Third Prediction of the Passion and a Healing (Lk. 18:31-43)

Then he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.  32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon; 33 and after they have scourged him they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise.”  34 But they understood nothing of this; the word remained hidden from them and they failed to comprehend what he said. 

35 Now as he approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, 36 and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.  37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”  38 He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”  39 The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!”  40 Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.”  42 Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.”  43 He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.'

On his way to Jerusalem, Jesus continued his mission of teaching, preaching, and healing.  In the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8), Jesus taught about the importance of persistent prayer and faith.  In the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14), Jesus taught about the value of humility and repentance in prayer.  In the story about The Rich Young Ruler (Luke 18:18-30), Jesus taught about the challenge of riches and the importance of prioritizing God above worldly wealth.  Jesus then took the twelve aside and made his third prediction about his Passion.  

Jesus told his disciples that they were going up to Jerusalem where he would fulfill the OT prophecies about the “Son of Man,” the Messiah.  He will be handed over to the Gentiles where he will be mocked, insulted, spat upon, scourged, and killed, but on the third day, he will rise from the dead.  Even though Jesus spoke plainly and clearly about his upcoming suffering, death, and resurrection, the disciples were unable to comprehend or understand the significance of his words.  Only after Jesus’ resurrection would they understand the meaning of what he had told them and its significance.

Jesus and his disciples were nearing Jericho, and a blind beggar was sitting by the roadside.  Hearing a crowd passing by the blind man wanted to know what was happening and the crowd told him it was Jesus of Nazareth.  The man cried out to Jesus addressing him as “Son of David” and asked Jesus to pity him.  Addressing Jesus by his Messianic title indicated that the blind man understood that Jesus was the Messiah the Jews had been waiting for.  The crowd believed that the blind beggar should not have been bothering Jesus, the “Holy One of God (Jn. 6:69),” because if he or his parents had not sinned (Jn. 9:2-3) he would not be blind, so they kept trying to stop him from crying out to Jesus.  

The man cried out to Jesus all the more.  Jesus ordered the man to be brought to him and asked him what he wanted.  The man addressed Jesus as “Lord” and asked for his sight to be restored.  Jesus healed the man and told him, “Your faith has saved you.”  The man was immediately healed and followed Jesus giving glory to God while the crowd praised God.  The man believed that Jesus was the Messiah which contrasted with the disciples' inability to grasp the spiritual truths Jesus was telling them.

Almighty God, grant us the faith and persistence to follow your Son and cry out to him when the path is obscured, and our understanding fails.  In your mercy, grant us the gift of spiritual sight so that our path to salvation is clear.  This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

                Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.