The Faith that Opens Our Eyes

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. (Luke 18:35-43).

The crowd could not see the truth behind Jesus’ warning about His impending betrayal and crucifixion and resurrection. Although He was on a determined mission to the cross, He paused to respond to the heartfelt cry of a blind beggar. There He granted a physical miracle and taught a powerful spiritual lesson. Christ’s compassionate response to the blind man’s request highlights the faith that opens blind eyes.

Faith in the messiahship of Christ opens our eyes to spiritual perception. The blind man saw Jesus and believed He was the “Son of David”, a title assigned by the prophets to the Messiah… “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 23:5). Thus, He agreed with God’s identification of Jesus as the Messiah, the ultimate king and sovereign authority over all of life, and therefore the One able to grant his request and meet his need. Real vision is the ability to see everyone and everything just as God sees them. This is how true disciples learn to walk by faith… “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). As we mature in the faith our eyes become less distracted by the temporary, physical world around us and we become more sensitive and responsive to the true, spiritual world… “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Our faith will grow and our eyes will be opened to the truth in every trial and triumph of life as we trust Jesus as the one and only sovereign authority over every inch of our life.

Faith in the mercy of Christ opens our eyes to serving possibilities. The blind man saw and appealed to the mercy of Jesus… “have mercy on me!” The rebuke of “those who were in front” betrayed their blindness as they did not recognize the compassion and mercy of Christ even though they were closer to him. The Holy Spirit inspired Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist to proclaim mercy as a primary reason for the incarnation of the Father in His Son… “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David… to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant” (Luke 1:68-72). Our faith will grow and our eyes will be opened as we learn to trust and share the mercy of Jesus Christ with others.

Faith in the mission of Christ opens our eyes to sacred priorities. I wonder what the formerly blind man saw first. The Spirit reveals that he was granted larger, deeper insight into the mission and purpose of Jesus Christ, and he “followed Him”. He now saw the heart and mission of the One who interrupted His journey to touch and heal a blind man and he wanted to be part of that wonderful mission. The results were immediate as “all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God”. As we mature in the faith we begin to see ourselves as God does and He still gets praise and glory as we are transformed from living for self into living for Him… “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Our faith will grow and our eyes will be opened as we become more fully engaged in the mission of Jesus Christ.

As we grow up into Christ, believing in His messiahship, mercy, and mission nurtures within us…

The Faith that Opens Our Eyes.

The Faith that is Possible with God

And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” 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.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! 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.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life” (Luke 18:18-30).

Jesus’ revelation of the kind of childlike faith that enters the kingdom of God pierced the heart of a wealthy ruler and prompted a penetrating question… “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” God’s grace prompts this question often as God’s Word is preached or taught or demonstrated through the words and actions of true disciples because Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will be at work in the hearts of others as we are faithful to proclaim His truth in our deceptive world… “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Here the Spirit pierced and convicted the heart of a rich and powerful man, revealing to him the impotence of his faith in self, wealth, and worldly power. His great sadness exposed the impossibility of sinners believing the truth of the gospel without the grace of God working in their heart first. I pray you are encouraged today to faithfully share the gospel as you eagerly anticipate God’s grace blessing the lost with the gift of the faith that is possible with God.

To inherit eternal life our faith must be freed from fleeting fortune. Jesus said it is impossible for the heart entrapped by earthly treasure to believe the spiritual truth of the gospel… “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle”. Taken literally this means it is impossible for a heart deadened by the pursuit of wealth to grasp spiritual truth. The Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to affirm this truth… “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). But the gift of faith to believe unto salvation is possible with God… “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

To inherit eternal life our faith must be fixed on following our Father. Jesus went on to show that evidence of salvation and true discipleship is a willingness to leave the world behind and press on to follow Him all the way to Heaven. This was an echo of a previous exhortation… “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).

To inherit eternal life our faith must be fortified by forever fulfilment. Jesus’ response to Peter’s boast carries a warning for disciples in every age to be persevering in the faith through the relentless trials and temptations of this temporal journey toward the eternal life that is real life. The Spirit affirms this exhortation through the pen of the Apostle Peter… “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:10-11).

As we grow up into Christ, we are maturing in the grace and…

The Faith that is Possible with God.

The Faith that Enters the Kingdom

Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. 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. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:15-17).

Jesus noticed the concern among the disciples over the many parents who were bringing their infants to Him for a touch from Heaven. The heart of the One who came to seek and to save the lost was revealed in His rebuke and is echoed in His words elsewhere… “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). Having just concluded a revealing discourse about the kind of faith He would be looking for upon His return, Jesus seized this moment and created a living illustration that added depth to that lesson. With an exhortation to… “receive the kingdom of God like a child”, Jesus reveals to truth seekers in every age the key to discovering and living the Christian life in a fallen world and securing eternal life in the kingdom to come is through the faith that enters the kingdom.

The faith that enters the kingdom is confident. The infants were brought to Jesus by their parents. They did not come under their own power because they were not able to. They did not come by choice because they could not choose. They were brought by those who had experienced or expected such a tremendous blessing from an encounter with Jesus Christ that they had confidence that their babies would receive a blessing from the touch of His hand. There is wonderful encouragement here for determined disciples to bring their needs to Jesus through humble and expectant prayer… “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). As confident faith takes control of our heart we expect God’s kingdom to come as we pray.

The faith that enters the kingdom is contrite. The infants were bought to Jesus for a touch. Their parents were not asking for hours of the Master’s time. They were not seeking a sermon or even hoping for some kind of miracle. They humbly sought a touch from His hand. The infant that received the touch had no conscious expectation at all, but was the recipient of all the possible blessings that a touch from the hand of God might contain. What an encouraging and humbling lesson we discover here about how we should approach Jesus in time of need. Like parents bringing infants for a touch from Jesus we should offer our requests to God from a contrite heart and ask Him to touch and conform them to His perfect will. The Holy Spirit echoes this precious truth through the inspired words of the Apostle Paul… “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but… the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27). As contrite faith grows in our heart our prayers are conformed to His kingdom-building and revealing will.

The faith that enters the kingdom is converting. True disciples that hungered to be close to Jesus might have envied the little infants that got close enough to receive a touch from His hand. Jesus’ revelation that the kingdom must be received like a child that receives His touch was meant to move His listeners to echo the question of Nicodemus… “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4). The Spirit inspired the Apostle John to record the answer to this question before it was asked… “To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). Converting faith is a gift of God that transforms us and allows us to enter into His kingdom as born again Children of God.

As we grow up into Christ, we live above and beyond this temporal world by growing in…

The Faith that Enters the Kingdom.

The Faith that Christ Still Seeks

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 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!’ 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” (Luke 18:9-14).

Jesus sensed arrogance and self-righteousness in the hearts of some of those who just heard and were eager to answer His profound question… “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Discernment of the hearts of His followers moved Christ to share another parable targeted directly at… “Some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous”. He seized this teaching moment to rebuke the pride of some of His arrogant followers and to clearly define for humble disciples the kind of faith the “Son of Man” searches for on this earth. Today humble truth seekers are truly blessed to know and exhorted to pursue the faith that Christ still seeks.

Christ seeks the faith that accepts God’s judgment. Jesus commenced this provoking parable with a Pharisee that prayed with his eyes open and focused on the other sinners that surrounded him at God’s altar. It is much easier to profess our righteousness than to confess our sins. There are always others we can compare ourselves with who appear to be worse sinners than we are. Christ seeks and responds to those who approach God with their eyes fixed firmly on His holiness and their hearts determined to press in to an intimate fellowship with Him… “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). This kind of whole-hearted pursuit leaves no room for comparison with others, but increases the awareness of our pitiful, sinful condition in the light of God’s perfect holiness. We are left with a desperate surrender to His declaration of our true condition… “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (Isaiah 64:6). Christ still seeks those who believe they are sinners.

Christ seeks the faith that apprehends God’s mercy. Jesus continued this pressing parable with the introduction of a wretched tax collector that … “Would not even lift up his eyes to heaven”. His eyes were not distracted and his heart was so determined that he was consumed by his sin in the presence of God’s holiness. The Pharisee could not see it but along with everyone else in the temple, he definitely heard the compelling confession of this sorrowful sinner… “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” Brought to the end of himself, his determination compelled this tax collector to throw himself on and grab hold of what he believed about the mercy of God… “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Christ still seeks those who believe God is merciful.

Christ seeks the faith that adopts Christ’s humility. Jesus concluded this penetrating parable with a stunning two-fold revelation. He declared the confessing tax collector to be justified, and by implication He pronounced the prideful Pharisee condemned in the eyes of God. Then He clearly revealed that it is humility that made all the difference. Jesus would soon demonstrate true humility… “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). The Spirit of truth exhorts us to imitate the humility of the tax collector with an echo of this truth through the pens of James and Peter… “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10). Christ still seeks those who imitate His humility.

As we grow up into Christ, we become a compelling revelation to a faithless generation of…

The Faith that Christ Still Seeks.