Luke 18:35-43 Who is Really Blind
Good morning! Turn with me once again to the Gospel of Luke chapter 18, verses 35-43, and that’s on page 878 in the pew Bibles.
As you are turning there I want to remind you all that we are not just going to be reading a story this morning, not just a fairytale with a moral lesson at the end. We are going to be reading an account of a real person in a real place that had a real encounter with Jesus.
I want to remind you of that fact because the Bible does not exist to serve as just a bunch of allegories or symbolic stories to help us learn to be better people. There are certainly lessons in every verse and sentence and paragraph that we read but unless otherwise explicitly stated these are real records of real events, inspired and preserved by God Himself for our instruction, correction, and training in righteousness.
With that in mind let’s look at Luke’s record of the healing of a blind man outside of Jericho in Luke 18:35-43.
35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 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!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Let’s pray.
Here we have again, which is completely consistent with every other person described in Luke 18, an upside down scenario. There appears here in our text, on the surface at least, one group that appears to have an advantage and one who has a disadvantage, but in reality the two are really switched.
We had at the beginning of the chapter a judge and a widow, though she had no advantages in this life she received justice by her persistence, we had the Pharisee and the tax collector, one a religious leader and teacher that was looked up to by everybody (including himself) and a lousy stinking tax collector, an enemy to his own people but was humble before God and begged God for mercy and received it. We also had the little children that were brought to Jesus and were rebuked by the disciples for bothering Jesus, but Jesus showed that the humble and trusting children had great advantage over even His disciples. We had the rich young ruler, who had every advantage that this world could offer, but when Jesus showed Him what had true value he walked away sad because he wouldn’t let go of his earthly stuff.
Now we are introduced briefly to a blind beggar outside of Jericho and what are our immediate assumptions?
Well, he’s blind, that’s kind of a disadvantage. He’s a beggar, presumably because he is blind and unable to work so he is not a man of means and certainly financially disadvantaged.
His condition was apparently hopeless, poor, blind, wretched. People like him in that culture had little to no value at all, the definition of marginalized.
But then Jesus passed by.
35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
He couldn’t see but he could still hear, and he could still speak, and so he asked, “What’s all the hub bub?”
This is actually the point where we can begin to see that maybe this fellow wasn’t as disadvantaged as it might appear.
37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
There is a lot to learn about this situation from these two verses.
To the people around, the people that had heard about Him, to the superficial crowd He was Jesus of Nazareth. A teacher, a prophet maybe, some say that He can heal people, certainly a celebrity even if they didn’t really know that much about Him.
But what does the blind man do when he was told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by?
He cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
What does that statement tell us? A lot actually!
It tells us that this blind man recognized that Jesus is Messiah. The title Son of David was a Messianic title.
The blind man didn’t cry out, “Teacher, prophet, healer, miracle worker,” he cried out, “Jesus, Messiah!”
And what he cried out to Messiah also shows a keen awareness of his own condition. He cried out, “Have mercy on me!”
He recognized that he was indeed in need of mercy and that Jesus, as Messiah, had the power to give it to him. These are truly great advantages, ones I wish everyone had.
And in response to his cries to Jesus Messiah for mercy he was met with resistance by those who seem on the surface to be the ones with all the advantage.
37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 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!”
Who’s blind now? There’s nothing quite like having the religious advantaged try and shut down the cries for mercy for the poor, wretched, and blind sinner.
I wish that this type of person no longer existed, or at least this attitude. In Revelation 3:17, the Lord instructed John to write to the church in Laodicea, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” This is the rich young ruler all over again.
Thankfully, in this instance, their efforts to silence the blind man in his cries for mercy were unsuccessful.
39 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!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.”
I love that Jesus asked this man what he wanted Him to do for him. Jesus knew full well what this man needed but He still asked. He knows exactly what we all need, but He still wants to hear it from us, He still likes to be asked. Maybe this can teach us the value of mercy and encourage us in our praying.
Jesus can meet our need and meet it fully.
And when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
What a beautiful moment!
This man’s faith was not just a confident hope that he would recover his sight but a true and higher conviction that Jesus is in fact Messiah whom God had promised. His faith was the vehicle of his healing.
Those who were at the front of the crowd, who had never lost their sight, might never understand the mercy of God like this man did because he was blind but now he could see. And what a wonderful first thing to see, to go from only darkness to looking at the Light of the World!
This blind man was keenly aware of his condition, the blind man longed for deliverance, the blind man boldly cried out to Jesus for mercy, the blind man was graciously healed by the Savior, the blind man followed Jesus in worship, and the blind man was a reason for all to praise the Lord. What great advantage this man had!
O, that our hearts may seek Him, that our eyes may see Him, that our feet may follow Him, and our tongues may praise Him!
What a beautiful picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Like the blind man each of us must first recognize and admit our need. So many are still blind to it.
But when we do recognize it we need to do as the blind man did and cry out to Jesus for mercy; and Jesus will come to us and heal us in the way we need most, the healing of our relationship with God the Father by washing away our sin.
So, be like the blind man who truly saw his greatest need, not like those in the front of the crowd who were blind to the needs of others. As Charles Spurgeon said, “Evangelism is just one beggar telling another where to find bread.”
Amen.
