Jesus draws near to us many times even in any given day. Yet we are often blind to what is happening. We hear a commotion but don't grasp the significance of what is happening. We go to mass but don't realize that at mass we encounter "The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks in the midst of the seven gold lampstands".
Ideally, the celebration should be so dignified as to help us realize what is happening. The crowd should be helping to understand those on the sides of the road to understand what the commotion is.
But it turns out that it isn't just the man on the side of the road who is blind. We aren't helping one another to realize that Jesus is present because we don't really get it either. We acknowledge the truth of it, just like the crowd knows that Jesus is passing by, but we are blind to the deeper reality. We see a logical proposition: Jesus is here. We accept that. But we don't realize that we are dealing with "him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne."
Just as he asks the blind man, Jesus asks each of us, "What do you want me to do for you?"
This morning we must join the blind man in begging, "Lord, please let me see."
Jesus does not hesitate to reveal himself to us on deeper and deeper levels to those who hunger for him.
He immediately received his sight
and followed him, giving glory to God.
When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.
This is the secret of those who delight in the law of the LORD. If we do not do this we may still do good works. If we don't make this request of Jesus we may work very hard because we know we should.
I know your works, your labor, and your endurance,
and that you cannot tolerate the wicked;
you have tested those who call themselves Apostles but are not,
and discovered that they are impostors.
Moreover, you have endurance and have suffered for my name,
and you have not grown weary.
These are good things. The are not to be undervalued. And yet, the LORD wants more for us.
Yet I hold this against you:
you have lost the love you had at first.
Realize how far you have fallen.
Repent, and do the works you did at first.
We are called to love more deeply. We cannot do this except in response to Jesus. And we can only respond to him if we see more than just the superficial commotions that surround him. We need to see him. We need to see the one walking amidst the lampstands with the seven stars in his right hand.
Are we having trouble seeing him? Let's start with his word.
and blessed are those who listen to this prophetic message
and heed what is written in it, for the appointed time is near.
His word is a place. It is a place where we can genuinely encounter Jesus as a living other with whom we can have a relationship. But there is even more to his word than that. It is a double-edged sword (cf. Heb. 4:12). One edge is when we listen, the other is when we claim it by proclaiming it:
Blessed is the one who reads aloud
This is true in when the Word of God is proclaimed in the liturgy, but it is true for us as well. Let's speak his word aloud today into the situations that need it. When we feel like we are so blind and empty that we are begging on the roadside let us speak the words "Have sight; your faith has saved you", to ourselves, reminding ourselves that Jesus says that words to each of us.
When we do this we begin to experience what it really means to be close to Jesus.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Jesus himself is the source of this running water, this water of life. Our ideas about Jesus can never fully capture the reality of who he is. We have to keep coming back to him so that he can show us in ever greater depth just who he is. Seeing this, we follow him, giving glory to God for healing our blindness.
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