WE WANT OUR SIGHT

WE WANT OUR SIGHT Matthew 20:29-34 February 4, 2007 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction This morning as we meet here, Jan Claus is ending her two-week mission visit to Jericho. She is going to Jerusalem in order to catch her flight home on Monday. That she is leaving Jericho this morning seems a bit ironic, because our text this morning begins with these words, “As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.” And He is going to Jerusalem, as well! It gives us a sense of identification with that ancient city, doesn’t it? I’m sure it does for Jan. Matthew 20:29-34 – As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, son of David, have mercy on us!” Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. This is a dramatic turn in the drama of the gospel of Matthew. Jesus is making what will be His final trip to the holy city. His notoriety has grown enormously and the people stirred almost to frenzy. They are ready for the Messiah to make his move—to take the throne and overthrow the ruthless rule of Rome and set the religious house of Israel in order. But their ambitions, it would turn out, were misdirected, as they were looking for a political kingdom, not the kind of kingdom Jesus was bringing Nevertheless, it was Jesus’ time to turn toward Jerusalem. What the blind men saw On a ski-slope in Wisconsin, years ago, while I was athletically making my way down the advanced slope, I witnessed something that astounded me. Actually, it wasn’t that athletic—I’m about as comfortable on slippery snow as I am in the water. But, I was responding to a dare to take on the big hill. Charlotte and the girls were already a long way down the slope, and I was inching along from one side to the other, too afraid to go fast because I really didn’t know how to stop. (Truthfully, I did know how to stop—I learned it on my own—you just fall down, and between flailing skis and sheer inertia you eventually come to a stop.) As I was saying, I was athletically advancing down the mountainside, and I heard the sound of voice behind me barking out one-word commands (right, left, speed, mogul). The speakers were coming up quickly behind me, and I needed to get out of their way, so I pulled over to the side and stopped (fell down). I’ll never forget what I saw—blind skiers—about ten of them, each with his own personal “coach” skiing in front of or alongside them. As their seeing coaches directed them, these blind skiers were amazingly not only staying vertical, they were skiing very well and with great form they whisked past me as I lay there in the snow, skis all akimbo. Apparently there are thousands of sightless people who have taken up the sport with the help of their volunteer guides. Amazing! These athletes doing what, with two good eyes, only wish I could do, have literally conquered mountains in spite of their handicap. Sometimes the blind can do, and see, what the rest of us miss. On the way out of town Jesus and His entourage encountered two blind men--we’ll call them Reuben and Bartimaeus--who had positioned themselves to catch the attention not of those leaving town, but those arriving. Their mission was simple: prey on the sympathies and mercy of those passing by and hopefully receive enough donations to sustain them for at least another day. But when they heard that Jesus, itinerant preacher and miracle-worker, was coming by, their agenda changed. They knew they could not settle for just alms from this one—they wanted to see, and they knew Jesus could do it. So they called out to Him. I’ve often wondered, as I’m sure you have, what it is like to be blind. Consider just waking in the morning. Are you confused about whether you are in fact awake? You see no light or clock. It’s just blackness, as it is in sleep. You rise from your bed, but finding your balance is quite different, as is walking or dressing. And where are you clothes? Did you shave well or miss a section making you look slovenly to others. Mirrors don’t help. Did you comb that cowlick into submission or is it still sticking out? Did you use the right toothbrush? Was that milk or orange juice you poured over your cereal? Who moved that chair? What time is it? Do the walls need painting; does the grass need mowing; is it snowing; are the bills paid; is someone watching me? Is anyone coming to be with me today? Does anyone know how lonely this darkness is? Of course they cried out to the Messiah! Of course they yearned to be free from their prison of perennial shadow. And they spoke the faith they saw in their blindness, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” These two saw what sighted people often missed, the true identity of Jesus. He is Lord, and they knew it. This was no reference to a human master, but LORD in capital letters. In a flash of faith they spoke of Jesus as more than hero or healer—He was the God-man, walking on the earth He created. Dialoguing with the Pharisees later that day, Jesus would blend the terms Lord and Son of David (Matthew 22:41-45). He would reveal the true meaning of Psalm 110:1 – The Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. He simply asked them If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can be [merely] his son? Jesus boldly laid claim to His divine nature as well as His messiahship. This that the Pharisees has missed, the blind men saw—and believed. More important than the needs you bring before God, more important than the healing you ask Him for, more important than anything else in your life, is this single thing. You must recognize who Jesus is. He is not just a good man or a great teacher; and He is more than simply a miracle-worker. He is God, come to earth in love to bring forgiveness and new life to lost people. This is God’s gift to each one who will acknowledge Him as Son of God and messiah, His gift to you. In His great love and grace He wants to deliver you from the blindness of your lost condition and bring you into the kingdom of light. What the blind men did Never mind that the seeing people only saw them as a bother in their selfish attempt to keep Jesus for themselves. Don’t push us aside and tell us to be quiet—this is our chance, our only shot at seeing again! He’s got to hear us! Shout it again, louder! “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” Suddenly the crowds are quiet, their feet stop shuffling, the two men sense Jesus turning toward them. Bartimaeus grabs Reuben’s wrist—together they hope. All they can hear now is their own hearts beating faster. A voice—a clear and compelling voice—ends the silence. “What do you want me to do for you?” At first they think, What do we want you to do for us? Can’t you see us at the beggars post, tin cups in hand? Can’t you see our clouded eyes, our canes, our unkemptness? “Bartimaeus, he wants to know what we want him to do for us!” But Reuben’s partner has already begun to answer. “Lord, we want our sight!” He drops his alms cup and struggles to his feet, then pulls Moishe up to his side. Money doesn’t matter now, they need no kindness from strangers now. Only one kindness—one gift—from one man. They strain to hear the critical answer from Jesus. Will he help us? They knew he could. Just speaking the words, “Lord, we want our sight” emboldened their faith. And it was their faith that Jesus was looking for. Of course He knew what they wanted. Why, every person in the crowd knew that! He asked the question, pushed the envelope, to coax from them their faith, to provoke them to believe. And that is what the blind men did—they believed. God is in the habit of painting us into corners and bringing us to the brink so that we will finally experience, express and act on our faith. What has happened to you that, in the skillful hands of God has brought you to faith? Has He intensified your feelings of guilt? Thank God for that, because it urges you to repentance and life. Has He engineered circumstances of pain and sorrow to bring your attention to Him? Has He graciously brought you to the end of your rope? In mercy, has He caused you somehow to look honestly at your own depravity and sin? Thank God—He’s bringing you to faith. The blind men saw Jesus for who His is—Lord and Savior. The blind men also believed and expressed their faith in Jesus. Now… What the blind men received Reuben and Bartimaeus stood there, having told the Lord what they wanted—their sight. Their faith and request spoken, they stand frozen in the silence of the crowd, and in the darkness of their own sightlessness, waiting. Then the sound of footsteps moving toward them—one pair of feet—His feet! They knew it! They trembled. Was it fear? Anticipation? Hope? Then they felt warm, confident hands on their cheeks, one the left, the other the right. The hands were at once firm and sensitive. Fingertips rested on their eyes, their hideous, glassy, marbled eyes. Then--piercing heat, penetrating, reconstitution, re-creation, healing. Then they saw. They saw. Light, glorious light; colors—unbelievable beauty; form—shapes they had only recognized by touch before. They were healed! Consider how complete a miracle this was. Jesus didn’t just fix these men’s eyes. He re-made them. He fixed things deep inside them. In his book, An Anthropologist on Mars, neurologist Oliver Sacks tells about Virgil, a man who had been blind from early childhood. When he was 50, Virgil underwent surgery and was given the gift of sight. But as he and Dr. Sacks found out, having the physical capacity for sight is not the same as seeing. Virgil's first experiences with sight were confusing. He was able to make out colors and movements, but arranging them into a coherent picture was more difficult. Over time he learned to identify various objects, but his habits--his behaviors--were still those of a blind man. Matthew reports that immediately they received their sight and followed him. They got up and became a thankful pair of disciples who were willing to follow Him wherever He went. Jesus didn’t just fix their eyes; He gave them a complete sight overhaul. He made their brains able to accommodate and instantly respond to the neural messages their eyes were transmitting. May I assure you this morning, when you respond to him in faith and ask Him to forgive your sins, He will not only forgive you, He will come to live inside you. If only our past sins were forgiven when we come to Christ, we’d last about a minute in the Christian life. But He does a complete work. The Bible tells us that He saves us not only through the washing of regeneration, but also by the renewing of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). When, in faith, you ask Jesus for forgiveness, He gives you a whole new life. Ephesians 1 teaches that In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, but we’re told we were also marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit—a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance… In Christ you are given the whole thing—new, eternal and abundant life. The healing He brings to the human heart is a systemic healing—a complete makeover. You see, you and I need more than having our past slate wiped clean. We need to be made new. Jesus makes you new all over. Paul pictured this in coming up fresh out of the waters of baptism in Romans 6: We were therefore buried with him into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Jesus is not interested in applying religious cosmetics. He calls you to die to your old self, and to rise in Him to a new life. He wants you to be reborn, from head to toe, from deep within. He wants to change your heart. Ezekiel teaches that the plan of God has forever been to give us a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 18:31). He said, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws…I will save you from all your uncleanness. (Ezekiel 36:26-29) Conclusion I once called my friend Randy George who has a heating and air-conditioning business in Belleville to come and fix whatever was wrong with my ailing furnace. He came, looked it over, and told me he couldn’t fix it. He said You need a whole new system. I trust Randy. He’s a straight-shooter. So I gulped at the estimate he gave me and asked him if he had a payment plan. He said, Sure I have a payment plan. Here’s my payment plan: you pay me and I put the furnace in! Jesus is a straight-shooter, too. He said He’s not in the business of superficial touch-ups. Our sinfulness is a systemic problem that requires an overhaul. He promises He’ll take our broken, ruined life and fix it from the inside out, starting with forgiving our sins. And He will come in live inside our hearts through His own Spirit, giving us the “want to” and the power to live for Him. And here’s the best part—the payment plan—He pays for it all. Listen to the Word of God concerning what Jesus has done for you. 1 Peter 2:24-25 – He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wound you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. Do you recognize that your life is out of control? Are you ready to admit that you have offended God, falling short of His perfect plan for your life? Do you confess that you have problems beyond your ability to fix? Then you are ready to cry out to Him like the two blind men did. When He asks you what you want Him to do for you, tell Him, “Lord, Son of David, I want your life in me.” You see, the most important thing for any of us is exercising our faith to receive the healing Jesus offers. There is something worse than blindness, and that is voluntary blindness. To know that Jesus is Lord and to not respond to Him in faith is tragic. St. Augustine said, "…it is of no advantage to be near the light if the eyes are closed." Believe in Him and ask Him and He will come to you. And He does not come with a Band-Aid and Tylenol. He comes to do major surgery. He’ll come not to make you religious; He’ll come to make you new. Are you ready to die and rise to a new life? Are you ready to follow Jesus like Reuben and Bartimaeus? Come to Jesus.     [Back to Top]