"Jesus is Passing By"

Church, I have a Word from the Lord this morning. Please open your Bibles to:

Matthew 20:29–34 ESV

And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

You may be seated.

I will preach this morning from the thought: “Jesus is Passing By”

Jesus was passing through Jericho with His disciples on His way to Jerusalem for the final time. This is a week or so prior to His crucifixion. They had started this trip Northern Israel in Galillee, and now they were on the final stretch of this multi-day journey....about a 15 miles or a 6 hour walk up to Jerusalem. Jesus healed many blind people during his earthly ministry....which was miraculous because then, like now, most total blindness is incurable. This particular story is probably familiar to many of you. This same story told in Matthew 20 is also in the gospels in Mark 10 and Luke 18. Each gospel account of this healing has additional details that give us a more comprehensive picture of what happened. This story in Matthew mentions 2 blind beggars, whereas, Mark and Luke mention only one. Mark even gives one blind beggar’s name as Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. Some scholars believes that this man might have been a well known Christian by the time Mark wrote his gospel, and that is why he is mentioned by name. This story tells of his conversion to Christianity. In any case, church do you realize that Jesus is passing by…not only in this story, but right now.

Church, the message of this story is simple..... we need to be ready to act when Jesus is passing by!

In order to better understand this story, let us examine some characters in this narrative in the book of Matthew. We have:

The Crisis Couple

The Consumed Cohort

The Complaining Crowd

The Compassionate Christ

The Crisis Couple

Church, what is a crisis? Usually when we think of the word crisis, we think of a catastrophe, a disaster, an emergency, trouble…or just a mess. While those are words sometimes used for a crisis, its actually the key point in a sequence of events where the trajectory or trend for the future will be better or worse. The situation will not stay neutral or the same. In other words, its the turning point in a situation. The life of these men was going to get better or worse after this encounter with Jesus. They were in a crisis.

The Bible does not tell us how these men came to be blind. We don’t know if they had some kind of birth defect, or if their blindness was caused by disease, an accident or some other reason. Imagine you were blind for a moment. You may even want to close your eyes. You can only depend on your hearing, or smelling, or feeling or tasting to experience the world.

There was no cure for their condition. Even today there is little that can be done for someone that is completely blind, except to train them to live in a world that they will never be able to see. There was no:

American Foundation for the Blind,

no American with Disabilities Act to make accommodations for these blind men,

no seeing eyed dogs for assistance,

no optometrists or opthamologists,

no Department of Human Services,

no Tennessee School for the Blind,

no Signal Center,

no Partnership for Families, Children and Adults,

no Braille language system for them to read,

or any of the other organizations and services we have to support the blind.

These men had absolutely nothing....no help....no support…no hope of ever getting a job. They were outcasts....looked down upon as nothing or even less than nothing, garbage....it was believed that blind people were cursed by God…apparently they were abandoned by their families and they had to beg strangers just to get enough for bare necessities in life. They were in a hopeless, helpless and homeless condition that was a crisis. You know how the homeless or beggars today position themselves at the best intersections where they feel they can get some help. These beggars positioned themselves in the place they thought offered the best chance of getting some support....on the highway from Jericho to Jerusalem during Passover time.

They were desperate. Have you ever been desperate? Is there anyone in here that has been desperate? This is not to shame anyone that has not been vaccinated, but it does paint a picture of desperation. I was watching the news this past week, and there was a Birmingham doctor on tv talking about the people that she was about to intubate. Do you know what intubation is? That’s where they put a tube in your mouth and push it down your throat to your airway....so they can put you on a ventilator to breathe for you. The doctor said that the people she was intubating were dying and they were crying…begging, ”please give me the vaccine!“ She would tell them it was too late for that now. Many would go on to die. She would leave the ICU and talk to their families and hug them. The families would cry and say, “We thought it was a hoax.”

There are many people in the world, maybe some listening to the sermon this morning that think Jesus is a hoax. What do they say, “Religion is a crutch for the weak minded.” Well religion might be, but a relationship with Christ is the only vaccine we have against sin, death and a fiery hell. I pray that you will realize your desperate need for Christ before it is too late. Jesus was passing by. This was their only chance. They would never be in His presence again in this life.

Many of us think we have so much time to do the things we want to do. This was the only time in their life that they were going to encounter Jesus. Jesus was not going to pass that way anymore. He was on His way to Jerusalem, where He will be crucified in a week or so. This was a crisis time for them. The trajectory of their life could go up or continue to go down!

How long does it take someone to walk by…1…2..3…4.....4 seconds?

These men were living in crisis everyday. They were at the bottom of society. Who is at the bottom of society today?…Sometimes people look down on certain groups of people…well, truth be told, sometimes we look down on certain groups of people…you know, we don’t want to be around them or bothered by them, they are damaged goods, they irritate us......the poor, the mentally ill, the sick, the old, the unborn, the Republican, the Democrat, the homosexual, the prositutes, the former prison inmate.... I even heard a testimony of a divorced woman that was basically run out her church because she divorced a man that used her as a punching bag for years. There are other groups, I’m sure. But sometimes, we look down on different groups of people as less than or a nuisance…think about that for a moment, people that Christ died for, we’re looking down on them! Christ believed that they had enough value for Him o be beaten, hung high and stretched wide, and die for!

These blind men heard the crowd of people walking. They heard the people talking. They smelled the dust being kicked up as people walked by in their sandals. In Luke‘s account of this story, they asked what was going on, and the people told them that “Jesus of Nazareth” was passing by. In verse 30 of our text they cried out “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” But wait a minute, they were told that “Jesus of Nazareth” was passing by, but they didn’t call Him that. They called Him “Lord” and “Son of David.” They recognized Jesus as being God and their Master by calling Him “Lord” and recognized Him as being the Christ, the Messiah by calling Him the Messianic title “Son of David.” These blind beggars had no physical sight, but God have given them keen spiritual sight because they recognized who Jesus really was!

They might have remembered that verse from Isaiah 29:18 referring to the Messiah.

Isaiah 29:18 ESV

In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.

This crisis couple had a:

Public cry - they cried out in front of the crowd with their deep need. They were desperate and they did not care who heard their cry. Personal cry - The specifically asked Jesus for mercy on them. “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

Persistent cry - even in the face of opposition, they continued with their cry

This couple in crisis had nothing to offer Jesus, but their problem. But they saw the possibility in Jesus. I can see the wheels turning in their heads, “Jesus is passing by. We have heard what Jesus has done for others, perhaps He will do the same for us....if we humbly ask Him.”

Jesus is passing by.

We’ve talked about “The Crisis Couple”, so now let’s look at the “The Consumed Cohort”.

The Consumed Cohort

What is a cohort? It is a group, a team, Jesus’s followers, the disciples. What is interesting about this passage is that there is no mention of the disciples. I didn’t see that the first several times I read this passage, but I have a question for you church....where are the disciples? This is toward then end of Jesus’s ministry, and they have seen him heal all manner of diseases, including several instances of healing blind people. Here we have 2 blind beggars, crying out for help. The crowd is telling them to shut up, and the disciples are silent. Could it be that they are consumed, preoccupied, engaged, immersed, wrapped up in thinking about this trip to Jerusalem. Jesus talked about being betrayed and dying in Jerusalem. The last time they were there the leaders tried to kill him. Their leader appeared to headed for his death, and I believe their minds were consumed with that thought.

Matthew 17:22–23 ESV

As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed.

Matthew 20:17–19 ESV

And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

I believe no mention of the disciples is made because they are consumed in their thoughts, but in the meanwhile, ministry still needed to be done. In the past, we have many instances of them speaking up when things were happening that they didn’t like or they thought were issues. We don’t hear them complaining like they did when the kids were trying to see Jesus, and they were trying to run them off.

Matthew 19:13–14 ESV

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

or in

Matthew 14:14–15 ESV

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

Some of the disciples had been disciples of John the Baptist prior to Jesus starting His public ministry. They knew that John spoke up about the adulterous relationship of King Herod and was eventually executed. Perhaps all of this was swirling in their minds.

We don’t see them trying to help the men get to Jesus. They had been with Jesus over three years by this point and had seen His awesome, miraculous power work to heal many people. We don’t even hear them asking Jesus to please help these men. In any case, all we hear from the disciples is crickets.....

Silence.

Church, could that happen to us? Could we be preoccupied, immersed, engaged, consumed about the pandemic or a Pastor search? Could there be people in crisis around 1734 E. 3rd St., Chattanooga, TN 37404 that are crying out…and getting silence from us....only hearing crickets? We still have a role to play in this community, regardless of the pandemic, with or without a Senior Pastor. We can’t get so preoccupied, so consumed, that when the hurting people in crisis are crying out, they hear nothing from us.

Jesus is passing by. Jesus is passing by.

So now we’ve talked about “The Crisis Couple” and the “The Consumed Cohort”. Next, we have the “The Complaing Crowd.”

The Complaining Crowd

Jesus had gathered a large crowd. Some of them were wondering if this was the Messiah that was going to liberate them from Rome. Others were making their way to Jerusalem for the Passover. This was one of three pilgrimmages that Jews make yearly to Jerusalem. The other 2 pilgrimmages were for the Festival of Booths and the Feast of Weeks.

Some of them had probably been travelling a few days with their families and now they are on the final strectch to Jerusalem....about another 15 miles.

You know how it is on road trips. Unpredictable weather, children asking, “how much further, and are we there yet, and when can I go to the bathroom?”, sacrifice animals making noises, animals relieving themselves in the road, and so on. Road trips can sometimes be irritating, frustrating, a hassle. Now we have another problem?....

2 homeless, blind beggars on the side of the road screaming. During that time, people believed that if you were blind, you had God’s curse on you. Since you had God’s curse, you were considered worthless. I’ve been called worthless before by a person, and it wasn’t a good feeling. It really upset me. Some of you have been called worthless before…and treated like you were worthless. It’s not a good feeling. These men were treated like that everyday, and now here, when the only possibility for help that will come in their entire lives is passing by....people are telling them to be quiet, shut up!

The crowd seems to be in the way a lot of time for people trying to get to Jesus. Church are we in the way of people trying to see Jesus? Christian, are you in the way of people trying to get to Jesus. Jesus is passing by! Are you a help for people to see Jesus, or are you a hindrance, an obstacle to people trying to see Jesus?

I can think of another example of desperation where the crowd was in the way. There was a woman, she was in a pandemic.....no, not COVID-19. She was in a personal pandemic, quarantined for 12 years because she had an issue of blood. She was ceremonially unclean. Anthing she touched or sat on was ceremonially unclean. She couldn’t go out and interact in public. She couldn’t even hug her family. Spent all of her money going to doctors…they tried to help, but she only got worse. But one day, she heard Jesus was passing by. She went out into the crowd that she was not supposed to be in. I’m sure if anyone recognized her that they would have tried to run her off, but she said if I can just touch the hem of his garment, I can made whole. She did touch it, and she was made whole. Praise God!

In Luke 19, there was another desperate person in Jericho besides the 2 blind men. The crowd was in the way of Zacchaeus seeing Jesus. He was a rich, tax collector. If you think the blind men were treated bad, then let me tell you about the tax collectors. They were lower on the social totem pole than even the blind men. Tax collectors were considered the worst of the worst because they were collecting taxes for Rome. They were greedy, thieving traitors to their own people. But Zacchaeus heard Jesus was passing by too. However, he was short, and he couldn’t see over the crowd…they were in the way again. He couldn’t get to Jesus, so he ran ahead and climbed a tree to see Him. Jesus saw him in the tree, called him down, went to his house, and by the end of the story Zacchaeus was saved. Praise God!

Jesus was passing by, but when the crowd heard the 2 blind beggars, outcasts, screaming for Jesus at the top of their voice....they had had enough. They only saw them as irritating pests, a problem. The crowd thought they had no business crying out to an important man like Jesus. They were filthy, unfit, cursed…and they needed to be quiet.

But verse 31 tells us these blind beggars would not be silenced by the crowd. They cried even louder when the crowd told them to be quiet. They were persistent....they would not be denied!

Listen....The Complaining Crowd…if you let them, can block you from your blessing and they can lead you right into hell. Because we will see in verse 34 and the other Gospel accounts that these men not only got healing for their eyes, but more importantly, they got healing for their souls! There is always a Complaining Crowd....always. But these men were desperate, they weren’t going to let the crowd keep them from a blessing.

Church, Jesus is passing by....when people come here, looking for the only person in all the universe that can help them…Jesus Christ....are we running them off?.... or blocking them?....telling them to be quiet?....

So now we’ve talked about “The Crisis Couple”, the “The Consumed Cohort”, and the “The Complaing Crowd.” Lastly, we have “The Compassionate Christ.”

The Compassionate Christ

What is compassion? Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

The disciples were silent, the crowd did not have time for blind beggars and wanted them to shut up, but Jesus made time for them and was compassionate.

So Jesus saw their pain, He had sympathy and sorrow for their pain, and He wanted to offer a solution to their suffering. The king of the universe, Jesus our creator, the Messiah asked the men what they wanted him to do? Jesus, the Master, became a servant. The greatest in the kingdom stooped down to serve the least. In the verses preceding these verses in chapter 20, we see the mother of James and John asking Jesus to let them sit on His right and left hand when He came into His kingdom. They were worried about position of power like some of us are. The other 10 disciples got upset when they heard this. I’m sure they wanted some position of authority too! But Jesus told them that His kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world. The great people in His kingdom serve, just like He came to serve. So now the disciples, the crowd, the blind men and us today…we all get an example of greatness in Jesus’s kingdom. Jesus is passing by…He is on His way to Jerusalem…to the cross, but He takes the time to serve the needs of these 2 outcasts.... these 2 blind beggars that everyone was telling to shut up....you don’t count!

Jesus was passing by, but He heard these men. Jesus is not like us. He is always compassionate to those come to Him in humility. He wanted to serve them.

The Bible says in:

Matthew 5:3 ESV

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

Poor in spirit are people that are humble.... People that know they are spiritually bankrupt and yielded totally to Christ. We may not hear them. The crowd may tell them to shut up! But Jesus hears them.

The Bible says in:

James 4:6 ESV

But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Jesus is passing by, but His ear is always open to the spiritually poor, the humble. He gives grace and mercy to the humble.

Verse 34 tells us Jesus touched their eyes, they received their sight and they started following Him! Not only were they healed physically, but they were spiritually healed. Lukes Gospel says:

Luke 18:42 ESV

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

The word for “well” is the Greek word “sode'-zo”. That is the word that is used in the New Testatment for salvation. For example in

John 3:17 ESV

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

You can be healed without faith....just look at Jesus raising Lazurus from the dead for an example of that, but you can only be saved by faith. These men were saved, and the first thing they did was follow Jesus and praise God! Luke’s Gospel said that when the other people saw this they praised God too! These men were in crisis, but Jesus met them at this crisis point in their lives…this turning point....and now the trajectory for their life is skyrocketing upward! Like that Miller-Motte technical college commercial that always comes on. You know the one where the lady graduates from Miller Motte, and says.... “I like me now and all I can do is go up, up, up!” Her testimony is that Miller-Motte changed the trajectory in her life. I don’t know anything about Miller-Motte technical college, but I do know something about Jesus. I can testify about Him. If you want the trajectory of your life to change, if you want a more abundant life, if you want your life to go up, up, up, then I’m here to tell you that Jesus is the one that can change your life today! Right now!

Jesus is passing by this morning. For the 2 blind men, it was the very last time He would be passing by. They would never encounter Him again. Is it the last time that He will be passing by for you? I don’t know, but this might be your very last opportunity to call on Him. I don’t know what will happen after we leave this sanctuary. Good gracious, I don’t even know what will happen before we leave this sanctuary. Are you tired of being the outcast, the one everyone else looks down on, the person that people say is worthless, you don’t count, nobody likes you, nobody loves you, you’re a piece of garbage. Jesus will never treat you like that. He loves you. He is the compassionate Christ. He is passing by today.

The Bible says in

2 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV)

For he says,

“In a favorable time I listened to you,

and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Church…friend, now is the day of salvation. Don’t harden your heart. Jesus is passing by today. Humble your heart, and let Him in.

Amen