Luke 18:39 (NIV) Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

One day in His travels, Jesus was approaching Jericho. A blind man happened to be sitting on the side of the road that Jesus was walking on. He heard the commotion of the crowd as they followed Jesus and he called out to ask what was happening. He was told that Jesus was about to pass by. Having heard of the miracles that Jesus had done, he began to call out to Him loudly. "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me," he cried. As a side note, isn't it sobering to see that this man who couldn't see with his physical eyes knew exactly who Jesus was (Son of David is the name given in the Old Testament for the Messiah that was to come), while those that could physically see were ignorant as to who Jesus was? When the people near him heard him yelling, they told him to be quiet. But instead of listening to them, he shouted even more. Jesus heard him and stopped and asked the blind man what it was that he wanted Him to do for him. The blind man said, "I want to see!" Immediately, he received his sight because of his faith.

When it comes to Jesus, the crowd always wants you to be quiet. The people of the world not only don't want you to be talking in public about Jesus, but they don't even want you to mention His name. You can mention other gods (which are not gods at all), but just don't mention the name of Jesus. It messes with people. Even in some churches, they don't want people to get overly excited about Jesus. They either don't want to mess up their liturgical atmosphere, or they are so dead in their faith that they have no inclination to lift up His name in praise, worship and adoration. They are not excited about Jesus at all and get annoyed at people who are. The thing to do about that is to do what the blind man did. When someone tells you to quiet down about Jesus, then shout all the louder. When someone tells you to tone your enthusiasm down a bit, turn it up. Don't let anyone quiet you down when it comes to proclaiming Jesus and proclaiming the Good News about Him. It's like Jesus told the Pharisees when they complained to Him about the ruckus that the crowd was making during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). Don't let the stones cry out for you no matter what anyone says. Let's never quiet down about Jesus!

Pastor Joey Vazquez