Do you know anyone who is blind, or who has become blind? When I worked in publishing, one of our authors was blind. He was one of the most reliable authors who I ever had the privilege to edit. When he committed to doing something he did it. He would always get his contributions in on time. He was highly organized. I visited him once in his office. I got the sense he knew where everything in his office was. I think his organisational abilities enabled him to excel.
I think when someone has a disability like that, their other senses are heightened. They are able to do things, see things, pick up things, that seeing people are not able to see.
At one of my previous churches, we had a young lady who had difficulties with vision. She has to read very close up, but she was a voracious reader. More than that, her limited sight actually made her much more patient and persevering in tasks. I had difficulty with the microwave in the church kitchen. I’m standing in front of it, trying reasonably hard to get it working. She comes in, sees me floundering, and moves close to the microwave to read the buttons. Sure enough, she solved the problem I was too impatient to solve. It’s a paradox isn’t it, that blind people see things that fully sighted people miss.
Blindness is a terrible disability. But by dint of necessity, blindness does give some people heightened abilities. Blind people can see things that other people don’t see.
And likewise, today we will learn from a blind man sitting at the side of the road outside Jericho. For he will see what those who see do not see.
We pick up the story with Jesus entering Jericho. There is a crowd, because Jesus is heading off to Jerusalem. He is going there to die and rise again, although the crowd don’t realize this yet. They are hoping he will throw off the Roman yoke. And the man[1], who Luke does not name[2], sits by the roadside outside the city, begging.[3] In other words, he is an outcast, an outsider.
This man might be blind, but he sees what no one else sees. He says that ‘Jesus’ is the ‘Son of David’. The crowd tells him that 'Jesus of Nazareth is passing by' (v. 37 ESV). And the blind man sees in Jesus passing by his opportunity. He does not want his opportunity in Jesus to pass him by. The words Frances J Crosby push us in the right direction to understand this:
‘Pass me not, oh gentle Saviour, hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Saviour, Saviour, hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by.’ (‘Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior’, Frances J Crosby, 1868)
A little earlier in this chapter, Luke 18, we met the rich ruler. He could see and go where he liked, he could walk away if he wanted (as he proved), and he had all the freedoms and liberties of one who was extremely rich. By contrast, the blind man cannot walk without stumbling and help. The blind man, like the little children, needs to be led by the hand. But he has a voice that is under his control, and he is not afraid to use it.
Perhaps he has a bit more desperation in his voice than the Frances Crosby song expresses. For in verse 38, the blind man cries out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ (ESV) And in verse 39, the fracas or scene he was making was annoying enough that ‘those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent’ (v. 39 ESV). But all the more he cried out ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’
Of all the supplicants in Luke’s Gospel, only this man calls Jesus ‘the Son of David’ (Luke 18:38-9).[4] In other words, this blind man knows the Old Testament and has put his hope in its promises. He believes Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 and 2 Samuel 7. His hope is that David’s son will rule the nations and have an everlasting kingdom. His trust is that in the hands of the Davidic king is healing. Moreover, he sees that Jesus is the one who is the Davidic king, who can bring healing and wholeness.
But not only does the blind man know Jesus’ identity, but the blind man also knows Jesus’ character. Jesus’ identity is ‘Son of David’, but Jesus’ character is ‘full of mercy’. The blind man asks Jesus for mercy. God is rich in mercy. And Jesus, as fully God, is full of tender compassion and mercy, just as his Father is, who, in the words of one of our Communion services, ‘whose nature is always to have mercy’.
Friends, now is the time to copy the blind man and call on Jesus as ‘Son of David’ and one ‘whose nature is always to have mercy’. Today is the day of salvation, the opportunity for mercy. Because there will be a day when many will cry for mercy, but none will answer. And the opportunity for mercy and forgiveness then will be past.
The blind man’s impassioned pleas stopped Jesus in his tracks. He brings Jesus’ journey, which has been going since chapter 9 of Luke, to a brief but decisive halt. Verses 40-41:
40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ He said, ‘Lord, let me recover my sight.’ (ESV)
Like with the little children, Jesus’ ‘self-appointed’ minders want to protect Jesus from the blind man. But Jesus needs nor wants no such shepherding. And Jesus' interactions with the blind man give him an opportunity to show him obeying, asking, and trusting Jesus.
Obeying (v. 40)
Jesus commands him the blind man to come to him. And this allows us to see the first part of the proper response to Jesus. The blind man obeys and comes to Jesus. And all of us must copy him. For God commands all people to come to Jesus for their needs.
Asking (v. 41)
Of course, Jesus knows the blind man’s needs before he asks. But Jesus wants to hear the request from the blind man himself. And so Jesus asks ‘what do you want me to do for you’.
Friends, Jesus’ knows our needs before we ask. But he still wants us to ask him. We honour Jesus and obey him when we ask for our needs. And of course, Jesus does what the man asks. Jesus is able and willing to answer the blind man's prayers for his good. But Jesus also give a word of explanation.
Trusting (v. 42)
The blind man shows his faith in Jesus not only with his speech. His actions show that he trusted that Jesus is the Son of David. He obeys his command, he comes to Jesus, he asks Jesus for what he wants. And Jesus explains that this faith healed him. Verse 42:
And Jesus said to him, ‘Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.’ (ESV)
Literally, the blind man’s faith ‘saved’ him. Salvation is impossible with humans. But with God it is possible. Sinful humans can only be saved by God . They can only be saved because Jesus is on a journey to Jerusalem, for his exodus. And because faith looks to Jesus, faith in Christ saves. The value of faith is in its object. Faith in Jesus saves because Jesus, in whom we have faith, saves. Faith saves all who call on the Lord Jesus as he passes by. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
And faith leads to following Jesus and glorifying God, verse 43.
And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (ESV)
Following
Unlike the rich man, the blind man had nothing to lose and everything to gain. So he follows Jesus along the road. That is, he became a disciple. He joined Jesus’ caravan heading to Jerusalem. And this unnamed blind man in Luke is the model disciple. He does what the rich ruler refuses to do. He is not very rich, so he can leave everything and follow Jesus.
Glorifying
And as he went, the blind man glorified God. For those saved by Jesus cannot but glorify Jesus. Like the Gerasene Demoniac, his glorifying God involved ‘proclaiming … how much Jesus had done for him’ (Luke 8:39 ESV). And glorifying God is infectious. Because all the people joined in praising God for this wonderful healing, this great salvation by faith. Gratitude always leads to evangelism. Those saved by Jesus cannot help but celebrate Jesus. And they want others to join in the celebrations and salvation.
So there are five things we can learn from the blind man's interaction with Jesus. First, we learn who Jesus is? His identity is that he is ‘the Son of David’. Second, we learn what Jesus is like? His character is always to have mercy. Third, we learn how a person is saved By faith in Jesus, God does the impossible and saves a person. Fourth, we learn the appropriate response to mercy received when we are saved. We follow Jesus. And fifth, we learn what we do while we follow Jesus. We glorify and praise God for what he has done for us, and invite others to join us in these never-ending praises.
[1] I take Matthew 20:29-34, Mark 10:46-52, and Luke 19:35-41, as describing the same event from different perspectives. Matthew mentions two men, whereas Mark and Luke only mention one only. There is no necessary inconsistency, for if there were two men, there was also one. We don’t know why neither Mark or Luke mentioned the second man. Matthew seems to have a preference for mentioning two supplicants. Perhaps Matthew records that which he remembered and was memorable, while Mark and Luke recorded that which others such as Peter recalled and related, and for good reasons Peter didn’t mention the second man. Nothing at this point can be proved, and everything is sheer guesswork, but it may be that Bartimaeus, as Mark calls him, became known amongst the believers subsequently, while the other man for whatever reason faded into insignificance as far as the church memory Mark and Luke draw upon is concerned.
[2] Mark names him as 'Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus' (Mark 10:46).
[3] Mark tells us that Jesus goes into Jericho and then he goes out with his disciples and a crowd (Mark 10:46). Luke has Bartimaeus sitting beside the road as Jesus 'drew near to Jericho' (ἐν τῷ ἐγγίζειν αὐτὸν εἰς Ἰεριχὼ: Luke 19:35), but does not necessarily stipulate where (Luke 19:35). It is interesting that Luke uses the verb διαπορευομένου, 'passing through' in v. 36. This allows for the possibility, if there were two entrances to the city of Jericho, that Bartimaeus hears of Jesus coming and sits at one side of the city, but then, missing Jesus, he goes to the other side of the city and waits for him there. It would be a bit like what happens when I forget to take the bins out on garbage night, and then that morning when I hear the garbage truck, I run out and try and anticipate where the garbage truck will be so that I can put the bin out in its path so the garbage collector can pick it up. At times this effort has sent me far and wide, even loading the garbage bin in my car and chasing the truck around the suburb. Alternatively, Jesus' entrance and exit from the city was through the same 'gate', and no such hypothesis needs to be posited.
[4] In Luke’s infancy narratives, Jesus’ Davidic ancestory is acknowledged (Luke 1:32, 69), but no other supplicant or disciple between infancy and Jesus’ approach to Jericho acknowledges what the blind man acknowledges. Jesus himself confirms the blind man’s testimony in Luke 20:41-44. In Mark, only Bartimaeus calls Jesus this title (Mark 10:46-52, esp. vv. 47-48).
35Now it came to pass as he drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting beside the road begging. 36And when he heard the crowd passing through, he asked what this could be. 37And they told him ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by’. 38And he called out saying, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me’. 39And those going before rebuked him that he might be quite, but he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me’.
40Now Jesus, who had stopped, commanded him to be brought to him. And when he drew near, he asked him, 41’What do you wish that I would do for you?’ And he said, ‘Lord, that I might see’. 42And Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight! Your faith has saved you.’ 43And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God, and all the people, seeing [this], gave praise to God.