Don’t be a Jerk

I was reading Luke chapter 18 this morning. Verses 35 – 43 talks about an instance when Jesus heals a blind beggar. Nothing too unusual there. What struck me though, was the behavior of those with him (his entourage, of you will). There is a blind beggar sitting by the roadside, and when he hears that Jesus is passing by, he immediately starts crying out for Jesus to have mercy on him. Then here’s the part that gets me: “Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet”. These people have been traveling around with Jesus, listening to him teach, and watching him heal people. How many times when someone called out to Jesus did he say “Can someone shut that guy up? He’s bothering me.” How many times did they see Jesus sigh in exasperation before saying “Fine, I’ll heal you if you leave me alone.” Those things never happened, and Jesus never said those things! Every time someone called out to Jesus, he had compassion on them. He stopped what he was doing to listen to them, and many times to heal them. Jesus only showed love and compassion for people, not disdain. He was never too busy for someone; he put the needs of others before his own agenda. And yet, after all this time observing the person and character of Jesus, the people with him somehow thought that this beggar would be a bother to Jesus. Instead of seeing an opportunity for Christ to shine, instead of recognizing what Jesus was all about, they tell this poor blind beggar to shut up when he has a chance to be healed. What jerks!

How many times do we act the same way? We are supposed to be followers of Christ, we’ve seen his miracles, we’ve heard his teachings, and yet somehow we lose sight of what Jesus is all about. We feel prideful about our affiliation with Jesus, and we end up pushing others away in the process. Our prayer should not be “Lord thanks for letting me be part of your entourage.” It should be “Lord, please save this man as you have graciously saved me, a sinner.” Don’t lose sight of what Jesus was all about. Don’t be a jerk.