A Blind Man Meets a Healer

A Blind Man Meets a Healer

Luke 18:35–43

Stevie Wonder (the singer) and Jack Nicklaus (the golfer) are sitting around the pool talking. Inevitably the conversation turns to golf and Nicklaus is surprised to find out that Stevie Wonder, who is blind, has been playing golf for years.

The golf pro can’t believe it. He wants some details so Stevie Wonder explains how he does it: “My caddy stands out in the middle of the fairway and calls out to me. I listen for the sound of his voice and play the ball towards him. Then when I get to where the ball lands, the caddy moves further down the green, shouts out and I hit the ball again.

Nicklaus is obviously impressed but then asks, “But how do you putt?” The famous singer replies: “Well, I get my caddy to lean down in front of the hole and call to me with his head on the ground and his mouth just over the cup. I just play the ball towards his voice.”

Nicklaus finds all this very amazing and then asks Wonder if they can play a round sometime. Stevie agrees but says that because people don’t take him very seriously he only plays for money ­ and he never plays for less than $10,000 a hole. Nicklaus thinks about it for a minute and then says, “OK, that’s serious money, but I’m up for it. When do we play?”

To which Steve Wonder answers, “You name the night.”

This morning I want to talk about another blind man. Instead of being a professional golfer or a famous musician, this guy was wiped out by life. Because he couldn’t see, he spent his days sitting by the side of the road, just waiting for someone to give him a coin or a piece of bread.

Before we meet this blind man, I want to first set the context for you.

If you have a Bible (and I hope you do), go ahead and open it to Luke chapter 18:35-43.

If you were to read through the Gospel of Luke, you would notice that beginning in chapter 9, there is a major shift in Jesus’ orientation. We’re introduced to a “travel motif” that drives the remainder of the book.

Luke 9:51 ESV

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

We see here that His goal is not only His death, burial and resurrection, but also His ascension. He set His face towards the place where He was going to die as the final sacrifice for sin. And so, He begins His deliberate walk to the Cross.

There are three times in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus told his disciples about His approaching death. And, each time He told them about what was to come, He got more explicit.

Without a doubt, Jesus is on a mission. He’s headed to Jerusalem to do what He was born for. Which brings us to text for this morning.

Let’s pray and then we’ll read our text.

Pray!

Luke 18:35–43 ESV

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Jesus is approaching the city of Jericho, which is about 15 miles from Jerusalem.

Since it is about 800 feet below sea level, Jericho has a climate that is tropical and at times very hot. The town is known as an oasis because of its fresh water spring and is called, “the city of palm trees.”

It was in Jericho that the pilgrims gathered to make the final leg of the journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the annual Passover feast.

As Jesus heads into Jericho, He meets a blind man named Bartimaeus. We know that’s his name from Mark’s account of the story.

As we look at this incredible encounter between Bart and Jesus, there are four different stages that Bart goes through.

His Blindness

The first stage is blindness. We see this in verse 35:

35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.

Blindness was a very common problem in Palestine. Generally, one who was blind was never healed. In the city of Lydda, the saying was that everyone was either blind or had only one eye. In Jaffa, there were 500 blind people out of a population of 5,000.

There was a cultural and religious stigma against blindness. We see this especially in the account of another man who was healed of blindness in John 9.

John 9:2 ESV

And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

And so, there’s a sense that the blind deserved their blindness. Many people thought this disease was a consequence of sin, either by the individual himself, or because of something the parents did. As a result, blind people were often ignored or even criticized.

Because this man was blind, he was relegated to a life of begging. In the Gospel of Mark we learn that this man was wearing an old garment, which was a sign that he was a beggar. He’s just sitting there, waiting for something to happen because there was nothing he could do to improve his condition.

This is really a picture for our spiritual condition, isn’t it?

2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

We are spiritually blind and there is nothing we can do to change that on our own.

Just as Jesus gives sight to those who are physically blind, so too He grants spiritual insight to those who are in moral darkness. This man knew he was blind, and so did everyone else. Are some of you trying to act like you’re not spiritually blind this morning? The first thing you need to do is to admit that you are just as blind in a spiritual sense as this man was in a physical sense.

Now, take a look at verse 36:

36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant.

This man was smart. He knew that there would be a mass of people in Jericho that day preparing to make the journey to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. That’s why he was sitting by the side of the road with his hand out. He couldn’t see what was happening, but he could hear the commotion and excitement. And so he’s curious. He wants to know what was happening.

Maybe he heard about a Healer who was headed to Jerusalem.

Verse 37 gives us the answer to his question,

37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”

His heart probably started to race. Could it be, that the man He had heard of was right here in front of him? It was almost too good to be true.

His Belief

The first stage is Bart’s blindness. The second thing we notice is his belief. Look at what he says in verse 38:

38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

The crowd referred to the earthly heritage of Jesus ­ He was from Nazareth. That just lets us know where He grew up.

That’s like me saying that I’m from Northern Kentucky. It tells you that I like fried chicken and Dixie Chili and normally just tell people that we’re from Cincinnati because we’re not like the rest of state, but it doesn’t tell you everything about me.

Instead of calling on Jesus as the guy from Nazareth, Bart expresses His messianic heritage. He is the Son of David, the one who the Old Testament has been pointing to as the Savior of the World. This blind man can see that Jesus is more than just a man from a small town in the north; He’s the God-man, sent from Heaven to be the Savior of the world.

I wonder if Bart was aware of what the Son of David had accomplished in the lives of other people? Maybe he had heard of Jesus giving sight to other blind people. Maybe he heard what Jesus said in Luke 4:18, when He stood up in the temple and read from the book of Isaiah:

Luke 4:18 ESV

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

When Bart called out for the Son of David to have mercy on him, he was expressing his belief that Jesus was the Messiah, and that He could heal his blindness. He knew who Jesus was and He also knew what Jesus could do for him. Do you know what Jesus can do for you? If He can restore sight to the blind, He can grant you the deepest longing of your heart. We need to cry out for mercy just like Bart did.

Do you know who Jesus is? He’s much more than just a good teacher. He is the promised one, the Messiah, the Savior of the World. If you are just beginning to get to know Him, I encourage you to join us each week as we walk together with Him to the cross. Our journey will culminate on Easter Sunday.

Bart was aware of his blindness, and his belief in Jesus was right on. But, he did more than just believe ­ He acted on what He knew to be true by his boldness.

His Boldness

Bart knew that he needed mercy because there was nothing he could do on his own. And so, he called out to Jesus, the Son of David, for mercy in verse 38. In the first part of verse 39 we see that the crowd of people is bothered by the blind and believing Bart:

39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent…

The people who were leading the way may have been important city officials in Jericho. They wanted Jesus and his followers to see how beautiful their community was. They were probably embarrassed and even irritated when they heard Bart cry out for mercy. They wanted to shut him up and so they told him to knock it off and to be quiet.

It reminds me of what the city of Atlanta did when they hosted the summer Olympics. Before the games began, they removed all the homeless people who lived under an overpass because they didn’t want their city to look bad. These officials from Jericho probably wished they had done the same.

I love the second half of verse 39:

…But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

This guy was really bold and courageous! He chose to not listen to the crowd and shouted out even louder than the first time. He broke all the cultural rules of etiquette. He didn’t want Jesus to get away. This was his chance to receive some mercy and perhaps his sight.

I wonder if you and I have this same kind of boldness and courage when it comes to calling out for divine help. Maybe we don’t because we don’t really understand our condition of blindness. Or maybe we don’t because we don’t believe Jesus can really do anything about it. What about you? Do you think of yourself as more enlightened than you really are?

Or, do you think less of Jesus than you should? If you saw yourself in the dark and in need of mercy, and if you saw Jesus as Bart did, you too would shout out for Jesus to change you.

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Friend, don’t hold back or be afraid to give yourself to Jesus. Come to Him boldly and with confidence. Let Him know what you need. That’s what He’s waiting for ­ and He’ll reward you with mercy and grace to help in your time of need.

As a result of Bart’s boldness, verse 40 says that,

40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him,

Mark 10:50 tells us that Bart threw his cloak aside and jumped to his feet. Can you imagine how the crowd must have felt, especially those who had rebuked Bart? I picture everything getting real quiet. People are looking at Bart and then at Jesus. Jesus orders some guys (maybe the same ones who rebuked Bart) to help him walk through the crowd so that he is face-to-face with the Messiah.

The question Jesus then asks Bart is very interesting. Look at verse 41:

41 “What do you want me to do for you?”

Isn’t it obvious what he needed? It was obvious to everyone there.

Jesus knew but He asked for Bart’s sake and for the crowd of people who had gathered around. He wanted Bart to verbalize what it was that he wanted.

I love Bart’s answer:

He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.”

Literally, he says, “Lord, that I may see again.”

“Lord, I want to see.”

What do you want Jesus to do for you? Have you ever put into words the cry of your heart? Have you ever verbalized your deepest needs? Have you ever shouted out for mercy to have Jesus save you from your sins?

Jesus is waiting for you to show some boldness and to ask Him for what you need. James 4:2 says that we have not because we ask not.

Maybe you and I are not asking God for enough. At the very least, my guess is that some of you have never asked Jesus to demonstrate His mercy to you by saving you from your sins.

This ties in to the last point from the passage. Once we admit our blindness, and place our belief in Jesus as our only Savior and Lord, we can then be bold in our requests. That then leads to the fourth thing that happens: we receive a blessing.

His Blessing

In verse 42, we read,

42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.”

Here’s a spiritual principle that you should never forget: Jesus always responds to faith.

Because Bart believed and put his faith in Jesus, he received his sight back. Jesus is looking for more Barts today, people who will display some faith, no matter how small it is, and cry out for mercy. Jesus loves to answer prayers like that by healing us from the inside out, granting us spiritual insight as he moves us out of Verse 43 tells us that,

43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

When Bart got his sight back, he couldn’t help but break out into praise. He was thrilled!

I read about a man from Spain who had been blind for 40 years and just had an operation on his eyes that was successful. For the first time he was able to see 4 of his 9 children and all 22 of his grandchildren. He was also able to gaze at his wife’s face. He liked everything he saw except for the image in the mirror. Here’s what he said, “I thought I would look better. I look really ugly and old!”

Now we don’t know if Bart had any grandkids or even if he was interested in looking in a mirror, but here’s what happened: Bart received, then followed, and then praised. Those who saw what took place also were led into a time of praise.

Let me put it into different terms to help us see how this applies today: Conversion leads to Discipleship, which leads to Worship, which spills over into Evangelism.

Bart went from darkness to the light, from begging to following, and from crying to praising. His blessing then led to the blessing of others as they were led into worship.

Bart the blind man became Bart the believer. He recognized his blindness, exhibited his belief by crying out with boldness and then received a blessing, which spilled over into others’ lives.

Bart experienced four things:

A change of focus

from darkness to the light - that’s conversion

A change of direction

from sitting to following - that’s discipleship

A change of purpose

from begging to praising - that’s worship

A change of scope

was blessed in order to bless others - that’s evangelism

Friends, God wants us to recognize our blindness and beef up our belief in who Jesus is. He then wants us to exhibit some boldness by asking Him for mercy so that we can receive a blessing that can be passed on to others.

Do you recognize that you’re blind?

Do you recognize that you’re in the dark and trapped in a life full of sin with no way out?

Do you even know you need help?

Do you believe that Jesus can help you?

Do you have faith in who He is and in what He can do for you?

Are you willing to boldly ask Jesus for the help you so desperately need? Are you ready to go against the crowd in order to find what you’ve been searching for?

The blind man seized the moment. Jesus is passing by right now in our lives. This is the moment!

If you don’t take it, you’ll miss something extraordinary and your spiritual blindness will continue. Just as the crowds tried to keep Bart from Jesus, so too the crowds in your life are trying to keep you from Him. Don’t listen to them. Stand up. Be bold. Go against the grain. Cry out for mercy and healing.

Boldly express your belief in Jesus by recognizing your blindness so that you can receive a blessing that will spill over to others.

Jesus is asking you a question this morning: “What do you want me to do for you?”