Grace Overcome Blindness

I love how the Gospels share the day in and day out activities of Jesus. He didn’t go primarily to the synagogue, but to the places that the people were on a daily basis. Jesus did not hide from or isolate himself from sinners. In Matthew 9:13 Jesus said that He came to call sinners, not the righteous.

In Matthew 20 Jesus is leaving Jericho and two blind men are sitting by the side of the road and they cry out to Jesus. They say, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

Notice two things about what the men cry out. First, they cry out for mercy. Hebrews 4:16 invites us to draw near to God’s throne of grace with needs, and they brought their need to Jesus and asked for mercy. Second, they refer to Jesus as the Son of David. This is a Messianic title and carries political overtones.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is bringing our needs to Jesus and asking for His mercy.

The crowd rebukes the two men, telling them to be silent. The response of the men was to cry out louder. When people are really desperate for Jesus nothing hinders them from coming toward Jesus. And when people are not desperate for Him, we will find not much going on. Jesus will not just barge in. He waits for us to realize our need and call out to Him. When we do that, the grace of Jesus moves Him to meet our needs.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is being desperate for Jesus and not letting anything hinder us from getting to Him.

Jesus then stops and calls them over to Him. Jesus hears us when we cry out to Him. In Luke 18 Jesus tells about two men who went to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee bragged about how good he was and how lucky God was to have someone like him. The tax collector humbly asked for mercy from God. Jesus said that the tax collector, not the Pharisee, went away justified. Jesus hears us when we humbly cry out to Him for mercy.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about being humble and seeking mercy from God.

Then Jesus asked the one of the men, Bartimaeus, what he wanted Jesus to do. Bartimaeus said, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” That is a question that I hear from Jesus over and over. In this situation it is very obvious what the need of these men was, but Jesus wanted them to admit to Him what they wanted from Him. When Jesus asks us that question, He is inviting us to ask Him to meet our need.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is honestly acknowledging our need and asking Jesus to meet that need.

Jesus, out of compassion, touches the eyes of the two men. Jesus is willing to meet the men’s needs, not out of the men deserving it or earning it but out of Jesus’ grace. Our salvation and our blessings come from God’s grace, not our goodness.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is depending not on our goodness but on Jesus’ grace.

The men’s blindness was immediately done away with. They immediately regained their sight. One of the verses to Amazing Grace says, “I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” The picture of Jesus restoring these men’s eyesight reveals to us what He does for us in relationship to our salvation. The moment we acknowledge our lostness and ask Jesus to save us, He immediately saves us.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is acknowledging our need to Jesus and experiencing His grace through Him meeting that need.

Then the men began to follow Jesus. The purpose of all that Jesus does for us is to enable us to know Him and follow Him. Following Jesus is about having a relationship with God, and Jesus’ death and resurrection provides that.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is experiencing Jesus’ grace through the forgiveness of our sin and being enabled to know Him and follow Him with our whole life.

God’s grace, not our goodness, is the key to experiencing an abundant life with Jesus.

By God’s Grace, Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls,

                                            Joe