Patrick Comerford
We are in the Kingdom Season, the time between All Saints and Advent, and this week began with the Second Sunday before Advent. The calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Saint Hugh (1200), Bishop of Lincoln.
Before the day begins, before breakfast, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
Luke 18: 35-43 (NRSVA):
35 As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ 38 Then he shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 39 Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 40 Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, 41 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, let me see again.’ 42 Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ 43 Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.
Today’s Reflections:
The story of a blind man or blind men at the gate of Jericho is told in all three Synoptic Gospels (see: Matthew 20: 29-34, Mark 10: 46-52 and Luke 18: 35-43).
In Saint Matthew’s account, there are two, unnamed blind men sitting by the roadside outside Jericho. In Saint Luke’s version, the blind man is sitting by the roadside begging as Christ approaches Jericho. In all three accounts, the location of Jericho is important. It claims to be the oldest inhabited and the oldest walled city in the world.
The Battle of Jericho is the first battle in the conquest of Canaan in the Book of Joshua. The walls of Jericho fall after Joshua’s Israelite army marches around the city blowing their trumpets (Joshua 6: 1-27).
In later times, Jericho was a private estate of Alexander the Great and then a garden city in the royal estates of the Hasmoneans, the priestly ruling dynasty. Mark Anthony gave Jericho to Cleopatra as a gift, but Herod leased it back again and the Herodians had their winter palace here, with their winter gardens.
By the time of Christ, Jericho is an important commercial city, a crossroads, the winter resort for Jerusalem’s aristocracy and the ruling priestly class. Which explains why, in the parable of the Good Samaritan earlier in this Gospel, a priest and a Levite were regular passers-by on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem (Luke 10: 30-37).
In Saint Luke’s Gospel too, Jericho is the home of Zacchaeus, the repentant tax collector, as we hear in the Gospel reading at the Eucharist tomorrow (Luke 19: 1-10).
Christ and his disciples are now near the end of their journey from Caesarea Philippi in the north to Jerusalem: Jericho is about 25 km from Jerusalem. On their journey, the disciples have misunderstood the message of Jesus and have been blind to who he truly is. But in this Gospel reading, it is a blind man who sees who Christ truly is.
The blind man cries out to ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ This cry is one of the Biblical foundations of the Jesus Prayer, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.’
Until now, the disciples have been blind to who Jesus truly is. It takes a blind man to see the truth, and he calls Jesus is ‘Son of David,’ King of the Jews, and the Messiah. In other places, Christ orders silence on the matter, but not here. His time is approaching.
The blind man gives up all he has, leaves everything behind to follow Christ.
The question Christ now puts to the blind man – ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ (verse 41) – is the same question Jesus also puts to James and John when they seek status in the kingdom: ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ (Mark 10: 36). James and John asked to be seated at his right hand and his left hand, symbolising power and prestige (see Mark 10: 37). But this blind man is humble in his reply: ‘Lord, let me see again’ (Luke 18: 41).
Christ tells him simply that his faith ‘Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.’ He is not only cured immediately, but he follows Jesus on the way (verse 43).
Today’s Prayers (Monday 17 November 2025):
The theme this week (16 to 22 November) in Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘In the Shadow of the Carneddau’ (pp 56-57). This theme was introduced yesterday with Reflections from Bishop Andrew John, who stepped down as Archbishop of Wales and Bishop of Bangor on 27 June.
The USPG Prayer Diary today invites us to pray:
Look around you. Give thanks for the wonder of the Creation and its life sustaining power.
The Collect:
O God,
who endowed your servant Hugh
with a wise and cheerful boldness
and taught him to commend to earthly rulers
the discipline of a holy life:
give us grace like him to be bold in the service of the gospel,
putting our confidence in Christ alone,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Post-Communion Prayer:
God, shepherd of your people,
whose servant Hugh revealed the loving service of Christ
in his ministry as a pastor of your people:
by this eucharist in which we share
awaken within us the love of Christ
and keep us faithful to our Christian calling;
through him who laid down his life for us,
but is alive and reigns with you, now and for ever.
Yesterday’s Reflections
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
