Seeing With Blind Eyes

David Poland

Matthew: Kingdom Authority • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Matthew 20:29–34

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Sermon 63 in a series through the Gospel of Matthew

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Transcript

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 6

Psalm 6 ESV

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long? Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Scripture Reading: Exodus 33:17-20

Exodus 33:17–20 ESV

And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

Sermon

GMC! I was Glad When they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

Well this morning, I am going to try and get the commercial for grace group out of the way early. The passage that we will be looking at today, at least our main focus which is Matthew 20:29-34. Is in a lot of ways what I would call the end of the beginning of the book of Matthew. And that is what we hope to talk about Thursday at Grace Group. But the thought behind that, and what I feel it is really important for us to understand this morning is that Matthew has been building up to Jesus in Jerusalem to be tried crucified, buried and risen. that has been the goal of Matthew. Just last week we spent time dealing with Jesus predicting that those things are going to happen. So as Matthew builds up to that, that becomes the END. and that begins next week as we look at the triumphal Entry as Jesus riding on a donkey comes into Jerusalem. Then we will spend the next eight chapters as Jesus in the last week of Ministry teaches us some difficult and important things. this will culminate in his crucifixion, his Resurrection and then ends with his empowering to us, his disciples.

But because of all that This passage serves as a sort of microcosm, a summary if you will in many ways of a lot of what Matthew has been trying to teach us so far in this book. the passage that we are dealing with in detail today is REALLY if we are going to talk about the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning and all that. It is REALLY if we want to be hyper technical these last few verses are “the end of the end of the Beginning”. I struggled personally the past two week understanding if I should cut off this last little section by itself or not. It really belongs with the passages that came before it. and we will note that a lot of ways as we look at it this morning. but there is just so much in this passage that I really wanted us to see and grasp and understand. and I think that we, being able to see what Matthew is doing in this passage is really important for us to be able to understand really the whole book of Matthew and SEEING where He wants us to get.

So with that thought, in order to help us fully understand what Matthew is doing in this passage I am going to read just a little bit extra this morning. I am going to read Matthew 20:17-19 and THEN 29-34. Because this becomes the ending of what Matthew started with Jesus foretelling his death and Resurrection a third time. SO with that all being said lets dive into it there is a lot I would like to cover in our short passage today.

Matthew 20 starting in verse 17:

Matthew 20:17–19 ESV

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Continuing on, verse 29

Matthew 20:29–34 ESV

And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning, Lets begin with a word of Prayer.

Dear Lord we do thank you for today, we thank you for your grace and mercy, your kindness that leads us to repentance. We thank you that by your spirit you empower us to see with eyes made clear who you are and what you have done. We thank you that thought we were dead in our sins and trespasses we are made alive together with Christ. We thank you that you are the God who enables our dead hearts to begin beating, who replaces hearts of stone with hearts of flesh with your law written upon it. That k you for the work you do within us and thorough us. We pray that your spirit would be with us this morning. May you receive all the glory as you teach us, your people. AMEN

This passage is such a beautiful passage, and what Matthew does here, I guess I would just say it this way, i have had a wonderful week dwelling in and contemplating and sort of living in what Matthew has done here. and what I would like to do today is maybe something a little different than we usually do but something that I feel is nevertheless important.

I want us to see that these two men, these two blind men who have their eyes opened by Jesus they really serve for us THREE PURPOSES.

These men serve THREE purposes

As I was dealing with figuring out what I wanted to preach this week, i was reminded of that great classic of cinema, the movie Shrek. Where Shrek is talking to donkey and eating an onion. He says: “ogres are like onions, onions have layers and ogres have layers.” And the way that I would like to approach this passage is a similar thought, in that what Matthew is doing in this passage has layers to it. and as we begin to peel those layers back we see a great beauty of god’s plan for his people, of God’s plan sort of just playing out in history. but we also receive great insight into who we are and how God reaches us. and so by looking at three purposes that I believe that Matthew has in writing this and seeing that each one gets a little deeper and a little more, well a little more teeth as we get deeper what we see is a depth of grace and just a wonderful-ness of this passage.

And so the first Thing that I want to note is that these blind men serve as a CONTEXTUAL COMPARISON

A CONTEXTUAL COMPARISON

the first thing that we need to note is that as a work of literature, as a work of impeccable writing, Matthew wants us to see something in context. this is why i read the firsts part. Just to remind us, since it has been all of seven days since last Sunday, or possibly you were not here last Sunday, that’s OK too. But we dealt with the first section of this last week

We started with what we read This morning. Jesus foretold his death. In great detail. i, the messiah, we, you and me, the son of man, we are going to Jerusalem. We are going to fulfill the messianic role, and that includes being mocked, flogged and crucified. and then we are immediately confronted with James and John’s mother, the mother of the sons of Zebedee. here request: let my sons sit on your right a hand and on your left. They could not see and understand who Jesus truly was and what he came to do. their issue in some sense, we called it last week a “misunderstanding” but in context we can say that their issue is an inability to SEE. they could not see whop Jesus is. And then the other 10 disciples chime in. What about us? What are these guys and their mom thinking that they are going to be powerful and important in the kingdom. What out our suffering, and our ambitions. We deserve that too! They couldn’t SEE what the kingdom is like. and so Matthew going from disciples who cannot see, disciples moms who cannot see, people who just cannot see who Jesus is, now shows us that the people who could see who jesus was, in this section up till this point no one could see Jesus, but here we have some who can see who jesus is, and really then in some sense the only people who could truly see jesus were two blind men.

And it is because these men saw not with eyes of flesh, but they saw the heart of the matte in their spirit. Matthew 20:29 “And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him.” They are clamoring around. who is this Jesus Maybe he is Messiah. As he is getting ready to travel towards Jerusalem I am sure that this is the same crowd that next week will be shouting Matthew 21:9 “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”” As they wave their palm branches, and then this will be the same crowd that will be crying CRUCIFY him later in the week. The disciples cant see this mom can’t see, the crowd can’t see but here are these two blind me, they can and they cry out: LORD HAVE MERCY ON US SON OF DAVID.

They can see that their only hope is Jesus. their only hope is his mercy. In the context of what is going on here, what Matthew wants us to understand here is that we do not see with our physical eyes. because here blind men could see Jesus more clearly and more perfectly than anyone else at this time. They cry out: LORD HAVE MERCY ON US SON OF DAVID. The crowd tells them shut up - Be silent. Shut your mouth. we don’t want to hear you. So they cry out all the louder. LORD HAVE MERCY ON US SON OF DAVID> the contextual comparison here highlights that it is with eyes of faith that we will see our savior. And it is eyes of faith that we need to have. These blind me cry out they ask Jesus: Let our eyes be opened. What Matthew wants us to see first and foremost is that these men asking for their eyes to be opened were truly the only ones who could see! They are the ones that Cry out to Jesus. They are the ones throwing themselves upon his mercy, they are the ones who truly see their savior.

It is important that we see and understand this contextual comparison before we go anywhere else. A Lot of times you will come to this passage and you will read something on it, or you will hear a sermon on it and they really want to get into the practical nitty-gritty, how can i apply this to my life sort of thing. but my concern is if you skip the context you miss everything. How do you apply this to your life? See with eyes of faith, do not trust your physical eyes and cry out to the Lord for mercy.

The disciples mom, didn’t understand Jesus coming as a vessel for God’s grace and mercy, these men did. The disciples could not understand or see that he was calling them to lay aside their pride their hubris and live as servants. the men were willing to embarrass themselves in front of this whole crowd. and yes at some point they might be thinking we are blind, we are already outcast, what do we have to loose, but maybe that is the heart we need to have too. because what Matthew wants to highlight is that they SAW Jesus. so See your savior. With eyes of faith behold our Lord, the one who has mercy on us, the son of David, our messiah, jesus Christ our Lord.

But then once we understand that now we truly can get to some of the more practical I would argue aspects of this. and this story then becomes a PICTURE OF PERSISTENCE.

A PICTURE OF PERSISTENCE

Once we understand what Matthew wants us to see in context - these blind me see. then we can ask what do they DO.

and they are persistent. they cry out to the Lord: HAVE MERCY ON US. when the crowd tells them to be silent they do not care. HAVE MERCY ON US. When Jesu comes and ask them: What do you want. they do not shy away they continue. We want to see. Open our eyes. Lord let our eyes be open. they persistently, earnestly and eagerly cry out to the Lord. and he hears them.

These blind me, led by their faith, were willing to take steps, persistently crying out. We have tons of parables elsewhere in Scripture teaching us this same sort of thing. In Luke 18 we have the parable of the persistent widow who bugs and bugs until the king gives her justice. There is the persistent neighbor also in Luke, there chapter 11. hey i know its midnight but I need some bread. no I am tired, well i really need it so you could give it to me now and go back to sleep or we can do this dance for a while.

But here not a parable, but an example. these men will not let the crowd silence them. They proclaim, our blindness will not be the reason that we do not get what we want. IN FACT what we want is that issue cured so they cry out to the lord in persistent and eager anticipation. Actually to read, this is a bit of a longer quote, It is from Matthew Henry’s commentary on this portion of Scripture. and I think he gets to the heart of what it looks like to be persistent.

It is good for those under the same trial, or infirmity of body or mind, to join in prayer to God for relief, that they may quicken and encourage one another.

If we sort of pause here, he is saying that these two men had each other, and as they encouraged each other they both sought out Chrsit. he starts by saying that we need one another, no one is in this all alone. but then he continues:

There is mercy enough in Christ for all that ask. They were earnest in prayer. They cried out as men in earnest. Cold desires beg denials. They were humble in prayer, casting themselves upon, and referring themselves cheerfully to, the Mediator’s mercy. They showed faith in prayer, by the title they gave to Christ. Surely it was by the Holy Ghost that they called Jesus, Lord. They persevered in prayer. When they were in pursuit of such mercy, it was no time for timidity or hesitation: they cried earnestly. Christ encouraged them. The wants and burdens of the body we are soon sensible of, and can readily relate. Oh that we did as feelingly complain of our spiritual maladies, especially our spiritual blindness! Many are spiritually blind, yet say they see. Jesus cured these blind men; and when they had received sight, they followed him.

Here’s the heart, and here is what I want us to get from this. For many of us it is easy wen the sort of physical difficulties and trial rear their ugly heads. When our knees hurt because we messed up our Meniscus and our LCL when we get diagnoses of things like cancer. When we are feeling the burdens of these physical things that are laid up against us we are quick to cry out to God. and that is good and right. Please, DO THAT Cry out to God for Mercy. But what Matthew Henry wants us to see, and this is right along with the context here. These men saw with spiritual eyes what everyone around could not see which physical ones. We need to be able then to see that when we cry out to God it is not just the physical things, but that we should cry out with the same sort of persistence and urgency for the sake of our souls. that we would see and know and understand what it is that assail our very souls. that he would open our eyes to see the pitfalls and trails that lay all around us that we would have eyes to know and understand. So cry out to the Lord. be persistent. Follow this picture of persistence. It would be good for all of us to live more like these blind men. Crying out in faith: LORD HAVE MERCY ON US, SON OF DAVID. Proclaiming in our hearts the truth that he is the messiah, our Lord and our savior.

Then the Lord looked upon them. What do you want for me to do for you. they said with boldness, let our eyes be opened. no timid, God can you help us. No sort of self sanctimonious, well, if it is not too much trouble God then i would kinda like. no they came out with boldness. Lord LET OUR EYES BE OPENED. you can, so please DO.

Martin Luther was once preaching a sermon to his church on a communion Sunday. About psalm 23. That’s a famous one. The Lord is my shepherd i shall not want. and something he said that I think is important for us to hear as we understand this persistence. God has promised us a great many things. Shouldn’t we ask with boldness that he does those things for us. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. Lord I pray that you would be my shepherd, please do not allow me to live this life in want. WE seem to shy away form asking God in boldness to do the very things he has promised to do. Martin Luther asked: Why? Is it because we secretly don;t trust him? do we think he was lying when he promised this?

May we follow this picture of persistence. but I would like to end with one more thought, and to me this is the most important. and it cuts to the very heart of everything that is going on in this passage. and that is to see THE POWER OF PITY.

The POWER OF PITY

Matthew 20:34 “And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.”

There is a lot going on here. When we talk about here the power of Pity. this is why I put the word in quotation marks, it is the word used here and so that s why i wanted to use it, but it goes deeper. It is love. It is tender caring love. it is Mercy, deep and unfathomable mercy. these men cried out for mercy, jesus granted it to them in ABUNDANCE. it is grace, deep lasting grace. it is pity, the pity that God has for us, the objects of his affection that he has set his all consuming love upon.

The pity in this who passage in this whole narrative starts long before we read the word. If we go back to the very first, what started this whole, I am going to go die and be resurrected, right before that, the catalyst for that was Peter’s confession of Jesus as the CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. Matthew 16:16-17 “Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” God opened the eyes of Peter to see and proclaim this truth. so even before these men had their physical eyes opened they were able to see. and even THAT was the pity of God. It was God at work within them stirring them to see their need for their savior. and then as they cry out, they do so with persistence, and Jesus hears. Stopping Jesus called to them.

Obviously these men are causing some sort of ruckus. the crowd is here trying to quiet them. Which if we just stop and think about that it is rather crazy. there is a crowd following Jesus and these two men are bold and possibly annoying enough that the whole crowd sees fit to quiet them. and they are loud enough that Jesus hears them. and he comes to them. I believe that Jesus question here is one of earnest care and compassion. “What do you want me to do” what do you need?

They have standing in front of them in Jesus their perfect savior. And even then I would argue (this is beautiful too) that these only two who could see still don’t fully see. Open our eyes! they request. OK. Jesus does, in pity Jesus touched their eyes and they recovered their sight. If that is where the story ended we would have a beautiful picture of the grace and mercy of God. These men cried out for mercy God provided it. But the story gets better. Matthew 20:34 “And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.”

That is the power of God’s pity. It changed these two men from helpless blind beggars standing on the way out of Jericho to FOLLOWERS OF THE LIVING GOD! Countless miracles, countless miracles we have looked at so far in Matthew, and THIS one ends a little different. They recovered their sight and they FOLLOWED him!

When God sees fit to pour upon his people grace and mercy, love abounding. it changes them, their blind eyes are opened they see clearly their savior and they follow him. This is why the context is so important, because it is God who empowers them to see this, it is God who opens their eyes. And so they can see very clearly, though the disciples struggled they will see, we know that they will see. but here a picture that to truly SEE Jesus is to become a follower of him.

all a work of God first and foremost. God moving, God opening, God healing, God having pity, god touching them and Then they follow. In persistence they cry out heal us! Heal us! but them what they find is that they are given is of infinitely more value. They in persistence cried out to Jesu open our eyes! what they recieved was thier eyes being opened AND becoming a follower of the one who saved them.

May we see with eyes of faith, cry out to the Lord with persistence, anticipation, resting in the power of God’s saving Love.

Lets Pray!

PRAY

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