Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, March 8, 2020
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Jesus is not a granter of wishes like a genie in a bottle, but Jesus can give people what they need.
If you’ve ever proposed to a partner and anxiously awaited their response, or if you’ve put an offer on a house and paced by the phone waiting for your realtor’s call, or if you’ve sat in a hospital room watching a loved one suffer, then you’ve probably experienced pleading for Jesus to give you this one thing. You’ll probably also have experienced Jesus’ response to your prayer—which is likely far different from the thing you asked for.
James and John, two of Jesus’ disciples, asked Jesus for something, too. They asked that him that they be granted to sit at Jesus’ right and left hands (places of honor in the kingdom). Jesus challenged them—could they drink his cup and be baptized with his baptism? Yes, they believed they could, if it would grant them this glory. Although Jesus couldn’t grant them to sit at his right and left hands, he did accept their willingness to follow in his footsteps. What they didn’t know was that to drink Jesus’ cup didn’t mean glory, but suffering. Jesus couldn’t give them what they wanted, but gave them what they needed and the world needed from them.
A bit later Bartimaeus, a blind man, asked Jesus for mercy and sight. This time Jesus granted the man just what he asked for, which was just what he needed—sight and faith.
Jesus can see the bigger picture in a way we never will. Jesus knows what we need more than we do. Jesus can see the consequences of decision and actions across time, where we can only speculate about things outside of the present. Often what we want is not what we need, but Jesus can see both. Sometimes what we need leads to healing. Other times what we need (or what the world needs from us) leads to suffering. Either way, we can have faith that Jesus is actively involved in our lives no matter our circumstances or consequences.
God, thank you for being in my life. I know there are times when I don’t sense you; grant me the willingness and forbearance to trust your ways. Amen
An
Exceptional
People
Blog Posts
SIGN UP NOW