Week 37 "The Blind Man & the Bad Man"

 

Video is usually posted Sunday afternoon!

Text: This week we’re covering Luke 18:35-19:10 where Jesus, who has been journeying slowly through the land towards Jerusalem, now on final approach reaches Jericho for that last steep ascent to Jerusalem. It is here in Jericho that we get to observe Jesus touching lives in these two familiar narratives. Let’s look with new wonder as we see Jesus healing a blind man (Bartimaeus) who desperately sought him out, and saving a bad man (Zacchaeus) who climbed a tree to see him over the crowd.

Other passages to read: We encourage you to read "horizontally" in these passages that are parallel or provide background information to our text from Luke 18:

·           Blind man healed: Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52.

·           Tax Collectors in Luke: 3:12; 5:27-32; 7:29,34; 15:1; 18:9-13

·           Tax Collectors in the Synoptics: Matthew 5:46; 9:9-13; 10:3; 11:19; 18:17; 21:32; Mark 2:14-16

Points to ponder: In your study this week, you might want to think about one of these questions:

·           Why does the blind man call Jesus, “Son of David”? Where else is this term used for Jesus?

·           What are the ramifications for the blind man’s life if he is healed?

·           In light of the parallel passage in Matthew, how many blind men are healed in Jericho?

·           If you were to make a list, comparing and contrasting the blind man and bad man narratives, what would it look like?

·           Zacchaeus was hindered by the crowd in getting to Jesus. What other people in the gospels had to overcome similar obstacles?

·           In this passage there is an emphasis on “seeking” (v.3, 10) but as Joel Green asks, “Who is seeking whom? There is also an emphasis on “seeing”. How do we “see” this played out?

·           How did Jesus know Zacchaeus’ name? How does this knowledge serve to advance the narrative?

·           What relevant Old & New Testament allusions can be seen in the Zacchaeus narrative? (Hint: There are at least four. Several will be mentioned in a second SOAP journal posting midweek!)

We try to answer these questions on the Jesus4Everyone blog in the next week’s post.

Questions to ask ourselves: The following questions are intended to help us move towards greater application of what we learn about Jesus…

·         How desperately do I seek the help that Jesus can bring to my life?

·         Have there been times when well-meaning people have told me to stop seeking Jesus? How did we respond? What can we do better in the future?

·         What am I willing to leave behind as I seek Jesus?

·         Am I more identified with my past, or with following Jesus?

·         What changes will people be able to observe in my life this week as a result of my time with Jesus?

Pastor Randy’s Sermon Notes: "The Blind Man and the Bad Man"

Read Luke 18:35-43

1. Internal Transformation

·         Trust: Faith always precedes sight

2. External Demonstration

·         Worship

·         Witness

·         Walk

Read Luke 19:1-10

1. Come out of hiding
2. Remove and Replace

·         What have you stolen that you need to give back?

·         Have you defrauded anyone and if so, how will you pay them back?

·         Whom have you neglected and what does your restitution require?

·         Which sinner have you not called out, but only grumbled about?

·         What sins have you tolerated and what does repentance look like?

 

Quotes & Commentary:

The Blind Man

Jericho Described: ”We can picture to ourselves the scene, as our Lord on that afternoon in early spring beheld it. There it was, indeed, already summer, for, as Josephus tells us,⁶even in winter the inhabitants could only bear the lightest clothing of linen. We are approaching it from the Jordan. It is protected by walls, flanked by four forts. These walls, the theatre, and the amphitheater have been built by Herod; the new palace and its splendid gardens are the work of Archelaus. All around wave groves of feathery palms, rising in stately beauty; stretch gardens of roses, and especially sweet-scented balsam-plantations, the largest behind the royal gardens, of which the perfume is carried by the wind almost out to sea, and which may have given to the city its name (Jericho, 'the perfumed'). It is the Eden of Palestine, the very fairyland of the old world.” (Edersheim, LTJM, 715-716)

Why does Mark Include the blind man’s name but Luke does not?

“Scholars say Mark’s Gospel preserves Bartimaeus’ name (10:46) because he became a stalwart in the Jerusalem church. He followed Jesus, witnessing the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday, the horror of the Crucifixion, and the joy of the Resurrection. Talk about getting an eyeful.” (Hughes, Vol. 2, 218)

“Perhaps out of delicacy Luke does not tell his readers that the beggar was called Bartimaeus, which can be translated "Son of filth" (Mk 10:46). Again, Mark records stronger language with the word siopao, which as an ingressive aorist can be translated "shut your mouth …But in spite of the demands from the crowd to "shut up," he cries ever louder, abbreviating Jesus' name to "Son of David." (Bailey, Kindle Locations 2025-2028).

v. 35-36 “In the Middle East, village people show honor to an important guest by walking some distance out of town to greet the guest and escort him or her into the village. At times, the popularity of a guest can be measured by how far the crowd walks to welcome the visitor.” (Kenneth E. Bailey. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels (Kindle Locations 2012-2014).

v. 38 Son of David: The beggar heard the crowd and asked what was happening. The guest was identified as "Jesus of Nazareth." The beggar then began crying for attention using the rare title "Son of David." During Jesus' public ministry, as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels, this title is only used by the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mt 15:21-28) and by this blind beggar. (Bailey, (Kindle Locations 2018-2021).

v. 39 “The blind man’s extreme sense of urgency reveals what should be in our souls. This is the meaning of Jesus’ words, ‘The law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.’ (Luke 16:6) Spiritual blessings belong to those who ‘go for it.’” (Hughes, R. Kent. Luke: That You May Know the Truth. Vol. 2. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1998.)

v. 40 The very people who are insulting the beggar are ordered to escort him to Jesus for an "audience" (a nice touch). They become the "servants of the king" bringing a guest into his presence. (Bailey, Kindle Locations 2028-2029).

v. 41 At the same time, a blind man, such as the beggar in this story, has no education, training, employment record, or marketable skills. If healed, self-support will be extremely difficult. Indeed, is it not in his interests to remain blind? The grace of God, mediated through Jesus, is free but not cheap, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer has affirmed.' Is this blind man ready to accept the new responsibilities and challenges that will come to him if he is healed? Jesus' exam presses this stark question upon him.  (Bailey, Kindle Locations 2039-2042).

v. 42 Jesus grants his request and says, "Receive your sight; your faith has saved you." What faith has he affirmed? On reflection, three aspects of the blind man's faith can be detected.

• He has faith that Jesus has the power of God to heal.
• He believes that Jesus has compassion on the poor, which includes him.
• He is confident that Jesus is the Son of David (a messianic title), and he accepts Jesus as his "Lord." (Bailey, Kindle Locations 2045-2047).

The Bad Man

From a tax-collecting perspective, Zacchaeus had it made. Taxes were collected at three places inland — Capernaum, Jericho, and Jerusalem — and he had one of the big three.’...As chief tax collector Zacchaeus was head of a tax-farming corporation with collectors who extorted the people, then paid him before he paid the Romans. He was the kingpin of the Jericho tax cartel and had the scruples of a modern-day crack dealer. He was filthy rich in the fullest sense of the term. Not a likely candidate for the kingdom! (Hughes, Vol. 2, 222)

v. 1 The text quickly affirms that Jesus "was passing through." But rather than turning aside to accept the assumed hospitality of the community, Jesus resolutely moves through the town on his way to Jerusalem, thereby signaling that he is not intending to stay the night in Jericho. There will be no long discussion with the community regarding his future plans in Jerusalem. No doubt the community is deeply disappointed. As Jesus continues on his way, the anticipated banquet is canceled when suddenly, out of nowhere, Zacchaeus appears. (Bailey, Kindle Locations 2068-2071).

Would He only pass through the place, or be the guest of some of the leading priests in Jericho; would He teach, or work any miracle, or silently go on His way to Bethany? Only one in all that crowd seemed unwelcome; alone, and out of place. It was the 'chief of the Publicans' - the head of the tax and customs department. As his name shows, he was a Jew; but yet that very name Zacchæus, 'Zakkai,' 'the just,' or 'pure,' sounded like mockery. (Edersheim, LTJM, 717)

“Let me state the obvious: Zacchaeus is not misunderstood. He is not the victim of circumstance. He is a genuinely bad man. He has chosen to work for the Romans, to bilk his own people. So successful is he at this job that he has risen in the ranks to become a chief tax collector. The people don’t despise him because they are close-minded and judgmental; they despise him because he is a slimy, good-for-nothing thief. And he knows he is.” (Michael Card. Luke: The Gospel of Amazement. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2010. 212)

v. 8 "In that moment Zacchæus saw it all: what his past had been, what his present was, what his future must be. Standing forth, not so much before the crowd as before the Lord, and not ashamed, nay, scarcely conscious of the confession it implied - so much is the sorrow of the past in true repentance swallowed up by the joy of the present - Zacchæus vowed fourfold restoration, as by a thief, of what had become his through false accusation, as well as the half of all his goods to the poor. And so the whole current of his life had been turned, in those few moments, through his joyous reception of Christ, the Saviour of sinners; and Zacchæus the public robber, the rich Chief of the Publicans, had become an almsgiver." (Edersheim, LTJM, 718)

"Zacchaeus is the recipient of a costly demonstration of unexpected love. Jesus stands with the oppressed (the blind man) and at the same time extends costly grace to the oppressor (Zacchaeus). He neither endorses the oppression nor ostracizes the oppressor. Instead, he loves him. Zacchaeus accepts being found and by so doing exemplifies the redefinition of repentance set forth by Jesus in the parable of the good shepherd." (Kindle Locations 2128-2130).

"The costly love that Zacchaeus received will be the standard. Operating from that standard, Zacchaeus starts from where he is not from where others may be, and publicly commits himself to begin showing costly love to the community he has harmed."  (Kindle Locations 2150-2152).

v. 9 A Son of Abraham: “a biblical way of saying, ‘He’s one of us; he’s at home in the People of God; he’s included within the community of salvation”. (Byrne, Brendan. The Hospitality of God: A Reading of Luke's Gospel. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2000. 151.)

“Salvation begins here and now ("Today”) as Jesus—and subsequently the Church in his name—seeks out. finds and incorporates within the community the excluded and the lost, rich tax collectors like Zacchaeus among them. The Son of Man has not come to judge and condemn but to seek out and save the lost (v.10). That is the whole point of his saving mission.” (Byrne, 151)

“The message of life-changing costly love is demonstrated. Financial oppression on the community is significantly lifted by changing the heart of the oppressor, and Zacchaeus is the recipient of compassion on many levels…Jesus demonstrates compassion to both the oppressed (the blind man) and the oppressor (Zacchaeus).” (Bailey. Kindle Locations 2194-2195) 

The Blind Man and the Bad Man Compared & Contrasted
Bartimaeus	Zacchaeus
Blind Man Who Sees Outside begging Outcast Jesus Passing By Wished to be heard Motivated by Faith Unable to See, Calls Out Crowd Tries to Quiet Him Jesus Has Him Brought Cuts to the Chase Sight Recovered Jesus Gives What He Asks Followed Him, Glorifying God "Your faith has made you well" Life would be different—Beg no more	Bad Man Who Seeks Inside prominence Ruler of Tax collectors (Outcasts) Jesus Passing By Wished to see Motivated by Curiosity Unable to See, Climbs Up Crowd Grumbles Disapproval Jesus Calls Him Down Asks Nothing Sonship Recovered Jesus Gives What He Needs Receives Him, Reconciles "Salvation has come to this house" Life would be different—defraud no more

Previously on Ponderables:

·           What is prayer? What makes our words a prayer? It most simply is a dialog with God. We come to him with praise and thanksgiving, as well as asking for his help. “Prayer, according to the piety of first-century Judaism, was of three types: (1) Confession of sin; (2) thanks for bounty received; (3) petitions for oneself and for others The Pharisee's prayer does not fall into any of these categories. He is neither confessing his sins nor thanking God for God's gifts, and he does not make any requests for help. His public remarks are an attack on others clothed in self-advertisement. He tells God that he despises extortioners, the unjust, adulterers, and tax collectors. Rather than comparing himself to God's expectations of him, he compares himself to others.” (Bailey, 347).

·           What is the proper posture in prayer? Why do the two men stand alone to pray? We should humbly gather together in the community of faith to worship God and to seek his grace for each other. One man stood alone because he thought no one else was good enough and the other stood far off because he thought he was not good enough.

·           How does self-righteousness affect the way we see God and others? It twists how we see everything, from God and other people to ourselves. It magnifies our own blind spots in a way that reminds me of a “Mayhem” commercial!

·         In what way does the kingdom of God belong to “children”? They are completely needy and come readily for help. They fully respond to love shown with enthusiastic love and trust. As R. Kent Hughes sums it up the four qualities of the childlike approach to God’s kingdom are, “Unmitigated Trust…Untutored Humility… Untarnished Receptivity…and Unabashed Love.” (Hughes, Luke: That You May Know the Truth, Vol. 2, Crossway, 200-202).

·           Why does Jesus question the ruler calling him a “Good Teacher?” How does this affect our perception of Jesus, if at all? If none is “good” but God, then why is the rich ruler calling Jesus “good” unless he really believes Jesus is divine. Jesus is challenging the questioner's presuppositions. He is not denying his own divinity, in fact, he is confirming it. Jesus is in effect trying to get the man to really think about what he is saying.

·           How does the repeated prediction of Jesus’ death fit into this passage? It is the answer to the tax collector’s prayer that God would “make atonement” for him.