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Thus says the
LORD: Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your
praise and say: The LORD has delivered his people,
the remnant
of Israel. Behold, I will bring them
back from the land of the north; I will gather them from the ends of the world,
with the blind and the lame in their midst, the mothers and those with child; they
shall return as an immense throng. They
departed in tears, but I will console them and guide them; I will lead them to
brooks of water, on a level road, so that none shall stumble. For I am a
father to Israel, Ephraim is my first-born.
When the LORD brought back the
captives of Zion, we were like men dreaming. Then our mouth was filled with
laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing.
Then they
said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." The
LORD has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.
Restore our
fortunes, O LORD, like the torrents in the southern desert.
Those that
sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.
Although they go forth weeping, carrying
the seed to be sown, They shall come back rejoicing, carrying their sheaves.
Brothers and
sisters: Every high priest is taken from among men and made their
representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal patiently with the
ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset by weakness and so, for this
reason, must make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. No
one takes this honor upon himself but only when called by God, just as Aaron
was.
In the same
way, it was not Christ who glorified himself in becoming high priest, but
rather the one who said to him: You are my son: this day I have
begotten you; just as he says in another place: You are a priest forever according to
the order of Melchizedek.
As Jesus was
leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a
blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging. On hearing
that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began
to cry out and say, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on
me." And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on
me."
Jesus stopped
and said, "Call him." So they called the blind man, saying to him,
"Take
courage; get up, Jesus is calling you." He threw aside his cloak, sprang
up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to
him in reply, "What do you want me to do for you?"
The blind man
replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
Jesus told
him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you." Immediately he received his sight and followed
him on the way.
1. God is there for His faithful ones, for the ones who actively,
sincerely seek Him. See Malachi
3:16-21; Psalm
37; Sirach
2:3-11
2. He is there in spite of our flaws and weaknesses, and in spite of
the flaws and weaknesses of others. Psalm
37:23-24; Psalm
55:22
3. We need to call out to Him, and keep calling out to Him, following Bartimaeus’ example. Psalm
55:22; Isaiah
55:6; Proverbs
2
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