Luke 18:31-43 Bible Teaching

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(Corona Virus Quarantine Week Three)
Luke 18.31-end
April 12th 2020
Recorded April 7th 2020

So, after explaining to Peter last week, who asked what they would receive for abandoning everything to follow Jesus, we now read at verse 31 of chapter 18:

31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
33 And they shall scourge him and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:
36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.
38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
39 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.
40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,
41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.
42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

Alright, back to verse 31 where we read:

31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.

Now, you would think that having traveled with Jesus and having been taught by him for three years that the these twelve men would have understood what he meant when he said this.

He took the twelve
He said, Behold we are going up to Jerusalem
(and heres the line I can’t believe didn’t sink in with them)
AND ALL THINGS WHICH WERE WRITTEN BY THE PROPHETS CONCERNING THE SON OF MAN SHALL BE ACCOMPLISHED).

And then he even added:

32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
33 And they shall scourge him and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.

And the stunner?

34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

And these were HIS disciples! It makes us wonder how much is missed by us when we read and consult the scripture today?

In any case, throughout the Old Testament the promise of a Messiah is clearly given.

From Genesis to Malachi there are sais to be over 300 specific prophecies detailing the coming of this “Anointed One.”

Of course there are prophecies about His birth – to a virgin, in Bethlehem, of the tribe of Judah, from King David; of His sinless life, and then specifically of His atoning work for the sins of His people and His death and resurrection.

Of the more well-known prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures about his death,
Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 stand out.

Psalm 22 is especially amazing since it predicted numerous separate elements about Jesus’ crucifixion over a thousand years before Jesus was crucified. From it we learn that the Messiah would

have His hands and His feet “pierced” through (Psalm 22:16)
that his bones would not be broken (a person’s legs were usually broken after being crucified to speed up their death) (Psalm 22:17).
That Men will cast lots for Messiah’s clothing (Psalm 22:18).

And then in Isaiah 53, which is called by some as the “Suffering Servant” prophecy, more details of his death for the sins of the world are revealed, including that:

The Messiah will be rejected (Isaiah 53:3.)
He would be killed as a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of His people (Isaiah 53:5–9).
He would be silent in front of His accusers (Isaiah 53:7)
He would be buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9)
He would be with criminals in His death (Isaiah 53:12)
Also, after prophesying that the Suffering Servant of God would suffer for the sins of His people, the prophet says He would then be “cut off out of the land of the living.”
But then Isaiah states that He (Messiah) “will see His offspring” and that God the Father will “prolong His days” (Isaiah 53:5, 8, 10).
Then it seems that Isaiah proceeds to reaffirm the promise of the resurrection using different words and saying: “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see light and be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11).

And then in addition to his death His resurrection from the dead is also foretold and the clearest and best known of the resurrection prophecies came from David who wrote in Psalm 16:10,

For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

Another prophesy about the resurrection of the Messiah is strongly implied in Psalm 22.

In verses 19–21, the suffering Savior prays for deliverance “from the lion’s mouth” (which could be seen as a metaphor for Satan). This is followed in verse 22–24 by a hymn of praise in which the Messiah thanks to God for hearing His prayer and delivering Him.

The resurrection of the Messiah could be implied between the ending of the prayer in verse 21 and the beginning of the praise song in verse 22.

For this reason Jesus told the religious leaders in John 5:39:

“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me”

So, back to our text, Jesus plainly tells the apostles that they are going up to Jerusalem and that all these things that were spoken of by the prophets would be fulfilled. (verse 32-34)

32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

Though Jesus had plainly revealed them to them, the reality and plain meaning of them could not pierce their prejudices and prevented them from understanding.

They really truly expected that he would be a temporal prince and a conqueror, and they were not willing to believe that he would be delivered into the hands of his enemies. They did not see how that could be consistent with the plain prophecies spoken in scripture for a thousand years to their forefathers.

Looking backward to their situation it is very easy for us to be like:

“Come on! He is telling you right here that he is going to die! How blind can you be?

But the reality of how blind they could be is presented to each of us every time we look in the mirror.

I am amazed at how blind I was the the plain truth of the Gospel when I was LDS, and how beguiled I was and how much my prejudices won over truth.

For this reason Jesus said something really important – and so did Paul.

Jesus said to Peter who confessed his identity in Matthew 16:17:

“Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

See, flesh and blood – that of others, and that of our own – will always see and believe the things that are convenient and beneficial to our lives and our understanding.

Since the flesh is selfish, the flesh will teach and promote selfish ideas and doctrines. And when I mean selfish I mean those things that do not cause us to break with convenient tradition or to have to work to understand by seeking and threshing scripture and challenging our own prejudices.

It is REALLY hard to do – very difficult – and it requires on our end a desire for the unvarnished truth ALONG WITH the willingness to receive it once it is given.

Given how?

We got an example in Peter just a minute ago but Paul explains it even better saying in 1st Corinthians 2:9-14:

1st Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The challenge is to seek the spirit of God in our searches for truth and to be willing to accept the leadings of the Spirit which of course are always in harmony with the written word.

By and through this approach the Living God will reveal truths to you that will break through your prejudices and enable you to be emancipated from the traps that hold you bound.

I guarantee you that when the Spirit reveals things to you, and they are confirmed by the word, you will have a host of people that cling to their prejudices telling you that you are wrong.

When I saw the truth about Mormonism that was the exact response – but I took what the Spirit said otherwise, and I took the word of God which confirmed what was true, and listened to that – regardless of what my wishes and wants were.

That was Mormonism.

The reality is the same prejudices exist in evangelicalism – views of Man that have long held a major position in the minds of believers for centuries.

Those prejudices are not one bit different from the prejudices that the Apostles had, who could not, even though scripture and Jesus Himself told them otherwise, let them go.

The truth of the matter is, children of truth and light, meaning children of God, will always seek, they will always find but it will be by the Spirit, supported by the word, and nothing men say, suggest or threat can stop it.

And at this point we move to a new set of passages beginning at verse 35:

35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:

Luke reports that this occurred as Jesus was come night unto Jericho but Matthew say this happened when they departed Jericho.

Luke’s use of draw nigh can mean “when they were in proximity to Jericho” and so there is not necessarily a contradiction.

Jericho was a large town about eight miles west of the Jordan, and about nineteen miles north-east of Jerusalem.

It was very near to Jericho that the Israelites crossed the Jordan when they entered into the land of Canaan.

And it was the first city taken by Joshua, who destroyed it to the foundation, and pronounced a curse on anyone who would rebuild it.

This curse was literally fulfilled in the days of Ahab–nearly five hundred years later (1st Kings 16:34).

After that, according to 2nd Kings 2:6 it became the place of the school of the prophets and it was here that Elisha rendered the waters near it sweet that were before bitter.
In terms of size it was second only to Jerusalem. It was sometimes called the city of palm-trees.

It was also the place where Herod the Great died of a really wretched disease.
(verse 36)

35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:

Now, Mark and Luke both mention but one blind man but Matthew says that there were two.

This type of thing really ruffles the feathers of critics. It is also something I like to use on biblical literalists.

In any case, how do we address this?

Perhaps the one who was the most noted, or the one who spoke, was the one that Luke and Mark have focused on.

Mark, who says that it was only one, actually names him, and says:

10:46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.

So it could have been that Mark and Luke say one because they were focused on “the Son of Timaues” instead of the unnamed blind man with him.

Had Mark or Luke have said there was only one healed, there would have been a contradiction.

In any case it stands that there is no more of a contradiction or difficulty in Matthew reporting two and Luke and Mark reporting one than there is in the fact that all historians often omit many facts which they do not choose to record.

36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant.
37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.

Obviously the blind man had either heard about Jesus before hand or when he asked what all the commotion was about as some said, “this is Jesus of Nazareth passing by” others in the crowd could have been crying to be healed, letting the blind know he was known to have that power or some in the crowd could have also added, “you know, the great healer, prophet of God, or Messiah.”

38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

Because he cried out to Jesus with this identified, “thou Son of David,” it appears that he knew he was the Messiah.

Of course this was because the promised Messiah was to be from the direct line of King David (as Psalm 132:11 and 89:3-4 say).

39 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.

I like the way the Literal Translation says this verse:

“and those going before were rebuking him, that he might be silent, but he was much more crying out, `Son of David, deal kindly with me.’

And the multitude rebuked or chided or or reproved them – in a threatening manner – telling them to be silent.

“But they cried the more.”

I love that. When you’ve got nothing to lose, the fear of man and conformity to his collective opinion.

40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him,

Mark’s account adds that Bartimeus cast away his outer garment, and rose and came to Jesus.

And so Jesus (verse 41)

41 Says, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

Matthews account reads that the man replies:

“That our eyes may be opened”

Remember that the healings of Jesus and the apostles are types of the inner healing that Jesus gives to those seeking to understand and know the truth.

Though wonderful (especially for those who suffered with incapacitation, blindness and deafness in that day) the true value of Jesus and His message is not to the physical but to the spiritual and the internal.

For the blind men, when asked by Jesus what he wanted from him, to reply:

“That our eyes may be opened, “

That is a direct picture of what every person seeks ought to seek from God today.

Let me be blunt – I doubt very much that God today is going to give a man who has no legs new flesh and blood legs.

And I doubt that all the praying in the world will cause God to give a person born without eyes, eyes.

You can say that this is because I lack faith. That is not so. I believe God has the power to do such, but that is not in the purview of His desires, contrary to what the name it and claim it souls want to maintain.

The physical healings of these people then by the Messiah was both prophesied and were types and pictures of what God’s real interest is in doing for all people who today who seek to have the ability to “have their eyes opened.”

Opened to what?

Him. His truths. His will. His mysteries.

See, through the miracles of modern science we have made great advances in helping people with physical impairments.

Not perfectly, and not always completely, but there has been progresss through Him and His wisdom given to the human race.

But lets’ be clear – God is Spirit, he wants people to know Him in spirit and truth, and that occurs when he opens our eyes and reveals himself.

So back in the day when physical healings were both a fulfillment of prophecy AND a type for the ultimate spiritual wisdom and healing and insights God would give, Jesus is asked by this (or these) blindmen to give them sight. (Verse 42)

42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

Matthews account reads:

34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

When Jesus says:
“Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee”

What is the actual literal meaning of this?

Does it mean that the man was saved from sin, and death and hell?

No. It means that the man exercise the confidence in Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of David, that he could give him his vision.

And that from this faith the men were saved from blindness. That is the context and that is the meaning. And its important because the event, yet again, serves as a model.

You see, faith alone, by itself, has no ability, in and of itself, to change things. The faith has to be directed at or in something.

When a person born without eyes really really really believes that they will have physical sight, that faith is hollow.

When a person born without eye believes that they can overcome this lack by persistence and work, their faith in persistence and work will avail much.

But when a person’s faith leads them to cry out irrespective of the wishes of the crowd, and to stand and pursue the promised Messiah, that faith – which has been rightly assigned to the most powerful force in the universe – that saved these men and actually gave them their sight.

So the key is where does a person place or focus their faith upon?

This is where my personal story has some merit because I tried to place my faith – focus my faith – on everything initially but Jesus.

For years it was a focus on my own strength and power, positive thinking; then on the religion of my youth, and on money, and wealth, on women, on the wisdom of men, their philosophies and views, then on government and politics.

NONE of it sustained me. None of it could heal my sinful heart. And it was only, on that fateful August day in 1997, that I came to discover the source, the way, the truth and the life.

Like the blindman, this opened my eyes, and my faith has forever been on Him and Him alone, trusting that whatever He wants and whatever he decides IS the best all things considered.

In this particular healing Mark and Luke says, he touched their eyes. And again another lesson as Jesus is known to heal in a variety of facets and ways – sometimes touching, sometimes speaking, sometimes commanding actions from those who would be healed, and sometimes just affirming that the healing was complete.

The application to people today remains viable as God heals the human heart in oh so many diverse ways, but always through, the power and provisions of His Son – whether people know and realize this or not.

We also note two more things that come forward as a result of this healing. One, that the man or men gave glory to God, and secondly, it says that they followed Jesus.

And so it is, that whatever is done in and through Jesus all of it was to bring glory to the Father. From the beginning until today.

Additionally, when someone is healed by Jesus the natural result is they then follow Him. It’s a beautiful type, isn’t it?

How could anyone do anything but follow the one who gives them new life, devoting themselves to His cause and will rather than their own?

It was this devotion, and is this devotion, that for nearly two millennia those healed by Jesus have followed him – even to their physical deaths.

But the real meaning here again for us, is not that we follow Jesus physically to our physical deaths, but that we follow Him in the Spirit, taking up our crosses daily, and dying daily, to the whims and ways of our fleshly lives and will, living in the Spirit of His resurrections, and embracing new life, new vision, new insights, because of Him.

And so that wraps up chapter 18 for us. We have a little time so let’s read our text for 19

Luke 19:1 And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
2 And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.
3 And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.
4 And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.
5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.6 And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.
7 And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.
8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.
17 And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.
19 And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
20 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
21 For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.
22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
23 Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?
24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.
25 (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
27 But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

And we’ll end here.

Let’s pray