“Keep On Shouting Till He Hears You”

Matthew 20:29-34

“Faith is”

Faith is holding on to what you don’t see until you see it. Walking by faith requires trusting in the invisible God to make visible what you’ve prayed for. We walk because we’re saved, to walk in line with God’s word because our destination is heaven. As you walk by faith, realize that faith creates an atmosphere pregnant with possibility, creates uncommon moments, and results that leave you and others carrying home what they helped you carry. The tension of the text is we are to walk by faith; yet Paul leaves us with tension: “not by sight” because how can one walk when one of their five sense are impaired. Israel, as they wandered towards the Wilderness of Sin, they had a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Today, we don’t have the cloud by day or the fire by night, but we do have the presence of Holy Spirit within to guide us through this life. Life is filled with what you can see, but what you may see can blind you to what God actually desires for you to see with your spiritual eyes. At some point in this life, our eyesight goes dim physically but faith keeps our spiritual eyes sharp….

Matthew’s gospel present Jesus as the long awaited king, beginning with his genealogy ending with his glorious resurrection. Tenderly tucked in the pages of his gospel is a man who transcended time, yet stepped in it to bring the message of the kingdom. We have an enigmatic man who arrived in humility, yet rose in triumph. We have a man who stopped a funeral, but did not prevent his own death. We have a man who slept on a boat in the storm, yet spoke to the same storm and it ceased. We have a man showed compassion to the downtrodden, yet he had nowhere to lay his head. We have a man who raised the dead, yet died a sinner’s death…..

Jesus enters the last phase of ministry, with the cross in view and years of ministry behind him as he heads to Jerusalem to die a prophet’s death. Just as fast as he rose to the top, the church leaders sought to silence his voice because his voice spoke of faith, kingdom, and victory. Jesus departs from Galilee and enters the region of Judea beyond the Jordan, and like in previous chapters, crowds followed and he healed them there. Again to the chagrin of the Pharisees, they attempted to trip the “Word” up with questions, he tells the younger the price of following him, tells the parable of the laborers in a vineyard, foretells his death, and answered a mother’s request.

Backdrop of the Text

Jesus’ ministry takes him through Jericho, the first city conquered by Israel, so Jesus was actually walking in and out of Jericho simultaneously. The passage introduces the reader to two blind men, sitting on the roadside begging for alms from sojourners in route to Jerusalem for the Passover. As they prepared for the coming Messiah, Jews laid palm branches in reverence and submission the king of the Jews. Just as people worshiped him, other cried out for salvation from the king. The Jericho road was dangerous as even Jesus used the Jericho road in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Matthew here omits the label “faith” that Mark includes, he illustrates the persistence of prayer for those in desperate heed. Matthew provides the model for the approaching the Lord when you can’t

They depended on what they heard (They recognized Jesus’ authority and ability to meet their need)

Heard (akousantes) is a active past tense verb describing the act of hearing or listening to a person with emphasis on the accurate understanding of that which is spoken.

They could entreat Jesus in faith because they recognized his authority. They recognized that he was the Son of David—rightful ruler in God’s coming kingdom. They also acknowledged their need of mercy, or the act of mercy as suggesting that what alms are, an extension of mercy. The blind men humbly depended on his favor rather than their own merit or formulas. Often, we depend on what we see to fuel our faith, but like Jesus told Thomas, blessed are they who have not seen, yet believe. The blind men on the roadside heard….and they responded to what they heard….sometimes you have to shout to be heard….

They “ignored” what they heard and answered Jesus (refused to let other’s priorities deter them)

The crowd already “following” Jesus (vv. 29, 31; compare 8:1; 19:2) did not want a figure of Jesus’ caliber to be interrupted by a beggar. Many probably wanted him to get on with the business of setting up the kingdom they hoped he would establish (21:9). It is easy for us to want to get on with “ministry,” with what we suppose are the agendas of the kingdom, and forget that God’s agendas demand that we serve people in need (20:28; compare 19:13). We must exercise sufficient faith in our Lord’s authority and concern so that no one else’s impatient dismissal of our need will hinder our dependence on God (compare 8:7; 15:24–26). Although the men’s need for sight was obvious, Jesus allowed them to voice their need (vv. 32–33); then he acted from his compassion (v. 34). God knows the pain in his people’s lives. Whether he gives us the strength to endure pain or (quite often) heals us in response to persistent prayer, it is not because we have mastered formulas of prayer. It is because he cares for us intimately (6:8; compare 9:36; 14:14; 15:32).

“Don’t lose your shout during seasons when you can't see God work.”

They followed who they “saw” (recipients of Jesus’ gifts should follow him)

Responding to Jesus’ compassionate healing, the formerly blind men now choose to follow him, becoming models of discipleship. We who have seen both Jesus’ power and his compassion best show our love by following him as disciples (Matthew’s primary sense of “follow”—8:19, 22; 19:21). We should remember, however, that following Jesus means following to the cross (20:17–28).

Application of the Message

By faith....I didn’t see God creat the earth, but I believe

By faith…I didn’t see God divide the day from night, but I believe

By faith….I didn’t see God hang the sun in its orbit or sit the moon in its socket, but I believe

By faith….I didn’t see Abraham on moriah, but I believe

By faith…I didn’t Moses on the Nile or the Red Sea, but I believe

By faith…I didn’t Joshua cross the Jordan, but I believe

By faith…I didn’t see David kill Goliath, but I believe

By faith…I didn’t see Nehemiah rebuild the wall in fifty days, but I believe

By faith…I didnt’ the Hebrew boys in the furnace, but I believe

By faith…I didn’t see the axe head float or the ravens bring food, but I believe

By faith…I didn’t see Bethlehem, but I believe Jesus was born…..