Healing of a Blind Man (Matthew 20:29-34)
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Transcript
Good morning my name is spencer i'm one of the pastors uh here we're gonna be in Matthew chapter 20 verses 29 through 34 so you can go ahead and flip there it'll be on the screen as well uh years ago my wife and i when we got married wanted a honeymoon in italy uh but we did not have the money and then after paying our way through seminary we still did not have the money but my parents were going to italy.
For a mediterranean cruise they're gonna go there for a few days and then cruise afterwards and they said we'll take you i said great and they said one exchange give us grandchildren we'll take you i said deal do you plan on having kids anyways so we got a vacation out that we wanted we also got our oldest daughter it was a win-win but when we were in rome uh we were in rome the first night we showed up my parents their friends they were they were sitting down to eat we went to this restaurant and i just we sat down they they said all right they told the waitress they said you just bring out.
Whatever dishes you want whatever you think is good we want an authentic and amazing italian meal and i was like sweet i've never been a part of one of these things before this is going to be great and the first dish came out it was abundantly clear between the carbs and the cheeses and the spices this was not olive garden this was it took one bite that first dish was like the rest of this meal is going to be amazing and it was it's one of the best meals that we ever had that is what the miracles of.
Jesus uh and his healing stories and everything we've seen the Gospel of Matthew that's what they get to be they are an appetizer they're a foretaste of of greater realities of greater truths that are about to be opened up as he goes to the cross in between commissions out the Church there are four tastes of things to come that's why we talked about this back in Matthew 9 when Jesus heals the paralytic he says but that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins he.
Then said the paralytic rise pick up your bed and go home it wasn't just the power of healing a paralytic that pointed to something bigger that the forgiveness of sins the hope of the Gospel that's what these miracle stories do they're a foretaste for greater truths for greater realities they're going to be explored by his disciples but the problem is for us is that there are a lot of miracle stories i mean we've been through Matthew at this point for over a year.
Now we've seen a ton of them and it's just you read them if you read through the gospels it's like oh he healed another person he healed another person another miracle and after a while they start to to lose their luster a little bit we get used to them and we forget the power that is actually bound up in them it's just kind of like oh another another healing story nice let's move on to something else uh the reality is is that miracles are incredible you ever experience a miracle it's incredible they disrupt the natural order of how things are supposed to go i was reading a novel earlier this year by leif enger his.
First novel piece like a river and this is what he says the book has a big theme on miracles and he says this and i love it he says let me say something about that word miracle for too long it's been used to characterize things or events that though pleasant are entirely normal peeping chicks at easter time spring generally a clear sunrise after an overcast week a miracle people say as if they've been educated from greeting cards i'm sorry but nope such things are worth or are noticed every day of the week.
But to call them miracles evaporates the strength of the world of the word real miracles bother people let me say that a miracle is no cute thing but more like the swing of a sword i love that but we just get so used to to saying you'll see a sunrise or a sunset over the mountains of the ocean we say that's that's miraculous the gamecocks beat a ranked opponent it's a miracle we we cheapen the word we we have this sanitized uh uh greeting card version of the word of miracle and the concept of the miraculous.
When the reality it's disruptive it's disruptive like a sword if you experienced a miracle you don't have the categories to be able to to explain what you just saw it disrupts the natural order and that's exactly what God does God when he supernaturally intervenes he disrupts the natural order of things he disrupts a fallen and broken world and then this final miraculous healing story in the Gospel of Matthew that we get to see we will see all of that on full display and we will take a step back from it and as we take a step back we'll.
See that it's not just an incredible healing story though it is that it actually points to a much greater truth about the Gospel so let me pray and we'll jump into the story father i pray that you would help us be present this morning many of us came in in different places different things different burdens got to pray that you'd help us just listen this morning you'd speak to us and i pray that we respond in Jesus name amen all right.
Verse 29 and as they went out of Jericho all right so let me pause and give some context before we are in the ministry of Jesus sometimes when you read the gospels uh it can be frustrating because the stories sometimes seem out of order like you'll read about one story that shows up the beginning of one Gospel and then you read the next Gospel it shows up at the end because a lot of these events aren't in chronological order there's a general beginning with the life and ministry of.
Jesus and there's a general end after the resurrection but the middle gets fuzzy for us and it's because we are our modern postmodern thinkers we we're 21st century people we like our history in chronological order this event than this event than this event and that's not how first century middle easterners wrote history they they told it thematically they placed this story with this story because it taught this greater truth and they put this story beside this teaching because it illustrated this greater truth they just do it differently think christopher nolan.
So an interstellar i heard uh the new tenant movie is like this dunkirk was just shifting all the events around in the end your minds are blown think that and we appreciate more michael bay just straightforward just it's nice sometimes but that they just tell it differently but every now and then every now and then we can actually place one of these stories chronologically and this is one of those stories this story the healing of of the of these two men that we're about to.
See uh and in other gospels they focus on just one of the men bartimaeus it shows up right before Jesus goes into Jerusalem every single Gospel so why is that important verse 29 and as they went out of Jericho a great crowd followed him it's important because at this point we know we are at the end of Jesus ministry three years of teachings and healings and crowds amassing there's more hype and more buildup as he's traveling towards Jerusalem we've been in galilee.
Now the story is descending towards Jerusalem Jericho is one of the the largest big cities before you get to it's only a few miles away from Jerusalem there's this hype and there's this buildup and these crowds are getting excited we're going to see that in a couple of weeks we walk through the triumphant entry when he walks into the city there's a ton of buildup as he passes into Jericho and when he gets to Jericho it felt a little bit like the beatles coming to america steve spurrier coming to columbia circa 2005 like it would have been this this big build up.
And then he would do what he normally does when he shows up to cities he teaches and he performs miracles and crowds just they're getting closer and closer elbow elbow getting next to each other so they can get as close as they can to experience Jesus there's all kinds of buzz wherever Jesus goes he does this thing in the city of Jericho we don't get to read it and then we pick up as they're leaving Jericho verse 30. and behold there were two men 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 so all kinds of things are happening in the city of Jericho they start to leave Jericho and there's two blind men that are sitting out by the roadside outside the city and they have not gotten to experience Jesus and the city maybe it's because they didn't think that they could navigate their way into the city they certainly didn't have anybody to help them get into the city we saw with the healing of the paralytic they had that man had friends that brought him in to.
See Jesus but no one's actually taking them in to see Jesus and what's happening in the city they are on the outside of all the amazing things that were happening in the city but that honesty with just a glimpse of their life seems to be pretty obvious if they're standing on the roadside and what we know from the other gospels is they were called beggars they're poor they don't they don't have a whole lot of hope they're outside the city asking.
For money asking for food asking for anybody that'll actually help them years ago i was in marrakech morocco and i was in the marketplace one night and there was a blind uh homeless man and he was he would take a few steps he'd hold his hand out and he'd shout something out in arabic which i'm sure was asking for alms since that's one of the five pillars of islam and then he would you know someone would give him money i saw at least one person give him money he'd take it he tried a few more steps and he'd shout out again holding his hands out asking i'm sure.
For money or food and that was his life going out into the markets asking for help because the reality is in cultures like that and the culture that we have in the Bible there was no social security there was no safety net there wasn't a help for for disabilities at all if you didn't have family to take care of you your only hope was the streets to ask and to beg that someone might have pity someone have mercy it would help you.
So they're used to this they're used to being on the outside they're used to missing out on all of the good experiences they're used to being out there asking for things but then Jesus starts to travel outside the city right by them and there's a glimmer of hope and they don't just cry Jesus i want to point out what they say they say son of David son of David that title is packed with significance we talked about this when we walked through the genealogy in Matthew 1 that the Matthew is holds up.
Jesus and his line going back to David because what that shows is that Jesus is the savior king he is the messiah he is the one who is to come there's a lot i mean son of David is very similar for the jewish ear to say Christ when they say that they are calling him out as the savior king son of David have mercy on us verse 31 the crowd rebuked them telling them to be silent no just be silent again probably used to this being out on the outside being rejected the reality is in this culture.
If you were disabled it was assumed that you probably did something to deserve this that your parents did something for you to deserve this that you're cursed so be be silent you don't you don't need to get near Jesus you probably deserve what you have there's this stigma that comes along with the disability and this rejection but i love it they're not going to be deterred they're not going to stop it continues but they cried out all the more lord have mercy on us son of David all the more that's over and over and over and over again son of David son of David have mercy on a son of David they're not going to.
Stop they know that hope is passing by that you are our only hope Jesus son of David don't pass us by i'm tired of being an outsider i'm tired of being poor i'm tired of being looked at as as i deserve this i'm tired of all the stigma i'm tired of being on the outside Jesus lord son of David don't don't pass this by they call out over and over and over again they want to see what they've been missing for all these years.
Finally Jesus stops verse 32 and stopping Jesus called them and said what do you want me to do for you so they're calling out over and over again crowds are telling be quiet they're not going to stop and then Jesus stops and they can hear his voice directed at them probably since his presence coming a little bit closer what do you want me to do for you they have the intention of the most important man they are ever going to meet.
Verse 33 they said to him lord let our eyes be opened they've heard the rumors they've heard about Jesus they've heard all of the rumors of of healing people all the miraculous things he's done lord let our eyes be open we know you we know you're able will you open our eyes verse 34 and Jesus in pity touched their eyes and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him can't see they can hear his voice as he gets closer he approaches these two blind beggars that always get shunned they get rejected that are seen as outcast as sinful as dirty.
Jesus and compassion comes closely and i want you notice what he does he doesn't just snap his fingers and say you recovered your sight it didn't just say you're healed he puts his hands on their eyes just the intimate care that Jesus gives towards people puts his hands on their eyes and they recover their sight i got interested in this interested in this this week there are uh nowadays because of science because of medicine and the advances that we have there are uh ways to cure certain types of blindness and i watched a bunch of videos of people being able to.
See for the first time and i just wanted to show one in particular this is a video of a man who a young man who is uh has been colorblind his entire life and his friends they uh they all pitch in there's there's some new glasses that you can buy that cure certain types of color blindness so they all pitched in the money together and they gave it to them there's no guarantee it was going to work but they give it to him i just want you to catch a picture of what it looks like to.
See something for the first time i remember there was this one yellow leaf on a tree like straight ahead of me and as soon as i put them on like it just popped out like like striking like it wasn't like a light brownish gray color like it was it was yellow oh you're bored today just go on youtube and watch some of these videos people hear him for the first time people sing for the first time it's incredible and he got to.
See color for the first time imagine seeing darkness your entire life and then all of a sudden boom you can see in 20 20 vision i want you to picture what happens here Jesus puts his hands on their eyes and when he moves them the first thing they see with their new set of eyes is the face of God they get to see the face of God and once they see him they look up and they see the blue in the sky they.
See the colors all around them they see their hands for the first time by seeing Jesus and by his power they see everything else it's an incredible story and what do they do after they can see for the first time they get in line and they follow them because the reality is when you experience the power of God the only reasonable step next step is to follow them and off they go with Jesus towards Jerusalem now that story is just a few verses long.
But it's incredible when you just slow down and you picture what's happening here when you look at the details the amount of joy that is in this i also love this story because all of us can connect to it on a much deeper level listen the main mission of Jesus was not come not to come and heal people it was not to come and and heal the blind and raise paralytics that wasn't the main mission that was an appetizer that was a foretaste of a much bigger much more important much more eternal reality he came to give sight to the spiritually blind that is what this story is ultimately pointing to he came to give.
Sight to those who are spiritually blind those who are walking in darkness Jesus is the light that lights up the darkness he came to give us a new set of eyes we see this in in john 9 and john 9 he heals a younger man and and towards the end of it this is what happens in verse 39 Jesus said for judgment i came into this world that those who do not see may see and those who see may become blind some of the pharisees near him heard these things and said to him are we also blind.
Jesus said to them if you were blind you would have no guilt but now that you say we see your guilt remains Jesus heals this man and then he shows the bigger point here that he came for those who were spiritually blind he came for those who know that who are humble enough to see and recognize their own sin that they might believe and then in that story the pharisee the pharisees recognize they're being called out and i said oh you're saying we can't.
See he says absolutely your guilt remains the whole point is is that if you think that you are good if you think that you see things clearly if you think that your righteousness stands before you before God then your guilt remains you don't get the Gospel he came for those who were spiritually blind Jesus came into the world to heal to give sight to the blind and then ultimately we might follow him but that only happens when you understand the most important aspect of his work was not what happens here in Jericho it is the healing that happens in Jerusalem it is.
When we have our eyes open when we look at what Jesus did for us on the cross when we look at that with the same kind of hope and vigor and longing and desperation that these two blind men did outside of Jericho this deep longing to be redeemed that's the bigger point of what's happening here so my question is firstly have you come to Christ with that type of desperation with that type of just hope and longing have you come to.
Jesus like these two blind beggars did have you come to him saying Jesus i've been an outsider my entire life and i i won't end i want you that i'm tired of being alone that i'm tired of being on the outside that i'm tired of being i'm tired of my sin i'm tired of being separated from you that i won't fellowship with you that i want life with you that i want to follow you have you come with that type of desperation to say.
Lord give me eyes to see and believe the Gospel son of David don't pass me by i want in have you come to him with that type of desperate hope because that is the type of desperate plea that stops the savior and his tracks that is what faith actually looks like it is that kind of plea that opens your eyes that you might behold the face of God be changed by him and never be the same that's the kind of faith that is being pointed out here and the reality is.
If you do not think you're blind if you think that you're doing fine on your own that you've got it all together that you don't need faith that you don't need Jesus you are blind to your own blindness if you think your good works will stand for you that the ultimate way to get to God is just do and do and do and be that you were blind to your own blindness or as uh the song that we're going to close with.
Today says the blind won't gain their sight by opening their eyes you won't gain your sight by trying to do this yourself you won't gain your sight by trying to open your own eyes you need a desperate plea and a hope and a longing for the only one that gives sight for the only one that gives his faith to belief and that's my hope is that if you have never trusted in Jesus that you would be humble enough to recognize your hopelessness outside of him this morning and that you would believe my hope is that we would not.
Look at the miraculous work of Jesus as a small thing as a cute thing but we would see it as a sword that disrupts the natural order of this world and that we would come to him with a desperate hope and the only logical next step is i'm in and i'll follow you wherever that is i'm in for some of you that uh have trusted in Jesus that have a new set of eyes that have been following him i want you to recognize something that though we have a new set of eyes and we can.
See it doesn't mean that we're not prone to some blind spots this idea carries throughout the rest of the new testament we just read some passages that flesh this out first john 2 11 says but whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because darkness the darkness has blinded his eyes you following Jesus and you can have a new set of eyes but then you can start you can get a fight with another Christian you can get bitter the reality is is that unless you have reconciled you have a blind spot.
First john says you are darkened and you cannot see straight Revelation 3 17 for you say i am rich i have prospered and i need nothing not realizing that you are wretched pitiable poor blind and naked that's Jesus in a letter to one of the churches in the new testament saying that if you've trusted in riches you're blinded by them in fact you're poor pitiable blind and naked the reality is the riches of this world as we've seen throughout the Gospel of Matthew can blind you from actually seeing and savoring and following.
Jesus in the way that we're supposed to maybe you got some blind spots with riches i'll give you one more second Peter 1 says for this reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control with steadfastness and step fastest with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection brotherly affection with love for if these qualities are yours and increasing they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful on the knowledge of our lord.
Jesus Christ hear this for whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins the reality is if you're not pursuing a lot of what is here as the fruit of the spirit if you're not pursuing virtue if you're not pursuing Jesus and asking for these things then you're nearsighted you can't see what's right in front of you you need to actually pursue him ask for help and repentance pursue the things he calls us to there there's a lot of ways that we have blind spots and in community groups this week we're going to walk through them my hope is this morning that you.
Would ask God what are my blind spots where am i not seeing the Gospel clearly or am i not believing the Gospel and my hope is do you show up to community group this week with some humility and allow some of the people who love you most in your life to maybe point out some of those blind spots for you matt's going to come up and we are going to close with a song that is right out of this passage and ah you may not be familiar with it i just want you to to.
Listen to the words and i want you to be open and honest for a moment this is a big room i have no doubt there's probably someone who's not actually absolutely trusted in Jesus with this type of desperate plea with this type of desperate faith and my hope this morning is that you would the son of David is here his arms open saying i want you and my hope is that you would you would give in to that type of love that he went to the cross.
For you that you might not be blind anymore that he's offering you sight to believe my hope is that you would trust in him this morning stop running the life away from him stop trying to prove your life with good works my hope is that you would have the humility to recognize your sin and with this type of desperate plea that you would call out son of David give me sight give me eyes to believe and trust in you that i want you that's my hope is that you have the humility that.
God would pierce your heart right now that you would not run from it you would sit in this and respond in faith for some of you that believe in Jesus you got sin we all have got mess and it's serious my hope is that we respond this morning with some humility to recognize that that as this song is sung over to you that you might ask God where am i blind where am i not seeing and believing the way i'm supposed to and may we humbly in repentance ask him to change us that we might have vision that is needed may we respond in faith this morning.
Let me pray God no doubt there's a lot of burdens and struggles and brokenness and mess that we bring to the table this morning God i pray that for those of us that have trusted in Christ that you would start to shed light into some of the darkness in our life there may be folks here that have been holding on to sin they've never confessed they've been presenting themselves as better than they are break them down this morning may they see you and hope in you and trusting you and walking in the light as better than walking in darkness.
God i pray if there is anyone here that does not trust in you may they come to you with this same desperation these two men and may you give them eyes to see and believe and may they follow you forever we ask in Jesus name amen.