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The road coming back to Jerusalem from Perea, across the Jordan, took Jesus through both towns. The beggars were at their regular place along the road in between. When Matthew and Mark write, without consciously choosing which to mention, as Jews they choose the ancient Jericho and say Jesus was leaving there. Luke, as a Gentile, isn’t trying to argue with them, but as a gentile when he thinks of Jericho he thinks of the new Roman Jericho that Jesus was entering on his way back to Jerusalem.
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According to Robinson’s Word Pictures, who quotes H.B. Swete--The new Jericho was “about five miles W. of the Jordan and fifteen E. of Jerusalem, near the mouth of the Wady Kelt, and more than a mile south of the site of the ancient town” (Swete).
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So to in our spiritual lives. We know that Jesus is always with us. He promised that He would always be with us, to the end of the age. Yet there come times in our lives when Jesus is passing by in a special way, moments of opportunity that may never be repeated.
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But how can it be possible that Jesus was both leaving and entering Jericho? For that to be true, there would have to be two Jerichos so that Jesus could simultaneously leave one while approaching the other. But we now know from archaeology that that was precisely the case. The old Jericho was destroyed at the time of Joshua and never rebuilt as a walled city on that site, but during the time of Rome a new city also called Jericho was built one mile further south.
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The Mongols were then wavering in the choice of a religion. It might have been, as Kublai forecast, the greatest mass religious movement the world has ever seen. The history of all Asia would have been changed. But what actually happened? Pope Gregory X answered by sending two preachers. Those two got less than halfway to China and then turned back because the journey was too hard for them. So passed what might have been the great missionary opportunity in the history of the church.
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In 1269 Kublai Khan, ruler of China and all the surrounding regions, sent a request from Peking to Rome for “a hundred wise men of the Christian religion...And so I shall be baptized, and when I shall be baptized all my baron and great men will be baptized, and their subjects baptized, and so there will be more Christians here than there are in your parts.”
Regarding one man or two, there’s a simple explanation. Matthew was there on that occasion and remembers two men. Matthew’s story is correct just as he has written it. Mark was not there on that day—he was not one of the original 12--but Mark knew one of the two men involved, Bartimaeus. Mark’s story is correct, but he is only telling the story of the man he knows without mentioning the other man. Luke later collected information for his Gospel from various sources, and one of his sources was Mark.
Far from showing that the Bible disagrees with itself, these small differences show that we have independent accounts. If the three synoptic Gospels were word-for-word identical, we would have to believe that they were just different copies of the same original. But why would these writers include things that could confuse us? They are writing what they know to be true, and they are independent witnesses. Now let us return to Bartimaeus and his moment of opportunity. v. 35-39 He heard a crowd going by. It could mean anything or nothing. Crowds are often wrong.
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There are times in our lives that are moments of opportunity. This is true for us as individuals, and it is true for us as the Church.
yz pq Let us pause for a moment and deal with some issues of context. The same incident is recorded somewhat differently in Matthew and Mark. In Mt beginning at 20:29, they were leaving Jericho and there were 2 blind men. In Mk 10:46, they were leaving Jericho, but only one man is mentioned, and we are given his name—Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus. How is it possible that all three of these accounts could be the true and inspired story? Was it one beggar or two? W as Jesus drawing near to Jericho, as we just read in Luke, or leaving Jericho as in Matthew and Mark? Is there a contradiction?
Luke 18:35-38
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v. 35-39 He heard a crowd going by. It could mean anything or nothing. Crowds are often wrong. He asked the meaning. They told him it was Jesus of Nazereth.
Example of young guys playing a trick on people by gluing a silver dollar to the cement walkway and laughing as people tried to pick it up. On guy came along who wouldn’t give up. He picked up a big rock, hit the dollar, and walked away with it and a little bit of cement still glued to it. He seized the opportunity.
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Bartimaeus had been crying out and refusing to keep quiet. What if he just continued to cry out while Jesus was trying to speak to him? What made the difference? Jesus’ voice…
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This was the opportunity the Pharisees missed. They refused to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. They were blind, according to Jesus. But Bartimaeus seized the opportunity and called out in faith.
This includes to persist, ignore the crowd, be willing to be thought a fool, to cry out to him for mercy, humbly, persistently, and courageously.
He didn’t call out to Jesus of Nazareth, but to Jesus, Son of David. Son of David is a Messianic title. He had heard of Jesus of Nazareth, who had opened the eyes of the blind in other places. He acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah.
He asked the meaning. They told him it was Jesus of Nazereth.
When Jesus is passing our way, we have to see and recognize the opportunity. It’s ironic that Bartimaeus, who was blind, saw the Messiah passing his way, and the Pharisees, who were at least physically able to see, only saw someone who was drawing a crowd and were jealous of him.
We need to know the difference between those who are trying to discourage us and those who are trying to help us draw near.
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NOTE: TRANSITION SENTENCE – each time we go from one main point to the next, review the main points covered so far and announce the next one. This is the transition sentence.
Story of the guy in a flood. Praying for help. He refused the rowboat, the motorboat, the helicopter, finally drowned. Was mad at the Lord for not helping him. The Lord said, “I sent a rowboat, a motorboat, and a helicopter.”
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We need to come when he sends for us, even if he sends someone we don’t expect.
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v. 38-39. He called out. He was loud and bothered some people. Notice that he didn’t claim that he deserved anything, even if he recognized the Messiah. He just asked for mercy.
We need to stop crying out long enough to listen when he speaks.
v. 41. What did he ask those passing by at other times? Financial help? What should he ask now? A few coins?
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Among the crowd would have been Pharisees. Bartimaeus runs the risk of offending his clientele. Those might have been the very ones who told him to be quiet. Bartimaeus showed humility, persistence, and courage.
Quote from C.S. Lewis—Courage is the most important virtue, because without it all the others are just theoretical. The Bible backs this up. Faith is an important Christian virtue, but without the courage to put it to work, faith without works is dead.
The opportunity to ask for anything is also a test: what will we ask for? W hat is really on our hearts?
Solomon’s situation in 1 Kings 3:
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We have to acknowledge that we are beggars. We acknowledge him as our source.
1Ki 3:5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, "Ask what I shall give you."
Even in a dream, Solomon gave a wise reply. What about us? If the Lord comes to you in a dream tonight and says, “Ask what I shall give you,” what will you say? Your inner self will answer in your dream with whatever you have been teaching it while you were awake. If you’ve been chasing money all day you will say money.
Jesus is passing by this morning. We need to recognize the opportunity. There are things that you can access from him today, and you don’t know whether you will ever have this opportunity again. Jesus is passing by. W e need to cry out to him, humbly as beggars, knowing we don’t deserve anything. Jesus, Messiah, Lord, have mercy on me!
And Jesus is saying to some of us right now, in his still small voice of the spirit, “what do you want me to do for you?” How will we respond to that this morning? Will we ask for money? For a car? For high position? What is the best and wisest thing you can ask for as Jesus is passing by?
There may be someone here this morning who has let Jesus pass on by on other occasions. You believe in God—the Bible says the demons believe, and tremble. But that isn’t enough to save them. Jesus said to Nichodemus in John chapter 3, you must be born again. Born again of the spirit. If you don’t know what that means in your own life, if you have never experienced what it is to be born of the Spirit, Jesus is passing by this morning and you have another opportunity. There are two roads set in front of you this morning. One is the road to heaven, and the other is the road to hell. If you are not on the road to heaven, you are on your way to hell. And the only road to heaven is the one Jesus mentioned to Nichodemus: you must be born again. You have no guarantee of another opportunity to change the road you’re on. Jesus is passing by right now. Your time is now. Satan is talking to you at the same time I’m talking to you right now. I’m going to ask you to be like Bartimaeus, humble and courageous. But Satan is telling you to draw back, to be a coward, to not admit you need anything. He may be telling you your sin is unforgivable and it’s not possible for you. But when Jesus is passing by, anything is possible. You can be born again no matter how much sin you came with, because it is He who does the work in you. If I’m talking to you, and if you have the courage, step out right now and come to the front and let us pray for you.