A LOT CAN HAPPEN ON A WALK

Jesus does a lot of walking in the gospels. It’s a good thing too. Half of his life-altering encounters with people happened when he was walking by. Had he been in a car, he might have stopped for gas in Jericho, but he might never have met the nameless blind beggar or the famously short Zacchaeus.

We pass by their stories in Luke’s gospel on the way to Jerusalem where Jesus knows he is going to get himself killed at the Passover festival. He is a man on a mission, but he takes the time to notice the people everyone else would rather weren’t there.

One man can’t see because he is blind. The other can’t see because he is short.

The first asks what is going on. The second climbs a tree to see for himself.

The beggar is outside the city.  The rich man is outside the society.

Both men are noticed by Jesus.  He stops for them and changes their lives.

One is transformed physically.  The other has a change of heart.

Jesus’ describes his mission as “to seek and to save what was lost.” The poor blind man had lost his sight. The rich short man had lost his soul. Jesus restored them both at their point of need. It’s what he does. He still does.

Now we get to join him. That’s why we walk around in our cities and our lives with our eyes wide open to the needs around us. Some are obvious. Others are not so apparent. But the Spirit of Jesus lives in us and helps us to see what he sees. Our part is just to take him for a walk and see what he wants to do! Because that same Spirit has the power to do more than we could imagine.