Spiritual blindness
Luke • Sermon • Submitted
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· 5 viewsJesus doesn't mock the blind eye. He opens it. But he opens it in his time, which is always perfect.
Notes
Transcript
Prayer
Prayer
Psalm 146:8–9 (NKJV)
8The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; The Lord raises those who are bowed down; The Lord loves the righteous.
9The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; But the way of the wicked He turns upside down.
O Lord, Our God, we praise your goodness to us. You have provided our every need, you have healed our diseases, you have given us life. You have called us to yourself and washed us clean from our sin and shame and misery.
How great is your goodness! How great is your love!
Teach us to rest contented in your arms, even as the world rages around us. Even as enemies seek to devour and destroy. Set a table for us in the presence of our enemies, and cause us to lie down in green pastures, unafraid and unhurried.
Grant that we might hallow and magnify your name. In all of our words and works, help us to reflect your truth and beauty, your wisdom and righteousness, so that not we but your holy name be magnified.
And may our light shine to all around us. Give us opportunities to be a beacon of hope to our neighbors. Conform us to the image of your dear son.
He didn’t quarrel or cry out; he didn’t shout in the streets; he didn’t bruise the wounded or stamp out the tiny fires of hope in the hearts of your image bearers.
Give us that spirit – for we are too often fearful or desperate and either shut ourselves off or shout to make ourselves heard. Instead, teach us to be like Jesus and rest in you.
Bless those who struggle with the infirmities of the flesh. Those who are overwhelmed with sin and misery. We pray that you would grant healing and cleansing. Take away shame and hiding. Lift up the downhearted, give rest to the exhausted, freedom to the oppressed.
Provide for all of our needs. And open the eyes to see your beauty and goodness all around.
For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the sky. For the flowers and herbs. For the trees and beasts and birds.
And for the sun and moon and stars, as they remind us of your covenant, unchanging, going through their motions because you uphold them
For our friends and for fellowship. For those who have our back when enemies attack. For those who challenge us to new perspectives.
For all who remind us of your love and goodness everyday.
For this, we give you thanks, now and forever.
Bring peace and comfort to the families of those who were murdered last night in Colorado Springs. Bring justice for the victims.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus - and give us grace and patience while we wait.
Bless the reading and preaching of your word today. Guide my lips and give us ears to hear. Open our eyes to see wondrous things from your instruction.
(and together)
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in thy sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
Text
Text
31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”
34 But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.
35 Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. 36 And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. 37 So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
39 Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, 41 saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”
42 Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Sermon
Sermon
Both of these accounts are about blindness.
Sometimes scripture uses the term blindness to speak of a willful refusal to see. Jesus said to the Pharisees,
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
This is a willful blindness that comes upon those who arrogantly refuse to see the truth.
This passage isn’t about that.
I mention that, because it is common to hear how foolish the twelve were for not seeing something so obvious.
Jesus didn’t speak here in parables, or in shadows. He spoke clearly. And yet, the disciples didn’t understand.
WE understand - but we are on the other side of the cross.
JS Bach once told his student, “What do you mean you can’t play it. You have ten fingers, just like I do.”
It is easy to criticize someone for not knowing something that you see clearly - but we forget that the ability to see comes from the creator.
It makes as much sense to mock the twelve as foolish for not understanding as it does to mock the blind beggar as foolish for not seeing.
If the eyes are blinded, the eyes are blinded. Of course, without sin, none of us would be blind. But sin is in the world, and now none of us see as we ought.
Jesus doesn’t mock the blind eye. He opens it.
God’s decree
God’s decree
Jesus said that his suffering - including his shameful death - we all the fulfillment of prophecy.
The old testament prophets did not speak of their own ideas, but they spoke God’s word. God pulled back the curtain and revealed his plan of redemption to them.
And God, when he speaks of future things, never speaks as one who looks into the future and sees what is going to happen.
Rather, God speaks of the future because he has decreed the future. Everything that takes place takes place at the decree of God.
Jesus was set apart as the lamb of God, taking away the sins of the world, in the counsels of eternity. So when the Old Testament prophets spoke of him, they were revealing the mind of God.
All of that to say this: Jesus’ sufferings and death were not an accident, or a “plan b”, or something outside of God’s will. His sufferings and death were decreed by God from eternity, before God laid the foundations of the world.
So Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, repeats what he revealed to the prophets. He is going to Jerusalem to be betrayed to the Gentiles, beaten, shamed, and put to death.
And then he will rise from the dead.
How can you understand something that goes so contrary to everything you believe?
The prophets spoke of the Christ as the Son of David, coming in glory - defeating his enemies and ushering in the kingdom of God.
This - according to everything that human wisdom knows - is done by power, wisdom, strength.
But suffering and death? The offense of the cross?
How can the Christ be nailed to a cross like the scum of the world? Why would anyone allow that if they had the power of God?
Isn’t messiah the anointed one? Doesn’t he have access to God’s power? Then how can he possibly allow himself to bleed and die?
The only way that he would suffer and die is if he didn’t have the power to stop it. And if he doesn’t have the power to come off of the cross, then how can he have the power to defeat any enemies at all?
To this day, this is still the stumbling block of the Jews. A crucified Messiah cannot be the savior of the world.
The same error still persists. I read recently from a nationally known pastor - that kindness and humility, taking the lowest place and serving one another - would not work for this age because the left is too hostile and the church needs to be more aggressive, more offensive.
No quarter November - they proclaim. We need to crush and humiliate all opposition.
This is what the world understands. Power. Strength. Judgment. It is how the disciples thought, like every other Jew.
And the disciples didn’t understand that God’s power is seen on the cross. Through the cross, the enemy would be completely disarmed.
Satan’s weapon is shame. Shame drives all kinds of wickedness. If only I had more fig leaves and more money and a better reputation. If only, if only, if only - then perhaps I could drown out the voice that continually tells me that I’m weak and stupid and fit only for the garbage dump.
You cannot come to God when you are covered in shame. The fear is far, far too great.
So God comes to you. He becomes flesh and joins himself to you and takes all of your shame and all of your guilt, and nails it to the cross.
You are afraid of being exposed as a fraud? He was stripped naked in front of everyone.
You are afraid that you deserve being beaten and spat on? He was beaten and spat on already.
You are afraid that if anyone knew what you were really like, they would throw you out and have nothing more to do with you?
He was thrown out, excommunicated, rejected as garbage, tortured and killed.
Whatever it is that crushes you down, he has already taken it from you. And now he says, “Where are you?”
There is nothing to keep you from coming to him.
19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
THIS is the victory that the whole world is seeking. You can conquer enemies with a little bigger army. You can arm yourself with the greatest apologetic argument and shut everyone’s mouths.
You can learn how to shout people down on Twitter and own the libs.
But what will you do about shame, guilt, death?
Those are enemies that you can’t do anything about.
THAT is the weapon that Jesus is talking about, and it is stronger and more powerful than any weapon of this world, for it is the power of God unto salvation.
But the disciples didn’t understand it. It wasn’t time for them to have their eyes opened.
Why?
Why?
There is a puzzle here -
If Jesus, being divine and knowing all things, knew that the disciples were unable to understand, why did he tell them this without giving them the ability to understand it?
The Holy Spirit had not yet been poured out. It wasn’t the time yet. If Jesus opened their eyes to understand what he was telling them, would they have gone with him to witness it?
When they witnessed it, they all forsook him and fled. But they saw what happened and were able to tell the world
AFTER the Holy Spirit had been poured out - opening up the mystery so that they could see it.
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
In hindsight, because of the ministry given to Paul and the other apostles, we see the mystery that was hidden to the ages.
But if God had not revealed it to us, we would have stood there with the 12 just like they did - mouths open. Wondering what on earth Jesus was talking about.
But here is the point. Jesus needs to open the eyes.
Timing
Timing
And he will - when the timing is just right.
Wisdom is knowing times and seasons. This week is Thanksgiving. Grocery stores that don’t carry turkey in November will not succeed very long.
Husbands would do well to remember the day that they got married.
Successful generals know when to attack.
Successful restaurants know their busy times.
Successful surgeons know when to perform the surgery.
Successful physicians know when the medicine is taken
And the Great Physician knows exactly when to open the eyes.
Too soon, and the information is too much and may destroy us.
Too late, and we may rush into ruin.
But he knows exactly when. And the time when the disciples needed to know the meaning of Jesus’ suffering was the time when the Holy Spirit was poured out on them, and everything suddenly made sense.
The blind beggar
The blind beggar
So when we understand that we are blind until Jesus opens our eyes, that creates in us a humility that can only come from God.
How can we arrogantly assume access to all knowledge if we understand that in so many things we are no better than the disciples?
When I was younger, I was so proud of my knowledge. As I grow older, I realize that what I thought was wisdom was simply blindness. And I thank God for opening my eyes to see things more clearly.
And I also realize that there are so many things that I don’t know.
18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand:
19 The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin.
The truly blind man pronounces his wisdom on all sorts of things he doesn’t understand.
But the truly wise man says,
2 Surely I am more stupid than any man,
And do not have the understanding of a man.
Do we know the way the body is formed in the womb? Do we know the heart of a person? Do we know what God is doing in our midst?
There is so much that we do not understand. And yet, there is a certain pride that comes over us where we are the experts on every subject. Healthcare, race relations, viruses, sexuality, the complexities of love, economics, what Elon Musk should do, which play the quarterback should run
What the pastor needs to do, what his family needs to do, how the new parent needs to take care of her child...
And it never enters our mind that perhaps we might be blind.
And if we never admit that we are blind, we will never have our eyes opened, and we will remain blind.
Take the beggar in the next section.
Whatever issues he had, and whatever he knew or didn’t know - he had one very commendable trait:
He knew that he was blind.
Tribulation helps our knowledge. He had no resources. He had no power.
His next meal depended upon someone throwing him a scrap of bread. Even when he cried out, the crowd just shushed him. He understood who he was. A Blind Beggar. Many bibles even have this as the heading of this section. The Blind Beggar. The circumstances of his life were such that it was pointless for him to deny it.
He shouts. They shush him. He doesn’t listen. The crowd says, “He just won’t listen!” And they shush him again.
But he didn’t shush. He made a scene. He shouted and risked the contempt and perhaps even the violence of the crowd.
JESUS! Son of David! Have mercy on me!!!!!
He probably didn’t have any more understanding of what that confession meant than the disciples did.
But he knew that he was blind, and he knew that Jesus could do something about it - if Jesus would have mercy on him.
And no one who has ever come to Jesus for mercy has ever been turned away.
Healing
Healing
He makes a scene. Sometimes, it is more important to be faithful and persistent than it is to be proper. Sometimes, one needs to make a scene.
So he does. The crowd tries to shush him, but he shouts even louder.
Jesus! Have mercy!!
And he commands him to be brought to him.
He asks, “What do you want?”
Words are so important. Jesus knows what we need before we even ask. But he wants us to talk to him. Express it. Use your words
I want to see!
And he opens his eyes.
And that’s the point. We are all blind unless he opens our eyes.
If we are believers, he has opened our eyes to the mystery of the gospel, but there is still so much that we don’t know. The first step of wisdom we learn from a Blind Beggar outside of Jericho.
“Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me”
“Lord, that I might receive my sight.” I am so foolish and so prone to error. Preserve me from pride, from willful blindness.
Open my eyes that I might see.
The first step is humility.
The second is faith - believe that he will do it. It is his will that we might know more and more fully his love and his mercy.
It is his will that we might know the fulness of him who fills all in all. It is his will that we become strengthened with might in the inner man.
If only we ask. Ask, and it will be given unto you.
But there are so many hindrances. The first is the assumption that if something is different, it must be wrong. How can we grow if we resist anything new on the grounds that it is new??
Lord, open my eyes - even if it reveals something that I was wrong about my whole life.
The blind man thought he knew some stuff, but then his eyes were opened, and he saw that he was wrong about those things.
The things didn’t change. His eyesight changed.
If we humble ourselves and ask for our eyes to be opened, He will do it, for he does not desire that we remain in the dark.
But we also need patience - remembering that God doesn’t give us all knowledge in an instant. The things we think we know now will grow, some will change, some will pass away and be replaced by a fuller understanding.
And that is good - because at no point in our lives are we the grand experts on every single subject. Sometimes, someone else will be right and we will be wrong.
And that’s OK. It is God’s way of growing us together.
Humility, faith, and patience - that is the soil that makes from good growth.
For Jesus has promised and he can never lie. He gives mercy to all who ask.
His love for you isn’t dependent upon you being right about everything. He loved his disciples, even when they didn’t understand.
But because of his love for us, he will not leave us blind. He does open the eyes, but he does it in his time.
So we can be patient with ourselves, and we can be patient with others.
Paul wrote to the Philippians
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
He understood that God opens the eyes, and each believer has different degrees of understanding.
So be patient with one another. Be patient with yourself. And be humble. God gives us different understandings so that we will listen and learn from one another. And God blinds us in certain areas so that we will learn our need to depend upon him for everything.
But his love never changes. We can always rest in that, even as we grow in understanding.