Blind Man

He brought me, his brother, to Him¹
And asked that I would listen,
For he had heard John say,
“Behold the Lamb of God.”²

He said, “Follow me.”³

Fish and salt dripped from my hair and stinging hands,
And I felt the dampened sand, and the wood still creaked, but
The world had moved.
I can’t explain; it felt
As if the waves and air were new.

They brought me, a blind man, to Him⁴
And asked that I may touch Him,
For they had heard it said
He was the Lamb of God.

He took me by the hand⁵
And led me out.

I’ll ne’er forget His touch—
His touch is hope for me.
I cannot hope without remembering His hands.
Nor His face can I forget—
His face is sight for me.
Some remember Him through prayer or song;
I remember when I see.
And His voice!
Every day I wonder again what He asked me:
Do you see?
I see men—as trees.⁶
Yet do you see?

Yet do I see?

He was the Word, the life, the light;⁷
In Him we saw our God.
In Him is life, a perfect light,⁸
And darkness knows it not.
Can God enjoy a wedding,⁹
And not only dance, but serve?
Can God speak to a Samaritan¹⁰
And love and comfort her?
Can God heal despite the Sabbath?¹¹
Feed those seeking only bread?¹²
Does He embodied need a vessel?¹³
Can divinity be shed?
Those who begged He fills with boldness,¹⁴
And the dead He calls to rise.¹⁵
We learned God in Messiah,
Though still veiled our eyes.

“Whom say ye that I am?”¹⁶

Let down your nets for a draught,¹⁷
Fisherman.
Whom say ye that I am?¹⁸
One of the prophets?¹⁹
Whom say ye that I am?
Fisherman?

Ye can discern the face of the sky;²⁰
But can ye not discern the signs of the times?
By what authority doest thou these things?²¹
Can ye not discern?
Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.²²
By what authority?
Can ye not discern?


Fisher of men,
Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?²³
By their fruits ye shall know them.²⁴
Fisher of men,
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?²⁵
Why are ye fearful,²⁶
Fisher of men?
No man knoweth the Son, but the Father;²⁷
Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son,
And he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

It is not ye that speak,²⁸
But the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you,
Fisher of men.

Whom say ye that I am?

“Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.”²⁹

The Son of God!
But what came He to do?
To rescue and save,
Restore us and rule? 
He said He would die—³⁰
How can that be true?

When will our enemies
Be overthrown?
Why in Gethsemane
Does He pray alone?³¹
The mightiest Healer,
The Child of God,
He is peace embodied,
So why does He sob?

I tried to prevent them from taking Him,³²
But He healed the soldier and went.
I’ve seen Him escape angry crowds.³³
Why won’t He now?
…why can’t He now?
Do I know Him, they ask?³⁴
No—
I thought I knew.

Hanged with a murderer³⁵
And buried alone.³⁶
The Savior, Messiah—
Did I not know?
Liberty to the captives!³⁷
Freedom to the bound!
A star out of Jacob³⁸
By Israel crowned!³⁹
Where is He now?

Mary sat, weeping.⁴⁰
She had lost a friend.
The disciples had left her⁴¹
At the end of all ends.
You know the scriptures;⁴²
You know to have hope.
But we were alone.

If we had remembered the prayer of Elisha⁴³
We might have felt different that day.
Mary saw two, but I know there were more,⁴⁴
The mountain alight with their flames.
She ran and told Peter that they had been blind.⁴⁵
God opened his eyes.⁴⁶

I felt a thousand eyes on me
And nobody breathed
As my mind found no response to
“Simon, do you love me?”⁴⁷
“I love thee, Lord,” I yearned to say,
But my throat choked the third response,
Twice that claim had fallen short;
Twice it met a searching heart.
As I grieved, a memory
Pressed upon my mind:
The laughter in the blind man’s eyes
When they discovered sight.
He answered a different question,
But suddenly it seemed
The same that Jesus asked of him
He was asking me.

Yet do you see?