QT 16 May 17, Matt 20:29-34, God's view of what is important is different from ours

Matthew 20:29–34 (ESV) — 29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

NOTE: I see two points of interest in this passage. One, Jesus has already rebuked his disciples for deciding what is important or not important on his calendar. The disciples tried to keep the children away, thinking that they were not very important. The crowd does a similar thing, trying to quiet to blind men, probably older men who long ago lost their sight. They have lived their life, and right now they are a hindrance to Jesus talking to the crowd or spending time with the crowd. So the crowd tries to keep them off his calendar since they were unimportant. But what the world thinks is unimportant, God often finds important. People are important -- other people besides me are important to God. Secondly, Jesus does not just immediately heal them, though I am sure it was obvious what they wanted. Rather Jesus asks them what they want (probably because of the rejection). And Jesus shows pity for them. The Greek word for pity here is deep empathy. Jesus sincerely cared about them and their situation. So the application is twofold if we are to follow Jesus' example: everyone is important and people are not just an event on a calendar, but require love, concern, and empathy for their situation.