Luke 18, 31, 23.
Who's your hero?
Mine is supposed to be Ryan Giggs, really.
! He is my older brother.
But I wonder who do you want to be like, isn't it?
As long as Ryan Giggs is playing professional sport,
I think there's hope for me.
There's hope for me. I hope he doesn't retire this summer.
But I wonder who you model yourself on.
You can often tell with a preacher.
Very often. Who do they model
themselves on?
Who do you want to be like?
So you school children, you're at an age, aren't you,
where lots of you go to parties.
So you have a princess party.
Or maybe you have a superheroes party.
And some will come as
Spider-Man, some will come as
Superman, or
Spider-Man, or Banana-Man.
Because they want to be heroes.
In the church that I worked in, as an assistant,
there was a child who had a Bible Heroes
birthday party.
And so children came as their Bible Heroes.
It was a wonderful sight. There was little
John the Baptist, in his camel hairs outfit.
There was Gideon with his jawbone.
There was Elijah calling fire down from heaven.
David with his sling.
And one boy came as Daniel with his collection of
thoughts off fairy lines.
I wanted Claire and I to go to Samson.
I would go to Samson and she would come to
the ice about it.
But that probably wouldn't be appropriate.
But nobody,
nobody,
nobody came as the blind bagger.
Nobody came
as the blind bagger.
It would be interesting, wouldn't it,
if I asked you this morning,
who was your Bible hero?
I doubt would you say it was the blind bagger.
He's not the kind of man
we want to be, is he?
But in Luke 18,
as I studied it,
Luke 18 tells us very much
that all of us should want to be the blind bagger.
Now all the usual
suspects
are there in Luke 18,
isn't it?
All sorts of life
is there.
We've seen that, haven't we?
The rich and the poor,
the children
and the old,
the crooked
and the pillars of society.
They're all there.
And as we come
to the end of Luke chapter 18,
the end of the chapter,
which is 35
to 43,
is really the kind of example
par excellence
of what Jesus
has been teaching.
It is a
bog standard day
in the life of Jesus
in Luke 18.
And it's the kind of thing
we expect him to do,
isn't it?
We expect Jesus
to heal a blind man.
For those of us
who know our Bibles,
it's just the thing
that Jesus does.
But maybe,
as we've read this chapter
again and again,
as we've got to know
this story of blind Bartimaeus,
the beauty
and the incredible drama
of what happens
is lost.
So let's just look
at it again.
A blind man
is made to see.
A man speaks.
And by this man,
another man saw.
There's a blind beggar in healing.
He's not there
as much anymore.
But if I went up to him
and spoke to him
and he was made to see,
I guarantee you
that would make the healing
desert,
wouldn't it?
Even on the surface,
this blind man
was made to see
by another person
speaking.
It is mind-boggling.
It is incredible.
The blind being made to see.
And yet,
there's far, far more here.
There's far, far more here
than just this amazing miracle.
It is a passage
which is full of paradox.
It is full of two truths
which seem to contradict
each other.
And yet,
are true.
Two truths which are
opposed to common sense
but nevertheless are true.
So let's look at them.
First of all,
in verses 35 to 7,
we see
a blind man
who could see.
That's the first paradox.
A blind man
who could see.
As he drew near,
Jesus 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.
It's an ordinary day
at the gate.
There's nothing unusual
about it at all.
There's a blind man there.
There's probably actually
several blind men there.
That was the custom of the day.
People who were paralysed,
they had no other way
to make a living.
Blind people would sit
at the gate
and travellers who came
through Jerusalem
or other cities,
they would beg.
Maybe the traveller
would throw them a coin.
It's an ordinary day
at the gate.
But the blind man,
he hears a commotion
and he hears what he knows
must be a crowd
and he asks the normal question.
He asks,
what's going on?
He asks,
what's happening here?
And they say to him,
don't they?
They say to him,
verse 37,
Jesus of Nazareth
is passing by.
The teacher
from Nazareth,
the rabbi
from Nazareth
is coming to town.
And immediately
the blind man cries out,
do you see it?
Verse 38,
Jesus,
son of David.
Jesus,
son of David,
he began to shout.
Jesus,
son of David,
have mercy on me.
But they didn't say that,
did they?
They didn't say,
Jesus,
son of David,
is coming to town.
They said,
Jesus of Nazareth
is coming to town.
Do you notice the difference?
The crowd identified
Jesus geographically.
But the blind man
identifies Jesus
theologically.
He calls him Jesus,
the son of David.
And in fact,
it's a statement of faith.
In fact,
this blind man
is the first person,
apart from the angel,
to use this title of Jesus.
He recognizes who Jesus is.
All of Israel
was looking for the Messiah.
All of Israel
was looking for
the son of David.
The Old Testament
was full of prophecies
and teaching
about the coming king,
the coming Messiah.
They said,
over and over again,
he will be of the lineage
of Israel's greatest king.
He would be of the lineage
of David.
So look,
the most famous one of that,
it's Isaiah chapter 11,
and verse 11.
Let me read it to you.
You can go there if you want.
Isaiah chapter 11,
and verse 11.
You'll know this verse.
11 verse 1.
It says,
There shall come forth
a shoot from the stump
of Jesse,
David's father.
And a branch from his roots
will bear fruit.
Jesse was David's father.
And here was the stump,
the lineage of King David's life.
That was cut off.
The tree of Jesse
is cut down,
and they think it's all over.
But it's not.
No more kings
when Babylon would conquer.
And there'll only be a stump
in the fields
of what it used to be.
But a shoot
is going to come out
of that stump.
It's a beautiful little picture.
And from that shoot,
well, it will grow
into the greatest tree
of all, won't it?
A branch that will bear fruit.
So you have a tree
in a field
that is cut down,
and a stump.
It looks like the tree
is dead and buried.
But from this old stump,
this new root
will come out.
You know Isaiah chapter 9.
Isaiah chapter 9.
We read it
every Christmas time,
don't we?
Isaiah chapter 9.
For unto us
a child is born,
and to us
a son is given,
and the government
will be upon his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace,
and of the increase
of his government
there shall be no end.
Where?
On David's throne.
The crowds
did not say
Son of David,
they said
Jesus of Nazareth.
But this man
shouts in faith,
Jesus,
Son of David,
have mercy.
How did he know
he was the son of David?
How did he know that?
Well because Jesus
was doing exactly
what the prophet
had told him to do.
Let me read to you
from Isaiah again,
Isaiah 35,
and verses 4 and 5
as he spoke of the Messiah.
Say to those
who have an anxious heart,
Be strong,
fear not,
Isaiah says.
Behold,
your God will come
with vengeance.
With the recompense
of God,
he will come and save you.
And then here it is,
verse 5,
Then the eyes
of the blind
shall be opened,
and the ears
of the deaf
and stopped.
Then shall the lame
man leap like a deer,
and the tongue
of the mute
sing for joy.
He will make
the blind see,
he will make
the deaf to hear,
he will make
the lame to run.
That's the work
of the Messiah.
Do you remember
John the Baptist
earlier on
in Luke's Gospel?
And he begins
to have second thoughts,
doesn't he,
about whether
Jesus is the one.
So he sends
his messengers
from prison,
and he says,
Are you the one,
or should we look
for another?
And Jesus sends
back a message,
doesn't he?
He says,
You go and tell
John what you've
seen and heard.
The blind receive
their sight,
the lame walk,
the lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear,
the dead are raised,
and the poor of good
who is preached to them.
The dead are raised.
John the Baptist
would know Isaiah's
prophecy.
And John would smile.
And John would say,
The kingdom has come.
The son of David
has arrived.
So let's go back
to that gate
outside Jericho.
Let's imagine
you're that blind man.
You've been in darkness
probably a whole life.
And you've been hearing
for two years
about a man
from Nazareth
a rabbi.
You've heard about
his teaching.
No one ever
talked like this man.
You've heard that
his name is Jesus,
which is a pretty
common name.
But you know that
his behaviour is
anything but common.
You've heard that
this man,
Jesus of Nazareth,
he's made the blind
to see,
he's made the lame
to walk,
he's raised the dead.
So what are you thinking?
What are you thinking?
You hear he's
coming to town,
you hear he's
nearby,
you think this is
my chance.
And you're thinking
this is the son of David.
Is he the Messiah?
Is this him?
And you see,
he was blind,
wasn't he,
this blind man?
But he could see
far more than the
folks in the crowd.
He could see
better than the Pharisees,
he could see
better than the Sadducees,
he could see that
Jesus was Messiah.
And maybe,
just maybe,
he wouldn't have seen
as much
unless he was blind.
Maybe it is his blindness
that has given him
his sight.
Keller,
Helen Keller,
that is,
said,
better to be blind
and see
than to be able to see
and be blind.
Better to be blind
and see
than to be able to see
and be blind.
And the Pharisees
could see,
couldn't they?
They have seen Jesus,
they have seen Jesus
make the blind see
and the deaf hear.
They had seen him
raise to the dead,
but they didn't see him
as Messiah.
But the blind man did.
He was the Jesus,
son of David.
you're the one.
Lots of jumping around.
Come with me to John chapter 9.
It's the next book
in the Bible along.
John chapter 9,
verse 39.
It's on page 896
in the Church Bibles.
And he says this.
Jesus says,
For judgment I came
into this world
that those who do not see
may see
and those who see
may become blind.
Some of the Pharisees
heard him say these things
and said,
Well, are we also blind?
Jesus said to them,
If you were blind
you would have no guilt.
But now that you've saved
we see,
their guilt remains.
Jesus was saying,
wasn't he,
to them,
You Pharisees
do not see yourselves
as sinners.
You do not see yourself
as being blind.
You think you can see.
You don't see yourself
as being helpless.
And Jesus was saying,
If you understood yourself
as helpless,
as a sinner,
I could save you.
If you understood yourself
as being blind,
I could make you see.
But we don't like that,
do we?
We don't want to be
the blind man.
And Luke,
in his account,
in Luke 18,
is drawing a great contrast.
He is drawing a contrast
between the disciples
and the blind man.
So Scott Reddard,
did you pick that up?
That immediately before,
he's spoken of the son of man
who must suffer,
who must be killed,
who they will spit on,
who they will murder.
But on the third day,
he'll rise again.
But look at Luke 18,
verse 34.
They understood
none of these things.
This same was hidden
from them.
And they did not grasp
what was being understood.
They don't understand it,
they don't get it,
they are blind
to who he is.
And the very next story,
the blind man sees.
And the irony
of the Christian gospel
is this,
we must become blind
before we can see.
We must understand
that we are spiritually blind
before we can see.
It is the great paradox.
You want to see Jesus?
He is all around
for eyes to see.
But we must pray,
O Father,
O God,
open my eyes.
The testimony
of every Christian
was,
is,
I once was blind,
but now I see.
Secondly,
let's see a second paradox.
A man without opportunity
who seized opportunity.
A man without opportunity
who seized opportunity.
Look at verse 39.
And those who were
in front of him
rebuked him,
telling him to be silent.
But he cried out
all the more,
Son of David,
have mercy on me.
Now the life of a blind man
in the first century
was the life of a beggar.
Unless a family had money,
the blindness meant begging.
So this man,
from childhood,
had gone to the gate
because it was the only way
for him to eat.
It was the only way
for him to get anything,
was to get to the gate,
was to get to beg.
There were no benefits.
I have never really begged
for anything, really.
I don't know about you.
I suppose I beg a little bit
for the building project,
but I'm not very successful.
But I've never really had to beg.
I don't want charity.
This was a hard life, wasn't it?
It was a shameful life
for the beggar.
A humiliating life.
Begging at the gate
as people entered the city.
He would be there
for the rest of his life.
This man had no future,
no life beyond begging.
But suddenly there's an opportunity
and what an opportunity it is.
There were a lot of Presbyterians
in the crowd that day,
weren't there?
Verse 39.
Can you see them?
He begins to shout,
Jesus, son of David,
have mercy on me.
Son of David,
have mercy on me.
That's how loud he shouts.
And the Presbyterians
said,
well, be quiet.
Shh, shh, shh, shh.
They said,
you're making such a commotion,
aren't you?
But they weren't blind.
And they weren't beggars.
I'm blind,
and I want to see.
So I'll choke as loud as I can.
See, the blind man understands
Isaiah 55, doesn't he?
Seek the Lord while he may be found
and call on him while he is near.
Call on him while he is near.
Don't you love this man?
I love his determination.
Blind beggars do not think,
I'm upsetting the decorum here.
Maybe he'll pass by again tomorrow
when there'll be less of a crowd
and maybe I can talk to him then.
No, the blind beggar says,
he is here,
I can't believe it,
I want to see.
So what if he'd not called out?
In verse 31,
taking the 12,
he says to them,
see we are going to Jerusalem.
He's not going to come to Jericho again.
He's approaching Jericho.
The blind man had an opportunity
through the visit of Jesus to Jericho
which he would never have again.
What is interesting is,
the blind man didn't know that at the time.
So, context is king, isn't it?
Luke 18, the context makes the point.
So remember we said all of life is here,
the rich and the poor,
the young and the old,
the sophisticated and the down and out,
the religious and the criminal.
Luke 18 has two cries in it, doesn't it?
Do you see that?
It has the cry of the widow
at the start of the chapter
and it has the cry of blind Bartimaeus
at the end of the chapter.
And they function as two bookmarks.
And the subject of the chapter
is found in the question,
verse 26.
It's the subject of the chapter.
Who then can be saved?
And what Luke demonstrates in Luke 18
is that God is willing to receive
absolutely anybody.
That God is no respecter of persons.
He will save anybody.
He will save the widow
who couldn't get anyone to listen to her.
He will save the tax collector
who was sure no one would listen to him.
He will save the children
who were kept away
so weak that they can't even
come on their own two legs
that they've got to be carried.
And he will save a blind beggar
who no one wants to listen to.
And then by contrast,
you've got the rich young ruler.
Good education,
cracking prospects
and a gorgeous girlfriend.
And he expects to be commended.
But he's not accepted.
And there's also the tax collectors there.
He's a good man.
I'm not sure I'm as religious as he is.
He gives.
He's faithful.
He's religious.
He's reliable.
He's self-disciplined.
And yet he's not helpless.
And so both him
and the rich young ruler,
they stick out like sore thumbs
because they're not accepted
in Luke 18.
And the end of the chapter
is if to sum it all up,
if you didn't get it before,
let me make it as obvious
as I possibly can
that he is a blind beggar.
He's a blind beggar
who's got no importance.
He is a nobody.
He is the very definition
of helplessness.
And God has mercy on him.
Now that's a familiar truth,
isn't it?
God is merciful.
He welcomes all.
Don't we love that message?
That is what people expect of God.
That's his business, isn't it?
But even that great truth
can be misconstrued.
So you might have heard it said,
haven't you,
that God is always waiting for us
to turn to us.
To turn for us
when we will turn to him.
He is always waiting for us.
He will turn to us whenever.
And there is an element of truth
to that.
But do not presume
to come to God like that.
Don't think that God
is in your pocket.
And that you can turn to him
whenever it seeks you
and he will be merciful to you.
When I was growing up
as a child,
he's watching Minder.
Minder with Arthur Daly
and George Cullen.
It's good.
Dennis Waterman.
And my thought of London
is whenever you stepped
on the road
and you shouted,
taxi,
a black cab would pull up.
But then you move to London
and immediately you want a taxi.
You can never find one,
isn't it?
But God is not like
the taxi driver in Minder.
That whenever you stand up
on the road
and you shout,
God,
well actually he'll just
roll up to you whenever.
He is not waiting
just for you to flag him down.
That idea is grotesque.
Hebrews 12,
17 to 18
tells the story
of the covenant child Esau.
And Esau was a man of impulse
who wanted everything right now
and he sold his birthright
for a meal.
And then it says this,
for you know that afterward
when he desired
to inherit the blessing
he was rejected.
He found no chance
to repent
even though he sought it
with tears.
He desired a blessing
but he found no chance
to repent
even though he sought it
with tears.
Bartimaeus,
at the end of this chapter
is a great warning
to you
and to me.
There's great truth here,
isn't there?
Glorious truth
that God accepts
anybody who is helpless
but don't miss
your opportunity.
Seek the Lord
while he may be found.
And so this blind man,
Jesus may not have
passed by again.
Blind folks
do not ignore
opportunities for sea.
Beggars do not ignore
opportunities for riches.
So when he comes near,
call on him.
So let's think about
for a moment,
when does Jesus
come near to you?
When does Jesus
come near to you?
Well the Bible's answer
is this,
that he comes near to you
in the preaching
of his word.
In Ephesians 4,
21,
if I could remove
a word from the New Testament,
it would be in this verse.
Because I think
the translators
really don't help us.
In Ephesians 4,
verse 21,
and I want to remove
the word about,
let me read it to you.
Assuming,
he's talking about
the preaching
that the Ephesians
heard.
And he's saying
he heard the gospel
and this is what it says,
verse 21,
assuming that you have
heard about him.
But the word about
is not literally there.
It's not there.
It says this,
literally,
assuming that you
heard him
and were taught
him.
That is what it
literally is.
But Jesus never
went to Ephesus.
Jesus never
preached in Ephesus.
So how did
the church in Ephesus
hear him?
Paul says this,
because you heard
the preaching
of the word,
you actually
heard Jesus.
It's phenomenally
bold,
isn't it?
And that is what
preaching is.
It is not the
word of man,
it is the
word of God.
So let me read
to you,
the Shorter
Catechism really
understands that.
It says this,
the Spirit of God
makes the reading,
but especially
the preaching
of the word,
an effectual,
effective means
of convincing
and converting
sinners,
and of building
them up in
holiness and
comfort through
faith and
salvation.
What it's
saying to you
is this,
you hear the
preaching of
Jesus,
you hear Jesus.
And so you
meet Jesus in
the preaching
of the word
this morning.
Over and
over again,
God said to
Israel,
this is the
day of your
visitation.
When will
be the day
that Jesus
will visit you
for the last
time?
When will
God say,
the day of
my visitation
is over?
We have a
modern Jesus,
don't we?
Which he never
says that sort
of thing.
But the real
Jesus does.
You cannot
become a
Christian when
you like.
The opportunity
is not always
open.
John Chapman,
the Australian
evangelist,
tells this great
story of talking
with a man,
and it's a young
guy who's in
church.
And the young
guy says,
I don't want
to become a
Christian,
but I'll
become a
Christian when
I'm older.
I'll become a
Christian,
I want to live
my life up,
and then I'll
become a
Christian at
the end of
my life.
And Chapman
says,
so you think
you can become
a Christian
then?
The man
says,
yeah.
So why
don't you
become a
Christian?
The man
says,
I'll become
a Christian
when I
want.
And John
says,
well,
why don't
you become
a Christian
now?
Could you
do it
now?
And the
young man
says,
yeah,
I could
do it
now,
if I
wanted to.
I could
do it
now.
So Chapman
says,
well,
go on,
give it a
try,
why don't
do it
now?
Do it
now.
The man
gets a bit
iris and
he says,
I don't
want to.
I don't
want to.
Chapman
says,
come on,
do it.
If you
can make
yourself a
Christian
now,
do it
now.
And the
man
shouts,
I don't
want to.
And Chapman
says,
what makes
you think
you'll want
to at the
end of
your life?
The truth
is,
you cannot
become a
Christian
whenever you
want to.
You can't.
The
opportunity is
not always
open.
The truth
is,
isn't it,
Luke 18,
the blind man
could have
remained
sightless,
he could have
remained blind
for the rest
of his life.
But he
said,
that is the
Messiah.
Now is the
day of
opportunity,
today is the
day of
salvation.
Jesus,
son of
David,
have mercy.
mercy.
Thirdly,
a beggar
who is
undeserving.
A beggar
who is
undeserving.
Look at
verse 38.
Look at
verse 38.
They told
him,
Jesus
and
Nazareth
is
passing
by.
And he
cried out,
Jesus,
son of
David,
have mercy
on me.
See,
the people
who think
that they
can see
and are
rich,
do not
cry out
for mercy.
They think
they don't
need mercy.
However,
we must
be careful
to realise
that being
spiritually blind
and spiritually
destitute
does not
make us
deserving.
Do you see
what the
blind man
cries out for?
He cries out
for mercy.
mercy.
He realises
I'm not
entitled
to the
Lord
Jesus.
I'm not
entitled
to healing
just because
I'm blind.
He did
not cry
out to
Jesus,
I am
blind.
Didn't cry
that out.
He didn't
say,
Jesus,
I am
disabled.
I deserve
your attention.
He cried out,
have mercy
on me.
I am not
entitled
and neither
are you.
And we
don't gain
the cross.
We don't
gain the cross
simply by saying
we're sinners.
There are plenty
of people who
know they're
sinners,
don't they,
but they don't
cry out for
mercy.
And we
have developed
a society
where
entitlement
is a big
thing,
isn't it?
I am
poor,
I am
needy,
society
owes me
something.
And actually
we carry
that over
to God
we think
God cares
for us
simply because
we're poor
and needy.
You know
what,
a wealthy
man does
not need
God any
less than
a poor
man does.
And a
poor man
does not
need God
any less
than a
wealthy
man does.
Everyone
must plead
for mercy.
A mother
once approached
Napoleon
and she
was asking
for pardon
for her
son.
Her son
was guilty
of treason.
And
Napoleon
replied to
her and
he said
your son
has committed
treason and
he has
committed to
twice and
justice demands
death.
She said
I do not
ask for
justice,
I ask for
mercy.
And Napoleon
said your son
does not
deserve mercy.
And she
said,
sir,
it would not
be mercy if
he deserved
it.
And mercy
is all I
ask.
And Napoleon
showed mercy.
I'll ask
him.
This is a
magnificent
him.
Just look at
it in your
sheet.
It says
this.
Your mercy,
my God,
is the theme
of my song,
the joy of
my heart,
and the
boast of
my tongue.
Your free
grace alone
from the
first to
the last
has won
my affections
and bound
my soul
to that.
your mercy
in Jesus
has freed
me from
hell.
Its
glories
I'll sing
and its
wonders
I'll tell.
This
Jesus,
my friend,
when he
hung on
the tree,
there opened
the channel
of mercy
for me.
Your
mercy is
more than
a match
for my
heart,
which
wonders
to feel
its own
hardness
depart.
In
awe at
your
goodness
I
fall to
the
ground
and
weep
to
the
praise
of
the
mercy
I
found.
The
door
of
your
mercy
stands
open
to
all,
the
poor
and
the
needy
whoever
shall
call.
No
sinner
comes
seeking
mercy
today
is
ever
by
Jesus
sent
empty
away.
Great
father
of
mercy
is
your
goodness
I
own
and
the
covenant
love
of
your
crucified
son.
All
praise
to
the
spirit
whose
whisper
divine
seals
mercy
and
pardon
and
righteousness
mine.
I'm not
finished so
don't think
we're
about to
sing it.
This
man,
he may
have been
blind.
He may
have been
needy but
he did
not cry
out for
entitlement.
He would
sing that
last hymn
with gusto.
A blind
man who
could see,
a man
without
opportunity
who seized
opportunity,
a beggar
who was
undeserving
and lastly
a beggar
who received
more than
he asked.
Look at
verse 40.
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
recover
your sight
your faith
has made
you well
and immediately
he recovered
sight and
followed him
glorifying God
and all
the people
when they
saw it
gave praise
to God.
I don't
know what
you're like
with beggars
but normally
beggars get
much less
than they
ask for
don't they?
So they
ask don't
they
haven't got
money for
the bus
fare home
that's what
beggars
ask for
a pound
they get
50p
this man
asked for
sight
and he
got
fired
he followed
Jesus
Mark
in his
account
tells us
a lot of
details
it tells
us
that this
man's
name
was
Bartimaeus
the son
of Timaeus
Mark
when you read
his account
says the
crowd said
to him
after telling
him to be
quiet
when Jesus
called him
they said
cheer up
old man
really
Jesus wants
to see you
he tells
us that
the man
threw his
cloak
aside
why does
Mark
tell us
all those
details
was he
there
no
Mark
in his
account
he met
Bartimaeus
after the
fact
Bartimaeus
became a
follower of
the Lord
Jesus
Christ
and Mark
knew him
and you
can imagine
Bartimaeus
telling this
story over
and over
again
he sat
down
with Mark
I went
to the
gate
as usual
that day
and I
got more
than I
asked for
I got
sight
and I
got Jesus
true
I asked
for sight
and he
gave me
life
you
couldn't
imagine
so let's
go to
heaven
as we
close
and let's
find
Bartimaeus
and let's
ask
Bartimaeus
the question
what is
the most
important
thing
that
happened
that
day
and the
most important
thing that
happened
that day
was not
that he
received
his sight
was that
he received
Jesus of
Nazareth
let me
point out
to you
two things
as I
close
the nobody
cries for
mercy
verse 41
and Jesus
stops
and calls
through the
crowd
doesn't he
bring him
here
don't you
love that
don't you
love that
nobody
cries for
mercy
the second
person of
the trinity
the creator
of the heavens
and the earth
stops
and says
bring him
here
and don't
doubt that
this morning
don't doubt
that this
morning
that if you
will cry
for mercy
Jesus
in heaven
will stop
say bring
her here
or bring
him here
verse 41
there's this
extraordinary
question
what do you
want me to
do for you
the blind
man has been
saying for
years
give me
something
give me
a few
pence
give me
enough
for a
cup of
coffee
give me
enough
for a
mcdonald's
Jesus
asks you
this morning
what do you
want me
to do
for you
now this
is important
how are we
to understand
the miracle
and Jesus
wants us to
spiritualise the
miracle
let me tell
you why
because in
verses 32
to 34
he's been
telling the
disciples what's
going to
happen to him
but in
34 they
don't
understand
they are
blind
they are
blind
here is a
man that
sees
and gloriously
Jesus is able
to open
blind eyes
this morning
what do you
want him to
do for you
what do you
want him to
do for you
maybe that
you're sitting
here tonight
this morning
and you're
saying I
want Jesus
to leave me
alone
and you know
what tragically
he may do
that
he may do
that
and so I
want to
plead with
you while
it is a
day of
opportunity
that as
Jesus stops
by your
seat this
morning
that you
say to
him
Lord let
me receive
my
sight
call on
the Lord
while he's
near
seek him
while he
may be
found
and call
for mercy
what
do you
want me
to do
for you
Jesus
asks
let's
sing
let's
sing
Thank you.