#Christ Have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.

Luke 18:35-43 ³⁵As He came near Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road, begging. ³⁶ Hearing a crowd go by, he tried to find out what it was all about. ³⁷“ Jesus from Nazareth is passing by,” they told him. ³⁸He called, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” ³⁹Those who went ahead were urging him to be quiet. But he called all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!” ⁴⁰Jesus stopped and ordered the man brought to Him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ⁴¹“What do you want Me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he said. ⁴²“See!” Jesus told him. “Your faith has made you well.” ⁴³Immediately he could see, and he followed Jesus, praising God. And all the people praised God for what they had seen.

In the Gospels there are three times people cry out to him, “Have mercy on us.” Once is with the Syrophoenician woman and twice with the blind men/man near Jericho. So in our Sunday service, or at least in many liturgies we cry out to the LORD, “Have mercy upon us!”

Now here in Luke only one of the blind men is mentioned. He is blind but he is not deaf. He has heard of Jesus of Nazareth. He has heard all that he has been doing in other places. He knows Jesus has healed many people. He most likely as a Jew has heard the prophecies of the Messiah and knows the Messiah is David’s descendant. So what does he do when he hears Jesus is passing by? He cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” Some of the people near him told him to be quiet but he cried out all the more and louder. This was a cry of faith. Jesus hears him and calls for him to come to him. Jesus asked what he wanted and with faith in Jesus he tells him he wants to see. I find it curious Jesus when he heals someone he says things that aren’t expected. I would expect Jesus to say, “You are no longer blind” or “Your eyes are now opened to see.” Instead he simply says, “Your faith has made you well.” And of course the blind man was no longer blind and he followed Jesus praising God.

Now “have mercy on me” is a pretty good prayer. In our liturgy we say, “Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us.” It is a Trinitarian prayer i.e. the Father is the first LORD, Christ is second, the Holy Spirit is the third LORD in the prayer. The early Church had a form of the prayer they prayed over and over, and still do in the Eastern Church, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a poor sinful being.” No longer addressing Jesus as Son of David but as Son of God since his resurrection showed us Jesus is God’s son. But we dare not say these prayer as babblers. We must cry them out like the Syrophoenician woman and the blind men, with faith and fever. We don’t pray these things like throwing a coin in the wishing well. Christians are prayers not wishers. James 1 says, “⁶You should ask with faith and have no doubts. Anyone who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷Such a man should not expect to get anything from the Lord.”



As Hebrews says then, let us approach the throne of God with boldness and confidence through Jesus Christ our LORD and present our petitions to our Father in heaven. He will answer our prayers in accordance with his will and do what is best for us. He is like a father who when his son ask for an egg, gives him an egg and not a scorpion. When we ask our Father in heaven with faith in Christ, he will do what is best for us. He is not cruel and arbitrary but merciful, kind and loving.

Heavenly Father, when we open our lips and cry to you in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, hear our prayer and answer it in the manner which is best for us and give us your Holy Spirit so He and Christ may hear our prayers and intercede for us on our behalf. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.