Come To Jesus: Come and See
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Introduction
Introduction
If you have ever been to my house or been in a conversation long enough with me, you know that we have a chocolate lab named Hershee. She was a rescue that Beth found and actually went to Columbia, SC to get her. We think she was about 9 months old when we got her and she is probably closed to 10. Often you will hear at any given time, “Hershee come here.” In fact, our 19 month old grandson Aspen can say Hershee and sure enough she will come up to him and start licking his face.
She is quite spry for an old lady especially when we have a ball in our hand. There is a reason they are called Labrador Retrievers. Hershee loves to come to us, her tail a wagging, that glisten in her eye…but when we go to Hershee, she receives our love and affection as if it is the very first time and at the same time she treats us like we are her long time, very best friend.
It reminds me of the prayer, “Lord help me be the person my dog thinks I am!”
Now for the record I am not being dyslexic and saying that we should worship our dog and play with our God. However, there are some similarities that I have found in the way my dog receives me when I come to her and when I come to Jesus. Also for the record, it is far better for me to come to Jesus than it is for me to come to my dog.
When you come to Jesus , you receive way more love than any other means of affection you could find. You are loved exactly where you are and if you are willing, you can be changed in an instant!
There are many places in scripture where we that Jesus has people come to Him. He never rejects them, but sometimes they reject Him. Our scripture today is one of where a man sought out Jesus to experience healing and he got a whole lot more.
Luke 18:35-43
As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
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!”
Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.
Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Incidentally, we have this story in two other places. In Matthew’s gospel in 20:29-34 there are 2 blind men. In Mark’s gospel, there is one and we learn his name is Bartimaeus.
Except for the number and giving the name, the stories are all identical. For our purposed to today I want you to look at 4 different areas that are prevalent in this passage in Luke.
The first area to be considered is
The Placement
The Placement
Notice that this man was sitting by the road and was begging. He obviously could not work, or chose to not work and begging was his means to get the financial resources necessary to live. We know he was blind. We don’t know why he was blind or how long he had been blind, but we know that he was in a situation where he physically could not see and had been for some time. It doesn’t appear that he could help is situation and he could not control his inability to see.
Sometimes you and I are
Sometimes you and I are place in situations which we cannot control. We are afflicted and perhaps we have an ailment that we cannot care for ourselves.
Maybe you are not physically blind, but we all are spiritually blind unless we come to Jesus, and have that life changing encounter with Him.
The French Philosopher Blaise Pascal said to have stated that “we all have a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.”
Luke in Acts portrayed it as the idols listed even to an unknown god so that all the bases were covered.
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Acts 17:22-2
Societies and all of mankind have an inherit need to worship.
However, we are placed in this world as sinful people.
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
Revelation 3:17
Revelation
We all fall short:
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The blind man new of his physical plight, and he knew that he needed help. Yet he believed that Jesus was the one that could heal him.
He used his physical senses to get him connected to Jesus
Maybe you are not physically blind, but are you spiritually blind?
What it is that is keeping you from seeing Jesus?
The blind man was in the right spot at the right time, or should it be said that Jesus was in the right spot at the right time.
Don’t you know that our Lord is an on time all the time Lord?
Here is some application:
Take a moment to look at your spiritual surroundings. Where are you right now spiritually? What is spiritually around you right now?
Is there an attitude in your life that shouldn’t be there that is causing you to be spiritually blind?
Is there a
What do you have to do to place yourself closer to Jesus?
Do you need to ask Him in to your heart as Lord and Savior?
Do you need to rededicate your life to Him?
I have talked with many people over the years that have said that the were no longer closer to Jesus and could not come to Him. I always ask, “Who moved?” We must be intentional about denying our self and following Jesus.
You have the ability, just like this blind man to place yourself closer to Jesus.
We looked at the placement, now let’s look at the
Peer Pressure
Peer Pressure
Sometimes our so-called friends prevent us from a growing relationship with Christ.
In this text we have read today, as Jesus approached, the others tried to silence the blind man. Do you have friends that lead you to Jesus or ones that keep you from Jesus? Are you a friend that leads other to Jesus or do you keep them away.
Oh he is really preaching to these young kids now you might say. Really? Peer pressure is mostly associated with children and youth, but adult, let me ask you this: When was the last time you invited a neighbor to one of our church services? When was the last time you shared the gospel with couple you go to dinner with every other week?
You say, “Well, it is hard to soar like an eagle when you are surrounded by a bunch of turkeys!”
You are right! Recent research came out of a study in Sweden saying that children who have friends that are burned out on school will also show signs of being burned out in school. Know what, the same thing is true for adults in the work place. Paul mentioned this in
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
1 Corinthians
1 Corinthians
It is imperative for you and I to succeed in the Christian life to surrender ourselves with those who encourage us and spur us along in our faith.
In the passage we have examined the placement, the peer pressure, and thirdly the
Persistence
Persistence
When you believe that Jesus can help you, you will go to great lengths to get closer to Him. Maybe he had heard the wisdom of
(About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
Luke 9:14
The Blind man was disturbed that his physical ailment had so much despair in his life.
Oswald Chambers, the great theologian whose works we now have in the devotional book My Utmost for My Highest, wrote, “Be persistent with your disturbance until you get face to face with the Lord Himself.”
Here, the impossible happened as a result of persistence. A blind man was given sight. If it is an impossibility, it is the very thing for which we can ask! The most impossible thing for you to be is so closely united with the Lord that there is literally nothing of your old life remaining.
Once we see Jesus, the impossible things He does in our lives become natural as breathing.
Are you obnoxious enough to get to the place where you can be helped? Jesus is ready, wiling and able!
You have the placement, you see the peer pressure, you see the persistence, and now finally, look at the
Praise
Praise
When the miracle happens, we praise. When we praise, others praise. Praise is catching!
Is God doing a mighty work in your life? Are you praising Him for it?
What happens when you praise? Others will also!
Let’s start a praise fest!