“Blind Spots”
Luke 18:35-43
The 1964 Philadelphia Phillies will always be known as one of the great failures in sports history. As they came to the last few weeks of their season they were in first place. Then they lost a game , then another, 10 games in a row and they blew it. But they also had some every memorable moments including a perfect game.
But perhaps the most remarkable moment of their entire season occurred after a game, not during it. Clay Dalrymple, a pitcher was asked to assist a blind girl who had requested a chance to walk out on the field. He took her to home plate where she reached down and felt the plate. Then they walked to first, 2nd and 3rd bases before ending up at home plate once again.
While Dalrymple was showing the girl around the bases he never noticed that their were still quite a few fans remaining in the stadium and they had stopped to watch he and the girl. He was so involved in helping her that he didn’t realize people were still there watching. But when the two of them finally reached home plate, the ball park just exploded. He was shocked by the applause. When he looked up thousands of fans gave him a standing ovation. Later Dalrymple told a Sports Illustrated reporter that it was the biggest ovation he had ever had.
Listen to what Max Lucado writes about one particular man who was blind. For 51 years Bob Edens was blind. He couldn’t see a thing. He felt his way through five decades of darkness. But at age 51 a skilled surgeon performed a very complicated operation and for the first time Bob Edens could see. He found it to be overwhelming. “I never would have dreamed that yellow is so “yellow.” I don’t have the words. I am amazed at yellow. I can see the shape of the moon and I like nothing better than watching the sunrise and set. And at night I look at the stars in the sky. I could never have known how wonderful everything is.
How many of you have ever had to place a blindfold on and have a friend lead you somewhere. It is not the best position to be in. Yet that is exactly what it is like for thousands of people who are born blind. Imagine what that would be like.
Luke 18:35-43
Here was a man completely without sight forced to sit by the roadside and beg each day. In his day there was no other way for him to make a living. Suddenly he hears a crowd coming. Sometimes in the gospels one of the writers will give us some details the others do not. This story is found in 3 of the gospels and it is Mark who tells us this man’s name. It is Bartimaeus. The others do not.
Jesus is on a mission here. He is headed to Jerusalem. People are following him and more and more people are joining the crowd as they travel. The caravan is growing. Come and see. Come and see what this man can do. Jesus is approaching the city of Jericho. This is an incredible encounter that takes place here and the Bible tells the story in 4 stages. The first stage is his blindness. V. 35. Blindness was actually a fairly common problem in Palestine. In the city of Lydda the saying was that everyone was either blind or had only one eye. In Jaffa history records that in a town of 5000 people, 500 were blind.
There was a religious stigma against those who were blind. We see this especially in John 9 when another man who was blind was healed the disciples asked Jesus, Rabbi who sinned this man or his parents causing him to be born blind. There was somehow the thought that those who were blind deserved their blindness due to sin in their lives. That is was the consequence of either their sin or the sins of their parents.
So here he sits, Mark tells us he was wearing an old garment; this told people he was a beggar. And I am sure he felt there was nothing he could do to change his life. 2nd Corinthians 4:4. You and I are spiritually blind and there is nothing we can do about it either. We can’t change it. We have one blind spot after another but there’s a problem there-we don’t know we have them. We all have to admit that we are just as blind in a spiritual sense as Bartimaeus was in a physical sense.
Look at v. 36. This man was perceptive. He couldn’t see what was happening but he could hear it. He’s curious. So he asks his question. V. 37 gives us the answer. Jesus is passing by. The person he had heard about was now standing right in front of him.
Stage two. His belief. Notice how he addresses Jesus in v. 38 Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me! This is interesting I think because when he asked what was happening the crowd said Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. The person he had heard about was now right in front of him.
Now that answer basically just tells him where Jesus grew up. It’s like saying I’m frm Arkansas-I like the Razorbacks, I enjoy the mountains but it doesn’t tell you everything about me.
Instead of calling on Jesus as the man from Nazareth, Bartimaeus calls him Jesus, Son of David. This is referring to His Messianic heritage. He is in the line of David, He is the one who the OT has been pointing to as the Savior of the world. This is more than a man from a small town, this is the God-man, the one sent from Heaven to be the Savior of the world. And somehow Bartimaeus knew that.
Stage three. His boldness. Bartimaeus knew that he needed mercy because there was nothing he could do on his own and so he called out to Jesus for mercy. In the first part of v. 39 we see that the crowd of people is annoyed by Bartimaeus. V. 39. Possibly those who were leading the way may have been important city officials in Jericho. They wanted Jesus to see their community. And now they are being interrupted by a beggar so they told him to be quiet.
I love the 2nd half of v. 39 “but he shouted all the more, “Son of David have mercy on me. In the original language here we learn the difference. The first time he spoke in v. 38 it was more like a brief shout. In v. 39 it is more like a scream! Almost like an animal crying out. It was a cry of utter desperation. A bold attempt to get the attention of Jesus. He broke all the cultural rules of etiquette. In no way did he want Jesus to get away. This may be his only chance to be healed.
Let me ask you something. Do you have this same kind of boldness, this same courage when you are asking for God’s help. If not, why not? What’s missing for you? Maybe we’re not bold because we don’t think Jesus will answer or maybe we lack faith to believe that He even can do something.
Hebrews 4:16. Listen, don’t hold back. Be bold. Let God know what you need. As a result of his boldness Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. Mark tells us Bartimaeus threw his cloak aside and jumped to his feet. I sort of picture everyone getting very quiet now in the crowd, especially the ones who had told Bartimaeus to be quiet. Jesus tells the crowd to help him walk over to Him and then Jesus asks Bartimaeus a very interesting question. V. 41. What do you want me to do for you? I think He asks this question for the crowd who gathered. Jesus already knew. He wanted him to verbalize out loud what it was that he wanted. I love the answer, Lord I want to see.
What do you want Jesus to do for you? Maybe it’s time to verbalize it.
Stage 4. His blessing. V. 42. V. 43.
When he got his sight he couldn’t help but praise God. I am so convinced that you and I take many things for granted in life. Sight is one of those things. Because we have been blessed with the ability to see, we don’t know what it is like not to see. A recent news article told the story of a man in Spain who had been blind for 40 years but through a special surgery he regains his sight. For the first time he was able to see his children. Nine children. All 22 of his grandchildren. He was able to see his wife’s face. He said he liked everything he saw until he looked in the mirror. Her’s what he said, “ I thought I would look better but I look really ugly and old!”
We can’t know if Bartimaeus had any grand-kids or if he even owned a mirror but here is what happened: Bartimaeus received sight, then he followed Jesus and then he offered his worship and praise to God. Those who were standing there were also compelled to praise the Lord. Bartimaeus went from darkness to light, from a beggar to a child of the King, from loneliness to having the best friend He could ever have-Jesus. All of this led him to praise the Lord and to lead others to do the same.
What about you today? We have our sight but most of us still have a lot of blind spots. Areas of our life that need to be cleaned up but we don’t notice them.
