Can You See?
This past week my wife and I were blessed beyond measure to travel to the Holy Land with Passion to see where Jesus lived, loved, died & rose again.
To try and answer the question “How was your trip?” would be like trying to pour all the water in the ocean into an Aquafina bottle. Simply impossible. There’s really no way to explain it. No way to put it into a few words. You have to go, see & experience this incredible land for yourself.
Early on in the trip, I was reminded of a question Jesus once asked a man who was blind. You can find this short story in Mark 10:46-52.
Jesus was on the road to the city of Jericho when a blind man by the name of Bartimaeus called out to him. Jesus told his disciples to bring Bartimaeus over to him.
With Bartimaeus, blind as ever, standing in front of him, Jesus asks this incredible question: “What do you want me to do for you?”
[Tweet “”What do you want me to do for you?” – Jesus”]Seems like the answer to that question might have been obvious to everyone.
Did Jesus really not know what Bartimaeus would want from this healer who’s reputation preceded him?
Or…
Was Jesus up to something else?
I Can See
As we made our way by bus throughout Galilee I knew that we would soon be passing Jericho. The same place where the lives of Bartimaeus and Jesus once crossed. That same question that Jesus once posed to Bartimaeus was now piercing my heart.
If Jesus were to call me over on the side of this Jericho road & ask me this question, “What do you want me to do for you?” how would I answer?
The answer that seemed obvious for Bartimaeus doesn’t seem so obvious for me. After all, I can see.
I can see here, some 2000 years later, where Jesus walked. I can see the Sea of Galilee. I can feel the cool water wash over my feet.
I can see the synagogues in Capernaum and Magdala where surely he sat and taught the scriptures to all those who had ears to hear.
I can see the road he walked as he taught his disciples what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Even though I’m sure they were scratching their heads the whole way as they traveled from place to place.
I can see the place in Caesarea Philippi where Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” And I can almost hear Peter respond with these words that still echo throughout history & throughout our the hearts of generations of believers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
And I have no doubt that joy leaped in the heart of the man we call Messiah when he responded to Peter that it would be upon those words & that truth that Jesus would build his church & we would build our lives.
I can see the city of Bethlehem where a star once rose over the city of David. I can see where the angels appeared to shepherds in the nearby field.
And I can see the Mount of Olives where Jesus often gathered with his disciples. I can see the Kidron Valley. I can see where the Temple once stood. I can see the place where Jesus was falsely accused and put through a sham of a trial.
I can see the different sites that today people say are likely locations where Jesus was raised on a cross, where he breathed his last, where he bled & died. I can see where the laid his body. And I can testify that the tomb is empty.
I can see… but, I can help but pray this same prayer that my brother Bartimaeus prayed some 2000 years ago as I travel down this same Jericho road. “I want to see!”
I have no doubt that when Bartimaeus spoke those words & Jesus opened his eyes, that the first thing he saw was the face of the living God.
I Want to See You
I can see, but I don’t want to just see. Jesus, I want to see you.
This has been my prayer each day as I walked with new friends from #bus13 through this land I’ve spent my whole life trying to study, learn & understand. And now, I’m standing here and it is holy ground.
And I can see Jesus.
I see him in people I had never met before but now consider family.
I see him as I ran the streets of Jerusalem on Monday morning and was reminded that these are the same streets that a 12 year old boy once ran as he was eager to be near to his Father in heaven.
I can see him as I remember that he walked the same hill, yet he carried a cross.
I can see him as I remember his words to us, to “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.” And now, today, literally people from all nations are coming here looking for truth.
It was here, in this city, that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth & the life.”
Jesus, heal my blindness. Jesus, heal our blindness. It’s our blindness that keeps us separated from you. It’s our blindness that keeps us separated from each other. It’s our blindness and the darkness it brings that keeps the cycle of violence, pain, tragedy & harm on repeat.
Into our blindness, into this darkness, touch our eyes and heal us with your light.
What do I want you to do for me?
Help me to see you.
[Tweet “Jesus, I want to see you.”]
