Daily Devotional for June 12

 

June 12                                                          Luke 18:31-43

The disciples have been in Jesus' presence for years now, but
their eyes have not yet been opened. They fail to grasp the
truth. And yet a blind beggar, not seeing Jesus, not having
known Jesus, grasps the truth.

It's very difficult to take in the meaning of Jesus. We want
to make Christ ruler of the world, without fully grasping the
source of Christ's authority. Jesus wrapped in scarlet is far more
appealing to us than Jesus the leper or Jesus the blind beggar.

Walking the streets of the inner city helps me to grasp the
other, less familiar Jesus. I pass the woman with her filthy hand
extended toward me. Could she be my Lord? Or that man over
there passed out in the gutter, could he be Jesus? Does Jesus
live in tenement housing, in a crack house? Is he lying in the
hospital, abandoned by friends and family to the scourge of
disease?

Jesus will have to suffer and die for our redemption and we
will line his path with palm fronds - but will we be able to
look upon his suffering and grasp the meaning of his pain?

"Lord, let me receive my sight." Only in God's mercy, only
with opened eyes, are we able to comprehend the magnitude
of Jesus' gift to us. What will we see with opened eyes?

"Lord, let me receive my sight." An awesome prayer. Do we
really want to see the world as Jesus experienced it? If we do,
we will never be the same again. We will glorify God in a whole
new way. Think about praying that prayer. What feelings rise
up within you?

Your growth is right there, and your faith will make you well.

from The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C