Getting God's Attention

Text: Matthew 20: 29 – 34 : 29 Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” 31 Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” 32 So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 33 They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” 34 So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.

(NOTE: Wherever there is an "[e]", it indicates that the preacher/speaker must elaborate further)

Theme: Getting God’s Attention

Introduction:

- Today our teaching is on “Getting God’s Attention”

- [Explain what happens when you get God’s attention]

- [In the movie “Titanic”, Rose got the rescuers’ attention with a whistle]

- In this passage of Scripture, 2 blind men managed to call Jesus’ attention to their plight [e]

- If your English teacher were here, he would say: “They arrested the attention of Jesus” [e]

- They got Jesus to leave what He was doing [e]

- They got Jesus to turn aside from the direction in which He was headed [e]

- They got Jesus to focus on them [e]

- How many of you here this morning need Jesus to focus on you [e]

1. [Read vs 30] – Where you come from and where you are is not your final destination

- “And behold (look, see, take notice) two blind men SITTING BY THE ROAD…” [e]

- Why were they just sitting there?

- We don’t know….but we can assume perhaps it was one of the following:

• They had reached a point where they did not know where to go [e].

• Perhaps it’s where they came daily in the hope of getting alms (begging) [e]

• They had no one to lead them further [e]

• One thing stands out for me...they only had each other for company [e]

- Then something amazing took place…Jesus came passing by [e]

- It was at that point we find that these 2 blind men were not completely helpless [e]

- They say that the human body has an amazing ability to compensate for the loss of one sense [e]

- Because they couldn’t see, their sense of touch, hearing and smell were enhanced [e]

- They had probably heard about Jesus [e]

- They had heard of how He had been healing the sick [e]

- His fame had spread all over the land [e]

- They knew this was their one chance to be healed [e]

- They used what they had left and began to call out to Jesus [e]

- In their crying out, we learn some important lessons:

• They made a decision not to be silent [e] Jer 33:3

• They did not accept their fate, because they knew that there “was more that was found in Him” [e] Eph 3:20 – Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think according to the power that works in us

• They acknowledged the lordship of Jesus [e] Heb 11:6 – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him

2. Man’s opinion of your destiny is not God’ plan for your blessing

- [Read vs 31] [Explain]

- Everybody around these two men were excited that Jesus was there [e]

- They had come for a blessing [e]

- When the 2 blind men began to call out to Jesus, they were told to be quiet [e]

- Why? [e]

• Nobody was expecting that something good can happen for these men [e]

• The people around them expected that these blind men were going to stay in that state [e]

• In the opinion of man, these 2 did not warrant the attention of God [e]

- What did these 2 men do?

- They cried out louder [e]

- [LESSON: In your most desperate situation, when everyone and everything is against you, DO NOT REMAIN SILENT! CRY OUT LOUDER!!!]

- There were 2 things that motivated these 2 blind men to cry out louder:

• They were desperate [e]

• They were determined not to miss Jesus [e]

3. When you get God’s attention, your blessings will be released

- As the 2 blind men called out, they got Jesus’ attention [e]