Your Faith Has Made You Well

Luke 18:35-43 ESV

As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

As I read this passage of Scripture this morning, in my mind and heart I was immediately connecting this subject of the blind who cannot see with the spiritually blind, for that is where I believe the Lord wants me to take this story today.

For when we are born into this world we are all spiritually blind, for we all have sin natures, born in the image of Adam, even though we were created in the likeness of God. So we are all sinners by nature and we all come up short of being acceptable to God and of attaining his righteousness (Romans 3:23). So, we are not unlike this blind man sitting by the roadside who could not see, for we were spiritually blinded to the things of God.

But then we hear about Jesus Christ. And it struck me odd that this man would, when he was told that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, immediately refer to Jesus as “Jesus, Son of David.” How did he know that Jesus was the Messiah? Did someone tell him? Or did the Spirit of God reveal this to him? Either way he knew that Jesus was the Messiah, and that is why he called out to him to heal him of his blindness.

But the Scriptures do teach us that none of us can believe in Jesus Christ unless God the Father first draws us to Christ (John 6:44), so I sense that God’s Spirit did reveal to this man that Jesus was the Messiah. So, we hear about Jesus and we are drawn to faith in him by God before we can even come to faith in our Lord. And these are divine appointments, and the Lord does use other humans to tell us about Jesus, too.

Now I am certain that Jesus passed by many people who did not call out to him, and who did not recognize him as the Messiah, the only begotten Son of God, who is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And I am certain that many people have been told about Jesus who have never called out to him in faith for their spiritual healing, either. So, even though the Lord was calling them to himself, they ignored the call. Yet some of them have made pretense to accepting the call.

Now this is another part I find particularly relevant to today. When the man called out to Jesus, he was rebuked by some people who told him to be silent. And when we call out to Jesus today with sincere hearts of faith in him, and we seek him for divine healing of our broken and wounded hearts, and we sincerely desire him to follow him in obedience, we are being told by some to be silent, as well, and we are being rebuked for our acts of faith.

But I love the man’s response! He cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Yes, Yes!! He did not fear the crowds. He did not fear what anyone was going to think about him or say to him. He called out to Jesus in front of them all for he wanted God to heal him of his blindness. And this is how all of us should seek the Lord with this undying passion and desire which will not be squelched by the words of others who disapprove.

And sometimes the cry is not for ourselves, but it is for our loved ones, that they will be delivered from their spiritual blindness and that they would now walk by genuine faith in Jesus Christ and no longer walk in sin. And so we may face ridicule and misunderstandings, and some people may want us to be quiet and to say nothing, but we want our loved ones to be delivered and to know Jesus so they will spend eternity with him, and so we continue to cry out to God all the more for him to heal them of their spiritual blindness.

And when we call on the Lord in truth, with sincere hearts and genuine faith, he listens to us, like he did with this man who called out to him for healing. And then I find it interesting that Jesus asked the man what he wanted him to do. Did Jesus not know? Certainly he knew! But he wanted the man to verbalize his request. And we need to verbalize our requests to the Lord, too, and we need to be specific in letting him know what we want him to do for us. But if our desires are not good, he will not answer. Or if we mouth empty words requesting what we don’t really want, he won’t answer.

Now when Jesus asked the man what he wanted Jesus to do for him, his response was, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” And that is the key to being healed of spiritual blindness, too. We have to call out to the Lord with sincere hearts and in truth, and he knows what is in our hearts and if we are just playing games, too. He will deliver people from their spiritual blindness when they call out to him with full faith and not just in words only.

And immediately the man recovered his sight and followed the Lord, glorifying God. And those who are spiritually blinded today, if they want deliverance from their sins and to now walk by faith in Jesus Christ, they must be as sincere as this man with the same kind of genuine faith, willing to be hated and rejected and mocked and silenced for their walks of faith, not caring what other people are going to think of them, but only of living to please the Lord Jesus in all that they do and think and say, to the glory of God. Amen!

Seek the Lord  

An Original Work / July 20, 2012

Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.

Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,

And your soul will delight in richest of fare.

Give ear to Me, and you will live.

I have made an eternal covenant with you.

Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him. 

Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.

Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.

Freely, God pardons him.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,”

declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.

It will not return to Me unfulfilled.

My word will accomplish all that I desire,

And achieve the goal I intend.

You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.

The mountains will burst into song… before you, 

And all of the trees clap their hands.”

https://vimeo.com/379408296