From Darkness to Light
“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.” Luke 18:35-43
Intro: Some of the most inspirational people I’ve ever met have been blind.
Marlana Vanhoose was not expected to live past one year.
But God knew better.
God had special plans for Marlana.
I know a man by the name of John Rathborn who is blind.
Who attended church where I grew up.
He has a daughter Angela and a son Mark who is about my age.
When Mark turned 16 he and his dad were pulled over on a country road
by a policeman just about a half mile from his house.
The policeman said to Mark, “I stopped you because you were weaving all over the road.”
He asked Mark for his driver’s license,
All Mark had was his learners permit.
The policeman asked Mark to step out of the car.
Mark was so scared to death, he was just shaking uncontrollably.
When the policeman returned he said he was going to give Mark a warning to be more careful.
but said, thought it would be a good idea if his dad drove the rest of the way home.
Without saying a word John slid over into the drivers seat and he and Mark took off
John weaving side to side worse than Mark.
But they made it home.
The policeman pulled in right behind John
Walked up to the car and asked sir are you alright, you were all over the road?
Without missing a beat John asked, “What do you expect I am blind.”
The policeman let him go, but said, Don’t ever do this again.
In Luke 18 there is a story of a blind man who inspired other people
because of a transformation that Jesus Christ performed in his life.
So let’s read the story and allow Christ to touch the eyes of our hearts.
We’re going to look at three things: His condition, His petition and His transformation.
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I. Bartimaeus’s Condition
Verse 35: “As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.”
Mark’s Gospel identifies this man’s name as Bartimaeus.
Matthew says that he also had a companion who was healed.
Matthew 20:30 says, “two blind men sitting by the way side.”
Now some point to this story as one of the places where the Bible contradicts itself,
Also, Luke says that Jesus was coming into Jericho when he met Bartimaeus
and Mark says he was leaving Jericho.
But archeologists have discovered that there were two Jericho’s,
an old Jericho and a new Jericho.
So, Jesus could easily be leaving the old Jericho and about to enter the new Jericho.
But regardless of where he was or if he had another friend with him, Bartimaeus’ condition was real.
I once asked John Rathborn “What do you miss the most about not being able to see?”
He said, I would like to see my wife’s face.
I have never seen her face except by touch.
Then I would like to see each of my two children.
He said, “If God gave me three minutes of eyesight,
I would spend one minute with my wife, and one minute with each child.”
Wouldn’t it be tragic not to be able to see your wife’s face or not to be able to see your children’s face.
But it was much more tragic in the First Century when there were
no telephones,
no trained dogs,
no books on tape,
no brail,
no computers that talk back
and no sidewalk to serve as guided paths to a destination.
People were probably much less sympathetic.
There was no government assistance,
so a person who was blind was destined to do what this man did:
He sat daily by the roadside and just begged for a handout so he could survive.
But do you know what?
As bad as physical blindness is, there is something worse and that is spiritual blindness.
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2 Corinthians 4:4 says, “The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers,
so that they cannot see the light of the gospel.”
Satan’s work is to deceive,
The devil tries to blind people and lure them away from believing in Jesus.
He has a bag full of tricks.
One of the tricks the devil uses is to try to keep us from seeing the treasure of the Gospel.
We are so blessed
We have so much that God has given us to be thankful for.
But the devil blinds people from seeing the 98 good things in their life
by worries them into focusing in on the 1 or 2 things in life that haven’t been worked out.
We sometimes use the expression, “You’re blind as a bat.”
That means you don’t know what’s going on right in front of you.
The bat has an erratic flight pattern
But now we know that bats have a sophisticated built-in sonar system.
Yet how many times do we not see what is right in front of us?
I read about a college girl who brought her boyfriend home for her parents to meet.
He had orange, spiked hair and knife strapped to his belt loop.
The concerned mother took her daughter aside and said, “Honey, is he nice?”
She said, “Of course, Mother, he’s nice.
If he wasn’t nice, why would he be doing five hundred hours of community service?” (Laughter)
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Romans 11:8 speaks of people who are in a spiritual stupor, with eyes that could not see
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Romans 11:8 speaks of people who are in a spiritual stupor, with EYES that could not see
They have eyes to see but they do not see spiritually.
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Romans 11:7 “What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain.
The elect among them did, but the others were hardened,”
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Romans 11:7 “What then? What the people of Israel sought so earnestly they did not obtain.
The elect among them did, but the others were HARDENED,”
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Original Word: p???s??, e??, ? Transliteration: pórósis Phonetic Spelling: (po'-ro-sis)
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Short Definition: hardness of heart
Here is where the message of the Gospel became so difficult for many to hear and see.
Israel had failed to grasp and understand who Jesus was but the Gentiles did.
It is strange that the people who should have been the most spiritually enlightened
We the most blind.
When people refuse to hear God’s Good News
They eventually will be unable to understand it.
Paul saw this happening to the Jewish people.
Paul had a vision where the church was filled with Jews and Gentiles
Where there was love for all people.
Paul’s vision was one of a united church.
In John 1:5 Jesus said, “The light shines in the darkness but the darkness has not understood it.”
These people can read the Bible but they don’t comprehend it.
They hear a sermon and it goes over their head.
I think people walking in spiritual darkness hear about sin and a Savior and being born again,
but they really don’t compute it in their hearts.
They are intellectually capable but they are not interested enough or are maybe too embarrassed to ask.
They cannot see that they are sinful and in need of forgiveness.
They cannot see that they’re going to die someday and stand before a Holy God.
They cannot see that Jesus died for them personally on the cross and wants to forgive them and to empower them to live forever.
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1 Corinthians 2:14 says: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
You see, Satan has pulled a veil over their face and they do not understand or see the truth.
People who are spiritually blind sometimes hate the light.
Jesus said in John 3, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.”
You know what it’s like to be asleep in a dark room and,
all of a sudden, somebody turns on a bright light.
It hurts your eyes
you wince
you squint
you may even get angry at the person who turned the light on. “Turn it off!”
Spiritually, people who are in darkness want to turn off the truth.
Sometimes they get angry and hostile even at the exposure of the truth.
The world prefers the darkness over the light.
Plato once said,
“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark.
The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
John 12:35: “Jesus told them, ‘You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.’”
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People who are spiritually blind don’t know where they’re going.
And when people are in spiritual darkness, they’re groping for any kind of light or any kind of handle to give meaning to light that they can find.
One of the recent spiritual craze has been called feng shui. “fung shway.”
Feng shui is Mandarin Chinese for “wind and water”
and it’s the idea that buildings, landscapes, layouts, passageway and colors
are conduits for certain kinds of spiritual energy.
If the occupant gets the feng shui right, they believe that success is inevitable.
So it makes a big difference in the value of people’s homes,
Especially in property values in places like California.
Not long ago an issue of Time Magazine described the growing influence of feng shui on corporations like Meryl Lynch and other financial institutions.
They’ve hired consultant to help them improve their energy flow.
In hopes for success in their financial flow.
This shows how desperate people get in the darkness.
“When a person quits believing in God, he doesn’t believe in nothing. He believes in anything.”
The opposite of Christianity isn’t atheism;
its superstition and a blind faith in any fad that happens along the way.
What all this really shows is our culture’s spiritual confusion born out of its abandonment of biblical faith.
The man who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he is going and he’s groping for some light.
People who are spiritually blind can lead other people astray.
Jesus called the Pharisees in Matthew 15 “blind guides”
and he said, “If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
A few years ago when I first went on the Board of Henderson Settlement over in Franks Kentucky
I had no idea that the GPS would not work over in those mountains.
So welcoming all the new members of the Board the meeting finally finished.
After we finished I got in the car—the first one out—and I just started to try and find my own way.
Ten minutes later I was back at where I started,
and I looked in the rearview mirror and two other cars were following me all the way through.
It was two other new board members.
They thought I knew. You talk about the blind leading the blind!
It seems strange that people who don’t know where they are going
are able to persuade other people to follow,
but they do.
Those who are spiritually blind don’t understand the light.
They hate the light.
They don’t know where they are going, but they can persuade other people to follow.
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II. Bartimaeus’s Petition
Verse 36: “When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, ‘Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.’”
Well, Bartimaeus was physically blind but one day he made a desperate petition to Jesus.
Now he was alert to the opportunity.
The rumors were all over the place that this prophet from Nazareth was healing people,
I think every disabled person in a hundred mile radius was buzzing about
what it would be like to meet Jesus and to be healed by him.
And Bartimaeus probably had a keen sense of hearing.
He detected an unusual amount of traffic on the road that day, and he said, “What’s going on?”
“Jesus of Nazareth is coming!” he was told.
And his heart leaped in his throat!
Here is the opportunity he had fantasized about for months.
Jesus came unexpectedly, unannounced, and there was probably a one minute window of opportunity.
But it could make all the difference in the world for him.
You know, the first step in coming to the spiritual light is to recognize the opportunity that’s at hand.
Maybe the Lord has come unexpectedly into your life.
Maybe you just got invited to this church
And before you realize what was happening you found yourself here once again.
You had no intention of actually listening to the sermon
What started out as curiosity,
Now has you sitting on the edge of your seat and think, “Could this be true?”
Can Jesus actually heal the blind?
Can Jesus actually forgive sin?
Can Jesus actually change my life and make a difference in me?
I have talked with many people about being baptized.
Baptism is a big decision.
[“You are born for the moment when you will be born again.”]
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Bartimaeus saw the chance, and he called out to Jesus for mercy.
Luke 18:38, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Now the title “Son of David” was an Old Testament prophecy of the coming Messiah.
Bartimaeus was acknowledging that Jesus was the Anointed One of God,
and he pleaded for mercy, which is “exemption from my deserved punishment.”
Bartimaeus came with no pomp or circumstance.
He did not boast that he had kept all the commandments.
He knew he was asking for something that he didn’t deserve because he was a sinner.
A man was walking down the streets of San Francisco where he saw a number of beggars,
and each beggar would have some kind of sign trying to get attention from people:
“I’ll work for food.
Disabled with three children.
Vietnam vet.”
He saw one beggar that had a sign, “Why lie? It’s for beer.” (Laughter)
The man gave him some money
He felt like at least this guy was honest, so he gave him some money.” (More laughter)
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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
At least Bartimaeus started out with honesty.
He didn’t claim to deserve healing;
he simply pleaded for mercy.
One of the initial steps in coming to Jesus Christ and letting the light shine is to be honest
in our admission of sin and our need for forgiveness.
Earlier in this same chapter of Luke, Jesus told about two men who went to the temple to worship.
One was a Pharisee who boasted about how good he was.
“I tithe.
I fast twice a week.
I’m not a thief like this tax collector.”
And the tax collector would not so much as lift his eyes up to heaven, but he beat on his breast,
Jesus said, and he cried out, “Oh, God! Be merciful to me, a sinner.”
And Jesus said, “That tax collector went away justified, rather than the other;
because whoever exalts himself will be abased, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
You can fool men, but you cannot fool God.
So don’t try to con God with a holier than thou attitude of good works.
Come to him admitting,
“I have sinned. I have fallen short of your will. I have been spiritually blind and I need mercy.”
There may be some who have been coming to this church for many many years,
It would not hurt if you made a trip down to the altar this morning
And spent some time praying with Jesus here at this altar.
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Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”
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Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
but whoever CONFESSES AND RENOUNCES them finds mercy.”
I have never stood in the pulpit and claimed to be without sin.
Except to say that I have a daily relationship with the one who is perfect.
The Perfect Son of God, the Perfect Lamb of God who takes away my sin.
I have often knelt at the altar and repented and wept,
and have always found God to be more than willing to forgive me.
God is more than willing to forgive you this morning as well.
Bartimaeus persevered despite opposition.
“Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet.”
You know what?
If you begin to come to the light of Jesus Christ,
there will be some people who try to prevent it.
They’ll say, “You don’t need to go to the altar to talk with Jesus.”
They are right.
You don’t have to come down to the front and be at an altar in order to spend some time with God.
But I have found that is a good place for that to happen.
I believe there are others who will agree with me
That the altar is a good place start.
Bartimaeus would not be denied. He redoubled his efforts.
Verse 39 says, “He shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’”
And Jesus honored that perseverance. Verse 40, “He stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him.”
Jesus could never resist a cry for help or a plead for mercy.
And Bartimaeus casts aside his cloak;
he jumps to his feet
and for a brief moment in time this blind beggar has the undivided attention
of the one who hung the moon and the stars and put the light of the sun in its place.
Then Jesus asked him when he came near, “What do you want me to do for you?”
“What do you want me to do for you?”
Don’t you just love Jesus Christ?
I mean, he never forced his power on people.
Here he asked him, “What can I do for you?”
Think about that, the Son of God being a servant to a blind beggar. “How can I help you?”
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Notice Bartimaeus requested specific assistance from Jesus. “Lord, I want to see.” “I want to see.”
Jesus knew what those four, short words meant.
I want out of the dungeon of this darkness.
I want to get off the roadside.
I want to walk the streets of Jericho without running into walls.
I want to look in the shops.
I want to find my way to the synagogue.
I want to use my hands for something besides feeling my way in the dark.
I want to fix my own meals.
I want to wave at somebody across the way.
I want to read.
I want to smile at children, pat their heads and wish them well. Lord, I want to see.”
Do you want see?
You know, if we’re going to be transformed by the Lord from darkness to light,
it’s helpful to specify exactly what needs to be changed.
If Jesus asked you today, “How can I help you?” What would you say?
“Oh, Lord, take away the darkness of this sin and the blindness of these eyes.”
“Oh, Lord, I want a stronger faith. Remove my dark doubts.”
“I want more courage, Lord.
I want to quit blindly catering to other people’s opinions of me.”
“Lord, I want to be sober.
Take away my dark addictions.”
Take away my dark habits.
“Lord, I want to love my family and my spouse.
Would you take away my dark blinders and help me to see all the good and positive in them?”
Bartimaeus made this bold petition: “Lord, I want to see.”
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III. Bartimaeus’s Transformation
And he experienced a dramatic transformation. Verse 42, “Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.”
Think of that! In a twinkling of an eye, he went from darkness to light.
He was once blind;
then, all of a sudden, he could see.
And do you know the first thing he saw was not the buildings of Jericho,
not the blue sky with the clouds,
not the amazed faces of the crowd?
I think the first thing he saw was the face of Jesus Christ.
There he saw the tenderness and the love in the eyes of the king.
He went from sitting along the road in boredom
to following Jesus with enthusiasm.
His life had been very uneventful,
and now, in the next few days, he witnesses the Triumphal Entry of Jesus
and he witnesses the raising of Lazarus from the dead.
I suspect he witnessed the cleansing of the temple
I believe he saw the crucifixion
and I believe he saw the resurrection.
How his life changed from boredom to excitement!
And if you have been transformed by Jesus Christ and you stay close to him.
This is something the world doesn’t understand,
but some of the most exciting and unforgettable events happening,
happen in the gathering of God’s people.
I’ve been privileged to fly in jet planes to across the country to California, around the world to Israel. Uganda.
I’ve traveled walked the Appalachian trail and seen all kinds of nature.
I’ve watched U.K. basket ball games at Rupp Arena.
I have watched as a man pulled 100 pound catfish out of the water.
But do you know what?
My favorite times are the times in this place with people worshipping God or serving God.
And for people in darkness—they don’t understand that.
But it’s true.
When you follow Jesus Christ the light comes on,
there is an excitement and a joy and a meaning to life you don’t have in the darkness.
He went from being insignificant to influencing others.
“He followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.”
He went from people saying to him,
“Be quiet! Who do you think you are?” to “Look at this guy. Look at what God has done for him.”
And if you allow Jesus Christ to transform you,
he will use you as a light to draw people to himself.
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In John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
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And then he said, “You are the light of the world.
Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify God.”
Here’s a strange thing:
The spiritually blind people don’t understand the light
and sometimes they hate the light,
but they’re still drawn to the light; they’re still intrigued by the light.
If we leave our porch light on at night, all kinds of bugs start being attracted to the light,
and I’ve got to be careful when I go out the front door because those moths, mosquitoes and all those gnats will start flying in the house where there is more light.
They come out of the darkness into the light.
If I want the moths to come,
I don’t have to go out and have a mating call.
I just turn on the light and they come out of the darkness.
Ann Graham Lotz wrote, “Moths in the midst of darkness are not attracted to more darkness.
They are attracted to the light.
They are hungry for the light.
And people today living in the midst of darkness are not attracted to more darkness;
strangely, they are attracted to the light.”
So let your light shine.
Don’t be ashamed of it—even though some people may seem to hate it or they don’t understand it,
even if you don’t have a dramatic testimony or spectacular things to say.
Just let people see the difference that Christ has made in your life and they’ll be drawn to it.
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1 Peter 2:9 says, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
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1 Peter 2:9 says, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
A PEOPLE BELONGING TO GOD, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
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1 Peter 2:9 says, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS into his wonderful light.”
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1 Peter 2:9 says, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness INTO HIS WONDERFUL LIGHT.”
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1 Peter 2:9 says, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
A PEOPLE BELONGING TO GOD, that you may declare the praises of him who
CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS into his wonderful light.”
INTO HIS WONDERFUL LIGHT.”
“Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face.”
“Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord. Open the eyes of our hearts. We want to see you.”
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What is your Condition?
Blind? Heart Hardened?
Pray: God open my eyes and heart to know you.
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Have you made your petition?
Confession of sin? Renounce sin?
Pray: God forgive my sin and Help me turn from darkness.
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Have you received Transformation?
Spiritually open and alive?
Pray: Search me Lord and change me. Restore me to your image.
As we sing a sign of invitation, there is a sense in which Jesus is passing by.
Don’t spend the rest of your life gathering pennies by the wayside.
Why don’t you leave your cloak and your tin cup and come and let him touch your eyes spiritually to see?
He’ll open your eyes to the wonders that will give you an abundant life.
If you want to give your life to Christ or you want to move your membership to this church,
we invite you to do that now as we stand and sing.
