How to Be Half Blind

Just grab our bibles. Grab our bibles and turn to

Mark chapter eight. And some of you might be like,

is that all the music we're gonna do? Are you

really gonna preach that long this morning? No, we are

actually gonna sing most of our music after the preaching

this morning. If you need a Bible, just raise your hand.

We're passing those out right now, and bulletins for notes

and that sort of thing. We're gonna do most of

our music on the other side of the preaching this

morning for a few reasons. One, we love doing that,

as one of the worship band mentioned this morning, like

it's great to just hit a worship groove after the

preaching and just build on that all the way to

the glory of God and ascribing him glory and then

boom go from there out love that. And also practically

this morning, right now we are fifteen minutes into the

very first worship service at Gracia IV. Dad. Right now,

I know, and so when I finish preaching, I will

depart from you and go over there so that I

can pray at the end of their at the close

of their worship service for them and kind of commission

Pastor Tony there in front of that congregation. That's what

I get to do is soon as this message is concluded,

that you get to stay here and worship your faces off,

which is going to be we both win, right, Okay, yeah,

I think we both win. Turn to Mark chapter eight.

This is a good time for me to remind you

also to fill out a connection card. If you're somewhat

new here or you've been you're here all the time.

We ask everybody to do it every week. Fill out

a connection card. Just scan the QR code on the

bulletin or on the seatback. And also if you are

somewhat new, right after this service, there's a table called

Step one in the lobby, and that's where we can

connect with people, answer questions and kind of welcome you

into the first steps of becoming a part of this

church family. So that's how we do that, and I

invite you to do that after this service. All right,

I'm sure I've forgotten something, but it'll just have to

stay forgotten. Mark Chapter eight, verses twenty two through thirty eight.

Let's read this passage together. And they came to Bethseta,

and some people brought to him a blind man and

begged him to touch him, and he took the blind

man by the hand and led him out of the village.

And when he had spit on his eyes and laid

his hands on him, he looked. He asked him, do

you see anything? And he looked up and said, I

see people, but they look like trees walking. And then

Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he

opened his eyes. His sight was restored, and he saw

everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying,

do not even enter the village. And Jesus went on

with his disciples to the village of Cessory of Philippi,

And on the way he asked his disciples who do

people say that I am? And they told him John

the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and the others one

of the prophets. And he asked them, well, but who

do you say that I am? And Peter answered him,

you are the Christ. And he strictly charged them not

to tell anyone about him, and he began to teach

them that the son of Man must suffer many things,

be rejected did by the elders and the chief priests

and the scribes, and be killed. And after three days

rise again, and he said this plainly. Peter took him

aside and began to rebuke him, But turning and seeing

his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, get behind me, Satan,

for you are not setting your mind on the things

of God, but on the things of man. And calling

the crown to him with his disciples, he said to them,

if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself

and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever

would save his life will lose it. But whoever loses

his life for my sake and the Gospels will save it.

For what does it profit a man to gain the

whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a

man give in return for his soul? For whoever is

ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous

and sinful generation of him, will the son of Man

also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of

his Father with the Holy angels. This is the word

of the Lord. Recently, really cool thing has been happening.

I've heard reports of I've even seen little video clips

of people who've gathered in streets in different places shouting

Christ is King, Christ is King. That's cool on college campuses. Also,

this has happened. Christ is king online. I'm seeing reports

of and I actually see sometimes like all caps in

variety of places christ is king triple exclamation point is awesome?

Is Christ not king? Amen? Yes? He is Christ is king?

And that is something to be gloriously exclamatory about. And

when we hear Christ is king and say Christ is king,

are there ways that that could be a true statement

with half clarity? Half clarity on Christ as king is

exactly what we have in Mark chapter eight. Actually, and

you might say, well, hey, I'll take half clarity on

Christ as King. That's better no clarity, right, you know

I'm setting you up. There's not a nod in this

whole room. Well, that's probably true, that half clarity is

better than no clarity. But as we read this passage,

the stakes the steaks on half clarity seem to be

pretty high. I mean, we got stuff like get behind me,

Satan in here, forfeit his soul, lose his life. So

the stakes on full clarity about who Christ is as

king are pretty high. So what does it mean to

clearly see that Christ is king? That's what we're gonna

look at today. We're gonna look at it sections by section.

We're just gonna walk through this passage section by section.

But for the purposes of our sermon, we'll take it

in three headings, just so that you can follow along.

The first heading is this seeing fuzzy, seeing fuzzy. The

second heading is seeing clearly the first challenge, and then

seeing clearly the second challenge. So seeing fuzzy and then

seeing clearly challenge number one, and seeing clearly challenge number two.

Just starting with seeing fuzzy. I mean, that is literally

what we have here in this strange miracle Christ Verses

twenty two through twenty six. This is what happens. Right.

Christ comes to the village of Basada. There is a

blind man, and he takes him by the hand. He

leads him out of the village, and he performs this

miracle that is weird. He half heals the guy, right,

It's like he doesn't have enough juice to bring him

to full sight. No, of course not. This is Jesus.

He's the King. He can do anything he wants. Jesus

can heal him however he chooses to, and in however

many stages he chooses to, and he chooses to for

some reason, heal him halfway so that he sees fuzzy

at first, makes a p of it, and then heals

him so that he sees clearly, and then says, sh

don't even go in the village. Is that weird? All right?

Come on and work with me here. That's weird. It's weird.

Why in the world would Jesus heal a blind man

so that he sees fuzzy at first and then sees clearly.

It's an illustration. It's an illustration. What is it an

illustration of? It's an illustration of seeing fuzzy? Who Christ

is as king? Because that is Jesus's next move. Right

after that, we get verse twenty seven, and he's like, so,

who do people say that I am? And there are

some people who are completely blind verse twenty eight some

say this, others say this, others say yet this. And

then there's his disciples, represented by Peter as their spokesman.

Who I mean, who wants to have Peter as their spokesman?

Very mixed back? Who do you say that I am?

And Peter says you are the Christ, which means the

anointed one, the king. You're the Christ? And what does

Christ say He strictly charges them to tell no one

keep it on the down low? Why why keep it

on the download Because Peter's half blind. Peter's seeing fuzzy.

How can you say Peter's seeing fuzzy. That is true?

You are the Christ? True? Not true? True, You're the King,

You're the anointed One. And yet Peter is seeing fuzzy,

he's half blind. How do we know this what we

have verse thirty three. Get behind me, Satan. You're thinking

of the things of man, not the things of God.

Jesus rebukes Peter right after this declaration of truth. But

what has Peter seen that he calls him the king,

that he calls him the Christ, the anointed One? What

does Peter have in mind anyway? Well, what Peter has

seen is that Jesus is the king over all needs.

Just look the passage prior to this, Jesus feeds four

thousand people with some loaves and some fishes. He has

just proven he is king over needs anything you need

to provide, anything you need to provided. Jesus is king

over that, and he's king over anything you need fixed

because the passage just before that, Peter witnesses that Jesus

is a healing of death man. You need something fixed.

Jesus is king over anything you need fixed. And not

only that, Jesus is king over evil. Just the story

prior to the death Man is Jesus is casting out

a demon. He is king over all evil forces in

this world, hallelujah. And he is king over evil impulses

and people. Because the story right before that, Jesus is

interacting with the Pharisees. He's like, let me set you

straight on moral instruction this world. Here's how to live.

And Jesus is king over evil, all evil impulses and people.

He's king over needs. He's king over evil. This is

what Peter has seen. And he says, you're the Christ,

sign me up for some Jesus. But he's half blind.

He's seen all of that, he's declaring all of that,

but he's half blind. You see's staying focused only only

as Christ as king over needs all we need provided

Christ is king over all we need fixed. Christ is

king over, king over evil, every evil force in this world.

Christ is king over every evil impulse in people. Christ

is king over and remaining focused on Christ as king

in that way is half blind well, If it is,

then what needs to come in? If staying focused on

Christ as king over needs and Christ is king over

evil in that way, is seeing fuzzy? What needs to

come in for us to see Christ clearly? Well, that's

exactly where Jesus goes next, which we'll talk about as

seeing clearly the first challenge. Seeing clearly the first challenge.

See as soon as Peter says, you are the Christ,

you are the anointed one, you are the king. I've

seen it, You're king over all of this stuff, we

get verse thirty one, and he began to teach them

the son of Man must suffer. He will be rejected,

he will be killed. And he told them this. What

is Verse thirty two says he told him this plainly?

He was making it real clear what it means for

Christ to be king. Peter, I'm gonna make it clear.

I want you to see this clearly. Does Peter see it?

Does Peter see it? Not a trick question? He does not.

In fact, Peter's response is to pull Jesus aside to

straighten him out. I mean, Peter's got nerve. You got

to give him that. Peter has got nerve for Miles.

He's like Jesus clear, I don't think you get it.

Jesus in turn rebukes Peter, saying in verse thirty three,

But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said,

get behind me, Satan, for you're not setting your mind

on the things of God, but on the things of man.

How can you say that, Get behind me, Satan? How

can you say that I don't have in mind the

things of God? How could you say that, Jesus, I'm saying,

your king. I'm saying, your king over all the needs

that we have. I'm saying that you are king over

everything evil in this world. You are king over every

form of moral instruction. You are king. How could you

say I don't have in mind the things of God.

I don't see why your cross needs to be a

part of that plan. The son of man must suffer,

must be rejected, must die, you reign, you don't die.

I don't see a need for your cross. And some

of us are right there. There are some who would say,

I believe in the things of God. I'm all about

God's power, I'm all about God's rules. I'm all about

God's glory. But what you have to realize is the

things of God has the Cross of Christ at the center.

There are some who have simply never seen the need

for the Cross of Christ. But until you see that,

all we like sheep, have gone astray, we have turned

everyone to his own way. Until you realize that you're

not as all about the things of God as you

think you are. In fact, the Bible says that you

are his enemy. You have made yourself his enemy by

your rebellion against him. Until you see that with clarity,

your need for repentance and the atonement that is laying

the iniquity of us all on him, you're half blind.

And if you have never seen the need for Christ's cross,

and you're here this morning, that I know you are

about the things of God. You've gathered here with the

people of God to sing songs about God and hear

from the word of God. But at the very center

of the things of God is the Cross of Christ

for you, for you to be redeemed from sin, rescued

from judgment, because your sin and the judgment of God

do you was placed on Him, and trusting that and

trusting that alone will make you right with him God.

And the call from Christ now is come to me

through my cross. If you truly want to live with

me as king, then you must receive me as lamb

as sacrifice. And many of us here remember when we

saw the need for Christ's cross more clearly. Many of

us here recall the time when we recognized that we

were sinners in desperate need of the grace of God

that could only be provided by the cross of Christ,

by the son of Man suffering, being rejected and dying

for us. And sometimes we lose sight of it. Sometimes

the need for the cross of Christ ends up way

in the rearview mirror, and we begin to think of

ourselves as pretty okay. But remember what Christ said to

Simon the Pharisee when he was in his house with

the woman. He said, the one who has been forgiven

much loves much. If you would, if you would return

to loving God much, it is a return to seeing

that you have been forgiven much. And anyone who has

been forgiven by the cross of Christ, the King that

has been forgiven much. You don't want to lose sight

of that, or we lose sight of love. Because here's

the thing. Seeing Christ is King clearly means truly embracing

his cross clearly seeing Christ as king means truly embracing

his costs. It is of utmost importance. It is an

eternal significance. And we can see that from things like

get behind me. We can see that from First Corinthians,

I determined to know nothing amongst you but Christ and

him crucified. You can't see him clearly or trust him

biblically without embracing his cross. A crossless Christ means a

lost word, a lost world. But remember there's a second challenge. Actually, clearly,

seeing Christ as king means truly embracing his cross. But

also this second thing that I think some people will

consider the maybe the harder challenge. Well, let's look at

it under seeing clearly the second challenge. And here it

is clearly, seeing Christ is King means truly embracing your cross.

This is what Jesus gets into here, what it actually

means to follow him. He says, if anyone would come

after me, let him deny himself and take up his

cross and follow me. So my cross. Look, Jesus, I'm

all about you as king. You are king over needs,

you are king over evil. I have some idea that

a forgiveness through your cross. I'm not sure that I

follow that. The necessary implications is that I have a cross.

So if you're gonna save your life, you have to

lose it. I'm losing. I'm losing. How can I be losing?

I'm following Christ the King. He is king over needs,

he is king over evil. I'm following him. How can

I lose? He says, what is a prophet of a

man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?

My soul is on the line, he says, whoever is

ashamed of me, whoever is ashamed of me, the son

of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes

in his glory, his father's glory with the Holy angels.

In other words, if I want the glory of the

Son of Man to be a good thing for me,

there's gonna be something I'm ashamed attempted to be ashamed

of now. If I want the glory of the Son

of Man coming to be a good thing for me,

then there's gonna be something that I'm tempted to be

ashamed of now. And we saw that embracing Christ's cross

is of utmost importance, of eternal significance. But Jesus takes

pains to say here too, is that embracing your cross

is of utmost importance and eternal significance. If anyone would

come after me your cross. If you're gonna save your life,

you lose it. The forfeit of the soul is on

the line. The son of man being ashamed of view

is on the line. A crossless Christ means a lost world,

and a crossless you means a lost you. If Christ

is your king, seeing him clearly is seeing that he

is calling you to a crucified life. He is not

calling you to self actualization. He's calling you to self denial,

deny yourself. He's calling you to a life of love.

And there is no loving people without denying yourself. That's

newlywed's figure that out, and it's rough right. There's no

loving people without denying yourself. And that's hard enough when

you pick the person you are trying to love and

deny yourself for What about when you're smashed into a

room randomly in San Antonio, Texas with a bunch of us.

That's a lot of self denial. There is no loving

people without denying yourself. There is no serving people without

denying yourself. When we say Christ is king, What we

mean is Christ has called me to deny myself and

take up my Christ with my cross. Christ has called

me to lose my life and serve others. There's no

serving others without denying yourself. There's no leading others, which

is just another version of serving people. In Christ's economy,

leading others is a version of serving others. In fact,

leading others is a version of serving all. This is

what he taught in the upper room. He takes off

his shirt and he wraps a apron around his waist,

and he gets a ball, and he kneels down for

each one of them and cleans their stinky feet. And

Judas is right there. He cleans his two. He stands

up and he says, do you understand what I've done.

I've done this as an example that if I, as

teacher and Lord as King, as anointed one, wash your feet,

calling you to wash one another's feet, also deny yourself,

serve others, lead others, which means getting down on your knees.

When we say Christ is King, that's what we mean.

If we're seeing clearly you lose your own life for

the Gospel's sake, That's what he says. You lose your

life for my sake and for the Gospel's sake. That

means your time is not your own, Your money is

not your own, Your life vision is not your own.

I don't mean to err quote it so harshly. It's

important to have a vision for your life. It's just

not your own. It belongs to him. The things that

you once thought were the things that you once wanted

to build your entire life around, the way that you

wanted to spend your your golden years, the way that

you wanted to spend your money, how you wanted your

Sunday afternoons to look, how you wanted exactly your family

to look, how exactly you wanted your career to look,

all of which might be great things. But they're not

your things anymore. They're is. That's what we mean. The

Christ is king. Christ is king over those things, not

only because he rules all things, but because what He's

called you to is to take all of those things

and put them on across. We follow a crucified king,

and we live crucified lives. But you're really not losing.

We are not losing. He says, who would trade this

stuff for their soul? Would you would you trade your

retirement plans for your soul? Would you trade your career

plans for your soul? Would you trade what the things

that you wanted the way that you wanted them for

your eternity? No? Again, none of those things are bad things.

They're just not your things anymore. What you have sacrificed them.

You have exchanged them for eternity with him, and now

they are his to direct because you've died. And now

you live a life that is unashamed of a king

who dies. Now you live a life unashamed of a

king who calls you to die, because that's who he is.

When you see him clearly, when you're half blind, you're

focused only on Christ, who is a king over Hey.

He's a king over what I need. He can provide

for me what I need. He's a king over what

I need. He can fix what I need. Fix hey.

He's a king over evil. Every evil force in this

world I want. I want Jesus to stomp it out.

And I'm excited about that. Every evil impulse in me

and other people. I want Christ to rule over. But

when you only see him there and the cross fades,

you're half blind. In fact, at heart, at heart. If

that is your focus, you are actually ashamed of the cross,

of the need for its cross, his demand for your cross.

To only want his sovereignty and not want his suffering.

That's how to be half blind. But clearly seeing Christ

as King means truly embracing the cross, both his and yours.

And I'm sure that Peter took this as bad news.

It's not bad news. It's profoundly good news. We literally

call it the good news. Yeah, acrossless Christ means a

lost world, and a crossless you means a lost you.

But Christ's cross is for the salvation of the world,

and your cross taken up that means you're actually following him.

It's good news, a life saved, a soul gained, standing

tall in praise. When the son of Man comes in

his father's glory with the Holy Angels in that day,

we will all shout Christ is King.

Seeing clearly, would you stand and pray with me, Heavenly Father,

we asked for clear sight. We asked for clear sight.

Would you give us clear sight of your sovereignty and

your son's suffering. Would you give us clear sight of

what it looks like to obey with a crucified life. Lord,

we want to continue to proclaim that Christ is King,

he is Lord of all, and to do so, understanding

the cruciform nature of that proclamation. Lord, we want to

do that as fathers. We want to do that. As husbands.

We want to do that, as mothers and wives, and

sisters and brothers, as family in a church, as lights

in the world. Lord, we want to continue to declare

Christ is king, but not a crossless king. And we

want to continue to declare that we are His subjects,

but not with crossless lives, lives that are ready to

deny ourselves and take up our cross, and love others

and serve others and lead others, wash feet forfeit what

we might have in this world, as you call us

to that we would not forfeit our souls over earthly things,

that our eyes would be fixed on you as they

ought to be. We ask these things in Jesus' name.

In Jesus name, Amen, Let's worship together.