The Vision of Faith

Series on Luke

V The Imminence of the Kingdom

A Token of Blindness

Text: 18:31-43

Introduction

With the closing verses of chapter 18 we enter a new phase in our study of the gospel according to Luke. We have been looking at the imperatives of the kingdom of God since 9:51. With this prediction of His death Jesus begins to prepare the disciples for the last part of His ministry, the journey to Jerusalem: the imminence of the kingdom. He is seen here entering Jericho down in the Jordan valley. From here on it is uphill both physically and spiritually to Jerusalem and Calvary. Thus there is an historical convergence between our Lord’s announcement of his death and the beginning of the journey which involves the healing of a blind man. But there is another profounder relationship between the announcement and the event. On the one hand the disciples are blind. They do not see the full significance of Jesus’ prediction. They lack the vision of faith. On the other hand the healing of the blind man is not merely a physical wonder; it is, like all Jesus’ miracles, a spiritual lesson. Although the man is blind, in his soul he already has the vision of faith and his healing only illustrates what everyone needs, namely, to have our spiritual blindness healed. We need to be born again so we can see the kingdom of God. We need the vision of faith. In the simplest terms, what is faith? It is the way we see things, and Christian faith is seeing things the way the Bible says they are. For this reason faith is not a meritorious work, nor a human effort, but the gift of God. It is a change in disposition in which we see things differently. Let us look at faith: failing, finding and following.

I Faith Failing

What we see first here is faith failing. When our text says that the disciples did not understand Jesus’ announcement of his impending death and resurrection in verses 31-34 it does not mean that they misunderstood his words, 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. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about. What could be seen and heard with the natural eyes and ears was perfectly clear to them. They knew what he was saying, but they simply did not have a viewpoint in which it made any sense. Surrounded by a generation which believed that the Messiah was a conquering hero, the death of their leader was unthinkable. Furthermore they had no inkling as to how His death could produce victory. The fact that Jesus was preoccupied with his demise made the situation even worse. That the disciples not only failed but continued to fail in understanding is evident even after Jesus’ resurrection for in Luke 24 in Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to the travelers along the Emmaus road, He said to them, How foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory. And beginning with Moses and all the prophets he explained to them what was in all the scriptures concerning himself……and he said to them this is what i told you while i was still with you,everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses,the prophets and the Psalms. This is exactly what Jesus says here in abbreviated form in verse 31! The point here is that the entire Old Testament is dedicated to the understanding that the seed of the woman will bruise the serpent’s head, but will have his heal bruised in the struggle, and that this seed of the woman is Abraham’s seed in whom all nations shall be blessed, and that this seed of the woman is David’s son who will sit on his throne, and that this seed of the woman is the servant of the Lord of whom Isaiah writes, All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The disciples faith failed at this point because they did not understand God’s stated purpose in Scripture. John the Baptist has stated it at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The angel stated it to Joseph, You are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. If you ignore the Bible the same thing will happen to you that happened to the disciples. Faith is simply seeing things the way the Bible says they are. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, and the heart of that viewpoint is a Savior crucified for you.

II Faith Finding

The blind man in verses 35-41 is an example of faith finding, As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 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!” Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. Physical blindness does not deter him. In his soul he sees what the disciples do not. I do not wish to impute to him any great knowledge. I merely want you to understand that God had done a work of grace in his soul. He had the gift of faith. This is seen in two respects. First in his calling Jesus the Son of David. The title “Son of David” was a messianic title. It is used in writings from the middle of the first century BC or approximately 100 years before this incident occurred. It is clear that the spark of true faith in this blind beggar made him acknowledge who Jesus really was. Furthermore, he is incredibly persistent. Others try to silence him, they say be quiet, they reprimand him, they rebuff him, but he cries out at the top of his lungs. Mercy mercy mercy! This is a great object lesson. It tells us again that faith is a way of seeing things that has nothing to do with the amount of information we have. We may have vast knowledge even of the Bible and Christian doctrine and lack faith, because faith is a gift of God. It is a change in our disposition to believe. Paul says it clearly in I Timothy 1:13,14, Even though I was once a blasphemer,and a persecutor , and a violent man, I was shown mercy because i acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Many people are willing to acknowledge that salvation is a gift but they will not draw the proper conclusion from that, namely, that they could not repent or believe until God had already done a work in their heart: a work to which they contributed nothing and a work which they knew nothing about until they did believe. Therefore they must have been chosen to receive this gift, elected, predestined, ordained.

III Faith Following

When the blind man is healed we read in verses 42 and 43, 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. I want you to see here an additional truth taught in this passage. True faith finds, sometimes fails when it ignores God’s Word, but above all it follows. It seizes the opportunity. Jesus passed by this day. The blind man might never have had another chance. He was not about to give it up. It didn’t matter what others said to him or about him. Jesus was all to him. This is the nature of true faith. Each day Jesus passes by and says what do you really want from me. Being who He is He will probably give you what you ask for. Most of us waste our lives in wishful thinking: I wish i was saved, I wish I was successful, I wish i was happy. Bruce Larsen tells the old story of three men in a lifeboat after a shipwreck. A bottle floats by and like aladdin’s lamp it has a genie in it. The genie grants them each one wish. The first man wishes to be back home with his fiancee in New York and immediately he is gone. The second man wishes to return to his family in Los Angeles and he instantly disappears. The third man thinks for a second and says, “I’m so lonely i wish my friends were back again.“ The point is the futility of wishful thinking. Is your life like that? May it stop. Faith seizes the moment. You can say if I have Jesus I have it all. You can say like the apostle Paul, Whether i live or die I am the Lord’s. Like Jesus Paul once said “Behold I go up to Jerusalem,” and he added, “I do not know what will happen to me there,’ but he was anticipating the worst. Nevertheless it was OK because Jesus went their first, and in faith Paul understood that it made it good for him to follow Jesus and Paul would endure anything if he only had Jesus.