In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
I am in darkness and in want. Alone at the roadside, in my blindness I beg for food, for money, for any charity which the passers-by will give. And this existence I am eking out, outside the Jericho of this world, is a world away from the Jerusalem above, upon Mount Zion. Pilgrims walk past yet I fear to ask them to help me climb to the Holy City, so I remain in the shadow of death, fearing evil and alone. (cf. Psalm 22:4 ʟxx)
And there is a commotion and a buzz, a large crowd walks past. And I call out, half-heartedly, “Give me something,” I beg. But another blind man, on the other side of the road, cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And I am in shock, never has he asked for mercy! Some in the crowd rightly rebuke him, “Be silent!” they command—they largely ignore me—yet he calls out with all his voice, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
You and I, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, are sat blind by the road. Blind to the extent of our sin, blind to our poverty, blind to how far we have descended away from the City of God. And the Lord passes us by. The Lord comes and meets us in our low estate but we have to respond to His passing by. And we could ask for food, ask for money, ask for clothing, ask for anything and everything to make our lives more comfortable; or we could ask for mercy. For St John Cassian, our prayer should
contain no petition for riches, no thought of honours, no request for power and might, no mention of bodily health and of temporal life. For He who is the Author of Eternity would have men ask of Him nothing uncertain, nothing paltry, and nothing temporal. And so a man will offer the greatest insult to His Majesty and Bounty, if he leaves on one side [the] eternal petitions and chooses rather to ask of Him something transitory and uncertain; and will also incur the indignation rather than the propitiation of the Judge by the pettiness of his prayer.
— St John Cassian, Conference 9, Chapter XXIV
And the Lord passes us by. Will we learn as did the blind man to ask for mercy? Or will we demand acts of charity to pacify us as we remain by the Jericho roadside? Will we become angry and aggressive when we don’t get what we believe we not only want but deserve?
Let us then, my dear brothers and sisters, call out for mercy. And the Lord will come to us and offer what we need for our salvation, what we need for eternal Life.
To our crucified and risen God and Saviour Jesus Christ, Who gives mercy to those who ask and a path to salvation to those who trust in His name, be all glory, honour and worship, together with His unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, God who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God: not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
— Ephesians 2:4–10
At that time, as Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging; and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped, and commanded him to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me receive my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
— Luke 18:35–43