JESUS IS PASSING BY!
Lk. 18:37
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: LOOKS MAY NOT BE DECEIVING
1. For the first time in his life, Sam received a letter telling him he is being called for Jury Duty. On the appointed day, he joined many other prospective jurors in court for the official swearing in process.
2. When his turn arrived, Sam said to the judge, "I think it best you send me home, Mr. Judge. I'll be of no use to you." "Please explain why you want me to excuse you from Jury Service, Mr. Jones." asked the judge.
3. "Because I'm a very biased, that's why," replied Sam. "I've always been a biased person." "Give me an example," said the judge.
4. "Well," replied Sam, "I'm looking at the prisoner right now and I can say, without a shadow of doubt, that from the way he looks, he's absolutely, definitely guilty."
5. "Mr. Jones," said the judge, "the prisoner is not yet in court. The man you're looking at is the prisoner's lawyer!"
B. TEXT
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 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!” 40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
C. THESIS
1. Tonight we’re looking at a moment when Jesus was walking by a man. All things were possible. Would he avail himself of those possibilities or not?
2. We’re going to look at the level of our desire for Jesus, the difference Jesus’ presence can make, and how we are to claim the miracles we need.
3. The title of tonight’s message is, “Jesus is Passing By.”
I. ARE WE ANXIOUS TO KNOW JESUS?
A. DESIRE TO SEE THE SAVIOR
1. When Jesus of Nazareth passed by, how quickly the inhabitants of Judah/ Israel would jump up and travel to wherever Jesus was! There was great curiosity to see Him, eagerness to get close enough to hear Him, to see His face.
2. There was also intense anxiety in some people who wanted to take their sick and diseased friends to be healed! They’d stop their farming, drop their vacations, and cease their pleasures, to feast their eyes and ears on Jesus and hear His voice.
3. Are you & I as anxious to see Jesus? Some are, but others are unconcerned, as though their sins were of no concern, and their souls in no immediate peril!
B. ARE YOU READY FOR ETERNITY?
1. A car wreak may prove fatal; a slight illness may turn deadly(be a superbug); can you imagine how terrible it would be to wake up in hell and know that you’d listened to the Gospel that could’ve saved you, but never embraced it?
2. Many of us are we as blind and poor spiritually as he was literally? “Me? I’m a Christian. I’m satisfied that I’m right with God.”
a. Ok, but are you perfected in Christ? Are you still striving, like Paul said, to be more like Jesus?
b. Do you still give in to peer pressure? Fall into lust? Covet what someone else has?
c. Do you have passion for Jesus, or are you cold and indifferent? The truth is…
3. We’re as poor as Bartimaeus. His was poverty of money, but ours is poverty of soul. We have no merit before God! So we must come to the place where Jesus is passing by!
4. What if tonight you should become aware that Jesus was actually here. Would you cry out to Him?
II. JESUS HERE: WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
A. IT BECAME A DAY OF HOPE
Before now, everything had been against him:
1. HIS NAME, Bartimaeus = "Son of the Unclean"/defiled.
Would you like that on your mailbox? If his father was called "unclean," and the son was blind – if ever God seem to be against someone, it was him!
2. A BEGGER.
a. He was so poor that he just made it from one meal to the next. His clothing was little more than rags.
b. He was exposed to the weather -- heat, cold, rain, clammy, etc.
c. He probably did not have the opportunity to bathe very often. He was a pitiful sight.
3. A “BLIND” BEGGER. He’d given up all thought of ever being able to see. It was medically impossible. But Jesus’ passing by changed all that! If Jesus is on the scene, any miracle is possible. He could control the wind and the sea. Can’t He open a blind man’s eyes?
4. Jesus is passing by. If tonight the gospel should come and melt your heart; if you feel its divine influence over you, depend upon it, the kingdom of God has come near to you! Others have responded to Jesus, will you?
B. IT WAS A TIME OF ACTIVITY
1. Near to a miracle: it doesn’t happen every day. It’s a special, divine moment. Will you avail yourself of it?
2. There may be, once in a lifetime, some moment when the course & prosperity of your life may be drastically altered.
3. You may meet the person you’re destined to marry. You may be given a special opportunity to better yourself, you may inherit money or get a chance at a better job.
4. What you do in that moment is of critical importance and will impact you the rest of your life. That’s the same impact when Jesus is going by!
5. Bartimaeus knew he must take action, but what could he do? His only recourse was to cry out! That’s the same recourse for us. We can’t save ourselves; we must take hold of the Savior!
6. IF YOU DON’T CRY OUT TO JESUS, YOU WON’T GET HELP!
If Bartimaeus hadn’t cried out…he would have been blind the rest of his life!
III. HOW HE CRIED TO THE LORD
A. FIRST CRY: PROB. FROM HEAD
1. Sometimes we cry to God from our heads and not our hearts.
2. When a nine-year-old was asked if his two-year-old brother had started to talk yet, he replied, "Why should he talk? He gets everything he wants by hollering!"
3. There are a lot of "children" in our grown-up society today who seem to get "everything they want by hollering."
4. DISCOURAGEMENT FROM THE CROUD. The Living Bible (vs. 48); "‘Shut up!’ some of the people yelled at him." "Don't get too excited" /"fanatical." Your friends may think you’re weird. So don’t be surprised if discouragements surface.
5. BEWARE OF COMPROMISE: One foot on the dock & one on the boat; You can't stay that way long. But because he cried from his head, Jesus kept on walking. Then Bartimaeus got desperate!
B. SECOND CRY: FROM HIS HEART
1. ILLUSTRATION
a. A man asked a lifeguard, "How can you tell when someone is really in need of help, when there are thousands of people on the beach and in the water making a tremendous amount of noise?
b. He answered, "No matter how great the noise and confusion, there has never been a single time when I could not distinguish the cry of distress above all others. I can always tell it."
c. That’s exactly like God. In the midst of the babble and confusion of life, He never fails to hear the soul that cries out to him in desperation. Jesus heard the desperation in Bartimaeus’ voice!
2. “AND JESUS STOOD STILL.” He was ushered into Jesus’ presence. People now honored Bartimaeus. Those who before told him to “shut up” now say, “Be encouraged! He’s calling for you!” (Oh, the hypocrisy!)
3. Bartimaeus’ "THROWING ASIDE HIS CLOAK" demonstrated:
a. Symbolism: He was Leaving his old life. The cloak defined who Bartimaeus was; that he was poor and blind. It was probably the only possession he owned, if it was not held in pledge.
b. It was Act of Faith, that, with sight, he would never be blind or a beggar again. This coat had served to keep him warm in winter, be rolled up as a pillow at night, and be draped over his knees in the daytime to catch coins thrown as he begged. Throwing off that cloak showed he believed he wasn’t going to need it anymore.
c. We all have to throw off “everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” Heb. 12:1.
d. Isaiah 64:6 says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags."
4. WHAT DO WANT JESUS TO DO? “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
a. He was very clear on what he wanted. Sometimes our prayers are all over the place. We want answers to all our problems at once. We want health, deliverance, finances, a job, etc, all at once.
b. Look at Bartimaeus, he just asked for the one thing he knew was most important: his sight. He also had many other problems like us. But he knew if God could touch the one core thing, that deliverance would lead to the others.
c. This evening, ask for that one thing that you really need deliverance for. That is the key for your miracle.
5. WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARD? “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
a. Immediately Bartimaeus followed Jesus. He did not go his own way.
b. God has delivered many of you in the past, given you good jobs, healing etc. But do you follow him today? Do you have time for him today?
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. A young man who was brought up in a non-Christian home, who knew nothing about prayer and could care less about God, was on a torpedoed ship, and with the rest of the crew jumped into the water to save his life.
2. He and 11 others were swimming away as a group, when they saw a lake of burning oil floating toward them. It would
be impossible to escape.
3. Just then a Lutheran, the only Christian, began to pray aloud. It was a heart cry of dire need to God for mercy; "Oh God, save us!" (3x). At that, every one of the 11 began to cry out to God to save them.
4. Immediately the flaming oil parted, leaving a clear wide path directly in front of them. And what do you think our gracious Lord placed in this path? A raft! The young man telling the story said, "And no one could persuade those men that God does not hear prayer!"
5. Just like that Lake of flaming oil, there is a Lake of Fire that is coming ever nearer the whole human race -- and Jesus is the only answer!
B. THE CALL
1. Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He is not stopping; He is passing by, for He is going on onwards. Blind man, it is now or never. Oft-times He has passed by you, but you didn’t respond to Him.
2. You had Christ passing by when you were young, but you had plans and friends that occupied you.
3. He came again in middle life, and yet you did not seek Him. Everything was going smooth and you really didn’t need Him.
4. Now the gray hairs are stealing over you, and half-a-century of unbelief has hardened your heart! You are getting close to 60 years of ungodliness, but He is not out of ear-shot yet; He will hear you now!
5. The hour glass of your life is running down. God has been gracious, but we have spurned His entreaties. It’s now or never. Will you turn God away again? This may be your last chance.
