Keeping Prayer in Perspective
Matthew 20:29-34
As we come to the end of our study in Matthew 20, we find a short story that is included in three of the four gospels. Keeping in mind our general rule of thumb that whenever the Bible tells us something three times it is of major significance, I would like for us today to take a very close look at these six verses in Matthew 20:29-34.
Let’s take care of a little housekeeping first—the variations in the three accounts. We have the account we are studying, Matthew 20:29-34, and then there are the accounts in Mark and Luke: Mark 10:46-52, and Luke 18:35-43.
Mark speaks of only one blind man, as does Luke, and Mark actually tells us his name: Bartimeus. In the translation of Luke’s account, there is a word, eggizō, that in many translations has been rendered as “was approaching”.
Now, granted, many times that word is accurately translated that way in most instances because of the context that it is in. In this case, however, since the word also means “be at hand, be near”, I believe that it should be simply translated that way. It appears that the primary reason for rendering eggizō that way in Luke is because of Luke 19:1: “He entered Jericho and was passing through.”
Because of the order of the incidents recorded in Luke, the translators seem to have assumed that eggizō must mean, “approaching”. However, if instead what Luke reports in Luke 19, the story of Jesus’ encounter with Zaccheus, is included simply as a highlight of what happened while Jesus was in Jericho, then there is no conflict.
All right, now to our text for this morning.
Jericho was an ancient city and had been known for many centuries as “the city of palm trees”. Approximately fifteen miles northeast of Jerusalem (about a day’s journey), it was the first city that Joshua and the Israelites conquered when they entered the Promised Land. One of Jesus’ ancestors, Rahab, was from Jericho.
This is the only time, according to the gospel records, that Jesus was in Jericho. That should make all of us aware that, even though God will continue to draw all mankind to Himself, Jesus may only pass by one time—and it is that one time that a person needs to reach out for Him. He may not be back this way. There may not be another chance.
Think for a moment about what it would be like to be blind. Think about all of the things that you enjoy looking at and watching. Think about how simple life is when you have good, clear vision. Think about how complicated and uncomfortable life becomes when your vision begins to weaken and grow dim.
Now consider all that you would lose if you were unable to see at all. No vision of blue skies, wind-blown trees, loved ones, favorite movie. Close yours eyes for a moment right now. Notice the absence of things. Notice all that is missing.
Do you realize that that is how we are spiritually before Jesus Christ is welcomed into our hearts and lives? Do you realize that, even after we have accepted Him as Savior and given Him the Lordship of our lives that, in every area where we have not surrendered to Him, we still have spiritual blindness?
These two men, sitting by the side of that dusty road just outside of Jericho, could taste the dust in the air, feel the sun on their cheeks, and hear the scuffle of thousands of feet as the crowd went by, but they could see no one, they could see nothing.
They had no visual perception of the sights of that day. But, their hearing was exceptional. Even that is a mercy of God—that He has so created us that, when one of our senses is absent, the remaining ones become heightened in their capacities.
On this day, they heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth that was passing by with the crowd. Now, there had been many, many groups of people—some large, some small—passing this way in recent days. The time of the Passover was drawing near, and hundreds of thousands of people—men, women, and children—were making the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Would these men be going to Jerusalem for Passover? Probably not—how were they going to get there? The road from Jericho to Jerusalem was one of the most dangerous pieces of road to travel in that ancient land. In fact, clear into the 19th century, men were still being attacked, beaten, robbed, stripped of all of their possessions—including the clothes they had on—and left for dead. Remember the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10)? Same piece of road.
So, once again, their hopes of being acceptable members of society, of sharing in their rightful heritage as part of God’s chosen people, their chances were once again non-existent.
But wait—Jesus of Nazareth is here, now? The one they had heard so much about? Thank God, they had their hearing! And, they had their voices—they could not only speak, they could speak loudly!
"Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David! Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!"
“Be quiet, you two! Settle down and hush up. Do not disturb this great man. Do not disturb our little parade here.”
"Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David! Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!"
“Knock it off! Be quiet, I tell you!”
“And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ (Matthew 20:32)”
They were calling out for mercy, and Jesus always hears and responds to that call. He does not respond so well to demands or hard-hearts or hard heads, but His heart is moved with compassion for those who call out to Him for mercy.
These men had never met Jesus, had never had contact with Him, had never heard Him teach, and had never witnessed one of His miracles. But, they knew the promises of God well enough and they had heard enough stories about what Jesus had said and done, that they recognized Him as the Promised One—the Messiah. Calling out to Him as the Son of David was calling out to Him as Messiah.
Recognizing Him and calling out to Him for mercy is always the right approach. How many of us know people who are blind to their spiritual needs? How many of us are blind to things in our own lives?
We all need mercy, and we need to have compassion for those around us who are spiritually blind just as easily as we would for someone who is physically blind. Can a blind person see impending danger as it draws near to him? Can a spiritually blind person see the impending eternal danger that in drawing near to them?
How, then, should we respond? How did these men recognize Jesus without ever having seen Him or heard Him before? They had heard about Him! Have the spiritually blind people in your life heard about Jesus from you?
Have they heard how often and how personally and how amazingly He has worked in your life? Or, are you one that keeps your mouth shut unless someone approaches you first? Shame on you!
Think about this for a moment. If you were young and newly in love, don’t you think it likely that you would talk a lot about the new love of your life? Wouldn’t you relate everything other people said to something that your heartthrob said or did, finding a way to interject their name into the conversation at every turn?
Sure that would be the case. And, if those people ever finally met that person, they would rightly say, “I’ve heard so much about you; I feel as if I know you already.”
Well, that is what things are supposed to be like for us in our relationship with Jesus Christ. We are supposed to be so in love with Him that we can’t shut up about Him. These two blind men had never even met Jesus, but they had great faith in Him because of what they had heard.
And now, finally having a chance to meet Him, they feel as if they already know Him. They call out to Him, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”
And when Jesus says, “What do you want Me to do for you?” they already know! What I find interesting here is that they did not ask for their circumstances to be changed. They did not ask to be made wealthy, or to be given jobs where they would not have to beg, and they did not ask Jesus to give other people softer hearts so that they would be more willing to give to them.
No, what they asked for was for Jesus to change their condition. Their request to Jesus was that he would change the underlying condition of their lives so that their lives could be made whole. If Jesus had changed they circumstances, they would still be blind. They would still be just as limited, just as handicapped in life, and just as susceptible to danger.
But, Jesus changing their condition would give them what they needed to begin to live a transformed life. Think of it—they realized that there was only one thing that had doomed them to the life that they were living and that was blindness. They also realized that, with the underlying condition gone, the possibilities for their lives would be wide open.
When people who are spiritually blind realize that they would like their lives to be different, when the feel trapped in their lives and realize that their underlying condition must change if they are to have any real hope, they need to know that there is Someone who can bring the remedy that they need.
How are they going to know that? Just like these blind men who had heard of the miracles that Jesus had performed over the last several years, those people around us who do not know and do not serve Jesus Christ need to hear about Him—what He is like, how He works, what He does. They need to here about His mercy.
These blind men had heard about the mercy of Jesus Christ. And, they were not about to be put off. That is another key point in this story. It is more than just a story about the mercy of Jesus. It is a paradigm for persistence in prayer and the answer to prayer that Jesus gives.
These men would not take no for an answer—do we approach Jesus the same way? Do we ask and keep asking, seek and keep seeking, knock and keep knocking? Or do we give up, toss up a prayer, walk away, maybe believing, maybe not?
These men had enough faith in Jesus to not be quiet when the people around them told them to. How about us? Do we fall silent because the people around us are uncomfortable with us calling on Jesus, speaking about Jesus, proclaiming Jesus?
What kind of faith is that? What kind of followers does that make us? See, when Jesus healed those men, their response was to what? To follow Jesus. Where was he headed? To Jerusalem to be betrayed, arrested, beaten, ridiculed, tortured, and killed. Hmm—how about following Jesus through that?
Do we believe what God has said about Himself in His Word or do we not? Those are the two choices…there are only two. If we believe Him, then whatever comes our way by being faithful is worth it—He holds the whole world in His hands, and He holds the eternity of all those who belong to Him.
What is it that you need Jesus to do for you? What condition of your life needs to be changed so that you can follow Him faithfully and surely? What is it that is blinding you to the truth? What is it that stands in the way of you having the joy of the Lord as your strength?
These two blind men experienced an ancient promise of God from Jeremiah 29:13: “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Are you seeking Him with your whole heart?
Remember—Jesus may only pass by one time—and it is that one time that a person needs to reach out for Him. He may not ever be back this way. There may not be another chance.
Today is the day to call out to Jesus for His mercy. You may not have another chance. There is no human cure for blindness—either kind. Both take the healing power of Jesus Christ to be cured.
Let’s pray.
