(20)
Scripture Reading: Luke 18:31-43; 19:1-10
In this message we shall cover 18:31—19:10. These verses cover three matters: the Lord’s unveiling of His death and resurrection the third time (Luke 18:31-34); His healing a blind man near Jericho (Luke 18:35-43); and His saving Zaccheus in Jericho (Luke 19:1-10).
While the Man-Savior was making the long journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, He spoke to His disciples about many things. In 18:31 He took the twelve aside in order to speak a private word to them. This word spoken privately to the disciples concerned His going to Jerusalem to die.
In verses 31 through 33 this word is recorded in some detail: “Behold we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things will be accomplished which have been written through the prophets regarding the Son of Man. For He will be delivered up to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and outrageously treated and spit upon; and when they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise.” It is significant that in verse 31 the Lord does not say, “Behold I am going up to Jerusalem”; instead, He says, “Behold we are going up to Jerusalem.”
This was the third time the Lord Jesus revealed His death to the disciples. The first was in Caesarea Philippi, before His transfiguration (Luke 9:22). The second was in Galilee, after His transfiguration (Luke 9:44-45). This time, the third time, was on the way to Jerusalem. This revelation was a prophecy, altogether strange to the natural concept of the disciples, yet fulfilled literally in every detail.
We have seen that the Man-Savior had predicted His death and resurrection twice already. Since the time for His death had come, He was going to Jerusalem. This was His obedience to God unto death (Phil. 2:8), according to the counsel of God (Acts 2:23), for the fulfillment of His redemptive plan (Isa. 53:10). He knew that through His death He would be glorified in resurrection (Luke 24:25-26) and that His divine life would be released to produce many brothers for His expression (John 12:23-24; Rom. 8:29). For the joy set before Him, He despised the shame (Heb. 12:2) and volunteered to be delivered to the Satan-usurped leaders of the Jews and condemned by them to death. For this God exalted Him to the heavens, seated Him at His right hand (Mark 16:19; Acts 2:33-35), gave Him the name which is above every name (Phil. 2:9-10), made Him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36), and crowned Him with glory and honor (Heb. 2:9).
Luke 18:34 says, “And they understood none of these things; and this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know what was being said.” We may compare the Man-Savior’s word to His disciples concerning His death to beautiful music played to those who do not appreciate such music. The disciples were not able to appreciate the “music” “played” to them by the Lord. They did not understand anything the Lord said. Although He used simple words, they could not comprehend what He was saying.
Why were the disciples not able to grasp the Lord’s word concerning His death and resurrection? The reason for their inability to understand was that they were altogether in another kingdom, in their own kingdom. Because they were in their own kingdom, they did not have a heart for the things of the kingdom of God.
The Lord’s unveiling of His death and resurrection the third time is related to the healing of the blind man near Jericho. Actually, the Lord’s disciples were blind and in need of healing. They could not understand what the Lord was saying about His death and resurrection, because they were lacking in perception and insight. Therefore, following the third unveiling of the Lord’s death and resurrection, we have the case of the healing of a blind man.
Luke 18:35 says, “And it came about as He drew near to Jericho, that a certain blind man was sitting by the road, begging.” Here there seems to be a problem with respect to Jericho. In chapter ten the Lord was received into Martha’s home, and her home was in Bethany. In His journey from Galilee to Jerusalem the Lord would have come to Jericho before He reached Bethany, and then He would have gone from Bethany to Jerusalem. Why, then, is Bethany implied in chapter ten and Jericho clearly mentioned in chapter nineteen? Does this mean that He came to Bethany and then went back to Jericho? No, actually He was received by Martha after He passed through Jericho. But in chapter ten Luke is not concerned with geography or historical sequence; he is concerned with the high standard of morality. This is a strong evidence to show that Luke’s narration is not according to the sequence of historical events but according to morality.
We have pointed out that verse 35 says that the Lord drew near to Jericho. The following verses indicate that near Jericho the Man-Savior healed a blind man. This means that He healed the blind man before He entered Jericho. But Matthew 20:29 and Mark 10:46 say that the healing occurred at His coming out from Jericho. Luke’s narrative has a spiritual bearing. The blind man’s receiving of sight was followed in 19:1-9 by the salvation of Zaccheus. This indicates that to receive salvation first requires sight to see the Savior. These two cases, occurring at Jericho in direct continuation, should be considered spiritually as one complete case. A sinner in darkness needs to receive sight so that he may realize his need of salvation (Acts 26:18).
What is covered in 18:35—19:10 shows how one can fulfill the conditions, as revealed in 18:9-30, for entering the kingdom of God. These conditions are first to receive sight from the Savior (18:35-43) and then to receive the Savior as the dynamic salvation (19:1-10). Thus, the blind man could be like the repenting tax collector and the unoccupied little child to receive the Savior, and Zaccheus could renounce all his riches to follow Him.
When the blind man near Jericho heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (v. 38). The title “Son of David” is the royal title of Christ for the children of Israel. Only the children of Israel were privileged to address the Lord with this title.
Verses 40 and 41 continue, “And Jesus stopped and ordered him to be led to Him. And when he drew near, He questioned him, What do you want Me to do for you? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight!” The Lord’s question in verse 41 shows open love toward this needy one. It expressed the Man-Savior’s humanity to an unimaginable extent.
The Lord then said to the blind man, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you” (v. 42). Literally, the Greek word translated “healed” means saved. Instantly the man received his sight and followed the Lord, glorifying God (v. 43).
After the Lord unveiled His death and resurrection to the twelve for the third time, they were still blind. Hence, they were represented by the blind man near Jericho. The Lord’s healing of the blind man signifies His dealing with the blindness of the twelve disciples.
Here I would like to say, once again, that it is not an easy matter to understand the Bible. In understanding the Scriptures it is not sufficient to know the letters in black and white. If we would understand the Bible, we need to know the spirit of the particular book we are reading. The burden in Luke’s spirit in this part of chapter eighteen was to show us that all the Lord’s followers, even His twelve chosen ones, were blind. The Pharisees were not the only ones who were not able to see the spiritual reality of the kingdom of God. We may say that the twelve were foremost in lacking this ability. Three of them — Peter, James, and John — were with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration. Although they saw so much on the mountain, actually, in a spiritual sense, they did not see anything at all, for they were blind. Therefore, the man near Jericho was not the only one who was blind. All those around the Lord also were blind.
I am concerned about the situation of today’s believers, including our situation. Some of us may still be spiritually blind. We may need to pray, “O Lord, have mercy on me. I need You to heal my blindness. Lord, I want to receive my sight.”
Mark 4:12 indicates that we may see and not perceive and hear and not understand. Since this may be our condition, we need to pray that the Lord will have mercy on us. We also need to empty ourselves in order to see the spiritual reality of the kingdom of God.
The Pharisees thought that they saw a great deal, and they regarded themselves as somebody. Actually, they were nobody. They were even more empty than the tax collectors were. Likewise, although the disciples followed the Lord Jesus from the beginning of His ministry and saw the things that took place in His ministry, they continued to be blind. As we have pointed out, we also may be spiritually blind. Some of us have been in the Lord for years. Subconsciously we may think that we know a great deal. But actually we still may be blind, not seeing the things that we need to see. Therefore, we need the Lord’s healing. In the presence of the Lord, we need to have the deep conviction that we are nobody, that we know nothing, and that we need Him to give us sight.
In our reading of the Gospel of Luke, we may wonder why the case of the healing of a blind man near Jericho is recorded so far along in the narrative. We may think that such a case belongs much earlier in the book, perhaps in the section that records the Lord’s ministry in Galilee. Nevertheless, in chapter eighteen, when the Lord is very close to Jerusalem, we have the account of the healing of this blind man. This case indicates that the followers of the Man-Savior need Him to heal their blindness.
In 19:1-10 we have the record of the Lord’s saving Zaccheus in Jericho. Verse 1 says, “And He entered and was passing through Jericho.” We have seen that Jericho is a city of curse (Josh. 6:26; 1 Kings 16:34).
Luke 19:2 says, “And behold, there was a man whose name was called Zaccheus; and he was a chief tax collector and he was rich.” Tax collectors were those who collected the taxes levied by the Romans. Nearly all of them abused their office by demanding more than they should by false accusation (Luke 3:12-13; 19:8). To pay taxes to the Romans was very bitter to the Jews. Those engaged in collecting them were despised by the people and counted unworthy of any respect (Luke 18:9-10). Often they defrauded the people. Hence, they were classed with sinners (Matt. 9:10-11).
According to Luke 19:3-6, in order to see the Lord Jesus, Zaccheus, who was small in stature, climbed up in a sycamore tree. When the Lord came to that place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down; for today I must stay in your house” (v. 5). Zaccheus came down and welcomed the Lord, rejoicing. But those who saw this “grumbled, saying, He has gone in to lodge with a sinful man” (v. 7).
In 19:8 Zaccheus said, “Behold, the half of my possessions, Lord, I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusations, I restore four times as much.” Here we see that once a sinner receives the Savior, the issue of this dynamic salvation is his dealing with material possessions and the clearance of his past sinful life.
The Greek word for “taken anything” in verse 8 is the same as that used in 3:14. It is a mild way of speaking of extortion. The tax collectors used to put a higher value on property or income, or increase the tax of those unable to pay, and then charge usury.
Zaccheus told the Lord that if he took anything by false accusations, he restored four times as much. That was according to the law’s requirements for restoration (Exo. 22:1; 2 Sam. 12:6).
In Luke 19:9 the Lord Jesus went on to say to Zaccheus, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.” However evil this tax collector was, he was nonetheless also a son of Abraham, a chosen heir of God’s promised inheritance (Gal. 3:7, 29).
In verse 10 the Lord says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” This indicates that the Savior’s coming to Jericho was not accidental but purposeful. He came to Jericho purposefully to seek this unique lost sinner, just as He sought the sinful woman in Samaria (John 4:4).
