I want to see. Luke 18:31-43.

Jim Elliot is a name that I'm sure you

probably heard of if you've been a

Believer for a while he was an American

uh missionary who was martyred in

Ecuador in

1956 he famously wrote he is no fool who

gives what he cannot keep to gain what

he cannot lose he is no fool who gives

what he cannot keep to gain what he

cannot lose

last week we saw how the Rich Young

Ruler had it

all he was wealthy young powerful he had

status and everything else and he didn't

want to part with those things with his

wealth he held on to what he couldn't

keep and so he didn't receive what he

couldn't lose

Jesus in order to receive The Treasure

of Jesus we need to empty our hands of

everything that gets in the

way and follow

him but that raised in the disciples

Minds some questions and Peter said in

verse 28 see we have left our homes and

followed you so Jesus reassures them

that whoever has left things for the

sake of the kingdom of God will receive

many times more in this age and in the

age to come in other words what you gain

from following the Lord following Jesus

will always far outweigh whatever you

lose because you've you've had to follow

him to follow Jesus Will

mean there are some sacrifices to

make but what you gain from following

him far outweighs the

all but just as the blessings of uh

following Jesus far outweigh the things

we have to give up so the sacrifice of

Jesus far outweigh any sacrifice that we

might make

too if Peter thinks that leaving home

and family for Jesus is a big deal Jesus

puts this into perspective by sharing

some details on his own imminent

sacrifice and we'll look at that in our

first point blind to the

mission we have a phrase in England

about the penny

dropping um has the penny dropped have

they got it

apparently the phrase was coined in the

1930s in the British publication The

Daily Mirror uh the illusion um was made

to machines that require a penny to

operate and sometimes you put your penny

in and the penny would get stuck and so

you'd need to wait for the penny to drop

you can imagine the person slapping

hitting the machine come on trying to

make that Penny to drop because only

it's only when the penny dropped the

machine would spring

dropped despite him clearly

explaining it to

them so first he reminds them of their

Journey verse 31 they are going up to

Jerusalem now Jerusalem was high up so

however you approached Jerusalem you

were always going up to Jerusalem in

that

sense but perhaps there's an illusion

that is more than just their physical

Ascent you see when people went up to

Jerusalem it was often as part of their

worship is often to celebrate one of the

big festivals and that would involve an

offering and as Jesus himself goes up to

Jerusalem the offering he would

give is himself Jerusalem that's really

helpful isn't it if you you book a

holiday or something um sometimes or

you're visiting a new area sometimes you

you might find there's a what to expect

little section on the website or in the

the literature what to expect what do

you need to know about when you get

there they might say well the beach is a

2 kmet walk or the property has free

wi-fi or um you know this is the

restaurant that you need to go to that

you know there's information about what

to expect when you arrive it's helpful

to know before you get there and Jesus

gives them a what to expect uh when they

get to Jerusalem but his little speech

about that isn't very encouraging at

all speaking in the third person Jesus

shares how he's going to be handed over

to the Gentiles he goes on to say how

he's going to be insulted and humiliated

flogged and killed this is a really Grim

Revelation about what they are to

expect if you knew this was going to be

the reception waiting for you you would

certainly cross Jerusalem off from your

itinery wouldn't you let's give that one

a Miss we'll go on to the next one this

is not a great reception for

anyone but although Jesus knows all this

he still says in verse 31 we are going

up to Jerusalem and everything that is

written about the son of man by the

prophets will be

accomplished and as horrifying as this

prediction

is it's

actually

reassuring uh for us and and for them or

it would be reassuring for them when the

penny finally drops and they understand

what he's doing and why he's going

there why is it reassuring why is it

helpful to know that Jesus knew what to

expect because it shows us that Jesus

wasn't an unwitting victim what happened

to him on the cross it wasn't an

unexpected

surprise it was his

mission this had been

predicted

centuries

beforeand so Psalm 22 speaks about how

he would be forsaken Forsaken and mocked

by his enemies tormented by thirst

pierced through his hands and feet

Isaiah 53 speaks about how he would be

despised and rejected how it be wounded

for our transgressions crushed for our

iniquities and poured out to

death these what to expect

writings have been around for

centuries there was no surprise that

Jesus knew what to

expect but such was his love such was

his compassion for Sinners on on on on

people like you and me that he still

going to go up to

Jerusalem he's still going to do it what

sacrifice what

love I wonder if you've ever

doubted his love for

you then call to mind how Jesus knew

what he was going to and he still went

up up to

Jerusalem for

you what a

savior what Mercy what compassion what

love that's how much he loves you he

went up to

Jerusalem but that's not all at the end

of verse 33 and on the third day he will

rise so he predicts not only his death

he predicts his resurrection as well

Jesus wasn't just hoping somehow it was

all going to be okay he wasn't just

hoping vaguely that that maybe God would

perhaps raise him to life again there's

no if no maybe no you know touch word

like some people do for some strange

reason this is what to expect this is on

the list just as much as his sufferings

and his cross is his resurrection it's

all part and parcel of

it at a later point when it all becomes

clear for the disciples this would bring

much encouragement and actually Peter

could confidently stand up at Pentecost

and preach acts 2:23 he said this man

Acts 2:23

was handed over to you by God's

deliberate plan and forn knowledge he

could say that because he knew Jesus had

predicted this this was done by God's

deliberate plan and forn

knowledge but right now before it had

happened they don't they don't get it

the penny hasn't dropped in fact it's

hidden from them verse 34 makes it clear

how unclear it was to them it just says

it like three times in in different ways

but they understood none of these things

this saying was hidden from them and

they did not grasp what was said you see

he can make it any more clear that they

don't understand it it's like boom boom

boom they don't get

it we're not told

why why it was

hidden perhaps it wasn't the right time

for them to understand these

things usually God doesn't

reveal all the details of what's going

to happen to us in our lives and that's

often a great Mercy to us every day has

got enough worry for itself isn't it we

don't need to be worrying about that and

that and that it's actually a mercy we

don't know often what's just around the

corner but it is encouraging to realize

that although we don't know what's

around the corner we we don't often

don't know what to expect God

does God always knows and all of your

days are in his hands Psalm 31:14

Psalms 31:14–15

to15 but I trust in you Lord I say you

are my God my times are in your

hands that is such an encouragement my

times are in your hands your

life your

death your

Resurrection is all in the hands of the

Lord whatever you're

facing take comfort that all your days

are in his hands and just as Jesus rose

if you're in him so you will rise too he

knows he's got it planned he's made the

promises where Jesus outlines the plan

but for the disciples at that point the

Penny doesn't drop and for now they are

BL blind to his

mission blind to the sacrifice he had to

make they were in the dark as to how the

Messiah would save and as the journey as

he Journeys on he encounters Jesus

encounters a man who although he was

physically

blind he sees enough to believe and

that's our second point a man sorry a

blind man in

need it's just a fantastic device device

you know what I mean it's only when they

start to go wrong that you go oh okay

you know they're quite delicate

intricate there's a lot that can go

wrong with an eye and as you start to

get older you suddenly realize this

precise little um sort of contraption in

your head is is is is actually not

performing quite as well as it was when

it was younger and you know suddenly if

you're like me you start taking your

glasses off to read things up close

don't you or you know and then you need

two glasses and then you need very fol

it's like who but whatever sight you've

got left you know that's precious isn't

it it's such a blessing sight is a real

blessing and as Jesus uh comes into the

vicinity of Jericho he meets a man

without the blessing of sight this man

is sitting by the roadside begging

Mark's account of this tells us it was

bartmus we don't know if he'd been blind

from birth

or whether he' suffered some sort of

injury or disease of of some sort um

blindness apparently was quite common

much more common in those days than it

was in in these days but for this man

however he got his blindness normal life

can't be carried

out he can't have worse back then there

was a

stigma uh about attached to uh blindness

so illustrated by the deciples in John

John 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 you don't need to turn to it

I'm sure you're familiar with it but

when they saw another blind man they

said to Jesus who sinned was it this man

or was it his parents there was just the

Assumption there's a blind man of course

it's it's punishment for sin that that's

why he's blind that was the thinking of

the day and so this this BTO M this

blind man not only is he got all the

inconvenience and that the sorrow of

being blind there's this attached to him

people are looking down on him judging

him you're a blind man that must be

because of your sin or someone in your

family sin so they looked down on him

they judged him his situation is pretty

Grim isn't it it's unlikely that he's

going to be able to marry or have his

own family he can't earn money he's

treated as a second class Citizen and

perhaps he's even starting to believe

what other people say about him you know

may maybe I did do this maybe I did do

something I brought this on myself maybe

God is punishing me for for some sin

that I've

committed he's got no real hope no

future no potential perhaps he might

think he didn't have any worth as well

he's he's isolated from people he's

isolated from

God his self-esteem is going to be Rock

Bottom isn't it it feels worthless no

one cares he's just hanging on to life

well his eyes might not be working but

his ears are he hears the approaching

commotion this is well beyond the normal

hustle and bustle of the streets

something big is going

on you know as individuals or as a

church how much Buzz is there in our

lives because we know

Jesus you know how much excitement do we

go do people know

wouldn't it be good if people looked at

us as individuals and asked as a church

and wondered what is all the excitement

about why do they do it why do they go

to church why do they sing what what is

it about these

Christians wouldn't it be good if people

looked at us and say they've got

something and I want that

too there should be something about

Christians that despite our

britishness people can still recognize

they have got something worth

celebrating they've got something worth

having so back to bartus he's inquiring

what's going on there's a big noise

there's a big fuss there's a big buzz

going on because Jesus is coming to

town and he say what what's going on and

they say in verse 37 Jesus of Nazareth

is passing

by Nazareth was a a small village

probably between 300 or 500 people it

was somewhat detached from mainstream

Israel and uh it it looked it was it was

just sort of sort of place you look down

on maybe some people sort of look down

on trobridge and go I've heard it no I'm

not going to say that but um some people

don't speak about trobridge in very nice

terms maybe that's similar to Nazareth I

don't know but strict Jews would look

down you if you came from Nazareth so

much so that Bartholomew otherwise known

as Nathaniel heard about Jesus when he

heard about Jesus he said Nazareth can

anything good come from

there now on this occasion when they see

Jesus of Nazareth is passing by it

doesn't seem like it's an insult of a

slur it's just a way to identify him

that's that's who he was to them this is

Jesus of Nazareth that's where he comes

from so they they talk about him in that

way but look at how bartmus addresses

Jesus not as they do he doesn't call out

Jesus of Nazareth has have mercy on me

verse 38 can you see he it's different

he says Jesus Son of

David he's different isn't it you see

btoa sees clearer who Jesus is than all

these people who can see

physically son of David with a was a

Messianic title 2 Samuel 7 tells us that

it's going to be one of David's sons who

Reigns on the Throne

forever uh Psalm 89 Isaiah 9 Jeremiah 23

Ezekiel uh 34 Amos 9:11 shows us that

Amos 9:11

the Messiah was going to be the son of

David that's why Matthew at the

beginning of his Gospel Matthew chapter

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

1 vers1 clearly lays out the fact Jesus

is the son of David he is the one he is

the promised one he's the

Messiah BAS recognizes that Jesus is the

son of

David not just a Rabbi from Nazareth but

the

Messiah so having understood something

about Jesus about who he is and no doubt

having heard other people's testimonies

about the sort of things Jesus was doing

he cries out for

Mercy now this is fascinating back trap

with me to at verse 13 that's similar to

what the tax collector prayed God be

merciful to me a

sinner and God granted that tax

collector mercy so does bartmus does he

get

Mercy not right away he gets told to

shut up doesn't he verse 39 those who

were in front rebuked him telling him to

be

silent again it's interesting because if

you cast your eyes back to the end of

verse 15 where the par parents were

bringing their their children their

babies to Jesus to to to be blessed the

same thing happens the disciples rebuke

the parents don't bring them Jesus is

far too important he hasn't got time to

be dealing with these these children

children of class as second class

citizens but then Jesus stops and he

invites them no let the little children

little children come to me come

on and it's the same here this guy he

he's not put off he shouts even louder

son of David have mercy on

me Jesus stops what he's doing and He

commands them bring BTO bring him to me

isn't that isn't that wonderful everyone

else is saying be quiet Jesus is you

know interested in you and Jesus stops

everything and said no no bring him to

me Jesus

embodies the mercy the compassion the

kindness of

God when we cry out to Mercy God

hears Jesus

stops it's almost like there was this

big Royal procession going and then and

Jesus is there he's the center of it all

the bars everything going on and he

stops he issues this command bring him

now if Jesus is concerned for little

children if Jesus is concerned for tax

collectors if Jesus is concerned for the

the blind all these people that are in

the second class citizen category who

are perhaps Sinners and not very

important do you know what that says to

me that says to me no matter who you

are God is interested in you Jesus is

interested in you you might be unknown

in this world you might be

unimportant you might think no one knows

you no one sees you no one really cares

but Jesus Does does he sees you he hears

you God hears genuine cries for mercy

and can I just encourage you don't be

put off seeking the Lord

easily it seems to be always the ca case

someone starts to get serious about

their their faith they want to seek the

Lord suddenly everything piles in to try

and get in the way doesn't that um

family gets busy work kicks off Hobbies

Health just everything just gets in the

way and before you know it you've kind

of forgotten the Lord You've stepped

back you you you forgotten what it

was take a leaf out of this Blind Man's

book and carry on calling cry out to the

Lord whatever stage you're at in your

spiritual journey cry out to the Lord

perhaps you have perhaps you've been a

Believer for a long

time but somehow you'll walk with the

Lord has grown weak and

distant can I encourage you don't don't

give up don't just accept well that's

how it is I'm just going to have a weak

faith and just muddle on cry out to the

Lord Lord have mercy on me help me I

want I want to know you I want to love

you I want to follow you Lord do

something in my

life God has promised his people back in

Jeremiah 29:13 you will seek me and find

Jeremiah 29:13

me when you seek me with all your heart

Hebrews 4:16 says let us then approach

Hebrews 4:16

God's throne of grace with confidence so

that we may receive mercy and find Grace

to help us in our time of need don't let

other things get in the way of you

seeking the Lord walking with the Lord

of knowing the

Lord but you know I think this passage

speaks into how we treat people with

disabilities and maybe that the poor

poor and the marginalized people as

well accessibility law I'm sure has been

a pain for many people up and down the

country having to change their buildings

do all sorts of things and it's it's not

always easy it's not always practical

and it can be a pain can't it but

actually I think as a church surely we

should be at the Forefront of making

Jesus accessible to all shouldn't we

it's for the needy for the poor for the

downtrod the marginalized for those in

need that God is ready and willing to

stop everything for did you no Jesus is

on the way to Jerusalem to Die to Save

the World and he stops for this blind

man you might excuse Jesus if he say I'm

sorry I mean I've got a a really

important Mission I've got to do this

but he stops everything crowd whoa wait

we're going to deal with this one guy

it's impressive isn't

it it's too easy to see people with

additional needs or perhaps the elderly

perhaps the terminally ill perhaps The

Unborn as well they're just a a pain

they're a problem there's something to

just we have to sort of tolerate we'll

put them in the corner somewhere and

just hope they go away or something you

know it's hard work isn't it they demand

resource and effort

but Jesus stops everything and commands

this blind man who everyone else just

wants to say shut up be quiet get back

in your box he says no bring him to

me so a reminder we must be careful not

to ignore or silence those who are

marginalized like everyone they need

Jesus too it's interesting that he He

commands barus to be brought to

him I guess the crowded the street was

crowded wasn't it bartus is somewhere

over there um how's he going to make his

way to Jesus how's he going to get there

he he can't

see see this special provision made for

this blind man now some of you go and

get him bring him to me everyone else

had to wait and even help him come to

Jesus as a church it's good to be aware

of whatever particular needs there are

amongst us isn't there some people might

need especially help to be brought to

Jesus but whatever someone's particular

challenges

are if they're spiritually blind they

need to be guided to Jesus don't

they you if someone is on their sort of

path to Jesus there's all sorts of

obstacles and things that get in their

way that they they don't

know they need to be guided they need to

be brought there s all sorts of wrong

directions they go into isn't this what

Jesus commands us to do Matthew 28:19 go

Matthew 28:19

and make disciples go go on go and make

disciples don't just sit there and wait

for them to come to us go and make them

go and get them bring them to

Jesus so as we go about on our daily

lives let's not be deaf to those who

need to be brought to Jesus whatever

their

needs let's not Overlook those who

appear to be less

important because like everyone they

need to be guided towards Jesus for the

downtrodden and the marginalized are

precious to

him so Jesus's command bartmus is taken

to him and let's look at that in our

final point the blind man is given

sight it's been

said there's no such thing as a silly

question

but Jesus's question might at first

appear a little bit

redundant Jesus asked the blind man in

verse

41 what do you want me to do for

you and we might think well this is

fairly obvious isn't it he's blind

anyone can see that it's obvious what

this man is going to

want but actually I don't think it is

quite as obvious as we imagine

imine we think it's obvious because

we've read the gospels we know Jesus we

know the sort of things he

does but we're forgetting this is

miraculous you know this guy might have

just been wanting food or some sort of

money what he's asking for is a miracle

so this is no this is not obvious at

all he's he's asking for a miracle and

that that requires faith

what he's asking for for Jesus to do is

humanly impossible let's not forget that

he's asking for Jesus to do something

humanly impossible and if you remember

last week Jesus said what is impossible

for man to do is possible for God that's

what he's asking for something that only

God or God's power can do

here and Jesus wants everyone to be

clear what is being asked for he wants

this man to publicly give voice to his

faith which does verse 41 uh Lord let me

recover my sight it's good that everyone

can hear clearly what he being asked for

they can understand this is no um just

mistaken thing um Jesus isn't just

forcing this miracle on this man it's

it's an Act of Faith he's asking for it

and Jesus will hear

him vocalizing something is often very

helpful it brings Clarity crystallizes

things doesn't it this is why important

they've

some this is why at times of

baptism It's a Wonderful chance to

testify this is what Jesus has done for

me our story clarifies to everyone this

is how it is I am a sinner Jesus came he

found me he stopped at some point in my

life he reached out and he saved

me if you haven't been baptized can I

can I urge you

don't put it off it's a great

opportunity to testify to What the Lord

Has Done in your life it it might be

terrifying but what a wonderful thing it

is to give voice to your faith in Jesus

and tell others and to be

clear yes Jesus Christ is my Lord and

Savior and I want you to see I want you

to know what he's done for

me the New Testament doesn't know of any

unbaptized believers

except for the criminal on the cross but

given his circumstances will cut some

slack the New Testament pattern is you

believe and you're baptized that's how

it happens it's a demonstration of what

Jesus has done for us that our faith is

in

him it's good to publicly Proclaim our

faith BTO bartus publicly voices his

faith in Jesus and he asks for for a

miracle and it is by faith in Jesus that

we are saved too it's not good enough to

have a a vague

Faith just a faith in some kind of

higher power as if all gods are somehow

the same it's not good enough to have a

faith in

humanity it's not Faith itself that

saves it's who that faith is in there's

a a theologian guy called BB Warfield he

writes it is Christ that saves through

faith the saving power resides

exclusively not in the Act of Faith or

the attitude of Faith or the nature of

Faith but in the object of faith in

Christ

himself let me read that

again it is Christ that saves through

faith the saving power resides

exclusively not in the Act of Faith or

the attitude of Faith or the nature of

Faith but in the object of faith in

Christ himself so it is faith in Christ

that

saves and it's imagine back then it was

a noisy Street lots of people around

he's surrounded by crowds and bartus

expresses his

faith in Jesus who's there in front of

him he hears about Jesus he calls to

Jesus he brought up close and personal

to Jesus and his faith is in Jesus and

he ask him I want I want to get my sight

back that's how you're

saved you hear about Jesus someone

teaches you how to come to Jesus we cry

out to Faith In Jesus for mercy and help

I wonder if that's ever happened to you

I wonder if you've ever had that

personal Encounter of

expressing that faith

in Jesus Lord Save

Me Jesus replies in verse 42 recover

your sight your faith has made you well

your faith has made you well that that

term well it can just mean physically

fit physically healed physically whole

but it can also be used spiritually as

in in a term of for salvation saved you

your faith has saved you this is what

seems to happen happen to Bart in fact

that's why in Mark's account um Mark

seems to supply his name because he's

probably known to the church there and

so in other words this is refused to do

verse 43 he follows

Jesus did you see that he follows Jesus

not just as one of the crowd just

tagging along it says he glorifies

God I wonder what what do you think that

look like for btoa to glorify God what

do you think that inv involved do you

think he was just walking along head

down just I'm glorifying God that's it

is that how we glorified

God do you know I I can't help but

picture maybe I'm wrong but I can't help

but picture B going up and down the

crowd saying did you see what Jesus did

for me did did you see that I was blind

and I couldn't see Jesus came and and he

opened my eyes and now I can see and

yeah we saw we were were in the crowd

okay did you see can can you picture him

going around the crowd just telling

everyone I mean surely that's how he was

glorifying God testifying to what Jesus

has done in his

life surely that's it I want to tell you

what Jesus has done in my life and that

brings us back to the idea of

witnessing to our to those around us for

Jesus it starts it's marks but a start

by our baptism we tell others what Jesus

has done and then we spend the rest of

our lives glorifying God by testifying

Jesus has saved me he's done this for me

he's changed me he's saved me and he's

doing this this is one of the ways we

glorify God by pointing to what Jesus

has done in our lives he's forgiven me

he's given me WIP me clean he's a work

in

me part of glorifying God Is by pointing

to what Jesus has done and is doing in

your life part of glor glorifying God Is

by living in a way that demonstrates

that Jesus is worth

knowing over time perhaps the joy of our

Salvation does

diminish perhaps we lose the

buzz we lose the

excitement perhaps we

dread talking about our faith even with

people close to us let alone people we

don't know so

well perhaps when people look at us they

don't get the impression that we're

actually very excited about Jesus rather

they sense that we're bit embarrassed

about him

really perhaps we need to

pray with King David restore to me the

joy of your

salvation perhaps we need to cry out

once again to the Lord open my eyes AR

fresh to who you are

Jesus perhaps we need to cry for Mercy

revive me revive us give me a fresh

Vision renew me restore me do something

in me Lord because I feel so dry and

dead because don't you want to be one

who is truly excited about

Jesus I'm sure none of us want to be

those sitting here looking at the person

next us and go well how come they seem

so full of the joy of the Lord and I'm

not I want to be full of the joy of the

Lord don't you so let's pray Lord do

something in me don't you want to be the

kind of believer who glorifies God I

do don't you want to be one whom people

can look at and they can't help praise

God because of what he's done in you and

what he's doing in

you Jesus isn't deserving of our silence

or embarrassment if you're a Believer

here it's because Jesus has done

something amazing in your life if you

are a Believer it's because Jesus

stopped by he put everything else on

hold and he had an encounter with you he

heard your cry for Mercy he opened your

spiritual eyes he saved you following

Jesus doesn't mean being ashamed of him

it means sticking close to your savior

it means telling others what he's done

in your life what he's doing in your

life and bringing as many as you can to

meet with

him so that they can know him have an

encounter with him and glorify him

too let's be quiet before the door