INTRODUCTION:

1. Our Lord was on His way to Jerusalem, where He would soon be crucified (18:31-34).
2. On the way, He passed through Jericho (18:35; 19:1, 2).
3. All three of the synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – record this story, and they are all a little bit different.
4. For example, Mark 10:46 and Matthew 20:29 say, our Lord went out of Jericho with his disciples, while Luke 18:35 says, “And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho…”
5. Skeptics have pounced on this apparent contradiction, and have used it as an opportunity to criticize the Word of God. However, there is no contradiction because there were in fact two Jericho's.
6. There was the old city of Jericho destroyed by Joshua, which continued to exist as a small village. And there was the new city of Jericho built more than a mile south of the old Jericho. Beggars often roamed back and forth between the two towns.
7. Blind beggars were common in our Lord’s day, and still are today. In his book, Word Pictures in the New Testament, A.T. Robertson quotes an American missionary in the Middle East, William McClure Thomson: “I once walked the streets counting all that were either blind or had defective eyes, and it amounted to about one-half the male population. The women I could not count, for they are rigidly veiled” (The Land and the Book).
8. A.T. Robertson said, “The dust, the glare of the sun, the unsanitary habits of the people spread contagious eye-diseases” (Word Pictures in the New Testament).
9. Matthew mentions two blind men (Matthew 20:30). Mark and Luke mention only one, and only Mark tells us that his name was Bartimaeus.
10. The Scofield Study Bible says, “Bartimaeus, the active one of the two, the one who cried, ‘Jesus, thou Son of David,’ is specifically mentioned by Mark. Of the other one of the ‘two,’ we know nothing. The healing described by Luke 18:35 occurred before Jesus entered Jericho…The narratives therefore supplement, but in no way contradict each other.”
11. All three accounts emphasize the blind man’s cry for help, and our Lord’s immediate response to his cry (Luke 18:38-43).

1. THE BLIND MAN HEARD ABOUT JESUS
2. THE BLIND MAN CRIED OUT TO JESUS
3. THE BLIND MAN WAS HEALED BY JESUS

 

I. THE BLIND MAN HEARD ABOUT JESUS

1. This blind man was sitting by the side of the road begging, when he heard that Jesus was passing by (18:35-37).
2. There were “a great number of people” (Mark 10:46) in the crowd that day. There was a great “multitude” (Luke 18:36) of people because there was a steady flow of people passing through Jericho on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover.
3. Undoubtedly many of these people were talking about Jesus.
4. Luke 18:36 says, “And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.” He could not see the large crowd, but he could hear them all talking.
5. “And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by” (Luke 18:37).

 

II. THE BLIND MAN CRIED OUT TO JESUS (18:38, 39).

1. The fact that this blind man addressed Jesus as the “Son of David” (a Messianic title) shows that he recognized Him as the Messiah (18:38, 39).
2. Consider the contrast. To the crowd of people, Jesus was simply, “Jesus of Nazareth” (18:37), but the blind man recognized our Lord as “Jesus, the son of David” (19:38, 39), i.e., the Messiah.
3. Calling our Lord, “the Son of David” indicates that the blind man must have heard reports about Jesus, and He must have believed those reports – i.e., that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Son of God (cf. Luke 20:39-44).
4. “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” (Romans 10:14).
5. It has been pointed out that as a Jew, this blind man had the right to appeal to Jesus by the title “Son of David.”
6. The Syrophenician woman cried out to Jesus, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil” (Matt. 15:22).
7. But she was not Jewish. She was a Gentile, and our Lord answered her by saying, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24).
8. But after her persistent, importunate praying, our Lord commended her and said, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt” (Matt. 15:28).
9. “And her daughter was made whole from that very hour” (Matt. 15:28b).
10. The blind man called out to Jesus (18:38, 39). And the Lord commended him too (Luke 18:42).
11. Joel 2:32 says, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD (Jehovah) shall be delivered.”
12. On the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted Joel, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).
13. The apostle Paul also quotes this Scripture in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).
14. This blind man called on the Lord and he was saved, and he was healed (18:42).
15. Psalm 146:8 says, “The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind.”
16. The blind man cried out, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me” (19:38, 39), and the Lord opened his blinded eyes.
17. There are several Old Testament prophecies that promised that the Messiah would give eyesight to the blind. Isaiah 29:18 says, “And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.”
18. Isaiah 35:5 says, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.”
19. Isaiah 42:7 says, “To open the blind eyes.”
20. Isaiah 42:18 says, “Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.”
21. Restoring eyesight to the blind were signs and proof that Jesus was the promised Messiah (cf. Luke 4:18; 7:22).
22. “And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me” (18:39).
23. Mark 10:48 says, “And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”
24. Their rebukes only intensified his cries – “he cried so much the more” (Luke 18:39).
25. Like the Syrophenician woman, his was a persistent faith. He would not give up. Jesus said, “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Luke 11:9, 10).

 

III. THE BLIND MAN WAS HEALED BY JESUS

1. Our Lord heard the blind man’s cry (18:40).
2. How wonderful those words must have sounded to this blind man – “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee” (18:42, 43).
3. Mark 10:49 says, “And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.”
4. “Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee” (Mark 10:49). Only Mark records these encouraging words.
5. The blind man immediately responded to our Lord’s call. Mark 10:50 says he cast away his garment, and he rose, and he came to Jesus.
6. He cast off his outer garment, probably because he did not want to trip over it in his haste.
7. Our Lord said, “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” (Luke 18:41).
8. Our Lord knew what the blind man wanted. Our Lord wanted the blind man to make a public confession of his need and his faith.
9. The blind man replied, “Lord, that I may receive my sight” (18:41b).
10. The blind man believed that our Lord could heal him, and so our Lord did heal him.
11. The blind man had unwavering faith. James 1:6 says, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
12. “Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee” (18:42) – saved both physically and spiritually.
13. “And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way” (Mark 10:52). Immediately the blind man joined our Lord and the group of travelers heading toward Jerusalem.

One sat alone beside the highway begging
His eyes were blind the light he could not see.
He clutched his rags, and shivered in the shadows.
Then Jesus came and bade His darkness flee.

When Jesus comes, the tempter’s power is broken;
When Jesus comes, the tears are wiped away,
He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory,
For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay. — Oswald J. Smith

 

CONCLUSION:

1. Our Lord was on His way to Jerusalem. Soon He would be crucified. He would never pass that way again. It was now or never for that poor blind man.
2. Many sinners – lost and spiritually blind – let opportunities pass them by. Like the rich young ruler who walked away from Jesus (18:23, 24). Jesus told him, “Come, follow me” (18:22), but he walked away.
3. Spurgeon said, “Did you notice that word, ‘Jesus of Nazareth passeth by’? He is not stopping; He is passing by, for He is going on towards the walls of Jericho to pass through its gates. Blind man, it is now or never, for He is passing by! He has come up to where you are! Cry to Him now! He has passed you, but cry to Him now, man; He is long past, but He can yet hear you. Cry to Him now!”