My wife and I got invited to attend a small church with some dear friends we had over for dinner. We have enjoyed the invitations by new friends as we search for our church home here in Kentucky.
The preacher gave a great message and I was inspired to write about something that I’m hoping will be helpful and encouraging.
Do you have people you love and care for who seem to be really struggling in life? Maybe someone that you’ve tried many times to help but who doesn’t seem to be able to escape whatever struggle that holds them? Have their struggles strained your relationship and maybe caused distance or complete separation?
Maybe this little message can help.
I want to share some verses, but I would like you to try and place yourself in this story. My hope is that it can help us to maybe see things from a different perspective.
It is a short story, but I think it has a huge message.
“As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.”
Luke 18:35-43 NIV
It is really important to not miss the details in this story. Jesus was approaching Jericho. That’s a very important piece of information. The story doesn’t say something like, “as Jesus was approaching a city” or “as Jesus was just outside of town.” It mentions Jericho for a reason. It is a reminder of God’s promise. It is not just a promise for those of us who are believers, it’s a promise that is offered to the unbelievers in our life too.
God had made a promise to the nation Israel that He was leading them to the “promised land.” Through all their struggles, which included a “wandering in the desert” for 40 years, God kept His promise. He brought them across the Jordan river and helped them defeat their enemies and take possession of the “promised land.” Jericho was the first city they conquered after crossing the Jordan river, but what’s important, is that God won the battle, not the Israelites. God brought down the “walls” of Jericho which gave them victory.
Are there walls put up between you and someone you love or care for? Is it because of their personal struggles? Does it seem like they are wandering in the desert and have been for years?
Do you want to help them?
The Israelites were commanded to march around the walls of Jericho for seven days, blowing trumpets and shouting.
This is a great example of how to first prepare our hearts for battle. If there are walls between us and the ones we love, we need to commit to prayer and ask God to bring down those walls. It’s a daily prayer.
The reason this story about the blind beggar starts with Jericho is because we need to get our heart right and trust God to do the work that only He can do. Only He can bring down the walls in someone else’s heart, we need to start by bringing down the walls in our own hearts and it starts with prayer.
This blind man was sitting on the road begging.
Here’s where God really grabbed my heart this morning at church.
Who in my life is really struggling? Have I put up a wall because they are difficult to deal with and have I given up trying to help?
Are they just blind to how much Jesus loves them and are they just waiting, even begging, to experience that love for the first time? Have they ever met Jesus? Or maybe they are a believer, but really struggling with something like an addiction or an attitude that makes being around them difficult. So many people are struggling these days. The fields are ripe for harvest because we all need to experience more of Jesus love.
When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The blind beggar knew who Jesus was because he had heard about him and His miracles from others. He immediately called out “Jesus Son of David.” The blind beggar called out to Jesus not as Jesus of Nazareth, which was the region He was from, but as Jesus “Son of David.” The blind beggar knew that Jesus was in the same family lineage as King David.
He asked for one thing as Jesus was passing by.
Mercy.
Why do you think that those who need mercy the most, are often the hardest to love?
I’m reminded of one of my favorite verses:
“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.”
Micah 7:18 NIV
Did you know that God delights in giving mercy?
Mercy is simply asking for God to withhold the punishment that we know we deserve or asking Him for something we desperately need but don’t feel deserving enough to even ask for it.
This blind beggar cried out loud to Jesus for mercy. What was the reaction of those around him?
He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
They rebuked him and told him to be quiet. Are those we know and struggle with crying out for mercy? Sometimes a person’s actions are a cry for mercy or yearning for love. Maybe they’ve never felt real love. Maybe they’ve been through trauma that nobody knows about and are dealing with it in ways that make it harder to understand. Almost all the people I know who are drug addicts, went through horrible trauma.
I’m reminded of that term “a cry for help.”
When the crowd told him to be quiet and quit making a ruckus, he cried out all the louder.
We don’t know everything that’s happened in another person’s life or how some of these things might have affected their lives.
But God knows.
How did Jesus respond to the beggar’s cry for mercy?
Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Unlike those who couldn’t be bothered with a beggar on the street, Jesus ordered them to bring him the poor blind man and then asked what He could do for him?
I pray we never stop asking that same question to those in need.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
That is Jesus, our King, setting an example for us, to have a servant’s attitude towards those in need.
Now, we are limited in our abilities to help others and I think what’s important is getting behind what Jesus is already doing. It starts with prayers that align us with His mission, which is saving people. Asking Him to break down the walls we have built in our own hearts towards others, is an important first step.
Having a servant attitude is the next step.
When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.”
Imagine someone who might have never experienced the love of God or who is blind to the grace that God gives each of us every single day. Could their life miraculously change if they see that kind of love for them by followers of Jesus? Not just being told that they are loved but being shown love when they least deserve it. That’s mercy. That’s what many people need but cannot ask for even though God delights in mercy.
“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Luke 6:35-36 NIV
Those are some tough teachings by Jesus but our mission was never meant to be easy.
The end of this story is really important. Jesus restored the vision of the beggar because of his faith and look what happened. “When all the people saw it, they also praised God.”
Who is the person in your life that you believe would take the greatest miracle for them to change? Or for them to know Jesus and follow Him?
Will you join me and begin to pray every day and ask God to tear down the walls in your own heart so that you can see them the way Jesus sees them? Ask God to help you see their need instead of their actions.
I was that person in need.
In my younger years I was very self centered. I also lacked empathy and compassion. As I got older I carried a lot of regrets and shame. There were several people back then who would be shocked to know how I came to Christ and how He changed my life.
You just never know where you’ll be in five years and there are people in our lives who we believe it would take a miracle for their lives to change.
Jesus is in the miracle business and there is nobody beyond His reach. He pursued and rescued me and I’ll never forget it. I know all the details still to this day. On my knees with my face to the floor in my bathroom, I asked Jesus to come into my life, to take my heart and forgive me for all my sins and regrets. I literally felt a physical weight lifted off of my shoulders. I cried for joy.
These verses have always meant a lot to me because of that moment.
““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.””
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
There are a lot of people in our lives who are carrying a burden that we know nothing about. Our mission is to love them to Jesus because only He can lift that burden from them and set them free.
It may be a burden that they will never share with you and it may affect every aspect of their lives.
Let’s try to encourage them and help them with that burden and love them to the only One who can remove that burden.
Blessings my friends.
Thanks Joe, the timing of this message is spot on for me. There are far too many people in my life who I have given up on, whether I admit it or not. Distancing people from your life because they are difficult and exhausting is not the answer. Compassion and mercy is the answer. Following Christ’s example is the answer.
Well, brother - look at you justa testifying like it’s nobody’s business. Thanks for that unexpected Word. A good confirmation for me to continue to keep certain neighbors in my sites when I’m praying and working in my yard.