealthy, healthy Zacchaeus the same question as he sat in that sycamore tree, do you think he could have answered as clearly? Imagine Jesus asking you that question. What need(s) do you sense most clearly?
• Jesus’ mission was “to seek and save the lost.” Scholar William Barclay said, “ ‘Lost’ does not mean damned or doomed. It just means in the wrong place . . . A lost [person] . . . has wandered away from God; and is found when once again in the rightful place as an obedient child in the Father’s . . . family.” 2 In what ways has God given you your rightful place in God’s family? When have you been able to help God “find” someone else?
Prayer: Loving Lord, when the grit and dust of this world blinds me to your kingdom values, please restore my inner vision. Let me see you and your purposes in my life more clearly. Amen.
1From https://www.israelandyou.com/jericho-to-jerusalem/.
2William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke (Revised Edition). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox
Press, 1975, page 257.