Luke 18:31-43
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33 they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
39 Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord, I want to see,” he replied.
42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.”43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
A Day in the Life of Jesus
Luke 18 predictably gives us amazing insight into the life of Jesus as it describes the many encounters with a diverse audience that Jesus navigated that day. People kept interrupting him, but Jesus never seemed to categorize these interruptions as bothersome or troubling.
After another of these “interruptions,” perhaps witnessing the lost look on his disciple’s faces, Jesus pulls them aside and gets super specific on what is coming. He tells them what is going to happen when they get to Jerusalem, using very graphic detail. He will be arrested. Mocked. Insulted. Spat upon. Flogged. Even killed. But then he introduces the concept of resurrection as he talks about “the third day.”
Verse 34 tells us that the disciples were “slow to comprehend.” Somehow I find that comforting! What followed is the heart of our text today, another interruption!
Luke 18:35 tells us that as Jesus enters the city, there’s a blind man sitting by the roadside begging. We discover that while his sight is impaired, his hearing is perfect. There’s a big commotion happening and he curiously asks, “What’s going on?” Someone stops long enough to tell him that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. Maybe he had been waiting for a moment like this. He does what any right-thinking blind guy would do in the presence of Jesus and he calls out, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!”
Those leading the parade rebuked him and told him to be quiet. They were implying that Jesus was busy. “Things to do and places to go you know.” Bartimaeus should simply be quiet and not interrupt Jesus. What they didn’t know was that Jesus didn’t mind interruptions. He loved it when people stepped out in faith! Bartimaeus once again does what anyone broken person would and should do. He shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Jesus hears the cry and says, “Bring the man here.”
People must have been curious. Would Jesus join in the rebuke and put the guy in his place? That’s never the Jesus way. The culture of the day might have marginalized the poor and needy but not Jesus. He understood hopeless, breaking hearts. He loved to step into the stories of those who would invite him and bring his mercy and grace.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
Such a simple question, graced with an equally simple answer.
“Lord, I want to see.”
Jesus grants the request and the man is healed. What do we learn from our blind friend? This might be pretty simplistic, but the first thing we learn is that Bartimaeus was quite aware of his blindness. It impacted every single thing he did. His life was reduced to begging to survive. In a way we are all blind beggars, blinded by the enemy to the wonder of God (2 Cor. 4:4).
Sometimes we are captured by “image management.” We long to appear like we have it all together. “I am the master of my destiny and the captain of my soul.” The problem is that when we live that way, there is little room for God to intervene. The heart of our journey with Jesus involves an honest assessment of where we are at: admitting our deficiencies, our needs, our weaknesses, our sin, our need of God’s intervention to make sense of our lives.
Are there areas of our lives where we’ve become blind, where we’ve removed God from that central place he came to fill?
Not only was Bartimeus aware of his deficiencies, he also knew who Jesus was.
I don’t want to read too much into this, but when Bartimaeus asked who was passing by, he was told it was “Jesus of Nazareth.” But when he cried out to Jesus, he didn’t repeat his name, he referred to Jesus by his title: “Jesus, Son of David.” This suggests that he believed Jesus to be the promised One of God—the long-awaited Savior. His entire response indicates to us that he believed Jesus could change his life.
One of the great ironies of our text is that those who supposedly were “in the know” —the religious leaders who saw his miracles firsthand—were the same ones who couldn’t see who Jesus was. They struggled to see his divinity while a blind man had a crystal-clear vision of who he was and what he could do in his life!
The most important thing about us is what we believe about God. An inadequate understanding of who God is will always lead us to disappointment in life. It’s like building a home on a bad foundation. Cracks begin to appear in the walls and the house is in danger of an epic collapse.
What do we really believe about Jesus? A.W. Tozer wrote,
A right concept of God is basic to practical Christian living. I believe there is scarcely a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and inappropriate thoughts about God.
Our text wonderfully tells us about who God is and what he values. He’s the God whose heart extends to the broken and weary and wounded in life. He’s the God who still longs to intervene.
Jesus said, “Bring the man here.” I’m guessing it got pretty quiet about that moment. Instead of adding rebuke, Jesus extends blessing to Bartimaeus. Imagine that gentle but authoritative voice turning to this blind beggar and asking, “What do you want me to do for you?” A life-changing question met with an expectant, desperate plea. “Lord, I want to see.”
Our passage from Luke is a story of priorities and expectations. It is so easy to reduce our lives to a series of decisions that relate more to lifestyle than to passion. We rarely expect God to intervene in our lives. We rarely ask him to do much more than to bless our food at breakfast and to perhaps, watch over us during the day. Mahatma Ghandi, after comparing Christians he met to the Jesus he read about in the Bible, remarked, “If only Christians today would live according to the teachings of Jesus, we would all become Christians.” In his gospel, Luke never stops making Jesus the central issue in people’s lives. How often do we take the time to reflect and respond to the question I believe he still asks, “What do you want me to do for you today?”
Every life has value from God’s perspective. No one is outside his grace, his love, his touch. Several years ago, a woman I don’t know quickly handed me a card after a service and disappeared. The card contained several troubling thoughts but, the way she signed it is what broke my heart. She left a made-up email address that brought tears to my eyes: Useless.unloved@gmail.com.
No one is useless in the remarkable heart of Jesus. No one is unloved in the remarkable heart of Jesus. The ripple effects of believing that message from the Prince of Darkness are staggering.
Jesus came to change stories. He still comes to change stories.
For further reflection:
Where do you need Jesus’ touch, grace, and hope in your life today?
What would you like Jesus do for you today?
Just ask. And then wait. Our third-day Saviour is still at work!
Author bio
Ian has served as an Alliance Pastor in Canada for four decades ... in Invermere, BC; Vernon, BC and Calgary, AB. He most recently served as the District Superintendent of the
Central Canadian District.
Today, Ian serves as a Transition Pastor in Okotoks, AB and spends some time on campus at
Ambrose University as a Pastor and Church relations specialist.
Ian loves spending time with his family: his wife Joyce and their three kids, four grandkids and a slightly crazy Mini Golden Doodle named Murphy.
Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The “NIV”, “New International Version”, “Biblica”, “International Bible Society” and the Biblica Logo are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office
by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission.