Kingdom Service in Practice

Introduction: An Example of a Servant-King

The Great Crowd and the Blind Men

The scene opens with Jesus leaving the city of Jericho on this last leg of his final journey to Jerusalem. During this journey, the same themes that Matthew introduced earlier in his Gospel are repeated and intensified: Jesus healing ministry, his conflict with the Pharisees and other religious leaders, and the nature of the Kingdom of God in contrast to our human expectations.

Now while Matthew and Mark say that Jesus was leaving Jericho, Luke says that he was entering Jericho. This is, of course, no contradiction, especially since Luke was likely aware of at least Mark’s Gospel if not both and used them as sources for his own gospel.

Instead, Luke is probably referring to the city of Jericho as it was in the first century. However, for the Jews the ancient city of Jericho, which stood in ruins a little ways from the contemporary site, was a place of important historical significance. It was the place where Rahab had lived, who for her kindness was the lone survivor of the city when it was taken by Israel and is in the ancestry of the Christ. Since the ancient city was of such importance to Matthew and Mark’s Jewish audience they refer to the ancient site which Jesus passed through before approaching and going through the modern city, which is what Luke’s non-Jewish readers would be more interested in. So we have no problem with Luke’s account being different from Matthew or Marks. Another distinction is that Mark and Luke mention only one blind man named Bartimaeus, while Matthew mentions two. Again we must remember that each biography of the life of Jesus is written according to the style and design of each writer, and so each author includes the details that they see as fitting for their purposes. In Mark and Luke’s case, the focus is on one man who is named and perhaps was known to the early church, while Matthew focuses on two blind men since Matthew seems to find more value in numbers than the other writers do.

This story is not here by accident; in this journey to Jerusalem which started in 19:1 We’ve seen children accepted by Jesus when they were rejected by the disciples, but a rich young man full of good works turned away. We then saw the two disciples ask for the glory of sitting on Jesus right and left in his Kingdom and they were rejected in that, and here while the crowds reject the two blind men Jesus not only accepts them but serves them. This ends a section where Jesus accepts the unacceptable in the world, children and blind men, but rejects those whom the world would think acceptable. All this points to the truth we have been focusing on these last few weeks; that the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of Servants who receive rewards of grace, not wages earned by works. The sons of the Kingdom do not work for a day’s wage, they work because they know that the Kingdom of God is their inheritance.

Now, the similarities to the story of Jesus healing the sick children are easy to spot. Jesus is passing through on his way to Jerusalem. Verse 30 begins with the word “Behold” or “look”, which draws our attention to the most important details of this event, the presence of the two blind men. They hear that it is Jesus passing by and they begin to cry out. They cannot hope to find Jesus and speak to him privately in their blindness, so they resort to simply shouting as loud as they can. Their cry is simple and yet profound, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” Two things about their cry are worth noting:

First, they do not immediately ask Jesus for healing, but for mercy. They are not ultimately seeking sight, but an attitude of compassion towards them which would hopefully give them sight. Just as a child values the presence of her father more than any gift her father can give, these two men want Jesus’ loving attention above all. They seek to have the Saviour look upon them with an attitude of compassion and mercy. They know how low they are, being forced to be beggars since they are blind. Jew’s often assumed that the disabled were under God’s punishment, and so they were not just seen as poor but also as sinners. Similar to how we tend to assume that a homeless person is a drug addict. Yet, in this place of humiliation they cry out urgently for mercy from the Saviour, as this is their only hope in the misery of their condition as blind beggars.

Second, unlike the rich young man, these men do not simply address Jesus as teacher. Even the word Lord does could function like the word sir does in English. But they call him Son of David. This is explicitly a title of the Christ, the promised King of Israel. It refers to the promise God made to King David nearly a thousand years before in 2 Samuel 7:12-13

2 Samuel 7:12–13 ESV

When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

Interestingly, the only other person in Matthew so far to call out to Jesus with this title was the Canaanite woman with the demon-oppressed daughter back in chapter 15. Even though she was a Canaanite, a daughter of Israel’s enemies, she trusted the God of mercy to be so abundant that his Christ must have mercy left over for even her. This was the faith that Jesus marveled at, and a similar faith is displayed here. These blind men believe that Jesus is the Christ, the promised son of David, and they believe such a King from God must be merciful enough for even them.

The great irony of true faith is that a person must first understand how undeserving they are of mercy. Like the labourers hired in the eleventh hour, they do not deserve a full days wage. So they must trust, not in themselves deserving eternal life, but in God being as merciful as he says he is. As we saw with the rich young man and the parable of the labourers, God is harsh towards those with confidence in themselves and their own works. However, he is merciful and gracious to those who recognize their own weakness and sinfulness and yet come boldly to him for undeserved mercy motivated by faith in a merciful God.

The reaction of the crowd is similar to the reaction of the disciples when the children were brought to Jesus. People have come out to see the man who had been doing such miracle, who had been winning arguments with the religious elite, and whose teachings were unlike anything they had ever heard. There is a celebrity reaction to Jesus as he passes through the city of Jericho and the last thing these people want is a blind man screaming out for mercy to ruin their afternoon. In scorn and disgust, fueled by the belief that their blindness was a curse from God, they told them to be quite. Such a popular and powerful teacher, even a prophet, surely had no time for them. If only they remembered the deeds of Elisha who saved a widow and her starving son, they might have realized that God’s messengers deliver God’s mercy as well as judgement. Israel had experienced much judgement from God because of their lack of faith, which led to disobedience. These blind men, however, have something the crowds did not have: true faith. The crowds may have thought, “settle down! This prophet and teacher doesn’t want to speak to you when God’s judgement lies upon you. Do you not see how unworthy you are?” The reply of the blind men is to ignore this rebuke and to cry out even louder for mercy from the Son of David. They do not deny their unworthiness and sinfulness; it is not pride that makes them so bold. Instead, they burn with faith in a merciful God and will not let anyone tell them that there is not mercy for them.

The Compassion of a Servant-Hearted King

Despite the rebuke from the crowds, Jesus stops by them and gives us a prime example of what he just told his disciples back in verse 28: “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” So Jesus uses words that are, to us, quite strange for a King: “what do you want me to do for you?” These are the words of a servant.

They tell him and he serves them by opening their eyes. This is not just a miracle, it is a display of the powerful humility and care Jesus has for the lost and lowly.

While Jesus is certainly a King with a rod of iron when it comes to judges the pride of the nations, he is merciful and servant-hearted to those who humbly call upon him in faith. Verse 34 says Jesus did this miracle, not in haste or annoyance, but in pity and compassion. He touched their eyes with his own hands and in the power of the Spirit gave them what they asked for. A call for mercy from Jesus Christ made from a heart of humility and faith never ceases to touch the heart of our God and King.

Conclusion: Going Beyond Hype-Train Christianity

Throughout this section, we’ve seen two kinds of people, those who think about the Kingdom of God with worldly eyes and those who, in humility and lowliness, accept the Kingdom in faith. The words of the Beatitudes Jesus gave in Matt 5:3

Matthew 5:3 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

and Matt 5:5

Matthew 5:5 CSB

Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.

which itself is a reference to Psalm 37:11

Psalm 37:11 CSB

But the humble will inherit the land and will enjoy abundant prosperity.

and so we see that there are really only two kinds of people that come to Jesus. Although there are many denominations and traditions, creeds and confessions, there are only two categories of people that approach Jesus. Those that approach with a worldly mindset, expecting Jesus to be like the sinful Kings of this world only better, and those who approach him with a heavenly mindset characterized by humility and faith in his mercy.

A Warning to Exciting Christianity

There is a kind of Christianity that is looking for what is exciting in our religion. This takes different expressions, but has the same basic problem. Some approach Jesus looking for wealth and earthly prosperity. Others approach him looking for political glory and dominion. Still others approach him looking for grand cathedrals and beautiful architecture and glorious displays of art. Still others approach Jesus looking for a sense of spirituality through pious deeds and lengthy prayers. And others approach Jesus looking for entertainment and excitement at various conferences. And others approach Jesus looking for spiritual power and control to make themselves feel very grand. Others approach Jesus to connect themselves with history and to preserve western culture and civilization. Others approach Jesus looking for what good works they might do to feel secure and righteous. Some approach him looking for a reason to boast over others who do not know him, or to use the faith to gain power, influence, and authority in the church. Others approach Jesus looking for something to quiet their conscience so they don’t have to repent and face their guilt, for a cheap grace. These come to Jesus as the rich young man, or in the best cases as the ignorant disciples looking for the highest places of honour in the Kingdom. Its funny how the pope surrounds himself with such glorious riches that Jesus never had, or how some preachers make millions and live in fantastical mansions when Jesus had no place to lay his head. There are a million wrong reasons to come to Jesus, and all of them boil down to this: they come to Christ expecting Jesus to be like the world, and his Kingdom to be like a worldly Kingdom.

In the best cases, these will be disappointed and eventually have to come to terms with the reality of what the Kingdom of God is. In the worst cases, these will walk away from the true calling of Christ because who he is is not what they are looking for. Jesus is the King that serves, the King that gives his life up for sinners, and who builds his Kingdom out of the least likely people on earth.

A Comfort to Needy Sinners

But others come to Christ knowing how undone they are. They have no difficulty seeing their sin and weakness. They see how much they have wronged God and how trapped they are by sin. They know they cannot escape by themselves, that they are spiritually blind and poor, that they lack the righteousness to please God. But they do not despair in this. Instead, they look to the God who described himself to Moses in Ex 34:6-7 as

Exodus 34:6–7 (ESV)

The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”

In this knowledge, these poor in spirit cry out of their heart for mercy. They don’t let anyone silence them and they will not stop until they have received that mercy. For them, it is all that matters. They are happy to show that mercy to others. They are willing to walk in the Spirit and obey the Lord in his strength. They are willing to carry a cross and follow, if only they would receive mercy and healing from the Lord. These Jesus hears, heals, and calls to himself.

When the devil and your wounded conscience brings your sin to you, plain as day, you have three choices. You can deny that you are a sinner, in which case you have no need for mercy. You can wallow in shame and give up on any hope for mercy. Or you can agree with your accuser. “Yes, I am a sinner. A much worse sinner than even the devil can tell me I am. And yet I remain bold in my prayers for mercy because I know I pray to the God who revealed himself to Moses as the I AM who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.” It is not in confidence in myself that I cry, it is confidence that Jesus is who he says he is. This is why it says in Heb 4:14-16

Hebrews 4:14–16 NIV 2011

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Approach God through Christ with confidence. Not a confidence in yourself, but a confidence that he is who he says he is. With confidence that he will hear your cries for mercy, not because you deserve it but because he is loving to the undeserving.

Our desire, the desire of any humble heart, is that we might walk in righteousness in the power of the Spirit of God.

Augustine writes:

Brothers, our whole business in this life is to heal this eye of the heart whereby God may be seen. To this end we celebrate the Holy Mysteries; to this end is preached the Word of God; to this end are the moral exhortations of the Church, those that relate to the correct manner of living, to the abstaining from lusts of the flesh, to the renouncing the world, not in word only, but in a change of life: to this end is directed the whole aim of the Divine and Holy Scriptures, that the inner person may be purged of that which hinders us from seeing God.

Does the blindness of your sin hinder you from seeing God? Are you weak and heavy with your guilt? Call out of Jesus in faith, he who always hearts a cry for mercy, and he will heal you of that blindness so that you may see and follow and inherit a Kingdom forever.