Jesus & Mercy

Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah.

It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah,

either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all,

would you pray for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like

yourself? The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian,

I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible,

they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will

do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a

non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't

hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the

types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless.

Let's just bow our heads in prayer, please. Father, we ask that you would continue to have

mercy on us and gently but deeply pour out the Holy Spirit upon each of one of us who are here.

Pour out the Holy Spirit upon those who are entering into worship online, either live or even

downstream, Lord, because time, that's a, you live outside of time. And so we ask, Lord,

that the Holy Spirit would fall with gentle but deep and penetrating power upon each one of us.

Father, help us to be able to be in your presence, to know that we are in your presence,

and help us, Lord, to receive the grace and mercy you desire to give us this morning,

and help us to respond in a worthy way. And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior.

Amen. Please be seated.

Amen. So a couple of weeks ago, I was having a conversation in a coffee shop. For those of you,

that's a bit of a surprise that I ever talk to somebody in a coffee shop. I was having a

conversation in a coffee shop a couple of weeks ago, and something happened that sort of, I guess

it's happened lots of times over the years. And it sort of, we're talking, and this was like a serious

talk about the Christian faith and about this person's faith, you know, her faith and the Christian

faith. And I realized when we were about half of the way through it, that one of the problems was

that we were using words differently. And so we started, I started to try to point this out. And

basically what it came down to was that this person basically said that I had to accept her definitions.

Like I had to accept how she understood words, and that was the only way we were going to have a

conversation. And I pointed out to her, well, you're using words in a very odd way, and you're using words

that fit with your worldview. If I accept your words, then I'm accepting your, like I've accepted

your position. So there needs to be some sort of neutral way that we can talk, you know, about this

and the truth. And anyway, we went round and round. And actually, I've spent the last couple of weeks

thinking about the conversation, trying to figure out how to move it forward. Now, we left as friends,

and, you know, we've seen each other, you know, since. But it really made me think of something that I read in the

paper a couple of years ago. And that is, when people no longer believe in truth, the only way to settle

differences is with your fists. When people no longer believe in truth, the only way to settle differences is with

your fists. And that's obviously said very starkly.

But, you know, it's really very true, a funny thing to say, isn't it, in our culture, that increasingly it doesn't

seem as if there's this, like this way that two minds or two groups can meet and have a discussion about what's true.

I mean, good grief. Good grief. What do you do with people who are responsible for education when they say that two plus two

equals four is a patriarchal imposition to oppress people?

Like, how do you have a conversation with somebody like that?

Like, when you hear that, all that's left are fists.

Now, the Bible text today, it's going to touch on truth, obviously. And in fact, the truth is very important to the text.

But it's also talking about something else that in our culture, even amongst Christians, is both misunderstood and not

wanted at all. But it's something else which is really needed if we're going to have peace in our own lives, peace in our families, peace in our neighborhoods, and peace in our world.

So it's something that Canadians don't understand and they don't want.

But it's also something on top of truth or beside truth or with truth that's needed if we're to have peace with ourselves,

peace in our families, in our neighborhoods, with our friends, in our country, and ultimately, of course, peace with God.

So let's look at it. And so we're looking at, if you're using this, it's page 66.

And if you have your own Bibles, it's Mark chapter 10, verse 46, the story that I read before.

Mark 10:46

But we're going to begin the verse before.

Because, of course, the book is written as a book, right?

It just goes from word to word, sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph, all the way through.

But those of you who were here last week, you might remember that I said that this actually is a really...

I mean, all the verses are important.

But if you look at... Well, look at verse 45.

It begins like this.

It's for...

Now, the word for in this case, I'm not being just a grammar nitpicky guy.

It's a purpose verse.

It's the purpose for.

Like, what...

The purpose, for even the Son of Man, Jesus is referring to himself, came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

And so, as I tried to show last week in the sermon, this is a very important verse.

Jesus is...

This is one of the two primary times.

There's another one or two.

But there's one of the primary times in the gospel where Jesus tells you what the purpose of his life is.

Like, what the whole purpose of the gospel is.

Like, you don't have to try to figure it out yourself.

You know, it's not like you have to sort of take animal entrails and try to figure out what the omens and the signs are.

Or here, you know, record five of your dreams and then try to figure out what on earth is going on in your psyche or your, you know, whatever.

Jesus tells us, okay, you're trying to understand everything in the gospel.

I'm going to Jerusalem to die.

Here's what you need to understand.

The Son of Man.

I am the Son of Man, which is both on one hand means that he's...

It's a way of saying that he's the representative of humanity because he's human.

But it's also claiming in the book of Daniel, Daniel, the Jewish people would have had a...

Couldn't have quite get their mind around it because it almost sounds like the Son of Man is God, which they couldn't get their minds around.

So this is what he used.

When he says the Son of Man, that's what's going on.

That he came not to be served, but to serve.

And he didn't just come to be...to serve.

He came for something even more important.

And it's when this other thing is understood that you understand why you'd serve.

To give his life is a ransom for many.

And that word ransom, you know, I've been thinking about this a lot this last week.

One of the things which you don't learn in school is that basically up until only a couple of centuries ago,

and only in places where Christianity was significant, every culture was a slave culture.

In fact, I think it was only around the year 2010 that there was a country in Africa that actually outlawed slavery.

And as we know, of course, the Chinese Communist and the Soviet Union, atheist states, practiced in effect slavery within their own countries.

So all cultures and countries up until fairly recently were slave cultures.

And one of the things that's so important about this word is its acts in the Christian consciousness of the followers of Jesus

as a way that slowly to move human beings who just think that slavery is natural

to a state of affairs where even if it's natural, it needs to be stopped.

Because at the heart of this image is an image that when a person in that time period, they're a slave, a doulos.

And it could be, you know, there wouldn't be a slave because of their race.

That's one of the things which was different about this time than it was, let's say, in the American South.

But it could be they were captured more.

It could have been because of debt.

It could be for some other type of reason.

But you could get out of slavery if the debt, so to speak, was paid, the debt that you were owed.

In a sense, if you think about it, it would be as if, you know, I'm the conquering army.

And if you fight against me, well, how dare you fight against me?

I just want to take over your country.

And in a sense, you sort of view that person fighting against you as now owing you a debt.

You fought against this.

You killed some of your soldiers.

You're now in debt to me.

You know, or you're just actually in literal debt because you've overextended yourself.

And so, in a sense, all slaveries were understood as a way of belonging to another person and, in a sense, trying to work off your debt, which would be impossible.

But it was possible for—sometimes a slave could work—save up some money and pay themselves and ransom themselves.

But fundamentally, it would be that somebody else pays that debt for you and ransoms you.

And in this case here, when Jesus says, for even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many,

he's saying that his life and his death upon the cross and his resurrection is a pain of your debt,

a debt that delivers you from slavery and transfers you into the freedom of Christ, the crucified king's kingdom.

You can see how, as that becomes sort of more real to people, as the gospel becomes more real, it starts to make slavery unthinkable at a very, very deep level.

And so, you have this very powerful statement by Jesus that, as you're looking through the whole gospel of Mark,

keep in mind that all of those things are recorded.

And part of the purpose—a very significant reason is that they're trying to communicate this profound mystery

that God, the Son of God, would set aside his glory and splendor and divine prerogatives and appearance as God,

but he'd still be God, but he'd take into himself our human nature.

And he, in a sense, could be then as that human one that could represent all human beings.

And that his death is an act of substitution and representation so that the debts that you owe are paid

and you now are freed from slavery and enter into the liberty and freedom of Christ's kingdom.

With Christ as your king.

That's the image.

Now, how does that get into you or how do you get into that?

Well, I mean, there's obviously several aspects about that,

but Mark wrote his gospel in such a way that almost immediately he helps you to start to understand that.

And that's what happens next.

Look what happens.

It's very interesting.

And it goes like this, verse 46.

Now, just sort of pause here.

I've talked a little bit before about how important stories are.

Because as you learn, one of the things that we need to do, one of the things for those of you who are parents with young kids,

it's really important you tell them Bible stories.

Because it's really important that you tell them Bible stories.

In fact, it's also important that you guard the stories they watch.

You guard that.

Because stories form us at a sort of a deep unconscious and subconscious level.

They make certain types of things more believable.

They help to form.

We might have this idea in our head and not realize, you know, that as a teenager and adult that there's this idea.

And not realize that it maybe came from a story.

Just as an aside, and this is just crazy.

I lived in a completely Jewish neighborhood.

I was the only Gentile kid.

Me and my brother and my sister, only Gentile kids.

And when they had the Jewish holidays in the fall, and in those days, you know, there were like hundreds of kids in our school.

They could take all of the non-Jewish kids.

And I think there were like 500 kids in the school.

And all of the non-Jewish kids added up to about 20 from all grade 1 to 8.

And they could put them in one classroom, which is what they did.

And after a couple of years, I said to mom, can I just stay home?

And be with all the Jewish kids?

And I did.

But anyway, so here we have this school with a Jewish teacher.

And I remember she read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to me.

And I remember crying in the classroom.

This would probably have been like grade 2 or something, or 3.

And I remember crying when Aslan died for Eustace.

I had no idea that this was a Christian story.

But later on, it struck me, like as an adult.

Gosh, that story that brought tears to my eyes of Aslan giving himself to the witch so that Eustace could go free.

That's Christian.

I mean, the teacher didn't tell me this was a Christian author or a Christian story.

It was just a good story.

And many, many kids in the class had tears in their eyes.

You'll go back and you can read it.

It's well worth reading.

Even though it's just written for kids, it's well worth reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

It's a simple but very profound read.

But here's the point about this story.

So it's a very, very simple story about Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, begging by the side of the roadside.

And he hears in verse 47 that it was Jesus of Nazareth who's going by.

Now, the first thing is this.

Bartimaeus is you and me.

Bartimaeus, he might have been in the vicinity of Jesus doing miracles, but he never saw the miracle.

He couldn't see the miracle because he was blind.

All he could do is hear about the miracle.

Does that sound familiar?

That's you and me.

I can't see the miracle.

I can only hear about the miracle.

So Bartimaeus, in a very profound sense, is you and me.

We can't see the miracle.

All we can do is hear about the miracle.

And the second thing is it's very interesting that there's a big crowd.

And look how they describe him in verse 47.

Jesus of Nazareth.

And some of you who've come to the church a lot, I know it's a terror.

I use this analogy over and over and over again.

This is not like saying, oh, gosh, you know, that's John of Cambridge.

Or that's John of Oxford.

Or that's John of Harvard.

Or that's Susie of Stanford.

Or that's, you know, that's Rebecca of Manhattan.

Or, you know, that's Sally of the city.

You know, a graduate of Oxford now lives in the city, that square mile right in the very heart of London.

Or wherever, of Paris.

And we get, you know, go, oh, wow, like that's a significant, whoa, that's a significant place.

What the crowd has just said, and it's really actually very Canadian,

it's like saying that's Jesus of Brudenell.

And Brudenell is a little speck on a map with, I think, just an old abandoned church and a rectory.

And you pass through Brudenell from nowhere to nowhere.

And so really, in a sense, they're putting Jesus down.

You know, they're saying on one hand, whoa, whoa, he's a great guy.

But, you know, it's like if you ever listen to a group of guys talking,

and the way that guys often talk is they talk by putting each other down.

They make little digs at each other.

I don't know if women do it as well, but it's a very guy type of thing,

that they make little digs putting each other down.

In fact, when I was serving in Eganville, a rural parish,

I knew the guys in the church had started to accept me when I was out for my run,

and they'd pull up beside me in the pickup truck, roll down their window, and insult me.

I thought, I've arrived. They like me.

How do I know they like me?

Well, they made fun of me.

That's how I know they like me.

And in a sense, the same crowd is doing this.

Yeah, yeah, he can do miracles and all that, but we have to remember,

he's just Jesus of Brudenell.

He's not Jesus of Oxford, not Jesus of Cambridge, not Jesus of Stanford,

not Jesus of Madison, just Jesus of Brudenell.

Like, he's not really a, you know, he thinks he's a big thing,

but he's not really a big thing.

But he's really fun. Let's hang around with him.

And then the thing then is that Bartimaeus, who's never actually,

like many of the crowd have actually seen Jesus do miracles,

but they still think of him as Jesus of Brudenell.

And Bartimaeus has only heard stories about Jesus.

He's never seen Jesus, and he's never seen a miracle.

But Bartimaeus says, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

And son of David is a messianic title.

He's really saying Messiah, the Messiah of God, have mercy on me.

Now, verse 48 is, once again, like we can relate to it.

Like if you, many of our friends, and maybe this was true in your life,

maybe you started to tell people that you were actually thinking

you would become a Christian,

and many of your friends would tell you not to do it.

Or if they did, they'd just say, well, okay, become a Christian,

but just remember he's Jesus of Brudenell.

Like don't get carried away, like don't get too crazy about it.

Just remember he's Jesus of Brudenell.

But in verse 48, many rebuked him, telling him to be silent,

but he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me.

Now, here's where we're going to have to have a little bit of a longer pause.

And we have to take off, in a sense, our Christian hats for a second.

We have to look at this phrase, son of David, have mercy on me.

Son of David, have mercy on me.

Now, how would most Canadians counsel Bartimaeus to speak to Jesus?

And this is an important question to ask because, you see, we're Canadians.

Like how would the editorial board of the CBC or the Globe and Mail

or the National Post or how would the psychology faculty

or other academics at the University of Ottawa,

how would counselors advise you?

How would coaches and lifestyle gurus

and TikTok and Instagram influencers,

how would they counsel you to talk to Jesus?

Well, here is Bartimaeus' blind.

Well, many, many, many, many people in our culture would say,

don't be an ableist.

You're just differently abled.

Don't demean yourself by asking for mercy.

If you demean yourself by asking for mercy,

you're saying you're being an ableist.

You're saying you're not fine the way you are,

perfect the way you are.

You are giving up autonomy and authority of your life

to some other person.

Don't you say that.

Many of them would also give the different advice.

It's sort of a contradictory advice

because it's one of the things

which is so contradictory in our culture.

In fact, it's one of those things in our culture

that it's incoherent,

but people aren't aware of the fact that it's incoherent.

Because on one hand,

you have to accept people the way they are.

But on the other hand,

if they don't want to be the way they are

because they want to find their true self in some other way,

you've got to support that.

It's almost as if they've talked to you,

you have to take a step back and say,

okay, one moment.

Okay, just time out.

Let me figure this out.

Am I supposed to encourage you

because of the way you are

or encourage you because you don't want to be the way you are

to become some more authentic self?

And if you guess wrong,

you get yelled at, right?

Or you're accused of doing something terrible.

But once again, you see,

the advice would be,

pardon me, don't be an ableist.

Like, don't degrade yourself by asking for mercy.

Or in fact, just don't even,

the fact of the matter is,

is you just need to,

you need to say,

Jesus, I'd really like your support to support me

as I become the man I've chosen to be.

Or it might be even that we just sort of go right to rights.

One of the ways,

if you go back and you read the three of the,

the three of the accounts of the,

of this miracle,

it looks as if there's a bit of a contradiction,

but there's not a,

not a contradiction.

It's, it's, it's, it's, it's a,

there was the ancient city of Jericho,

which was by now mainly ruins,

but it's still on the main road.

And then just off the road,

Herod had built this magnificent palace

just outside of Jericho.

And, and of course,

with the palace and a magnificent palace

and administrative center,

that would have meant that

that's where most of the stalls

and market and food place

would be at the new place,

but it's just off the main road.

And so probably what's happened is

Jesus has left the main road with his disciples,

gone to this other center,

and then he's walking back.

And, and so some people might say,

you know, Jesus,

and so he's walking back

to the old original ruined city of Jericho.

And some people might say to Bartimaeus

that Jesus went by you that first time

and didn't heal you.

You have rights.

You deserve to be healed.

You don't call out for mercy to Jesus.

You stand up and be a man

and say, Jesus, how come you didn't heal me?

I demand you heal me.

I have rights to be healed.

Don't say, have mercy.

Say, give me the rights that I am owed.

And that's how we would counsel

Bartimaeus to speak to Jesus.

And that is actually

how many of us speak to Jesus.

We say, Jesus, didn't I?

Good grief, Jesus.

You know, I, I, I've given,

I've given money to the church.

I've helped in the Sunday school.

I, I've, um, you know,

I've worked as a door host.

I've, I've been a warden.

I've been served on council.

And, and don't you think

after all those things I've done for you,

I, I deserve to have that boyfriend.

I deserve to have that marriage.

I deserve to have that promotion.

I deserve to have health.

And that didn't help me.

Jesus, I, I have,

we, you see what I mean?

It's in our heart.

It's in my heart.

It's in your heart.

But there's another deeper problem here

with the text,

beyond the fact that most in our culture

wouldn't counsel Bartimaeus

to say, son of David,

Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

And the second thing is this,

is that fundamentally,

we don't need mercy.

You and I don't need mercy.

In fact, actually mercy,

well, sort of mercy,

it's one of those fundamental things.

We sort of, maybe we sort of do

and maybe we don't.

See, because the fact of the matter is

for most, most of our culture,

what most of our culture would mean by mercy

isn't actually what the Bible means by mercy.

And we're either both wanting it

or repelled by it.

I'll give you an example.

I'll give you an American political example.

What, in fact, if it turns out

that Hunter Biden has been selling influence

to the Chinese and his dad knew about it?

Now, if you're a Democrat,

what are you going to want?

You're going to say, give him some mercy.

What does mercy mean?

A pass.

Give him a pass.

On the other hand,

what if it turns out

that Trump actually did collude

with the Russians

to fix the election that he won

in 2016?

Like they prove it.

Like prove it.

They finally prove it.

Well, Democrats are going to want his head

and people who like Trump

are going to say, give him mercy.

What does mercy mean?

A pass.

Right?

Of course, we're all way better

than all those other people.

Not.

I was talking to somebody the other day

about a couple of months ago

and they made some comment about,

oh, you don't have to worry

about that thing's a church.

Everybody in the church

are good people, right?

And I felt like,

afterwards I kicked myself.

I said I should have told them

a church isn't where good people meet.

A church is a hospital for sinners.

That's what a church is.

A hospital for sinners.

But you see, here's the problem, right?

For basically, the problem is

for us, mercy,

and it goes along with forgiveness,

is basically letting yourself

or your friends have a pass.

But in the Bible,

and that's why on one end we want it,

on the other hand we don't want it.

And so texts like this,

not only will we never counsel them,

but it doesn't really make any sense to us.

Because you see, here's the thing,

is the Bible understands mercy

as being at one with justice

and at one with truth.

And that's one of the reasons why justice,

that's one of the reasons why mercy,

when you see real mercy,

is deeply beautiful.

It's deeply, deeply beautiful.

Now, how do I say that?

Well, because you see,

that's, remember,

it all began with verse 45.

For even the Son of Man

came not to be served,

but to serve,

and to give his life

as a ransom for many.

And what does that mean?

Jesus looked at my life,

and he saw George

as George really is.

Jesus knows the dreams

I have at night

that I forget when I wake up.

Jesus knows the different masks

and fronts

which I put up

to keep people at a distance.

And he knows every mask.

He knows every false front.

He knows the order I put them in.

He knows the way

I will use those masks

to keep people from seeing

who I really am.

And he knows every single thing

about my life

from the moment I was born

to even for me,

which, unless he comes back,

I hope it's not for another 40 years,

my moment of death.

And he knows every single thing.

He knows everything I've done

that I'm ashamed of.

He knows every single thing

I've done that I've wronged.

He knows all those times

I could have done something right

and I didn't do it.

I closed my eyes.

And he knows all those,

he knows how I talk about other drivers

or how I talk about people.

And he knows all that self-talk in my head.

And he sees every single aspect

of that completely, truly.

And mercy says,

he still died for me.

And in his mercy,

not only does he die for me,

you see, what happens is,

remember I said in slavery,

in a sense what happens

is the debt is accrued.

And one of the ways to understand

anybody wronging you,

in some ways,

they owe you a debt.

It might be that they've,

you know, punched you or something

and scarred you physically

and you might have to bear that scar

for the rest of your life

and you feel that you've been wrong.

Something's been stolen from you.

Maybe it's been something

in their language

or they've lied about you

and you've had some type of a punishment.

And in a sense,

you've had something taken away from you.

They've taken something from you.

And part of life is

that you want to try to get that back

and, but you can never really

always get it back.

Even if the person goes to jail

and even if it's actually

a just, a just sentence.

Not one of those times

where judges do something,

you go, what?

Like what?

Even when those things happen,

it's still not a full

repaying of that debt

of something that's been stolen from you.

But what we see here

is that Jesus sees everything

there is to see about you

and he says,

remember I said that as son of man,

he's the only,

he can actually represent you.

And because he can represent you,

he can become your substitute.

And he says,

George,

you're sitting on that chair over there

and the judgment is read out about you

and the list,

it just goes on and on and on and on

and you cannot possibly pay that debt.

All those people you've wronged,

the ways you've even wronged,

the created order

and wronged God.

And he,

and Jesus says,

George,

you can get off that chair,

the chair of judgment,

and I will sit in that chair in your place.

And I will pay the price

that you cannot pay.

And I will do it,

knowing full well

all the wrong you've done

and knowing that justice

is needed to be done.

And I will do it for you.

And I will do it

out of mercy.

The word mercy

comes from a Latin word.

You know what the Latin word means?

Price paid.

Price paid.

Those little Christians

knew what they were talking about.

And so you see,

for Christians,

we understand mercy

as being something

which is at one with justice,

you see,

if it's unjust,

it's not mercy.

And if it's not true,

it's not mercy.

And on this side of the grave,

it's very, very hard

for us to get those things

all straight.

But that's the model

by which we understand mercy.

I'm sort of jumping ahead

a little bit,

but I think I need

to say it right now.

Remember at the beginning,

some of you,

if I haven't put you

to sleep,

I told you how

that thing,

that if you no longer

believe in something

like truth,

where you can meet

and discuss things

and work things out,

all that's left are fists.

And I said,

there's something else

which is deeply needed

for there to be peace

within your life

and peace in families

and peace in our culture.

And what is needed

is what is no longer

found in our culture,

which is mercy.

We need mercy.

We need people

to start showing mercy.

And a mercy

which is at one

with justice

and at one

with truth

that isn't just

favoritism

and passes

for your tribe.

And you see,

for a Christian

who follows Jesus

and the gospel

starts to become,

one of the things

I pray very regularly

is that the gospel,

you know,

this thing that

Jesus died as a ransom

for me,

he didn't come to serve

but to be served in,

I pray very regularly

that this will become

more true to my heart.

It will become

more true to my heart,

very center of who I am.

And you see,

as it becomes more true

to who you are,

as you understand

that this is what

Jesus has done for you

so that you can now be

in his kingdom

as a full citizen,

you're reconciled to God

because of his

profound mercy.

And as that shapes you,

it has to shape you

to start to say,

I need to show mercy.

And I have a model

for how mercy is.

And you see,

all mercy

and all forgiveness

is always going

to involve

you accepting

and accepting

to pay yourself

part of the price

of the wrong

that was done to you.

And you do it

not because

your mom forced you,

not because people

say it didn't matter,

not because people

say it didn't happen,

not because people

say they suffered enough,

not for any of those reasons

because those are lies.

They're untruth

and they're unjust.

And it's not

that you listen to lies.

Don't listen to them

when they say

that it didn't happen.

Don't listen to them

when they say

it didn't matter.

It did matter.

It did happen.

Don't say

they suffered enough.

No, they did not

suffer enough.

Don't listen

to any of that.

But you can listen

to the one

who came

to give his life

as a ransom

for many.

And you can say,

you know,

there will never be

any peace

in my family

if I don't forgive,

if I, in a sense,

don't swallow

part of the wrong

that was done for me.

and recognize

I need to set aside

the desire for revenge

or the hatred,

the slander I desire

to do the other person

because I want

to make them pay.

I want to make them pay.

I want to make them pay.

And I don't have peace

until they've paid.

And even if they never repent

and even if they never

do anything wrong,

the Bible is so unbelievably wise

that you and I need

to learn to show mercy

and have forgiveness

because to go through

your life

wanting them to pay,

well, you know what,

that's like

every day

you have 10X laxes

hoping they get

diarrhea.

And it just doesn't work.

It just beats you up

and bends you out of shape.

So you see,

we don't think

we need mercy

and we wouldn't

counsel people

to be like Bartimaeus

and pray for mercy,

but mercy is exactly

what every single

one of us needs.

In fact,

if you meet a person

who only thinks

they need justice

and they don't think

that there's anything

in their life,

anything about the way

they've treated

other people,

treated the created order,

treated their pets,

that there's never been

a single thing

that they've ever done

that they need forgiveness

and mercy for,

that all they ever need

is justice

and their rights,

well, you know

there's something wrong

with that person,

don't you?

You say to yourself,

well, they think

they're at the number

twos they do

in the toilet,

don't smell like

everybody else's,

but they do.

They're just a

self-righteous person

who's unfeeling

and uncaring

about how they

treat other people.

So the Bible

very wisely tells us

in a way that

reminds us that

what we need

is truth,

for to have peace

and in our culture

and in our own lives

we need to show mercy

and we need to receive

mercy from Christ.

Just very quickly

wrapping it up,

the last little bit

is also very important.

Verse 49,

and Jesus stopped

and said,

call him.

They called the blind man

saying to him,

take heart,

get up,

he's calling you.

And throwing off

his cloak,

he sprang up

and came to Jesus.

Verse 51,

and Jesus said to him,

what do you want

me to do for you?

Now,

this question

is one of those things

that has lots of layers.

And the part of the layers

are seen in the next

few lines.

And the blind man

said to him,

Rabbi,

let me recover my sight.

And there's no way

in English

to communicate this,

but there's two

different words

in the original language

for Rabbi.

Rabbi.

And most of the time

the word that's translated

is the word for teacher.

But there's another

rarer word

that usually

in Greek literature

when it's used

is only used

of God.

It's only used

of God.

That God

is teacher.

And that's what

Bartimaeus says

to Jesus,

the son of David.

He says,

God who teaches.

Messiah,

let me recover

my sight.

Verse 52,

and Jesus said to him,

go your way,

your faith has made you well.

And you don't see it

in this version.

I mean,

you would if you had

a different,

but in some of your Bibles

it'll have a little note there

and it'll say

your faith has saved you

and it can be translated

equally either way.

But it's a very important

double meaning.

You see,

salvation is Christ's

making you well.

Our deepest need,

we were made

to have a relationship

with the triune God.

As Augustine said,

our hearts are restless

until they rest in you.

You have made us

for yourself

and our hearts

are restless

until they rest in you.

and we can't rest in him

unless we receive mercy

from him

and he takes us

to himself.

And so the act of salvation

is an act of being made well.

That's a way to understand

what salvation is.

He makes me well.

He begins to make me well

on this side of the grave

and one day,

on one day,

on one day,

I can say

with complete confidence,

it is well with my soul.

I am well.

Free at last.

Free at last.

Thank God almighty.

I'm free at last.

That is our destiny in Christ.

And immediately,

Bartimaeus recovered his sight

and look at this.

Not only does he have faith

to call out to Jesus for mercy,

but he follows Jesus

on the way.

It's not just that we

have him make us well.

We follow him.

We follow him.

He sees when we follow him

that we start to learn

how to show mercy.

Because unless there starts

to be some mercy

in our culture,

all that's going to be left

is fights.

Just fights.

Fights upon fights.

And even if others

don't show mercy,

it is good for our soul

to receive mercy from Christ

and learn the way

of showing mercy

and forgiveness.

That is the way

for wholeness

and completeness

and freedom

and dignity

when we can learn

to do these things.

one of the things

I said to my friend

a couple of weeks ago

who couldn't agree on words

is I said,

you know,

there's no logical connection

or necessity

to go from the fact

that if Jesus really did

rise from the dead,

if he really did

in history,

in truth,

in history,

rise from the dead,

it doesn't prove

anything on one level.

but we know as a matter

of practical knowledge,

how do you know

that Jesus

can save him?

Because Jesus

made the blind man see.

how do you know

that Jesus

is God,

the Son of God?

How do you know

that his life

and death

and resurrection

is a ransom?

Because he rose

from the dead

in truth,

in history,

in time

and space,

recorded by Greek

and Jewish historians

as being the central

Christian claim

almost immediately.

he did it.

It's true.

And since it's true,

I urge you

to turn to him

in faith

and follow him.

I invite you to stand.

Please stand.

I invite you to

just bow your head

as we stand.

It's also sort of a chance

to get a bit

of a prayer stretch.

Let's just bow our heads.

Father,

if there are any here

who have not yet

come to Christ

as their Savior,

and Lord,

I ask, Father,

that your Holy Spirit

would move and work

in their lives,

whether they're here

or whether they're online,

and Father,

I just ask

as they hear Jesus

knocking on their heart,

Father,

that you would help them

sort of, in a sense,

stop listening to me

at this prayer

and speak to Jesus

and open the door

of their heart

and let Jesus come in.

That his mercy

might come in

and that he might come in

as Savior and Lord

to make them well.

Father,

I ask that you would

help them

to navigate that step,

that interior step of faith

and to do it now.

And Father,

for each of us,

you know,

Father,

how easy it is

for us to forget

the gospel

and to live out

of other scripts

and other narratives

and other stories

and live out

of our wounds

and live out

of our prejudices

and live out

of our hatreds

and live out

of our egos.

Father,

you know how easy

it is for us

just to revert

it.