Luke 18:35-43: Lord, I Want To See

Introduction:

Here we see one of the most beautiful passage in all of the gospels

All of Luke 18 shows faith as the running theme

The persistent faith of a widow

The humble faith of a publican

The simple faith of children

The lack of faith by a rich young ruler

And we finish the chapter seeing the faith of a blind man

Each of these stories highlights different aspects of saving faith

Here we see a blind man who is desperate to get an audience with Jesus

We see Jesus as we always do: humble, serving and always willing to heal a man in need

We see that Jesus is compassionate, merciful, loving and always willing to hear and answer

To the person who has not met Jesus yet, this is a great promise of salvation to whosoever calls out to Him

To the believer it gives us the assurance that we have a Father who always hears us willingly in our moment of need

1. A Cry Of Faith v. 35-39

It’s important to remember that Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem

This will be the last city that He visits before entering Jerusalem to be crucified

His death on the cross is right around the corner

Jesus is decided and determined that nothing will stop Him from going to Jerusalem and accomplishing His purpose

But Jesus always walks slowly among the crowd.

He is never in too much of a hurry to help a person in need

Bartimaeus’ horrible condition

The book of Matthew tells us that there were two blind men in this story

But Mark and Luke decide to only focus on one of them

Mark tells us that his name is “Bartimaeus”

This is a man that would be considered “disposable” and “undesirable”

He was of no use to society

The only benefit that he served to society was to be a charity case for people to give donations to

Each day was the same routine

He would get up, dust himself off and go to the edge of the street to beg for a handout

In biblical times there was no type of job for a person like Bartimaeus

There was no government assistance for disabled people

Bartimaeus had no one to help him

He had no social life

He didn’t have a friend group to belong to

And even when he asked for help he would be silenced by everyone

Bartimaeus’ admirable faith

It seems Bartimaeus has no clue what’s going on but he can hear that today is a different day

He can hear a larger crowd of people than normal

And once he hears that Jesus is coming he starts shouting

There isn’t a break in time between him hearing that Jesus is coming and him shouting

The text shows a very abrupt change in the story

He simply begins shouting as hard as he can asking Jesus to have mercy on him

Of all the people that cried out to Jesus and were healed by Him, it seems that Bartimaeus had the most accurate understanding of who Jesus was

He recognized Jesus’ position - “Son of David”

By calling Jesus “Son of David” he was recognizing Him as the Messiah

This was the great promise that God had given David, that his offspring would sit on his throne forever

Bartimaeus is the only person in the gospels who gives Jesus this title

Bartimaeus had heard everything that Jesus had done and quickly associated that with the Messiah

He recognized Jesus’ heart - “Have mercy”

He knew Jesus had healed others

He knew that Jesus had preached about his purpose to give sight to the blind Luke 4:18-19

Luke 4:18–19 KJV 1900

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

He knew that Jesus not only had the power but also the willingness to heal

He recognized Jesus as Lord - “Lord”

When we compile everything that Bartimaeus says to Jesus we know that he is calling Him “Lord” as something much greater than an earthly lord

He’s recognizing Jesus as Lord and King

He recognized Jesus power - “that I might receive my sight”

He already knew Jesus could heal him

He didn’t ask if He could or if He wanted to or if it wasn’t too much to ask

Jesus demanded faith from Bartimaeus and he expressed it perfectly

He recognized his need of Jesus - “he cried so much the more”

He would allow anyone to stop him from calling out to Jesus

He knew this was his only chance

His faith faced the opposition and criticism from others

He recognized the value in following Jesus - “He left his tunic”

In the book of Mark we learn that Bartimaeus got up, left his spot and left his garment there Mark 10:50

Mark 10:50 KJV 1900

50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.

This was probably his only belonging on this earth

But the Bible tells us he left it behind to follow Jesus

Could you imagine that the very first things that Bartimaeus saw after gaining his sight was Jesus entering Jerusalem, His trial, His crucifixion, His resurrection, etc.?

He joined the group of disciples and followers of Christ

Some think that the reason Mark names him as “Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus” is because the early church knew him

He had become a great part of the church in Jerusalem

This is the faith that Jesus seeks

Bartimaeus not only recognized his need of Jesus but also the value of following Jesus

Whoever doesn’t know Christ is walking in spiritual blindness and needs to be healed with the light of the gospel

The world has been blinded by Satan 2 Corinthians 4:4; Acts 26:18; John 12:40

2 Corinthians 4:4 RVR60

4 en los cuales el dios de este siglo cegó el entendimiento de los incrédulos, para que no les resplandezca la luz del evangelio de la gloria de Cristo, el cual es la imagen de Dios.

Acts 26:18 RVR60

18 para que abras sus ojos, para que se conviertan de las tinieblas a la luz, y de la potestad de Satanás a Dios; para que reciban, por la fe que es en mí, perdón de pecados y herencia entre los santificados.

John 12:40 RVR60

40 Cegó los ojos de ellos, y endureció su corazón; Para que no vean con los ojos, y entiendan con el corazón, Y se conviertan, y yo los sane.

But Jesus is the one who can open your eyes to see life in all it’s wonderful colors

He isn’t looking to restrict your life but to free you of your spiritual blindness and give you a new life

You don’t need to live on the side of the road begging and trying to just make it through life

He can give you purpose, a new life and life more abundantly

2. A Compassionate Answer v. 49

Anyone reading the story is expecting Jesus to heal him

The excitement is in the air

And Jesus never disappoints

With all His plans and reasons to continue straight to Jerusalem, Jesus stops

Immediate attention

Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament Chapter 18

Jesus always stops when a needy heart is calling to Him. - Warren Wiersbe

Of all the people that “deserved” to be seen by Jesus, Bartimaeus should be the last

But in Jesus’ kingdom values, Bartimaeus is first

While everyone else wants to hush Bartimaeus, Jesus wants to hear him

Jesus elicits faith from Bartimaeus

Up until this moment Bartimaeus had only asked for mercy

But Jesus asks him to be specific “What kind of mercy do you want?”

And Bartimaeus responds in faith

It’s interesting that Jesus, the son of David, the King of kings, the Messiah would humble himself before a blind man to serve him and ask him what he wants

Immediate healing

In some cases Jesus touches people to heal them

In other cases Jesus speaks to heal people

There are many different ways that Jesus healed people

But in this case we see that Jesus touched him and spoke to him according to Matthew, Mark and Luke

We don’t see angels descending

We don’t hear a loud thunder

He very simply healed him and saved him

Immediate salvation

Jesus not only healed him but he saved him

By responding in faith Jesus not only brightened his eyes but he brightened his spirit as well

Jesus promises to save all who believe in Him

Believe in Who He is - God

Believe in what He did - Died and rose from the dead

Believe in what He says - I’m the only way John 14:6

John 14:6 RVR60

6 Jesús le dijo: Yo soy el camino, y la verdad, y la vida; nadie viene al Padre, sino por mí.

The Bible teaches us that whosoever calls out to Him will be saved Romans 10:13; Psalms 18:6; 145:19; 6:9

Romans 10:13 RVR60

13 porque todo aquel que invocare el nombre del Señor, será salvo.

Psalm 18:6 RVR60

6 En mi angustia invoqué a Jehová, Y clamé a mi Dios. El oyó mi voz desde su templo, Y mi clamor llegó delante de él, a sus oídos.

Psalm 145:19 RVR60

19 Cumplirá el deseo de los que le temen; Oirá asimismo el clamor de ellos, y los salvará.

Psalm 6:9 RVR60

9 Jehová ha oído mi ruego; Ha recibido Jehová mi oración.

3. A Life Of Thankfulness v. 43

Bartimaeus’ testimony should be our example

He immediately lives a life dedicated to Jesus

He follows Him, worships Him and glorifies God

His life is a testimony to the world of a changed life

Other people glorify God thanks to Bartimaeus’ life

The first thing that Bartimaeus’ eyes saw was Jesus

They saw him go through His pain, abandonment, death and resurrection

What great things were seen by Bartimaeus’ eyes

I doubt he ever said “I wish I could go back to begging on the side of that road”

Instead he lived a life of thankfulness and service to Jesus

How in the world could he go back to where he used to be?

How could he forget what Jesus did for him?

Do you remember where your life was before Jesus passed by your way?

Do you remember your horrible condition without Christ?

Do you remember the darkness and confusion that you lived in?

Do you remember how He got you out of there and gave you a new life and a new purpose?

Then live a life that points to what Christ has done in your life

Present your body as a living sacrifice Romans 12:1

Romans 12:1 KJV 1900

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

If you aren’t saved, today is the day of salvation 2 Corinthians 6:2

2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV 1900

2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)