Sermon Tone Analysis

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Good morning!

Happy Daylight Savings!

Continuing Easter Series - Following the ministry of Jesus leading up to the resurrection.

| Man of Sorrows

| Who is Jesus?

(Who people/you say that I am? Suffering servant, dies on the cross, raised to life, return as judge)

2 - | Who is Jesus?

| I Want to Believe! (Help my unbelief.

Faith is critical)

| Believe and be Saved!

| Jesus had to die.

(Joseph)

Pray

Opportunity

Pray

Jesus Predicts His Death #3

His Death #3

Luke 18:31-

Repeated Reminder

His Death #3

How many times do you need to be told something?

Hands 1? 2? 3? More?

I suspect it usually has something to do with our level of interest, or our ability to understand or accept what we’re being told.

And its seems that’s the deal here with the disciples.

Remember, this is the third time Jesus is telling his followers what is going to happen to him in Jerusalem.

He’s told them, that he will go and suffer and be humiliated and tortured and killed.

It’s all going to happen in accordance with scripture which is what we partially looked at from a few weeks ago.

And again, the plain meaning of these words aren’t difficult to understand.

It seems that their unwillingness to accept the coming death of their master and general theological dullness continues to get in the way of their understanding.

Either way, the truth of the matter continues to be hidden from them.

They remain ignorant to the full extent of what awaits their lord, Jesus Christ.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar

So they’re on their way to Jerusalem, and it just so happens that Jericho is on the way.

Drive to church.

Parramatta.

Train to the city.

Strathfield.

Passover: Special time of the year for Jews.

Increased travel to Jerusalem (via Jericho).

Increased generosity.

Train to the city.

Strathfield.

Passover: Special time of the year for Jews.

Increased travel to Jerusalem (via Jericho).

Increased generosity.

On his way to Jerusalem, near Jericho which was on the way, there’s a blind beggar - probably hoping to collect some extra money from the passover traffic.

tells us his name was Bartimaeus, so i’m going to call him blind man bart.

Does anyone know his name?

tells us his name was Bartimaeus, so i’m going to call him blind man bart.

And even though bart is blind, he knows that something big is coming… he hears the crowd going by and we all know that crowds are definitely not quiet.

And i suppose, simply out of curiousity, he asks about the commotion and he get his answer.

JESUS OF NAZARETH IS PASSING BY.

There’s suddenly an opportunity here, isn’t there?

There’s an opportunity here for Blind Man Bart to have an encounter with Jesus.

What would you have done?

What would you have done?

What does our blind friend do?

Luke 18:

As a blind beggar sitting on the side of the road, yelling out for attention is probably the best he can possibly do.

He’s not going to be able to look around, find Jesus and walk up to him.

As a beggar, the people around him aren’t going to listen to him, and he’s not going to have the respect or recognition from others to initiate a meeting with Jesus.

And so, in contrast with some people like the pharisees, the rich ruler, nicodemous and jairus, who get to approach Jesus as powerful, influential or respected men of society… this guy, blind man bart, can do nothing but call out to Jesus and plead for mercy… and hope that Jesus will hear him and respond.

And just to really confirm for us how much people cared about him, What do we see the people do in response to him calling out to Jesus?

Rebuke.

Shut up.

But in this great display of resilience and persistence - it only spurs his on to continue crying out to Jesus.

And we see in verse 40, that Jesus notices him and asks him a question.

Luke 18:40

The question is basically a ‘what do you want?’

Imagine that Jesus is asking you ‘what do you want?

‘ ‘what would you like?’.

What would you ask of Jesus?

What wouldn’t you ask of Jesus?

Now this isn’t just a hypothetical question for the sake of it - because usually, maybe always, the questions we ask reveal something about our understand of the person we’re talking to.

The things we ask and don’t ask for, reflect to some extent the things we believe they can or can’t do for us.

And I think the surprising request made by this blind beggar is really telling.

As a beggar, what does he do?

Beg.

As a beggar, what would you expect him to ask for?

Money.

Alms.

But when Blind Man Bart has his encounter with Jesus, he passes up this opportunity to ask for money, and instead he asks for.... healing.

vision.

Do you see how his request reveals something about his understand of Jesus?

And again, in contrast to many of the other people who have met with Jesus and gotten it not quite right, this blind man bart, not only seems to identify Jesus correctly, but also places his faith in Jesus.

Luke 18:

And so because this blind beggar was willing to call out to Jesus, and persist in calling out and when given the chance, had the faith and boldness to ask Jesus for the impossible - Jesus heals him and restores his vision.

But the story doesn’t end there.

This isn’t just a healing/vision restoration story.

So in response the Jesus, and in response to the miracle he’s received blind man bart - fully sighted person bartimaeus follows Jesus and glorifies.

Implications and Applications

Know and Appreciate what Christ has done.

Be persistent and stubborn in your search of God.

Respond to God in Faith and Praise.

The life, ministry, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus are no longer hidden.

What’s more is that the purpose and necessity of these things are no longer hidden.

And now there is no need for ignorance or confusion about the suffering of Jesus which bring forgiveness of sin and brings us to God.

Take this opportunity to become a follower of Jesus.

Missed opportunities are disappointing.