Two Blind Beggars

Transcript

GR 716
8/11/1985
The Two Blind Beggars
Matthew 20:29-34
Gil Rugh

At the close of Matthew 20, the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ is drawing to an end. Matthew 21 begins with the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and the events of the last week of Jesus on earth. In the middle of Matthew 20, Christ talked about the matter of true greatness and honor for a child of God.
The disciples were concerned with the position of honor that they would hold in Christ’s earthly kingdom, and particularly they were concerned with how they might acquire positions of greatness in that kingdom. Jesus took this occasion to explain to them that the road to greatness before His Father and the way to greatness in His kingdom is by serving other believers, by giving of yourself and of your life to other people. Rather than being concerned about being great, the disciples needed to be occupied with how they could serve one another and give of themselves for other people.
This is really the matter of true love. True biblical love has at its heart giving of yourself. It is self-sacrificing. It is doing what is best for someone else regardless of the cost or the expense to yourself. Jesus Christ used Himself as the example of this. Matthew 20:28, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” The great testimony of love is Jesus Christ giving His own life to provide our redemption.
This kind of love and this kind of attitude is diametrically opposed to our fallen sinful human nature. Corrupt human nature has, as its basic characteristic, selfishness. We like to see everything in light of ourselves, in light of what we like, what we want, how we feel, how we are affected. But Christ said you have to turn your thinking completely around and begin to look at life in light of how this affects others. You need to ask yourself how you can more effectively help others be what God wants them to be. When you do that, you are indeed reflecting the attitude that Jesus Christ had when He came and gave Himself for you. Believers are to be a unique people, people who are investing their lives in other people and giving of themselves for others regardless of the cost.
On the night before He was betrayed, a conversation took place between Christ and His disciples. In John 13:34, 35 Christ said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Remember, a disciple is to be like his master, a pupil like his teacher. Therefore, the characteristic of our master and our teacher is self-giving love, and that characteristic and quality of life should be seen in every person who is a follower of His. That should mark His followers as unique and belonging to Him.

In John 15:12 Jesus said, “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” Note the connection that Christ made: I want you to love each other just like I love you, and the greatest demonstration of love is giving of your life for someone else. John later wrote in his first epistle, “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). The pattern of sacrificial giving of ourselves for others is to be an outstanding characteristic and quality of everyone who is truly a child of God.
In this context Matthew recorded the last public miracle of Jesus Christ. This is not the last miracle Christ did, but it was His last public miracle done in the presence of the crowds. This miracle demonstrated clearly His power and presented Him as Messiah of Israel, which all the miracles were intended to do. But this miracle also focused on Jesus Christ as the One who was serving others and the One whose characteristics of love, compassion and mercy were demonstrated to those who were in need. This miracle focused on people in need and the person of the Savior.
Matthew 20:29 gives the setting, “As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.” This was the only recorded visit of Jesus Christ to Jericho although it is possible He would have passed through Jericho on previous visits. As He was journeying down from Galilee in the north, He came through Jericho on the way up to Jerusalem and a great crowd of people followed Him.
Since this happened in the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, just before the events of the crucifixion and the crucifixion occurred at Passover in Jerusalem, there would have been great multitudes coming to Jerusalem for the observance of Passover. The Passover was one of those feasts in Israel which drew people from all over the land to Jerusalem for its celebration. As Jesus journeyed down from the north and came through Jericho, a large number of people gathered around Him. He had been ministering on earth for about three years, and His reputation had spread far and wide. Even though many did not believe in Him, they had heard of Him and were still interested. This is similar to when a celebrity or a famous person arrives in town today, people want to gather around and look at the celebrity and hear what he says and how he talks and see what he looks like. So a crowd had gathered as Jesus walked on through Jericho to go to Jerusalem.

That was the setting when Jesus Christ met two blind, destitute beggars. “And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, ‘Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!’” (Matt. 20:30). This miracle is recorded in all three synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. Mark recorded the fullest account; as was his practice, he gave the most details. Mark and Luke centered in on only one of the blind beggars, they didn’t mention there were two; they were occupied with just one. Mark identified him as Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus.
Blindness was a common affliction in biblical times in that part of the world. It was an affliction that reduced the person to a beggar, sitting in the dust and dirt of the roadside, hoping that people in pity would give them enough to sustain them. These two men, destitute beggars, evidenced a great confidence and faith in the person and power of Jesus Christ.
Jericho is a city that has close proximity to Jerusalem. In fact it was used as a summer residence of the Herods. Many people from Jerusalem would be going and coming through Jericho, and much of Jesus’ teaching and His miracles would have been talked about in Jericho. After three years of earthly ministry, Jesus’ reputation had spread. Evidently the beggars had heard much of Him and were convinced of two things: First, that He is the Messiah of Israel, note how they addressed Him. “Lord . . . Son of David.” That is a Messianic title or name for Christ. In Mark 12 Christ discussed this in some detail, talking about what it meant to be the Son of David.
This Messianic title goes back to 2 Samuel 7:12, 13 where part of the Davidic Covenant was given, God entered into a covenant with David and his descendants. There it tells about the son of David who will sit on the throne of Israel and rule and reign in glory. “Son of David” is a reference out of that passage to the Messiah, a reference to the descendant of David who will be the Messiah of Israel.
Thus when these beggars cried out, “Son of David,” it was another way of crying out “Messiah of Israel. ” This showed remarkable faith on the part of the two blind beggars, remarkable in light of the fact that when the Messiah would come, He would bring political deliverance to the nation of Israel. That deliverance had not occurred even after three years of ministry. The Messiah would bring physical restoration to the land so that the desert would blossom like a rose. The beggars were still sitting in the dusty road of Jericho. The Messiah would remove the physical afflictions of the people of Israel, and yet these were still two blind beggars. Yet they had the conviction and faith from what they had heard that this was really the Messiah that had been promised in the Old Testament. They not only had the confidence that He was the Messiah, but they had full faith that as the Messiah He had power. So what was their cry? “Have mercy on us.” They were asking for Him to intervene on their behalf. They did not say, “Son of David,
You are obligated to heal us, ” but “Son of David, have mercy on us! ”
The faith of these blind men had a foundation in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Their conviction was that Christ was indeed the Messiah of Israel and that the Messiah of Israel had power to meet their needs. Isaiah 29:18, speaking of the days of the Messiah, says, “On that day the deaf shall hear words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.” In the days of the Messiah the deaf ears would be able to hear again and the blind eyes would see. They knew that Isaiah prophesied that, in the presence of Messiah, there would be physical restoration for the children of the nation. Isaiah 35 begins with the desert blossoming like a rose, again in the days of the Messiah. “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy” (Isaiah 35:5).
So on the basis of their faith that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel, they believed what the Old Testament said about the Messiah: That He was the One who has the power to bring deliverance, spiritual salvation and physical deliverance. So they cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on us! ” It is also remarkable to consider that the leaders of the nation of Israel, the spiritual leaders who had been privileged to sit under the ministry of Christ and see the mighty miracles of Christ, refused to believe in Him. But these two blind beggars at the close of the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ were convinced by what they had heard that this was the Messiah of Israel who could heal them and make them well.
But there was an obstacle. I don’t believe anyone ever comes to Christ without obstacles, people who stand in the way and attempt to keep them from Christ. The multitudes that were with Christ attempted to silence these blind beggars. “The crowd sternly told them to be quiet” (Matt. 20:31). All three gospel accounts say the same thing. The reaction of the multitude was to be firm with these blind men and tell them to be quiet. I think it’s amazing that a crowd of people who have had the opportunity to walk in the presence of Christ, to converse with Him, to hear Him teach and watch Him work, were totally indifferent and unconcerned about the needs of these beggars. They were totally absorbed in their privilege. And what an intrusion! What audacity, that these filthy, dirty, smelly, blind beggars should think that their time with Christ should be interrupted so that the beggars could get special attention! The beggars should have realized that this was an important person and that He was talking about important things! The beggars want to interrupt this important discussion for special attention! It took a lot of nerve on the part of these beggars to think that Christ would be interested in them.
Note two things about this crowd. Number one, they were an obstacle to these blind men. It was necessary for these blind beggars to ignore what the people around them told them so that they could come to Christ. That is a good reminder of people today. Those around often become the obstacles--family and friends. They are often the ones telling us why we ought not to become involved in that religious stuff, giving you reasons why you ought to stay in the family’s religion, telling you to be careful about those who want to convert you to Christ. Those around us can often be the greatest obstacles.
Secondly, note that those who were around Christ had become callous and failed to understand why Christ really came. They were walking along in that crowd with Christ, but they failed to appreciate and understand and remember why He came! In Matthew 20:28, Jesus had said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” He came to meet the needs of the helpless and the hopeless. He was the physician who could meet their needs.

Sometimes even we as believers forget that great fact. We get so absorbed with our walk with the Lord that the spiritual beggars of this world become an imposition. I can become so wrapped up in my walk with the Lord, in what the Lord can do for me and how I want to be faithful to Him, that I forget that He came to meet the needs of fallen, sinful men. I fail to see them as Christ sees them. It is a testimony to these blind men that their faith was a true faith, because they were persistent. They were not about to be put off by the opposition of the crowd.
In fact, I love the way it’s recorded: “The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!’” (Matt. 20:31). The beggars were urgent. The multitude did not understand their urgency, but the beggars realized that it was overwhelmingly important that they meet Jesus Christ right then! The crowd wanted them to be quiet and settle down, to stop interrupting. But the blind men realized that this was their opportunity. Luke’s Gospel says that the blind men heard the crowd and they wondered what was going on so they inquired, first of all about the crowd and the noise. They were told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. They knew that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of David, the Messiah of Israel! They realized they had a special and unique opportunity, and they were not about to be put off by the indifference of the crowd.
It was a good thing they did not let the opportunity go by, for Jesus would never walk through Jericho again. Think about that! Two blind beggars had a special, unique opportunity that would never be repeated. The multitudes were indifferent. They did not understand the uniqueness of this occasion for these two blind men. But the beggars were not about to let the opportunity go by so they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
In Matthew 20:32, Jesus responded to them: “And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’” Mark added more detail. Mark 10:49, 50 that “And Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him here.’ So they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.’ Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus.” Mark was only occupied with one of the blind men, Bartimaeus. A total change took place as Jesus stopped and took notice of their cry and told the multitude to get him. The crowd told the blind man that He was calling for them. That made an impact on the blind men. Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak and went to Jesus. A cloak was very important to a blind beggar. He wrapped himself in it as he sat by the road; it was his protection. But Bartimaeus cast it aside! He was not worried about his cloak, his measly, earthly possession! He didn’t spend a few minutes to get himself in order. No! He jumped up and was brought to Christ.
Christ addressed him with a striking question, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The Son of David, the Lord of glory, was standing face to face with these blind men and He asked,
“What do you want Me to do for you?” What a question! It focused their attention on their great need.
What do you think went through their mind? Do you think they stopped to think, how would I like to be rich? Lord, give me wealth to live like Herod lives. Maybe even give me his palace here in Jericho, wouldn’t that be something? Lord, make me famous. Lord, give me power to rule over those who have ignored me as I begged by the road. None of these things are really important, are they? What really mattered to these blind beggars? Their sight. So when Christ asked, what do you want Me to do for you, the answer was clear and simple: “They said to Him, ‘Lord, we want our eyes to be opened’” (Matt. 20:33). What a request! Standing in the presence of a man they have never seen, a man they have never met, and without reservation they asked Him to give sight to their blinded eyes. This request was evidence of the great faith of these blind beggars. This was greater faith than was found in the religious leaders of the nation of Israel.
Matthew records the great compassion of Christ, “Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him” (Matt. 20:34).
Jesus would have been anticipating the events that lay in the days ahead of Him, the suffering at Jerusalem, but the Son of Man was not occupied with Himself and His needs, but rather with the needs of those He came to serve. He was moved with compassion, and with a touch, with a word, He restores sight to these blinded eyes.
Another Gospel account tells that Jesus said, “Andgo your way. ” But all three gospel accounts record that the men followed Him. It would be natural. This One that they recognized and trusted as the Messiah and by whose power they have been healed, they followed Him. It may well be that Bartimaeus stood out among the faithful followers of Christ and that was why his name was recorded in Mark’s account. But nonetheless, they travel the road to Jerusalem with Christ.
This was a remarkable event. Why has the Spirit of God directed that this be the last public miracle recorded of Christ? There are a couple of things that stand out about it. First, it again and finally demonstrated for the public, if you will, for the nation as a nation, that Jesus was their Messiah. That Isaiah 29, Isaiah 35, and Isaiah 53 were fulfilled in Him. He was the One with power to restore and bring healing and wholeness to the nation.
But I think perhaps in the healing of blindness there was a clear parallel being drawn to the spiritual condition of the nation. Did you know that Jesus Christ is the only person in the Bible who is recorded as healing the blind? That is the most often recorded miracle of Christ’s earthly Ministry, the healing of the blind. There is a picture in physical blindness of the spiritual blindness that characterized the nation of Israel at this time, the inability to see and perceive and understand spiritual truth and spiritual reality.
In Matthew 15 Jesus made this connection. Jesus talked about worship in the nation of Israel and the spiritual leaders in the nation of Israel and His conclusion was that their worship was conducted in the realm of darkness, in the realm of blindness. Israel had spiritual leaders who had no perception of spiritual truth and spiritual reality leading, and the leaders were leading people who had no perception and no understanding of spiritual truth and spiritual reality. In Matthew 15:14 Jesus said, “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” It was characteristic of the nation, they were in spiritual blindness; they had no ability to perceive and recognize and grasp spiritual truth. The result was a catastrophe and disaster for them all.

These blind men, Bartimaeus and his friend, had to recognize and acknowledge their true condition. What a futile thing it would have been for them to sit by the road as Jesus passed by and talk about images they conjured up in their minds, pretending they could see because they had a picture in their minds of what they thought the physical world was like. Yet that is the way the nation was spiritually, pretending it could see, pretending it understood, pretending it had spiritual understanding; but it was spiritually blind and destitute.
Jesus addressed an interesting message to the Church at Laodicea in Revelation 3. He noted that this church had an unrealistic spiritual perception. Revelation 3:17, 18 says, “Because you say,
„I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see.” Jesus told them that they did not really see that they were spiritually blind and spiritual beggars.
In Matthew 20 Jesus healed these physically blind beggars who were sitting by the road and who revealed clearly the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel, but the nation of Israel was unwilling to confront their condition. People today are just as unwilling to face up to it. Good, upstanding, religious people do not want to admit that in reality they are spiritual beggars before God, blind to spiritual truth and spiritual reality, without hope. They will not face the truth of their sinful condition and until they do, there is no hope. But when they do, as Jesus said to the Church at Laodicea, “I advise you to come to Me. In Me is found everything you need; true wealth and true sight are all found in Me. ”
So the beginning point is to ask yourself, when did I realize that I was a spiritually destitute, blind sinner before God? When did I recognize that I was a sinner without hope? When did I recognize that Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, is the Savior who loved me and died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin? He gave His life that He might ransom me, that I might be redeemed and set free, that I may be cleansed and made whole?
I think that as believers we need to stop and recognize that we walk in the midst of destitute, spiritually blind beggars. Sometimes we are like the indifferent multitude which was surrounding those blind beggars. We become so absorbed with our walk with the Lord. Just like that multitude, we walk with Jesus Christ everywhere we go. He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). We need to keep in mind not only that everywhere I walk I am in the presence of Jesus of Nazareth, not only the Messiah of Israel but the Savior of the world, but that everywhere I walk I am in the midst of destitute, spiritually blind beggars.
In one of the gospel accounts, it is noted that the noise of the crowd caused the beggars to ask what was going on and they were told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. That enabled them to cry out to Him. As I study this passage, I find myself thinking about these blind beggars sitting along the dusty road at Jericho, and I ask myself whether I see the people around me in that condition? You ought to stop and think about a destitute, ragged, blind beggar sitting in the dust of the road, and then that image ought to be in your mind when you see unbelievers around you. That is their true condition.
Jesus described them in Revelation 3. They are destitute; they are blind and without hope. So often we become absorbed in our own lives and in our walk with the Lord that we fail to recognize that those around us have such tremendous needs. We become indifferent to them. I become concerned about learning more about the Bible, about walking more with the Lord, about His using my life, about His working in me, about my growth and sanctification. That is fine, except that I become so absorbed in that little world that walking along with any of the beggars of the world becomes a rude intrusion. I become oblivious to them, and when they are there, they are an inconvenience. It is as if I’m on the road walking with the Lord and then they interrupt me.
We have people all around with such desperate spiritual need. They need to know Jesus of Nazareth. How many unbelievers have I had contact with this past week who do not know Jesus of Nazareth, the One who can cleanse and forgive and heal? And I was there and could introduce them to the One who can heal and make them whole and bring them life. But I never stopped to tell them about Jesus of Nazareth.
Then when we do stop and talk with them, we talk about what kind of day it was, about their family, about their health. We talk about all sorts of things, but we never tell them about Jesus of Nazareth. That is what really matters. How many unbelievers do we stop and talk with, yet we pass the triteness of the day with them but fail to realize they are blind spiritual beggars.
They don’t know that Jesus of Nazareth passes by. He walks with me! I can tell them that there is One here that they need to meet, because when you meet Him, He makes you a new person.
He can meet your every need. I trust God will give us His vision for those around us, those we have contact with, those in hospitals whose lives are coming apart with families that do not know how to respond. They need to learn of Jesus of Nazareth. Those in nursing homes, retirement centers, those whose marriages are being shattered, they all need to learn of Jesus. Those who have been fooled into thinking that they have it all together, we need to see them as spiritual destitute beggars. I am one who is privileged to be walking with Jesus Christ. I need to see myself as one who can tell them about the One who is with me today. I need to be ready to introduce others to Him. I need to tell others that He is the One who can meet your spiritual needs, He is the One who can bring wholeness to your life, and He is the One who can bring forgiveness and cleansing. May God use us to make Jesus Christ known, that His glorious power might work in bringing healing to the spiritual beggars of this world.