Compassion Leads to Miracles

Matthew 20:30-33

There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd told them to keep quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” Jesus stopped, called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?”  “Lord,” they said to Him, “open our eyes!” Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed Him.

The crowds followed Jesus, but they also tried to prevent others from following Him. The two blind men were a distraction to the crowd, and they tried to silence them from crying out to Jesus. Perhaps, the crowd was embarrassed by their loud wails, but these men were doing all they knew to do in their helpless state. Indeed, when we can do nothing for ourselves and desperately need help, the appropriate thing to do is to cry out to Jesus!

The religious community would have looked down upon these men, believing their blindness was the punishment for sin either they or their parents had committed. We see this evidenced in John 9 when Jesus healed a blind beggar, and the Pharisee asked if the man or the parents had sinned since he was blind. Jesus instructed him, however, that this blindness was allowed so the man would bring glory to God. If the crowd believed these men were blind because of sin and tried to silence them, could it be that they believed these poor men deserved their blindness and had no right to healing?

Sadly, I’ve seen this attitude within the church. I’ve seen those wounded from sin cry out, and “church people” want nothing to do with them and keep their distance. In fact, I may even have been guilty of it at times, myself. When we see the unwed mother or the person trying to recover from substance abuse cry out, do we ignore, try to silence, or do we reach out with compassion to help?

Granted, there are times when we cannot help those ravaged from the grips of sin, but He could choose to use us in their healing process. We should pay attention to the question Jesus asked them – “What do you want Me to do for you?” If they only want us to help them continue in their sinful state or to accept their sin as a part of them, there is nothing we can do. If, however, they truly want to be healed and are willing to commit to Christ, God can use us to minister His grace to them. We should never silence them from crying out to Jesus. In fact, we should move out of the way and help them get to Him.

Jesus welcomed the sinful and had compassion on those who were hurting and wounded. The sinful, hurting, and wounded may come into our churches and cry out for help. How we respond will determine whether or not they stay in their pitiful state or receive healing that changes their lives. Determine today to respond with compassion or to move out of the way and lead them to Christ. To take the attitude that they deserve what they have is to forget the grace God has shown to us in giving us what we don’t deserve. Compassion leads to miracles!

Have a blessed day!