Turning in this moment to a ‘Single Tradition’ Faith Event— in Matthew. Things are now moving so swiftly in the Healing Faith ministry of Jesus that in this 9th Chapter Jesus is following Jairus home to see about his deceased daughter in verse 19 when in the very next verse the Woman touched the hem of his garment. By verse 25 he is leaving Jairus’ home after having resurrected his daughter.
What immediately follows is: “And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, “See that no one knows it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.
Did you ever wonder where the so very simple, and so awesomely powerful refrain comes from that is a cornerstone of the Church of God In Christ? It is the response that the two Blind Men gave to Jesus’ question “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said “YES. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Can’t you hear them— Yes Lord. Yes Lord, Yes. Yes Lord. The ultimate affirmation of faith that does not even appear in the consciousness of other Christian denominations.
Since man has historically and universally determined that crying jeopardizes manhood, it is sinful to have not come into the biblical meaning of ‘krazontes’— ‘crying aloud’. This term has the meaning of ‘to croak or cry with a loud and raucous voice’; ‘a war cry’; ‘to demand with cries’; ‘to lament’. In the Old Testament it is dominant in the Psalms and the Prophets where this crying aloud is to God in times of individual and national emergency. Proof of Life in the midst of death and destruction; the crying aloud, the moan, the groan— the wailing. But always, always to God who alone can deliver from the throes of sin and evil. In the New Testament Paul’s use of ‘krazontes’ is very rare, but best stated in the Romans 8 discourse: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail… inwardly…”. Jesus cried aloud, “Abba..,” in the midst of his ultimate crisis.
I have experienced the Lincoln Monument as a “Wailing Wall” in America. After attending the Saturday, August 24th 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington and hearing a segment of Americans lay the issues of this people at the feet of Abraham Lincoln, just 4 days later a separate segment representing the same people again laid the issues at Lincoln’s feet. But it has not stopped there. While The United States Congress sought to show their ‘godless’ powers in ‘shutting down the heartbeat’ —the legs and hands and feet continue week after week; as more and more segments of Americans move to lay their burdens at the feet of Mr. Lincoln.
Still again, it is in the singing in The Black Church that the Psalmists words come through, “I Love The Lord. He heard my cry. A pitied every groan. Long as I live. And trouble rise. I’ll hasten to His Throne”. In these times of national trouble, whether America ‘cries’ at the feet of our ‘unknown god’— The Lincoln Monument; or with a ‘hastening’ to the Throne of God— this is A War Cry!
These two blind men followed Jesus crying aloud— “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” Jesus said to them “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” I suspect that they gave the most important response in all of the history of religion— They said “Yes Lord. Yes. Lord. Yes. Yes. Yes Lord.”
by email: mustardseedfaith@outlook.com
