March 16 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Luke 18:31-43:

³¹Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
³²For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
³³And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
³⁴And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
³⁵And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:
³⁶And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
³⁷And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.
³⁸And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
³⁹And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
⁴⁰And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,
⁴¹Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
⁴²And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
⁴³And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

Devotional

A blind beggar by the wayside near Jericho cried to the Lord for mercy. The Saviour was going to Jerusalem, where all the things written by the prophets concerning Him were to be accomplished. He was to be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, spitefully treated and spit on, scourged, and put to death. How can He find time to listen to a blind beggar as He goes to the death on a cross? As the dark shadows of His coming passion and death cover His path, will He be too preoccupied to help a humble blind petitioner? Or will He now be willing to speak His word of transforming power? Later He will not be willing to speak His mighty word to deliver Himself from the agonies of the cross. Will He now as He goes to the cross command deliverance for a beggar?

"Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Our Lord had spoken these words, and these words are true. He now speaks His word of power, and the blind man receives his sight; He enriches the beggar with His mercy; He gives to him light for darkness and joy for all his affliction.

We, too, have known the great mercy and compassion of our Saviour. As sinners, poor and needy though we have been, and destitute, despised, and forsaken as we may have felt, we have found Him ever responsive to our supplications, for He has redeemed us with His blood. To our compassionate Saviour we can look today, whatever our problems, and ask for His unfailing mercy, knowing that if we ask according to His will, it will be given us.

Welcome to "Think on These Things," a twelve-week daily devotional prepared by the late Dr. John H. Skilton, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and for many years Chairman of the New Testament Department at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.

We are indebted to P & R Publishing and Skilton House Ministries for permission to use this copyrighted material on the OPC Web site. (P & R held the copyright from 1975 to 2005, at which time they reassigned the copyright to Skilton House.)