Jesus had just told his disciples to forget it! For it about ever trying to earn one's way to heaven. It is easier to pull a camel, a buffalo, a brontosaurus through the eye of an itty bitty needle than for one to save themselves. Then, Jesus spells out to the disciples in clear words the foundation for salvation. But they could not get it! They could not make heads nor tails of what Jesus was talking about. It would take a blind man to help them to see. And even then, it was only after Good Friday and Easter, they would see what the blind man saw!
The disciples were double confused. First, they were taught by the rabbis salvation was something you earned. That wasn't what the Old Testament taught. The deadly teaching wormed its way into their heads as a result of the Babylonian Captivity. Many Jews who came back to their homeland brought with them this pagan teaching. They did not follow the prophets. Isaiah, Micah, Zechariah, Daniel and others all taught Salvation was coming through the One Who showed up in the Garden after Adam and Eve's fall. Jesus came to them with a promise. In that promise Jesus declared cosmic war against the serpent, the dragon, the devil. In this battle Jesus declared He would crush the head of the serpent and His heel would be bruised (Genesis 3:15).
His heel would be bruised so that He would bring healing to mankind.
Taking the disciples aside Jesus explains to them for the nth time the foundation for salvation. He tells them to pay close attention. He tells them what to expect. He says, "We're on our way to Jerusalem.
Everything written in the Prophets about the Son of Man will soon take place. He will be handed over to the Romans, jeered at, ridiculed, mocked, and spit upon. Then, after giving Him the third degree, they will kill Him. In three days He will rise, alive, Victor!!!""
"Whoosh!" The message of Good Friday and Easter went right over their heads bouncing off their hard hearts. They were too drunk on the pursuit of power to take Jesus at His Word. Just like Eve and Adam.
So they walked. Soon Jesus came to the outskirts of Jericho. A blind man was sitting beside the road asking for handouts. It was a good spot to beg and a bad spot to beg. It was good because Jericho was the place where the rich priests and Levites would go to live it up. They had a lot of money because they ripped off the people in the temple, charging exorbitant rates to make sacrifices. Nine thousand of them were on the take. They had done a hideous evil thing in putting a price tag on God's free gift of forgiveness through the coming Messiah.
So the blind man figured maybe a few of these priests might have a heart. At the same time, it was a place where he had to be aware of being robbed, mugged and worse. Yet here this blind man sat begging. Luther at the end of his life had a little piece of paper in his coat pocket with the words on it, "Before God we are all beggars!" In other words, every good gift comes from the Father through the Son (James 1:17).
Although blind, this man had very good ears. He heard the rustle of a crowd coming. He asked someone what was going on. The person said, "Jesus the Nazarene is going by!" The man's heart skipped. This was the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chances (Dan Fogelberg).
Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of God. For the last three years this man heard all kinds of spell binding things about Jesus. He had time to think, pray, and ponder. He was not blinded by power as were the disciples. He was not seduced by gold as were the priests. He heard all kinds of reports about Jesus healing people, helping people, and forgiving people. In his heart the Holy Spirit had called him by the gospel (2 Thess 2:14). He grasped by grace what the disciples not yet digested. This blind man recognized through the eyes of faith that Jesus was a man of mercy, Yea, Thee Man of Mercy!
Instantly this outcast, this beggar, this blind man yelled, "Jesus! Son of David! Mercy! Have Mercy on Me!" David had often been a man of mercy in the Old Testament. He helped out the lame, gave to the poor, took in the outcast. This blind man knew this. He also knew that Jesus was David's Son and David's LORD (Ps 110:1). While David did not have the power to heal, Jesus did. This man heard how Jesus healed other blind men and women, how He walked on water, raised the dead, and taught "Blessed are the merciful!"
Those walking ahead of Jesus told the beggar to "Shut up!" But he only yelled louder and louder. "Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!"
"Lord, have mercy" is one of my favorite petitions in life. We pray it every Sunday in the liturgy. Often as the prayer list in my life gets longer and longer, and seemingly more complex, praying "LORD, have mercy" is my Rock of Ages. Have mercy upon Reece, have mercy upon Nelson, have mercy upon Susan, have mercy upon Rachel, have mercy upon Shari and Monte, have mercy upon Judy, have mercy upon those who have lost loved ones, have mercy upon those facing surgery, have mercy upon our young people.
Jesus full of compassion, lovingkindness, and mercy, stopped. He ordered the man to be brought over. When he had come near, Jesus asked, "What do you want from me?"
He said, "Master, LORD over all things, I want to see again." Jesus said, "Go ahead--see again!" The healing was instant: The man looked up, seeing--and then followed Jesus, glorifying God. Everyone in the street joined in, shouting, praising God."
The Old Testament predicted the coming Messiah would heal the blind (Is 29:18; 35:3-7). He would energize limp hands, restore rubbery knees, and make the barren grasslands flourish.
In the Old Testament, the mercy seat of God was the center of the Ark of the Covenant, that beautifully crafted acacia box with Cherubim angels on each side and an overlay golden top. There God's Presence would rest in mercy, holiness, power, and love. The box was not to be touched, nor peaked into--lest one died. The disciples did not see what the blind man saw, namely, that Jesus was God's mercy in flesh. Moreover, when He would hang on the cross for the sins of the world, this day He would become the ultimate mercy seat of God!
Now the Man of Mercy, Jesus, the God-Man dwells within us (Gal 2:20). With childlike faith we can understand how now we are little arks of the covenant. As recipients of mercy, forgiveness, and Jesus' presence, satisfaction plus arises when we grasp our call to show mercy. Blessed are those who are demonstrate tender mercy from the womb of one's heart, for they will be satisfied with even more mercy (Matt 5:7). We who are all fellow beggars, when we grasp the Gift of mercy and reflect Jesus' presence, realize we are the richest people on the earth!
1. There are two religions in the world: the do and the done! Only Christianity has gospel. Luke 18:31-34 has core gospel. In 7 or less words spell out the gospel.
2. Why were the disciples so confused?
3. Who hung out at Jericho to party hearty? How many?
4. Why was Jesus so angry at so many of the religious priests?
5. Before God we are ___ ________! Martin Luther
6. Although blind, Bartimaeus had good _______.
7. Jesus came to the blind man before He met him by the W_____.
8. The blind man saw Jesus through the eyes of _______.
9. David in the Old Testament saw how Jesus would be his ______ and his _______. Psalm 110:1
10. Why is "LORD have mercy" such a profound powerful prayer?
11. The Old Testament in Isaiah predicted the coming Messiah would have the power and authority to do what?
12. In the Old Testament the mercy seat of God was the _____ of the covenant.
13. In the New Testament the mercy seat was ultimately found on Good Friday upon the _______
14. Although we are beggars, we are rich. We own the whole universe through Jesus (1 Cor 3:21-23) and we sense and sample this richness when in gratitude for the gift of salvation we show ______!
