Luke 18:31-43
Notes
Transcript
How do you know that what you think you can see is what is really there?
Remember this dress? Sparked a massive debate - is it blue and black, or white and gold?
It’s an optical illusion, based on how the brain interprets how the dress is being lit. If your brain thinks it’s in shadow, you see the dress as white and gold. But if your brain thinks it’s being lit by bright light, you see it as blue and black.
But, of course, back in 2015 when this went viral, everyone was adamant that what they saw was the correct colour. Because we all want to believe our own eyes.
Things like this dress show us that there are times when what we perceive to be true might actually turn out to be false. And likewise, the things that we have always assumed were untrue can in fact be the truth.
That’s whether you’re a Christian or not, sure of your faith or unsure. There will always be blind spots to our understanding, our current perception of things.
All of the gospels feature people who are physically blind. And the gospel writers frequently use their stories alongside other occasions when people just don’t see Jesus for who he really is, why he came, and what he calls us to.
We’ve got one of those occasions before us this morning.
As we look at this together, be asking yourself - have I really got who Jesus is? Do I really get why he lived and died? And do I really understand what Jesus is asking of me?
In other words, am I blind to the truth about Jesus?
The passage provides some helpful tips for dealing with the question of blindness - it shows us that we should always acknowledge our ignorance, we should definitely ask questions (and seek answers), and when we asking questions about Jesus, we should pray for help.
ASSUME IGNORANCE
ASSUME IGNORANCE
At the very least, always leave room for being wrong, for needing to learn more, for having our minds stretched.
The disciples of Jesus definitely needed to understand more about the One they had been following up to this point.
We learn in v35 that they are approaching Jericho. This is a mere 17 miles from Jerusalem. They are very close to their destination, they’ve been travelling in this direction for some time.
For the third and final time, Jesus now makes it absolutely clear what is going to happen when they arrive in Jerusalem.
Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.’
He’s already told them about this, but as before they don’t get it.
The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
The same happened in 9:45...
But they did not understand what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
Two seemingly contradictory things are happening:
First, the meaning of what Jesus is saying is “hidden from them.” In God’s mysterious wisdom, they are being left in the dark.
Second, they didn’t know what he was talking about, but by this point they should. They are responsible for not getting it.
Maybe they are struggling to understand it, because it was so far removed from their expectation of the Messiah.
Or maybe they simply didn’t want to hear it, maybe they were in denial, like they couldn’t bear to think about Jesus suffering and dying, leaving them.
Maybe the problem was that they thought they knew Jesus, what he had come to do. They had narrow expectations about what was about to happen when they arrived at Jerusalem - that Jesus, as Messiah, was going to overthrow the Romans and restore the kingdom to Israel.
They thought the dress was white and gold, when it was really blue and black!
Even those of us who have known Jesus for decades might have massive blind spots. There might be a lot about Jesus that we have yet to understand, assumptions that need to be challenged about his character, his work, what his plans and purposes are for us, for the church, for the world.
If you don’t yet know Jesus, could it be because you’re not ready to let go of what you think Jesus is all about?
Rico Tice, the co-creator of Christianity Explored, says that if you don’t believe that the message of Jesus is the best news you’ve ever heard, you can be sure that you haven’t understood it.
The first step towards a better understanding of anything, especially Jesus, is to assume that we are ignorant in some way.
Let that drive a thirst to know more and to understand better.
And if we assume ignorance then it opens the way for us to...
ASK QUESTIONS
ASK QUESTIONS
The scene changes now to what seems like another healing of another blind man. By this point in Luke, it’s familiar, almost expected!
But don’t be fooled into thinking you know what’s going on. Look a little deeper, and find the connections.
We’ve just seen that the meaning of Jesus suffering, dying and rising was hidden from the disciples - in a real sense, they were blind to the truth.
And now here comes a man who is physically blind. Luke wants us to notice the similarities!
As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening.
It’s another scene of someone who is desperate. Luke is littered with such people, showing us that Jesus came for the least, the last, the lost.
A blind man begging by the road. Other gospels identify this man as Bartimaeus. With no welfare state, and no one to care for him, Bartimaeus was left to beg to survive.
But I guess sitting at the roadside all day, listening to the crowds talking as they passed by, he likely heard a lot of things.
On this occasion, he could clearly tell that something unusual was happening, that it was no ordinary day.
We know that by this point there is a large crowd travelling with Jesus, which no doubt caused quite a stir.
So, when he could hear all this commotion, he asked “What’s going on? What’s happening? Why are all these people passing by? Why are they so excited?”
He asked questions! He sensed that something important was in front of him but he couldn’t see it. He wanted to know. He needed to find out.
So, he asked.
Sometimes, we might feel awkward about asking questions.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been leading Christianity Explored sessions, I can see someone shifting a bit in their seat, looking like they’ve got a question brewing. When they finally pluck up courage, they’ll start by saying, “This is probably a stupid question but...”
I always want to say, if you’re asking about Jesus, there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
A pastor of mine used to say (Chinese proverb!) - “A person who asks a question is a fool for a moment, but a person who never asks the question is a fool for a lifetime.”
And there’s no better time to asks questions about Jesus than right now.
It’s no secret that churches up and down the country are reporting that more and more people are showing up on Sundays looking to find out about Jesus. Bible sales have rocketed. Podcasts about Christian faith are abounding.
Maybe you’ve heard about that, or you’re friends have started coming to church, you’ve heard a commotion around you, and you’re a bit puzzled by what’s going on.
Now’s the moment to ask, “What’s going on?!”
And to start looking into it for yourself.
Get hold of a Bible (don’t buy one! We’re giving them away!)
Come to Christianity Explored.
Speak to a Christian friend, someone here today.
Ask all the questions you want. Nothing is off limits. You won’t offend us. You won’t upset us. You won’t look stupid.
Jesus is too important to for your questions to be unasked.
And, as you’re asking questions about Jesus, you can try something that might feel radical but it entirely natural...
PRAY FOR HELP
PRAY FOR HELP
That’s what this blind man did.
They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’ He called out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’
As soon as he hears what’s happening, who’s coming past on the road, he immediately starts calling out to Jesus personally.
In fact, it’s more than personal.
He calls Jesus “Son of David.” Now, that is a very loaded phrase, particularly for a man and society that was steeped in Jewish tradition, with the expectation of a Messiah - a chosen King in the line of King David, sent by God to rescue and redeem his people.
This blind man somehow knows about Jesus; maybe he’s heard the people on the road in recent months and years talking about this Jesus who is going around teaching, casting out evil spirits, healing the bodies of the disabled and opening the eyes of the blind.
And maybe as someone who has lived in that world of disability, he’s come to rightly associate the one who heals in this way with the Messiah, the promised King.
And so he calls out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” (like the tax collector in the earlier parable!)
He prays for help!
You’d think the crowd would welcome this. But it seems they’re in too much of a hurry.
Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’
For some reason, they didn’t want this interruption. A bit like the disciples with the children in the previous passage.
Why? In their minds, they were heading to Jerusalem for Passover. It’s like trying to get home in time for Christmas. Maybe they didn’t want to be delayed. This felt like a distraction or even a danger.
For those of us already following Jesus, we might react in a similar way when people come to us with their questions, objections, doubts and so on.
It might feel a bit uncomfortable with more people asking questions. We might feel confronted or attacked, or like we’re out of our depth, unsure of what to say.
Or maybe we’ve grown so used to people not being interested that we doubt the questions are genuine!
Or we get frustrated because even if we feel like we’ve given an answer they still don’t seem ready to believe.
But we’ve got to listen to people’s questions. Their concerns. Their objections. Their assumptions.
We’ve got to really listen, and not dismiss. We’ve got to really answer, and not fob people off with trite responses.
Like this blind man, some people really do want to get to Jesus! We have to help and not hinder them.
Part of that means being ready - to give answers to hard questions from the bible, to spend time with people who are searching.
Because it might just lead to an encounter with Jesus that leads to their salvation.
Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’
Seems like an obvious thing! Insensitive!?
But Jesus is treating him with dignity, honouring his request to be shown mercy, giving him the chance to speak for himself.
And look at what he says:
‘Lord, I want to see,’ he replied.
I want to have my eyes opened, to see what is really there, to see things as they really are.
He was asking for physical sight, but he was given so much more...
Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
With his eyes open, the man not only saw the world around him, but crucially he saw Jesus for who he truly is, and he praises God!
If we be humble enough to assume and accept that we’re ignorant about Jesus, and to ask questions about who he really is, what he came to do, and what it means, and if we can pray as this man did, “Lord, I want to see!” then our eyes can also be opened to behold glorious things.
Things that we’ve been looking at all our lives but never understood; things that have never made sense to us, but become crystal clear with the eyes of faith in Christ.
Jeremy Hansen, Canadian astronaut on recent Artemis 2 mission that orbited the moon:
“Every time I look up at the Moon now, even the one at Space Center Houston, it feels different. It’s no longer just a distant light in the night sky — it’s a place I’ve studied up close with my own eyes. I find myself tracing its features, recognizing the shadows, the craters, the quiet stories written across its surface. The Moon hasn’t changed, but now when I observe it, it comes back to life in my mind with a new and treasured perspective.”
That’s what Jesus can give to us if only we’ll ask him!
Pray for a deeper knowledge of who he is, to go further into understanding and experience his beauty and majesty, sovereignty and glory.
Pray to know his will and for the desire to live in it.
Pray that you might know Jesus for yourself, to believe that he is able and willing to show you mercy because he died in your place and is alive in heaven for you.
Pray to know his forgiveness, his love, his grace, his mercy.
Pray, “Lord, I want to see!” and he will answer your prayer.
