Matthew 20:29-34, “A Unique Optometrist”
Subject: Who Jesus is.
  by Rev. David McKinley

Scripture: Matthew 20:29-34, “A Unique Optometrist”
Subject: Who Jesus is.
Complement: Jesus is our compassionate Savior. 
Date: May 19, 2009

INTRODUCTION
          There are many today who have their physical eyesight, but are spiritually blind.  There is the type of eyesight that enables a person to see colors and landscapes.  Then there’s “insight,” that goes beyond what the eyes can see to something different and more significant.
The title of this message is “A Unique Optometrist.”  Regular eye doctors work to give you the right prescription of glasses or today, perform surgery to take away your near-sightedness.  But Jesus was a different type of doctor in that He encouraged spiritual eyesight, which of course is the most important kind.  We see this in the story of the healing of the two blind men of Matthew 20.  They had spiritual eyes, just not physical ones. 

I.  THOSE THAT WERE BLIND COULD SEE JESUS. 
Matthew 20:29: "And as they were going out from Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. 30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" 31 And the multitude sternly told them to be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!"

          We are told that Jesus and the disciples are going out from Jericho.  This was an important place in Old Testament history, the place where Joshua made a famous conquest.  Jericho is some ten miles north of the Dead Sea; maybe 15 miles east/northeast of Jerusalem.  In Joshua 6:20-21 we read how God miraculously made the walls of the city fall, just by the Israelites shouting- a military wonder to this day.  They took the city with little effort. 

          And near this place Jesus is confronted with two blind men, possibly beggars.  If you were blind in Jesus’ day, you could not work to support yourself or your family.  Today, blind people can do all kinds of things.  David Patterson is the Governor of New York, and legally blind.  But in Jesus’ day, if you had no sight, you were hampered, handicapped, and at the mercy of others for your livelihood. 
Notice what they say: “Lord, have mercy on us.”  That is a prayer that shows up frequently in the Psalms.  Notice what they call Jesus: “Lord,” and “Son of David.”  The terms “Son of David,” we’ve learned is an ascription to the Messiah.  Matthew 1:1 says: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”  Jesus’ name is unique.  His title: “Christ,” is the Greek Cristou/ which is literally means the Anointed One, equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah.  The terms “Son of David,” would have special significance to Matthew’s readership, who were primarily Jewish.   Some indicators of this are that he quotes the Old Testament more than the other gospel writers.  The terms: “Son of David,” calls God’s promise to give Israel a king from the line of David.  God told King David in 2 Samuel 7:12 " When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 … and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 "I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. …16 "And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever."  This was also prophesied in Isaiah 9:6-7.  We read these Old Testament passages, then look at Matthew’s genealogy and discover that God is a promise-maker and a promise-keeper.  The men’s proclamation of Jesus as the “Son of David,” indicated a faith in Jesus as God’s promised and anointed One.
Verse 31: the men would not be denied.  They had a forceful faith.  They were desperate, fed up with their condition.   They knew Jesus could heal them, as they had heard He had done for others.  This is their chance.  Let’s see what happens.  Next we find that…

II. THOSE THAT SAW JESUS WERE GIVEN BACK THEIR SIGHT. 
Verse 32 says: “And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" 33 They said to Him, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened." 34 And moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.”  We are told here a wonderful thing about God.  Jesus was moved with compassion.  It is the Greek term splagcni,zomai which means to be moved with pity or compassion….”  Wouldn’t it be awful if God was able to provide for human need, yet did not care to?  Or wouldn’t it be sad if He did care about human need, yet was unable to do anything about it?  Here we mind that the Creator of the universe is also a God who cares about people and their situations. Let this encourage you to pray!

          Jesus being moved with compassion also reminds us of the type of love you and I should portray.  Love is not a formula; rather it is something that is people-based.  Listen to the observation of local author Paul Miller, in his book, Loved Walked Among Us.  He writes:

“The blind man had heard about Jesus’ healing power.  He’d also heard that Jesus is a descendant of the ancient Israelite king, David.  He is the promised one, a king with power to change things.  But Jesus doesn’t act like a powerful person.  Instead, he takes the time to ask the blind man what he wants.  Shouldn’t this be obvious?  Why not just heal the man and get on to the next beggar.  But for a brief moment Jesus goes inside the blind man’s skin.  Asking questions slows us down and puts us in other people’s worlds, hearing their words, their expressions, and their desires.  We become the learner rather than the expert.” 

          Jesus’ question: “What do you want me to do for you?” is not as obvious as we might think.  We patronize people when we assume that we know how they want to be helped.  If we don’t ask, we may heal the blind man, but he might not feel loved, only fixed.  This is ‘top-down’ love.  Though we may sincerely want to help, we are trying to do so from a superior position, with little risk to ourselves.  Instead of considering how we can love people with their weaknesses, we consider how they should be different- often we think they should be like us.  Top-down love decides how and when to love.  .  But when our love is bottom-up, we lose control of how to love.  Others decide for us.  Bottom-up love is the best kind of love because no one can help me think about your world better than you can.” 1

Notice the effect: They regained their sight and followed Him.  The man’s name, we learn from Mark 10, is Bartimaeus.  His name mentioned leads us to believe that he became a well known Christian.  Readers of this gospel account could recall this man as the one who was healed of his blindness.  He was given his life back.  If you’ve truly encountered Christ, you will be changed. 

CONCLUSION
          On this Memorial Day, we are thankful for others who have served our country and loved ones who once held a special place in our lives.  We are reminded that sometimes war is necessary, so that freedom, peace and compassion might be lasting.  As we are faced with opportunities to show love, as Jesus did to Bartimeaus, consider the words of C.S. Lewis, stated in his book Mere Christianity: “Do not waste your time bothering whether to you 'love' your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."   Let us pray.