Rock Community Church Blog

In charasmitic Christian circles, it is often said that we should come to church, seminars, conferences, and other Christian events expecting God to do something miraculous. Are those expectations worthy of the God we claim to serve? Recently, I was reading a passage in Luke and was encouraged greatly by it.

Luke 18:35-43 [show]Luke 18:35-43 Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar [35]As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. [36]And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. [37]They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." [38]And he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" [39]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!" [40]And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, [41]"What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me recover my sight." [42]And Jesus said to him, "Recover your sight; your faith has made you well." [43]And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (ESV)
ESV

There are a great many lessons to be learned throughout this passage, too many cover in one short post. Jesus said that those who have not seen Him yet still believe in Him will be blessed (John 20:29 [show]John 20:29 [29]Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (ESV)
). The stage was set for the blind beggar in Luke 18 [show]Luke 18 The Parable of the Persistent Widow [18:1]And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. [2]He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. [3]And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, 'Give me justice against my adversary.' [4]For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, 'Though I neither fear God nor respect man, [5]yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'" [6]And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says. [7]And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? [8]I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" The Pharisee and the Tax Collector [9]He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: [10]"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. [11]The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed(1) thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. [12]I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' [13]But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' [14]I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Let the Children Come to Me [15]Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. [16]But Jesus called them to him, saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. [17]Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." The Rich Ruler [18]And a ruler asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" [19]And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. [20]You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.'" [21]And he said, "All these I have kept from my youth." [22]When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." [23]But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. [24]Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! [25]For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." [26]Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" [27]But he said, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." [28]And Peter said, "See, we have left our homes and followed you." [29]And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers(2) or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, [30]who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life." Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time [31]And taking the twelve, he said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. [32]For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. [33]And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise." [34]But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar [35]As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. [36]And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. [37]They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." [38]And he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" [39]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!" [40]And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, [41]"What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, let me recover my sight." [42]And Jesus said to him, "Recover your sight; your faith has made you well." [43]And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (ESV) Footnotes 1. [18:11] Or 'standing, prayed to himself' 2. [18:29] Or 'wife or brothers and sisters'
to experience the power of Christ, and to "see" Him. Earlier, in chapter 18, Luke describes a rich young ruler who, because of his riches, could not see Jesus for who He was. This beggar was doing the same thing he always did, begging, yet we learn here that he was at the ready.

1. We must be ready

This point may seem cliche at first but what does it mean to be ready? The blind beggar was ready because his circumstances were lined up but it goes much deeper than that. He had not allowed his previous circumstances to harden his heart, dull his senses, or keep him from expecting more from God. Notice that the beggar called on Jesus as the "Son of David", which if heard by the Pharisees or Jewish leaders, would have been cause for the blind beggar to be stoned for reasons of blasphemy.

By using the term “Son of David,” the beggar was essentially declaring Jesus as “the Messiah” within the hearing of the crowd. At our church, we teach that upon repentance and starting your walk with Christ, you must tell someone, and quickly. This blind beggar was overcome with faith and shouted his belief into the crowd. He was not ashamed of his knowledge of Jesus and who he believed Jesus was. Interestingly, he could have been bitter about this crowd stomping through his begging path, or perhaps even been selfish and siezed the opportunity to pull in some major profits.

Here are a few points on how to be ready for God to do something.

• We must not allow our circumstances to dictate what we believe about God or keep us from expecting Him to move mightily.
• We must pray continually for God’s answer to come
• We should always speak to God with reverance and belief in who He really is; God who created all things!
• We should do nothing out of our own selfish ambition (see Philippians 2:2-4 [show]Philippians 2:2-4 [2]complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. [3]Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4]Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (ESV)
  )

2. We must be praying

It is implied that this poor, blind beggar, upon hearing who the crowd was fussing over, was on a new mission. His mission was now to get Jesus’ attention, and to simply get the chance to talk with Him. How many of us, as believers, lack the simplicity of approaching God’s throne just to get His attention and talk with Him? This man could not have known that healing was inevitable. Perhaps he heard stories of this Jesus healing others. He certainly had nothing to lose by simply talking with Him!

Jesus asked the beggar what he wanted Him to do. Think about that question for just a moment… what would you have asked of Jesus? What if you were the one in the blind beggar’s position? What if you had all your senses intact, what would you have asked for? The story in this passage appears like a "genie in the bottle" sort of scenario. Or was it? If the blind beggar had asked for riches, I am confident the story would have turned out much different. Instead, the blind beggar asked for his sight to be given to him.

3. We must be aware of His will and follow it
   

The blind beggar asked for his sight and Jesus gladly gave it to him. He understood what it was like to not see anything at all, and then in a split second to see everything, including Jesus! I believe his desire to see Jesus and follow Him was more powerful than any selfish desire he ever had.

When we are confused and have nowhere to turn, Jesus gives us a choice, a choice to ask the right things, believe in His will, and to follow Him. I have prayed for many things in my life and struggled at times because I believed I was not getting the answer I needed. I have begged and pleaded with God to hear me out, yet in what I can estimate in my finite mind, I hear nothing. At times I am so busy about what I want, and what I feel I need, that I miss the move of God.

It is only when I am humbled, have nothing left to say, empty and broken, that I am "at the ready" to hear God’s voice. In fact, I distictly remember when I prayed and prayed about my mom and believed she would be healed from her cancer. I was watching television programs, listening to the radio, and reading articles from the word of faith community. I was hearing that healing was being withheld because my mom lacked the faith or had a great sin in her life. I started to believe these teachings and began to rely on them heavily.

I ended up spending the summer with my parents and drove my mom to her chemotherapy appointments. We had good talks about faith, forgiveness, and family on those drives. After that summer back in Southern California, I remember getting a call from my sister saying mom was on the edge of dying. I remember playing the song I wrote for her on the phone and hearing her breathing as she said so faintly, "I love you, son."

I can recall the day my mom passed away. I was broken. I was angry at God because He did not answer my prayers, and now I was at an impasse. I remember hearing all the things my mom said to me on those drives to chemotherapy and back. I could hear the voice of God softly giving me comfort, reminding me that His answer was actually total healing for my mom. I then thought of how awesome God was to give me an entire summer with her, and to line up my circumstances so that I could do such a thing. I was actually getting my answer during that whole summer but I was so busy believing outside of His will that I missed much of the joy He had in the midst of it.

I must say that I am heavily cautious of the "word of faith" movement and I cannot express enough how much each believer should be in the "Word of God"  and be under the teaching of the full gospel. The "name it and claim it" movement is dangerously close to heresy.

So, may we be like the poor, blind beggar and ask Jesus for our sight to be restored. May we see beyond what our minds can comprehend and trust in our God who is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-consuming!