"What do you Want me to do for you?"
Notes
Transcript
Notes:
Notes:
“What do you want me to do for you?”
Bereaved and Baffled
Jesus is going to Jerusalem
Telling stories and parables along the way
Story in the context of the Rich Young Ruler earlier in the chapter
v. 18: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Rich young ruler: Leaves conversation very sad
Very sad= “extremely afflicted” “Profoundly sorrowful”
Sorrowful+all around=sorrow through in through
Jesus Foretells his Death:
vv.32-33: “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.”
Rich, Young, Ruler NOT an example of faith
Yet, NOTHING is impossible with God
Jesus is going to die and rise!
What is impossible is made possible through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Transition:
v. 34: “They understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.”
Spiritual ignorance/blindness
Blind and Begging
Mark 10:46 “46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.”
Completely opposite from the RYR
Completely opposite from the Disciple’s ignorance
Beggar understands that Jesus is not “just a Nazarene.” Bock
Awareness:
Calling outs to a King
Calls out “Son of David”=Calling out to the King
ONLY ONE in the entire Gospel of Luke to refer to Jesus this way.
2. Calling out for MERCY
“Have mercy on me”=Psalm 51: 1 “1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.”
Why did people rebuke the blind beggar?
You are not worthy to have a conversation with Jesus!
Shush, we don’t want Jesus to know we have people like you living here
You’re an embarrassment to our community
Why would he make time for you?
Crowd: “Put a muzzle on it!”
3. Beggar Gets louder!
“SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!”
“For to a sensitive person, the expression of God’s grace is an extension of his mercy, not an act that is owed the recipient.” Bock
Doesn’t deserve to be healed, but wants to be healed!
4. Enter King Jesus
What do you want me to do for you?
Why does Jesus even ask this question? Why doesn’t he just say, Looks like you need a fresh pair of eyes
Isn’t it obvious?
What’s the tone?
Gangster style: “Whatta you want?”
NOTE: Jesus wouldn’t have asked the man what he wanted without the man first causing a scene.
Jesus only asks, “What do you want?” after the man calls out!
Not arguing that our faith came first… This passage isn’t teaching us the order of salvation in it’s entirety.
Grace comes first (see vv.31-33)
The King who pays attention to the lowly.
v. 40: Jesus “stopped and commanded him to be brought to him.”
“What do you want me to do for you?”
Aladdin… Genie in a bottle to grant three wishes. I wish that I would get a thousand wishes!
King right there: “What do you want me to do for you?”
Wealth? Youth? Power?
Money, Fame, wisdom (like Solomon?)
Asks for what? SIGHT! He wants is eyes to see.
v. 42: “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.”
Recover your sight= One word in Greek: “See!”
“Your faith has made you well”= “Your faith has saved you/rescued/delivered you.
“This does not mean that the man’s faith created the cure, but that it was the means by which he received it.” Leon Morris
“His faith has brought deliverance and sight. Those who approach God in confidence that he can make them see are given spiritual sight.” Bock
“Faith leads to restoration.” Bock
What do you want? What do you desire?
Is it faith? Is it spiritual sight?
“Ironically, while many struggle to see who Jesus is, a blind man has full clarity of vision.” Bock
Result of Faith:
New Riches=Riches in Christ
New Life=Dying and rising with Christ
New Rule=Kingdom of Jesus
Money vs. Miracle
What is it that you want?
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
Why is it important?
Maslow: Create meaning outside of religion!
Purpose of Life: What is the ideal?
Measures our Motivation
Measures what we can get wrong!?
We can be bloated with the physical comforts?
Foundation=faith
Christ-likeness
Are you asking that question within the context of faith?
Prioritizes our needs!
Not about wealth, but about wholeness.
Not about youth, but about restoration.
Not about power, but about proclamation!
What do you want shouldn’t come void of faith
Would you answer the question, what do you want, in the context of faith?
Ask the question without faith?
A new house?
A new car?
More time? More energy? Better marriage?
Jesus approaches the blind beggar out of his cries of desperation...
What is it that you want first requires us to understand our own desperate situation!
Out of his persistence and public humiliation does Jesus approach the beggar
If Jesus came up to you, and he asked you “What is it that you want?,” how would you answer?
He wanted to see.
Result of Faith: JOY!
Went away still poor! BUT REJOICING!!
Rich young ruler: He wanted eternal life, but he lacked faith to enter it.
Spiritual Lesson
Pay attention to the cries!
Just spiritual?
Darrel Bock: “This commentary has argued consistently that the miracles of Jesus are pictures of deeper spiritual realities. No miracle makes that fact as clear as this one. A blind man, living on the side of a road and reduced to begging, confesses Jesus as the promised Messiah, as the one who has the power to restore sight to humanity. Jesus then restores the man’s sight. Faith leads to restoration. This text reveals the most basic spiritual truths about seeking and finding one’s way on the path with God.”
Not Merely Spiritual:
45 year old interview of a woman in
Wayland Kentucky