It was not just a casual call for a friend to lend a hand. He was screaming at the top of his lungs. When you are born blind or have a desperate need, following protocol is not one of your concerns when the opportunity for healing is coming right down your road.
“When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, ‘Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!’ Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, ‘Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!’” (Mark 10:47-48 MSG). The original language suggests that he was screaming. And wouldn’t you? How long was he blind, we do not know? It may be that people at the time of this writing forgot who he was and how desperate he had been, since it was years later that Mark wrote this gospel account. And thus the reference in verse 46 to whose son he is. (Could it be that this man was really blind?) Some commentators mention the number of times the writer Mark uses this term “cry out,” or “cried” or “cried out.” He actually uses it 12 times in his gospel. So what does this mean? It means that there were many people with whom an encounter with Jesus lead them to respond to with great emotion; or as one blog writer said it, “they gave voice to an extreme condition” (http://tinyurl.com/nwxulqc).
What voice are you giving to Jesus today? Must we wait for an extreme condition to cry out; or is not this life of toil and trouble (see Psalm 90) enough to cause you to lift your voice to Him for solace and relief? I hope we have not forgotten how desperate we were at one time; and I pray that our souls are parched for nothing less than the living water (John 7). The Psalmist in Psalm 42 wrote these words: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’ These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me” (Psalm 42:2-4a, NASB). Pour out your soul to Jesus. Cry out to Him, “casting all your worries on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). He hears, He sees, He knows, He cares. Be blessed today!
