Religious Education

We see light and colour and shapes with our miraculous eyes. Our eyes allow us to see the faces of our friends and family, our pets, trees, flowers, lakes, streams, and mountains. They allow us to read wonderful books and we use our eyes to make things such as sewing, art or woodworking projects. We could go on and on about all the things our eyes enable us to see and do.

There is also a different way of seeing that has to do with what we feel and understand. Do you ever find yourself saying, “Oh, I see. Now I understand.”

You may experience this when you see and believe that someone loves you. Or when you realize that the world is a beautiful place – God’s creation. Or you may use this different way of seeing to realize you have choices about what you do and that certain things make you happy. This is a different way of seeing and knowing. 

This Sunday’s Gospel reading from Mark (10:46-52) is about a blind man who was sitting by the roadside hoping that the many people who were passing by would help him by giving him money. Although he couldn’t see with his eyes, he somehow knew that Jesus was coming and he began to shout saying, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” 

People around the blind man tried to quiet him, but he called out more loudly, “You son of David (Jesus), have mercy on me!” 

The blind man could not see with his eyes, but he used this different way of seeing and he understood that Jesus had the power of God to be able to heal him.

Jesus stopped and said to the man, “What do you want me to do for you?” 

The man told Jesus that he wanted to be cured of his blindness and see again.

Jesus said to the man, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well” and immediately the man could see. 

Lois Parker Edstrom reflects that man received the miracle of healing and was able to see with his eyes because he understood and believed in the power of God. It was his 'blind faith' in Jesus that enabled him to see again.

Not only does God ask us to use our eyes to see all we can see of this beautiful world but also to use this different way of seeing to understand that God loves us, to Believe. Among other things, this story invites us to consider how faith is manifested, nurtured, and expressed. It confirms our belief that with faith in God, nothing is impossible.