A Blind Man Sees Jesus
Luke 18:31–43
And taking the twelve, [Jesus] said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.”
But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
As He drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he came near, He asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.”
And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (ESV)
Prayer
“Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Amen.
In Christ Jesus, who is ready and willing to hear our prayers, dear fellow redeemed,
It takes a blind man to see Jesus.
Jesus told his disciples, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.” Jesus says, “See,” I the Son of Man will fulfill the Scriptures, be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, shamefully treated, and spit upon. “See,” I will be flogged, killed, “and on the third day [I] will rise.” Jesus’ future was no secret.
But the disciples didn’t understand. How could they not? This was the third time Jesus had told them. “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.”
The Gospel of Luke is a wonderful book for Christians. It’s the Catechism Gospel—meaning that Luke intended this book to be a type of instructional book for Christians. One of the unique things in the Gospel of Luke is that he highlights people and events that would often be overlooked—people who we might consider unworthy or unimportant. In chapter 18 alone, we learn about a persistent widow whose prayer was heard, the tax-collector who went home justified, and how Jesus tells his disciples to let the little children come to him and not to hinder them, “for of such is the kingdom of God.” In contrast to these unsuspecting testaments of faith, we see others, who we might expect to know better, fail to understand God’s plan and purpose.
It takes a blind man to see Jesus. Here, the Holy Spirit teaches us a little bit about God’s kingdom. Jesus tells the disciples to “see,” but they can’t. Yet, a blind man, sees exactly who he is. Notice the exchange between the blind man and the crowd. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The crowd said Jesus of Nazareth, but the blind man, named Bartimaeus, says, “Jesus, Son of David.” That’s significant. To say, Jesus of Nazareth, is not much more than saying, George from Waukon or Tim from Calmar. When the blind man called Jesus the “Son of David,” he was identifying him as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Jesus was no mere man from Nazareth. He was both true God and true man. The blind man saw in the man Jesus his God and Savior, so he cried out for mercy to the one who could show him mercy. And no matter how hard some tried to prevent him, he would not be stopped.
Blind Bartimaeus saw what was hidden from the disciples. If we want to understand our Lord’s suffering, we must become blind beggars. What do I mean by this? We can’t enlighten ourselves. God enlightens us. God creates and sustains faith. Faith is God’s gift. But faith is for blind beggars who trust in God’s Word, not in what they see or their human reason. We must become blind beggars if we would be enlightened by God’s grace.
We must become blind. Why? We just read in our Epistle, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Jesus is love. He fits and fills every description. That’s why it was so hard for the disciples to see why the most merciful man they had ever known would be subject to such cruelty, abuse, and mistreatment. They didn’t understand. Not only would he suffer, but he had to suffer. The Lord foretold of the Savior’s suffering and death through the prophets.
David wrote, “For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet” (Psalm 22:16). Isaiah wrote, “I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6) and “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). It was no secret that the Christ would suffer.
Jesus was merciful, but he received no mercy. He received and suffered the very opposite of what he was. But that is how God’s mercy comes to us. Jesus suffered in our place. He was suffering for our sins. So that God could bring mercy to us, Jesus received the opposite of mercy.
If you receive a gift card from someone they must put money onto the card so that you can use it as a form of payment at the cash register. If someone were to give you a gift card that they hadn’t put any money on, the gift card would do you no good. You could tell the clerk that there should be money on the card, but no matter how much you tell them that your friend put money on the card, they will not believe you, unless there is proof—unless you have a receipt.
In order for us to receive mercy from God, there had to be mercy. Jesus earned mercy for us through his perfect life and suffering and death on the cross. Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world. He filled up a gift card of forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation. This is why he suffered. This is why he died. And his resurrection on the third day, is our receipt, our proof, that our sins are forgiven. As Paul writes, “[He] was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25).
The suffering and death of Jesus do not make sense to the eyes of this world or our human reason, which is why we must first become blind. It takes a blind man to see Jesus—to realize the glory and mercy hidden under his suffering. It takes a blind man to see that this was all a part of God’s plan for our salvation. Then we must become beggars. Faith is not confidence in our good works or efforts. Faith is the helpless cry of a beggar: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!
All of us should see ourselves as beggars before the throne of God. If we don’t think of ourselves as a beggar in need of God’s mercy, then we are truly blind—in the worst way. The most horrible blindness is thinking that you don’t really need God, that you are not so bad, that you really don’t need to be concerned about his Word. Physical blindness can be dangerous, but spiritual blindness will lead to eternal death in hell.
Each Sunday, we come as beggars when we confess to God that, “we are by nature sinful and unclean, and that we have sinned against You by thought, word, and deed.” We are saying, “God, everything you say about my sin is true. I am lost and condemned without your mercy. I need help.” This is the first part of faith—recognizing our need—our problem. We have sinned against God, our spouse, our child, our neighbor. We have failed to show mercy and love. But this is only the first part of faith.
The second part of faith is trusting that in Jesus, we have a Savior who loves us and promises to forgive us. We cry out along with blind Bartimaeus, “Lord, have mercy upon us; Christ, have mercy upon us; Lord, have mercy upon us.” We come to Jesus because we can only receive mercy from him.
The blind man knew he needed help. His need was obvious. He could not see. So, he went to Jesus because he knew that he could and would help him. He knew that Jesus would show him mercy. When the crowd told Bartimaeus to be quiet and not to bother Jesus, it did not stop him. He cried out all the more loudly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
We need help too. Our need is obvious. We are sinners. We need forgiveness. So, we go to Jesus because he is the only one who can and will help us. When the devil tempts us to think that our sins are beyond God’s forgiveness, we continue to call out to Jesus. When the world says that Jesus can’t help us, we cry out even more loudly. When we have doubts and fears, we keep going to Jesus.
Faith calls out to Jesus, because faith puts its trust in God’s Word, not our feelings or reason. Everything and everyone was telling the blind man that he should not go to Jesus. At that time, many viewed blindness and other sicknesses as a punishment from God, a sign of his displeasure. But Bartimaeus knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior of the world. He trusted in God’s Word, not his feelings or the advice of other people. He put his hope in God’s Word. Perhaps, these were some of the promises that Bartimaeus remembered:
“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you” (Psalm 86:5). The Lord says, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49:15), and “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1).
God the Holy Spirit had worked faith in this man to believe that these promises were for him. He believed that Jesus could and would help him. And Jesus did. Our Lord said, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.”
Faith adds the words “for me” to all of God’s promises. Jesus suffered—for me. Jesus died—for me. Jesus rose again from the dead on the third day—for me. God’s mercy, love, and protection are—for me!
The focus of faith is not faith itself. Then we would spend all our time talking about our faith, bragging about our faith, or worrying about the strength of our faith. The focus of faith is not faith itself, but the object of our faith—which is Jesus! As we sing in the hymn: “Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, who did for all the world atone; He is our one Redeemer.”
To the world, there is nothing more humbling than being a beggar. But Jesus tells us that the humble will be exalted. May you never be ashamed to be a beggar before the throne of God. Faith in Jesus will never disappoint. Amen.