Man’s Basic Need

Friday of the First Week in Advent A-1

Entrance Antiphon Behold, the Lord will come descending with splendor to visit his people with peace, and he will bestow on them eternal life.

Collect Stir up your power, we pray, O Lord, and come, that with you to protect us, we may find rescue from the pressing dangers of our sins, and with you to set us free, we may be found worthy of salvation. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Isaiah 29:17-24; Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14; Matthew 9:27-31

As Jesus passed from there, there followed him two blind men crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When he had arrived at the house the blind men came to him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe, that I can do this for you?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes saying, “According to your faith, be it done to you.” Their eyes were opened and Jesus strictly charged them, saying, “See that no one learns of this.” But going out they spread his fame throughout that country. (Matthew 9:27-31)

Man’s Basic Need One of the signs of a great photographer is his ability to capture in a photographic shot something with a meaning far larger than the mere subject of his photo. A great and famous photo was that of a Vietnamese child running from a scene of fire and mayhem during the Vietnamese war, with terror and tears etched on her face. In the eyes of the world somehow the photo sums up the tragedy of war, setting aside any discussion of blame. Similarly, an artist may paint a picture that captures the spirit of an era or the legend of a person, such as a famous painting of a woman leading a mob action during the French Revolution, or a romantic painting of Napoleon on horseback, rearing in action. I would suggest that similarly the opening scene of our Gospel passage today carries a resonance far beyond the mere scene. We read that “As Jesus passed from there, two blind men followed him crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” Two blind men following along in their hopeless darkness, perhaps helping one another, perhaps depending on this or that person who was willing to guide them — what a picture this is of much of human life in all its struggle! Consider what might have been their history. Perhaps they lost their sight, perhaps they never had it. Perhaps they had been friends over a long time, perhaps over a short time. Perhaps they lacked family or friends to help them and in any case here they clearly needed one another. Mankind is fallen as a result of the rebellion of our first parents against God and the story of so much of human history is one of difficulty, struggle and misery while containing so many achievements nevertheless. Much blindness and darkness hangs over the story of man and he cries out for pity and mercy. It is this need which fuels so much of religion and which all too often, sadly, is not dispelled by religion. We might think of the religion of the Aztecs or the Incas and some of the appalling ceremonies which it entailed. It represented a cry for help amid the profound and sin‑sodden darkness of their benighted religion.

Yes, the cry for mercy and pity — “have mercy on us!” — is the cry that rises continually and inexorably from the heart of mankind. It leads man to look heavenwards and beyond the clouds. He searches the heavens, as it were, trying to see or hear an answer and, depending on his era or locality, he thinks he hears this or that voice or sees this or that figure. All too often much of what he hears is basically a projection of his yearnings and his experience of man and life. But an answer has indeed come from the heavens and it is a magnificently clear and definite answer, one that has come from the very highest, from the Lord God himself. God has visited his people, and through his chosen people he has visited mankind and has chosen to dwell with man. God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son, not to condemn the world for its wilful and sad blindness and sins, but to save all who otherwise would be lost. Jesus is God’s answer to the prayer of man for pity and mercy. Thus it is to Jesus that the two blind men cry out for mercy. He is the object of their petition. There is now a great light shining in the darkness of the world and that light is Christ. He is the light of the world, and to the extent that he is absent from the life of an individual or a people, to that extent does darkness prevail there. The greatest darkness is that which derives from sin. Now, modern man all too often lacks even the sense of sin. His cry for pity and mercy does not touch the root of his blindness, which is his inherited and chosen sinfulness. Furthermore, modern man must learn where the remedy is found. It is found in the person of Jesus. It is to Jesus, the Son of David, that the blind men directed their heartfelt appeal. So must we, and we ought do it every day of our lives. Our fundamental call is to holiness of life and the overcoming of sin. Apart from Christ this is impossible. He alone takes away the sin of the world. With him the darkness of sin is dispelled and the way to holiness in him is laid open. Let us place ourselves in the company of the blind men and appeal to Christ.

Christ can be found. He can be pointed to and approached. He lives now and is very accessible. Where is he? He is to be found above all in his Church, the Church he founded on the Apostles with Peter at their head. He dwells in his body the Church, and through the word and sacraments of the Church he ministers to us who so greatly need him, just as he ministered to the two blind men. Let us resolve to live in him, for if we live in him we shall rise and reign with him.

(E.J.Tyler)

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