The poignant cry of longing to receive sight, both physical sight and spiritual insight, has rung through the centuries. The outwardly blind and the inly blind have reached for the light that would lead them out of their darkness. One of the most touching, the most revealing examples of this longing is told in the Gospel of Luke. A blind man sitting begging by the wayside near Jericho heard the commotion of the multitude following Jesus. When he inquired what this meant, he was told (Luke 18:37), "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by."
This simple statement was enough to make the blind man cry out with longing and expectancy to the source from which he knew his healing could come. How Jesus' fame and power must have spread before him that this poor beggar should be so roused by the simple remark that Jesus was passing by and then, although rebuked for making a disturbance, to cry "so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me."
Because of his ineffable tenderness and wisdom, Jesus stopped. When the man was brought to him, the Master said, "What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?"
