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Can you see what this blind man saw before he could actually see?
The Blind Man
Mark Gives us his name …
Let’s call him Bart!
Matthew’s account also tells us that there were two blind beggars
Mark and Luke dont say there was only one … they only refer to one.
Probably focusing on the vocal one of the two.
There is another slight difference in the accounts that I need to mention:
> Matthew and Mark report the story as Jesus going out of Jericho
> Luke states that it occurred as he was approaching Jericho
Remember - Matthew was there; Mark got account from Peter (who was there) and Luke interviewed eyewitnesses who were there
All three under direction and inspiration of HS
Sometimes even eye witness accounts can vary and all be true.
Proposed solutions:
Some say differences accounted for by fact that Jesus was leaving Old Jericho and entering rebuilt Jericho.
[old Jericho not inhabited in Jesus’ day]
Others - propose a two part event … Bart cried out … entered the city … tagged along with the crowd … eventually heard by Jesus and healed.
However you resolve the concerns:
This is Jesus’ last public miracle (cp.
- Malchus’ ear)
This account and 19:1-10 - Last two people wha are “converted” in Luke.
They both demonstrate how Israel was to respond to her Messiah.
They both stand in contrast to the Pharisee and the Rich Young Ruler in chapter 18
Pharisee and Rich Ruler - Trusted in what was in them
Bart and Zaccheus - Sought Mercy and Came to Jesus in Humility
What the Blind Man Saw
Beggar heard commotion
Since he was limited by physical sight … there were things he did see
He saw his need … clearly
His request was straight forward
The man was in abject poverty … he was begging
He lived in a culture that made no provision for the poor and destitute
He saw more than his blindness … He cried out for salvation
His only plea … Mercy
This cry … this need tells us that he saw his spiritual need as clearly as his physical need
Bare minimum the man was asking for physical healing
But as Darrell Bock indicates, our “need for mercy is often associated with sin, and sometimes mercy is needed because the plight is particularly desperate.”
In its fullest sense, mercy is the love of God for sinners, the grace by which he rescues us from our lost and sorry condition.
Mercy is what David asked for when he prayed: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions” (Ps.
51:1).
Whether he realized it or not, when the blind man asked for mercy he was asking Jesus for something more than his sight; he was begging for his salvation.
MERCY = the love of God for sinners
IT IS THE GRACE by which he rescues us from our lost and sorry condition
Mercy is what David asked for ...
Psalm
Whether he realized it or not the blind man when he asked for mercy he was asking Jesus for more than his sight … he was begging for his salvation.
AA Recognizes this principle … step one of the 12 steps = We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable.
Folks … step one is always to admit that there is a problem …
The Blind man by the road saw his need of a saviour
Much more clearly than the rich ruler
the Rich ruler in 18:18-25 would have been better off to be this blind beggar who saw His spiritual poverty
The Blind Man saw His need for Jesus
Richard Phillips points out that the various miracles in Luke show us the deadly and disabling effects of sin: “Leprosy shows sin’s corrupting power and condemning presence.
The lame show sin’s debilitating power.
The dead proclaim the wages of sin; the demon-possessed show the destructive domination that is always the result of our bondage to sin and to Satan.”
What this Blind beggar shows us by his disability and his plea for mercy …
He shows us the blinding effects of sin
What a statement … apart from Christ we are blind … blind to the very thing we we need to see … our sin and need of a saviour
Without the work of the HS we fail to even see that main corrupting power
Do you see your need of a Saviour?
If not ask the HS to open your eyes
Ask the HS to Open your Eyes … and ask God for Mercy
The BLIND MAN ASLO SAW … Importantly … who JESUS WAS
The crowd referred to Him as Jesus of Nazareth
The Blind Man called him “Jesus Son of David”
Luke 18:
The Blind man was referring to Him as MESSIAH … The Saviour whom God had promised to send
In those days the Traditional Synagogue prayer included petition for God to have mercy … “on the kingdom of the house of David, of the Messiah of thy righteousness.”
“on the kingdom of the house of David, of the Messiah of thy righteousness.”
By calling Him the Son of david He was acknowledging him as SAVIOUR
He was declaring Jesus Israel’s royal king … David’s rightful heir … and God’s Righteous Messiah
Others saw Jesus as a good teacher … a miracle worker … the Blind Man SAW HIM as Saviour
Any one who calls on the name of Jesus like this Blind Man will be saved …
A powerful example of this saving principle at work in today’s world comes from the life of a student at Kenya’s Scott Theological College.
Here is how a teacher at the school describes the man’s testimony:
Francis Ayul comes from the upper Nile River in Southern Sudan.
He shared his testimony during the graduation ceremony and we held back our tears: alternating between joy, grief, and then back to joy.
He is the only child of 13 siblings still alive.
As a young man, he enlisted in the SPLA to fight the Islamic army from the north; he did so for 13 years, earning prestige for his fighting prowess, until he was shot twice in the stomach one hot afternoon.
For three days, he lived (barely) among the dead, wondering at times if he was still alive, while hyenas and vultures hovered around his still body.
It was during the third day, when—as he held an AK47 to his head to take his own life—he remembered the name of Jesus from his youth and called out, “Jesus, save me.”
As he was praying, his comrades returned and found his eyes still blinking and carried him to where he could receive medical help.
He promised Jesus, out of gratitude, that he would serve him the rest of his life.
Francis returns to southern Sudan to train pastors and serve as a missionary in outreach areas.
Ryken, P. G. (2009).
Luke.
(R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (Vol.
2, p. 295).
Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.
SPLA = Sudan People's Liberation Army
The Blind Man - Remember Him … Bart … Not only saw Jesus as Savior … but also as LORD
HIS LORD
Lord is not just a sign of respect … it amounted to a confession of Faith
Jesus is both Saviour AND Lord
Bart was not only grasping Jesus as the Saviour …
Bart also was submitting himself to Jesus as Lord … to worship and obey him
Someone once asked Helen Keller, “Isn’t it terrible to be blind?”
She responded by saying, “Better to be blind and see with your heart, than to have two good eyes and see nothing.”
Keller’s words are an apt description of Bart by the side of the road
For all his blindness … He was given penetrating spiritual insight.
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