What The Blind Man Saw

                            What The Blind Man Saw                                        

Mark 10:46-52                                                                         March 29, 2015

Jesus and His disciples are making their way to Jerusalem for their third and final Passover.

     Mk.8:31;9:31;10:33,34...He had already told them three times that this time He would be arrested, put to death, and rise again.  They certainly heard Jesus say these things but it is clear that they did not understand or see it.

Our text picks up as they were leaving Jericho.  They meet with a blind man named Bartimaeus.  Jericho in the days of Jesus was an attractive and wealthy city; noted for two things:

         The lowest city on earth,...846 ft. below sea level

         The oldest city on earth,...continuously occupied for more than 1,100 years.

There was a great crowd traveling with Jesus in addition to His disciples because they were going to Jerusalem to observe the Passover.  A required pilgrimage for Jewish men. 

When Bartimaeus heard the Jesus was passing by he cried out, Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

     Note this, to the crowd He was “Jesus of Nazareth” to Bartimaeus He was, “Jesus thou Son of David”.   There is a big difference:

          Nazareth was just a town where Jesus grew up, He wasn’t even born there.  Bethlehem is the City of David.  But, by calling Jesus the Son of David, he was confessing his belief that He was the Messiah, the anointed one of God.

     And Bartimaeus was the first to call Him Jesus, thou Son of David, combining both humanity and deity.

     Literally...Jesus is the physical descendant Matt. 1:1

     Spiritually...Jesus is the promised Messiah, seed of David, II Sam. 7:14-16;   Mk. 12:35-37; Ps. 110:1

This was his first demonstration of faith.  The disciples hadn’t called Jesus the Son of David; they were still wrestling with Jesus’ identity and why He came into the world. 

  Jesus stopped and called the man to him.

His was a faith that:

     Overcomes obstacles and even rebukes from the majority to get to Jesus.

          Often times the actions of a few professing Christians will hinder someone else from coming to Christ.

     Expects an answer,...he cast his outer garment aside.  He knew he’d be able to find it later!

     Asks for the right things,...James 4:3.  Prayer is not a blank check one can write on the Bank of Heaven.

V. 51  What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?

     What Bartimaeus asked for complied with the Messianic hope,  Isa. 29:18,19; 35:5,6; 42:5-7.

Not even the disciples had faith like that, v. 35-37.

     - Bartimaeus didn’t ask for wealth, power, or special privileges.

Ordinarily a beggar would try to get the most out of the generosity of others.

     - By asking for and receiving his sight, he knew he’d have to leave off begging and go to work!  No more charity, no more begging from the Passover pilgrims as they passed by.

V. 52  This was no gradual healing; immediately he received his sight and as a further proof of his faith be became a follower of Jesus.

     What happened to him afterwards?  We just don’t know, this is the last time we read of Bartimaeus.

     But what a legacy he left! 

          Faith overcomes obstacles, v. 48

               Faith answers the call of Christ, v. 50

                    Faith follows Christ, v. 52.

Do you see what the blind man saw? 

     Does your faith overcome obstacles,...answer the call of Christ,...and follow Christ? 

The Hidden Treasure

                                                    The Hidden Treasure                                                          

                                                           Matthew 13:44                                                            

March 1, 2015

 

Remember that by now, Jesus was no longer teaching by the seashore, but He had dismissed the crowd and was now speaking privately with His disciples in the house.

 

Again, unlike the parable of the sower, seed, and the soils and the wheat and the tares our Lord does not interpret this one so we must interpret it in the light of the context of the Bible.

     Comparing scripture with scripture is the best commentary.

Remember that the Bible, from beginning to end, is a book of prophecy,...with a bunch of parables sandwiched in between.

     Think of the parables as the soul of prophecy which gives the inner, hidden meaning.    

 

 

In that day and in the middle east given the uncertain times of frequent wars and upheaval, a businessman would divide his wealth of silver and gold in three ways:

     - 1/3 would be used for commerce; buying and selling

     - 1/3 would be used to buy jewels

     - 1/3 would be buried in the ground,...and tell no one.

This was ancient diversification.

                                                                                   

But the merchantman sometimes would die and the treasure would be lost sometimes for many years until someone happened upon it by plowing, digging a well, or some other way.  In that case the owner of the field also owned the treasure.

 

The Parable

A man happens upon a treasure which had been hidden in a field. He then went a bought the field with all the money he had and he was very happy to get it at that price.

 

The common and popular interpretation of the parable is that the man is the sinner and the treasure is salvation and the man gives up all he has to be saved.  No sacrifice is too great to gain Christ and salvation. 

     The problem is that that is the wrong interpretation for it destroys the principle of grace and teaches that salvation is something that can be purchased when the Bible says that it is the gift of God, Eph. 2:8,9. 

                     

Rather, the field is the world as in the other parables, and the buyer of the field is Jesus Christ, again just as in the other parables of the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

It was Christ who gave up all He had to purchase the world and redeem His peculiar treasure out of it.  We are the treasure that Jesus Christ purchased.

     Phil. 2:7,8...The Son of God laid aside His glory and honor and came to earth in the form of a servant.

     I Peter 1:18,19…Silver and gold could not redeem us, it took the precious blood of Christ,…”Jesus paid it all.”

     II Peter 2:1...By His death on the cross, Jesus purchased (bought) the whole world, but like the man who bought the whole field His heart was set only on the treasure in the field and not the field itself.  

     Acts 15:14...Jesus took out of the world a people for Himself.

          Rights of ownership is His, and He is now the rightful judge of His purchased possession.

 

Every now and then someone will ask the question, “Did Jesus Die for everyone? Or just those who would be saved?”

     The answer is “Yes.”

We have John 3:16 and I Jn 2:1,2 which seems to teach this.

 

Jesus died for everyone, but not in the same way or even for the same purpose.

     After all, there were some people already in hell before Jesus died on the cross,...did Jesus die for them?

     In Jn 17:9, as Jesus was praying His high priestly prayer in the garden of Gethsemane He said, “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.”

 

I am comfortable to believe and preach that when Jesus died on the cross, He purchased the whole world, the lost and those who would be saved, as well as the whole created order, but that by His death He redeemed His precious treasure, the children of God.

     That He purchased the world by His death means that He is now the judge of the same.  Every knee will bow before their owner, the Lord Jesus,...yes even all the enemies of God and God's people.    

Phil. 2:10,11...at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 

 

 

 

Job Chapter 18

A Study in the Book of Job

Chapter 18

 

Bildad’s Second Speech

V. 1-3   Bildad opens his second speech with the same words he used in his first, “How long?”   He is also angry with Job because he feels Job has scorned their “words of wisdom”.  He accuses Job of  seeing them as vile beasts. 

It seems that it never occurred to them that they were just singing the same old song, and Job was tired of hearing it.  Their “song” is as follows:

     1. God is Just,  

     2. God always punishes the wicked and blesses the righteous,

     3. Job is suffering, so he must be wicked,

     4. If Job will repent of his wickedness, God will forgive and restore him.

 

V. 4   “Who do you think you are, Job?  Should God move heaven and earth just for you?”  Is nature to be rearranged just to suit you? 

 

V. 5   Besides sarcasm and accusations, Bildad unleashes another weapon, fear.  If Job cannot be reasoned with or shamed into repentance, maybe they can scare him to do so by describing the terrors of death for the wicked man.

 

Fear of death and the judgment to follow is a legitimate motive for trusting Christ as Savior as we see in Matt. 10:28 and II Cor. 5:11.   Fear can and will often stir the emotions of an unbeliever to cause them to think of their eternal destiny and challenge the will leading them to repentance and faith.  Conversely, love will also do the same.  But here Bildad uses fear in the wrong way.  (1.) Job was already a Believer and a just man, 1:1,8; and (2.) Bildad preached fear with the wrong motive; there was no love nor concern for Job’s soul.  Advice from an old preacher to a young preacher,…”Never preach on hell unless you can do it with tears in your eyes and a broken heart.”

 

V. 15-21  Bildad presents four vivid pictures of death:

     1. v. 5-6...Death is total darkness   Light is symbolic of life as darkness is of death.  Death is seen as the light going out forever.  Total darkness is a terrible, frightening thing

     2. v. 7-10...Death is like being trapped.  The traveler is trapped. The net, gin (trap), robber, and snare are in the pathway ready to ensnare him and hold him so that he cannot shake loose.

     3. v. 11-15...Death is like being chased.  Like the “king of terrors” (v. 14) death persues it’s victims like the law chasing a criminal, or the hound chasing the fox.  If the escaped criminal escapes the traps, then the pursuer will only get help to run him down and catch him.  He cannot run forever.  The escapee gets weaker and weaker and soon runs out of places to flee to.  He cannot go home again because it has been confiscated and all his possessions burned

     4. v. 16-21...Death is like a dying tree.  Death may be quick and dramatic or gradual and unnoticed.  When a tree dies, men cut it down and chop it up.  Soon no trace is left and the next generation doesn’t remember that tree.  When the wicked man is cut down, the branches of his family tree perish also such as in the case of Job and he leaves no descendants to carry on the his name.  Soon, no one remembers he ever lived.  In the east, this was a great tragedy. 

     The Christian should have no fear of death on these accounts for Heaven is our home, and Christ is the eternal light which outshines the sun.  It is also the place of rest and fellowship with the Father and the saints.  None of these pictures of death used by Bildad apply to the Believer.