1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:05,880 Our sermon title this morning is Beware of Spiritual Blindness. 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:08,360 We all know what physical blindness isn't here. 3 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,760 Nobody, I think in this building right now is physically blind. 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,600 I think I can say that with pretty much certainty, but I'm 5 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:19,960 not so sure about spiritually. And I think all of us in some 6 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,520 level, in some way, have a certain amount of spiritual 7 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,680 blindness in our lives, in our hearts. 8 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:31,360 And I want to say this at the outset, some of this, what I 9 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:33,600 want to say here this morning may be very uncomfortable. 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:36,280 And some of you may disagree with me. 11 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,200 And that's OK because we don't all see it the same way. 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,800 And it may just be that we're have different backgrounds and 13 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,160 opinions. But also maybe we have blindness 14 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:51,600 at some levels. Blindness of the heart is a very 15 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,920 real thing. We're continuing our sermon 16 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:55,720 series to the Gospel of Mark this morning. 17 00:00:56,280 --> 00:01:01,960 And from Mark Chapter 1 to the end of Mark chapter 10 covers a 18 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,040 time span of about three years. That's 36 months of ministry in 19 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:07,680 the life of Jesus. Roughly speaking. 20 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:13,280 Jesus did a lot of ministry in that time frame, but only a very 21 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:18,760 small sliver of that's recorded. The the writer, the apostle John 22 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,200 writes in John 21 verse 25 that Jesus did many things that are 23 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,920 not recorded. A lot of ministry that Jesus did 24 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:28,520 simply wasn't written down last Sunday. 25 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,920 Joel these recommends mention how important it is out of the 26 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:38,280 Mark Chapter 9, how we need to have faith to follow and faith 27 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,400 to follow Jesus means we have to have some form of spiritual 28 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:45,240 sight. Jesus taught his disciples, he 29 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,000 patiently taught the crowds about God and repentance and 30 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,040 God's Kingdom and all that. And a lot of it just kind of 31 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,680 went over their heads. And we'll see a lot of that this 32 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,760 morning. Spiritual blindness comes in 33 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,800 countless ways, but all of it together has its root in one 34 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,240 main sin and that's the sin of pride. 35 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,520 This morning we want to go through Mark chapter 10 and here 36 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,320 we find 5 stories. Now each story in itself would 37 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,040 be a full length sermon if we wanted to make it that. 38 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,520 But I decided this last week and I'm not going to do that. 39 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:19,400 I'm just going to take one main point out of each of these 40 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,400 stories and leave it at that because there's, there's a, 41 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,440 there's a thread that runs through each one of them. 42 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,640 And each of these five stories, we will see spiritual blindness 43 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,880 or spiritual sight demonstrated in one form or another. 44 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,120 So in the first four stories, in Mark chapter 10, we see a common 45 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:39,440 thread of how spiritual blindness kept people from 46 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,120 seeing the truth. And in the last story in Mark 47 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,560 chapter 10, we have a story of a man who had spiritual sight. 48 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,000 In this in this sermon, we will see how Jesus confronted a 49 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,640 number of sin issues that the people of that they live with 50 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:57,440 due to their blindness. Last Sunday in Mark 9, we heard 51 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,280 how important it is that we allow nothing to draw us away 52 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,520 from God. And if we did pay attention, 53 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:05,280 which I trust we did, we'll remember how Joel pointed out 54 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:08,680 the seriousness of sin in our lives, that we must continue the 55 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,800 path of repentance. And I think it would be a fair 56 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:16,680 question to ask is if I go to a service and if you go to a 57 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:19,480 service on a Sunday morning, the question was, Are you ready to 58 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:21,280 repent? No. 59 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:23,720 Oh, wait a minute. Why am I here then? 60 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:27,320 Because that's the part of it. We have to be willing to repent 61 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:29,720 if we're going to grow. That's what repentance is. 62 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,400 And hear Jesus talking to these people and they're not ready. 63 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:35,920 Well, let's begin reading Mark chapter 10. 64 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,680 Take your Bibles. Mark 10, verse 1 to 12. 65 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,680 That's the first story. Then he arose from there and 66 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,560 came to the region of Judea by the other side of the Jordan, 67 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,560 and multitudes gathered to him again, and as he was customed, 68 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:50,480 he taught them again. The Pharisees came and asked 69 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,400 him, Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? 70 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:55,600 Testing him? He answered and said to them, 71 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,320 What did Moses command you? They said Moses permitted a man 72 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,520 to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her. 73 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,320 And Jesus answered and said to them, Because of the hardness of 74 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:08,280 your heart, he wrote you this precept. 75 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,360 But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and 76 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,400 female. For this reason a man shall 77 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,440 leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the 78 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,160 two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer 2, 79 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,399 but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined 80 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:25,440 together, let not man separate. That's the end of the discussion 81 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:27,960 with the Pharisees. Let's go on verse 10. 82 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,240 In the house, his disciples asked him again about the same 83 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:33,440 matter. So he said to them, whoever 84 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,280 divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against 85 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:38,960 her, meaning his wife. And if a woman divorces her 86 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,960 husband and marries another, she commits adultery and he would 87 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:43,320 again, the same would be to her husband. 88 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,240 So here we see the spiritual blindness of these Pharisees. 89 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,440 Now, the reason they're testing Jesus is not so much they want 90 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:51,640 to know about divorce, remarriage. 91 00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:54,480 I don't think that was the that was the key there. 92 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,040 That was what they used, but Jesus used it to teach them. 93 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:02,720 And so here we see spiritual blindness prevents people from 94 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:04,400 understanding God's plan for marriage. 95 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,040 So Jesus moving on. And this time it's the crowds 96 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,440 coming to listen. And Timothy Geddert in his 97 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,040 commentary writes this. He says this happened in the 98 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:16,160 exact location of the region, the area where John the Baptist 99 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,360 had met his faithful end under King Herod. 100 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:22,600 And you know what John the Baptist did? 101 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:27,040 John King Herod had taken his brother Phillip's wife, married 102 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:28,880 her. And John the Baptist told me 103 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:30,920 it's not right that you have your brother's wife, Phillip. 104 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:37,320 King Herod throws John in prison and the end Long story short, 105 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,560 John is beheaded for what he did. 106 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:46,080 Herodias King, Herod's second wife couldn't stand him so and 107 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:48,480 so the Pharisees asked him, is it lawful for a man to divorce 108 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,040 his wife testing him? What's Jesus going to say? 109 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:52,800 Because this is a controversial issue. 110 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,240 It's dicey, it's it's difficult. What's Jesus going to say? 111 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,120 And Jesus being a man, we, he was God in human form, but him 112 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,560 being a man, he could have thought, Oh, oh, John got in 113 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:05,640 trouble in this place for speaking it against Herod. 114 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,680 What should I say? You see, the, the Pharisees, 115 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:10,480 they came to make Jesus life difficult. 116 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:12,320 They didn't come here to learn truth. 117 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:18,400 Actually, they were in the dark. But Jesus responded with a 118 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:20,880 question and said, what did Moses command you? 119 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:24,000 And they say in verse 4, Moses permitted to write a certificate 120 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,240 of divorce to dismiss her. And then they quoted Deuteronomy 121 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,480 24, verse one to four. It does say that if a man finds 122 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:33,440 something unclean or unacceptable and his wife, he 123 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:35,440 can divorce or write a certificate and then he can 124 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:38,040 remarry. What's the deal here? 125 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,320 The Pharisees were not marriage focused. 126 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,200 They wanted to to test you to see what Jesus would do with 127 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:46,800 this, with this principle, with his commandment. 128 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:52,280 They viewed marriage from a self focused mind of reference and 129 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,320 they wanted to hear from Jesus what he had to say about it, 130 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,880 hoping he would say something that they could find fault with, 131 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,480 trip him up and then get him into trouble. 132 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,560 In that time, as of now, as of as there is now, there were 133 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:07,640 debates on this. This was a common debate. 134 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,760 There was 2 particular rabbis. One's name was Hilo and the 135 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:14,040 other was a more conservative guy was Shamay. 136 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:16,560 Hilo was the was the more liberal guy. 137 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:18,160 Yeah. If your wife doesn't measure up 138 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,760 to your standards, yeah, you can divorce or just read her 139 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:22,520 certificate, divorce and you can marry again. 140 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:25,680 Shamay was more conservative. There had to be good reason to. 141 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,320 And so both based their their ideas on on Deuteronomy. 142 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:31,520 So the question was not can you do it? 143 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,200 Just how can you do it? That was the question. 144 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,320 That was what the debates and discussions were over. 145 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,320 But then what does Jesus do? What does Jesus do? 146 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,160 He points them back to the order of creation. 147 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,360 In the original design, there was no divorce built in as a 148 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,360 safety net in case things did not go well. 149 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:51,760 In the original there was no escape mechanism, so to speak, 150 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,920 if things did not work out. And then Jesus says in verse 5, 151 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,640 he says because of the hardness of your heart, He wrote to this 152 00:07:58,640 --> 00:07:59,920 precept. But from the beginning of 153 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:01,960 creation God made them male and female. 154 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,400 Jesus took them right back to the beginning of time, sent it 155 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:08,680 enter the world, tarnished everything including marriage, 156 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:11,720 but that did not erase God's design. 157 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,120 And then he says in verse 9, therefore what God has joined 158 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:19,120 together, let not man separate. The problem was not marriage. 159 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:22,120 The problem was the spin the Pharisees given to the teachings 160 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:23,640 of the law and Jesus corrected them. 161 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,160 Jesus teaching that marriage that God has joined together 162 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,320 should not be separated. So we can clearly see the 163 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,240 difference in how Jesus viewed marriage and how the Pharisees 164 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:34,440 viewed marriage. In their spiritual blindness 165 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:38,240 they had constructed different means and ways in which it 166 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:43,520 wasn't so serious anymore. Jesus stated it was 1 flesh and 167 00:08:43,520 --> 00:08:46,360 now they shared everything. But yet Moses did allow for 168 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:48,840 divorce in marriage because of sin, because of hardness of 169 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,440 heart. But the Pharisees conversation 170 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:54,840 ended there and then in the house Jesus together with his 171 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:59,160 disciples again and they ask him about that matter on divorce. 172 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,920 What what's with that Lord? And then Jesus says something 173 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:06,120 very profound and he UPS the he UPS the stakes a bit. 174 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,400 He says verse 11. So he said to them, his 175 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:12,000 disciples, whoever divorces his wife, marries another, commits 176 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:14,080 adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her 177 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,680 husband and marries another, she commits adultery. 178 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,000 Jesus calls it adultery. What's adultery? 179 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:25,840 Adultery is the sin of a married person being section involved 180 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:27,600 with another person, not their spouse. 181 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:29,640 That's adultery. But wait a minute. 182 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:31,440 Were they not divorced? Yeah, they were. 183 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:35,560 So what's he saying? The divorce isn't valid in God's 184 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:37,240 eyes. It may be legally valid states 185 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:38,880 on the state's part, but not in God's eyes. 186 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:41,560 So if the second marriage is adultery, what's he saying? 187 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:44,760 He's saying that in when If the second marriage is adultery, 188 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,640 then that means he's got he's sinning against somebody else. 189 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,120 It's important to know that when Mark wrote his gospel, he did 190 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,440 not write anything about Jesus giving permission for divorce 191 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:56,640 and remarriage. But we do find a verse in 192 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:57,800 Matthew now. We just want to go there very 193 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,120 briefly this morning because I know this is a question in many 194 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,000 people's minds. It's been brought to me so many 195 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,640 times. I'm going to address it in 196 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:06,760 Matthew 19. Jesus does make an exception. 197 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,080 Let's go through it in Matthew 1918, nineteen verse 8 and 9, 198 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,720 Jesus says it's again the same, the same event, but Matthew 199 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,320 writes it a bit different. He said to them, Moses, because 200 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,720 of the hardness of your hearts permitted you to divorce your 201 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,080 wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 202 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,040 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except there 203 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,760 it is, except for sexual morality and marries another, 204 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,800 commits adultery and whoever marries her who is divorced 205 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:33,080 commits adultery. So the question why would 206 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:36,840 Matthew and Mark and Luke, they write the same passage? 207 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:39,160 Why would they not write it the exactly the same? 208 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:41,240 Why would Mark write it differently than Matthew, for 209 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,280 instance? Why did not both record it the 210 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,160 same way? We must remember these writers 211 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,640 were not writing to the same audiences. 212 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,880 Some scholars believe and it's it's, it's safe to assume that 213 00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:56,600 it's true. Matthew emphasized the kingship 214 00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:58,560 and messiahship of Jesus as Lord. 215 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,400 Mark wrote to A to Gentile audience emphasizing Jesus as 216 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,720 the suffering servant. They both had a different theme 217 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,280 or a different thrust in their, in their in their writings. 218 00:11:08,600 --> 00:11:10,920 The Jewish culture was different than Gentile culture. 219 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:14,240 And here's where many pastors disagree in these passages as to 220 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:16,080 what they mean and how should we interpret them. 221 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,840 How should we apply them today? In both gospels, both Mark and 222 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:21,840 Matthew, the Pharisees come to test Jesus. 223 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:25,640 Jesus points them in both cases to the permanence of marriage. 224 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:29,560 But what the Pharisees tried to do was capitalize on Moses 225 00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:33,080 allowance for divorce. What I find interesting today is 226 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,040 how many pastors want to capitalize on the exception 227 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,560 clause. Jesus never commanded to 228 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:40,680 divorce. He did say there's an exception. 229 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,240 Now I will say I'm not sure exactly how to always interpret 230 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:46,560 this correctly. And I will also say that many of 231 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:50,240 us here, maybe most of us have family or personally been 232 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:55,160 involved and been through this difficult time and some people 233 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:57,760 have divorced and remarried. This not about judgment here, 234 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,240 but what's Scripture teach? That's what this is about. 235 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,360 Jesus simply forbids marriage, remarriage after divorce in Mark 236 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,440 chapter 10 verse 12 and Luke chapter 16 verse 18. 237 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,040 But in Matthew there's an exception and he says if a man 238 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:13,120 divorces his wife, marries another, he commits adultery 239 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,440 unless his wife has already committed adultery before he 240 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:21,120 did, then it's different. In that case, she has committed 241 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:24,120 adultery against her husband. And some might be listening, 242 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:25,760 thinking, OK, good, that gives me an out. 243 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:30,280 Well, let's be careful before I'm saying I'm free to remarry. 244 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,160 Think back to the spiritual blindness that covers this line 245 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:35,800 of thinking. Notice Jesus does not qualify 246 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:37,360 his statement on divorce and remarriage. 247 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:42,280 He simply says whoever marries a divorced woman is committing 248 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,240 adultery the same as Mark does. So where does this all fall? 249 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,600 This is not the scope of the sermon this morning where I want 250 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:51,440 to end up on, but simply saying that this is a very, very 251 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,040 difficult and challenging passage. 252 00:12:54,680 --> 00:12:57,800 In my own experience, I've had people come to me numerous times 253 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,600 with a question from different people over the years asking my 254 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:01,920 opinion of divorce and new marriage. 255 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,840 Then I try to find out what are you focusing on before I go and 256 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:08,840 say I'm going to judge someone who's divorced and married or 257 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,200 does that? That's not, that's not my 258 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:12,600 thrust. Where's your heart? 259 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:16,160 Do you want to follow Jesus or your desires? 260 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:18,680 And it's not the unforgivable sin. 261 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,040 I'll grant that it's not. But it is a violation of the act 262 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:25,040 of God's creation. And it can be repented of, it 263 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:26,520 can be redeemed, it can be healed. 264 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,680 And many do. There is grace, but this is not 265 00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:35,280 God's plan and I'm in the way I see it, One of the great issues 266 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:37,400 of spiritual blindness in the church in the West, in our 267 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,440 times, we tend to view what God created as permanent, as 268 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:45,280 something that we can dictate, something we can customize to 269 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,000 our own desire, just like the Pharisees did. 270 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,800 And it remains a big blind spot in the church today. 271 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,000 The Pharisees were blind about this. 272 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:56,920 The disciples want to know more and said, Jesus, give them 273 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:58,640 something. Well, that's the story of the 274 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:00,440 Pharisees and the disciples. Let's continue reading. 275 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,440 There's another story, Mark chapter 10, verse 13. 276 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:07,320 Then they brought little children to him, that he may 277 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,120 touch them. But the disciples rebuked those 278 00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:11,560 who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was 279 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:14,360 greatly displeased and said to them, Let the little children 280 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,680 come to me, and do not forbid them, for such is the Kingdom of 281 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:19,440 God. Assuredly I say to you, whoever 282 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:22,120 does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will by no 283 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,800 means enter it. And he took them up in his arms, 284 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,240 laid his hands on them, and blessed them. 285 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:29,480 You see, first there was the Pharisees who were blind in 286 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,920 their view of God's Word. Here we see the disciples. 287 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,240 They're blind to the importance and value of little people. 288 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,640 Spiritual blindness prevents people from valuing the 289 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,800 vulnerable. We do not find many times that 290 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:45,520 Jesus got upset, but here he did. 291 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,320 The new, the new Living Translation says Jesus was angry 292 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:51,040 with his disciples. And guess what? 293 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,560 He was angry in public with his disciples. 294 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,280 You can just imagine the scene here, Jesus doing stuff. 295 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,080 He's talking to people, sharing the gospel, whatever he's doing. 296 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:04,920 Here come these women with the little ones, toddlers on, on 297 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:06,680 their on their arms, these little ones. 298 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:09,200 We'd like to see the master. Oh, no, no, no, no, you don't 299 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:11,000 have. He's too busy. 300 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,840 He's too busy. Jesus finds out about this here, 301 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:18,280 sees what's going on, and he makes very short work of his 302 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:19,440 disciples. He's angry with them. 303 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:23,520 What are you doing? And then he says, by the way, 304 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:27,160 guys, the Kingdom of heaven is like these people. 305 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,840 If you can't, if you can't welcome these, then there's 306 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,480 something wrong with you. And he says anybody who doesn't 307 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:37,120 come into the Kingdom of heaven like a child will not enter the 308 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:41,400 Kingdom of heaven. This was an area in the lives of 309 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:45,200 the disciples where they were blind to Jesus mission, Jesus 310 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,080 values. They had not understood or were 311 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,760 not understanding what Jesus was about to Jesus didn't matter. 312 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:56,200 Older people, young adults, children, everybody's equally 313 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:58,440 made in God's image. He loves everybody the same. 314 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:03,600 What does this tell us about how we should value those who are 315 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,200 less able than we are? All children are equal value in 316 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:08,960 God's eyes and doesn't just refer to children. 317 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:11,120 It means everybody. You see, it's a great privilege 318 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,240 to help someone who needs us to take time from someone who's 319 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:19,000 dependent on us, especially children doesn't have to be our 320 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:20,920 children either. The disciples. 321 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:23,480 He received a lesson in the value of all people, not just 322 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,880 grown-ups. See the, the disciples, they had 323 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:28,160 a lot to learn here and we're going to see more of that as as 324 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:31,560 we go through the sermon here. The Pharisees were blind in the 325 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,360 matters of the legal, legal matters, the, the marriage and 326 00:16:34,360 --> 00:16:36,720 so on that stuff. The disciples were blind and how 327 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:38,400 they view Jesus taking time for children. 328 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,440 It's a short story, but I can just imagine the disciples being 329 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:46,160 embarrassed. Uh oh, the masters rebuking us 330 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:50,080 in front of these mothers. But it happened. 331 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:54,040 Well, Jesus goes on from there. Now another story, Mark 10 verse 332 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,600 17. Now as he was going on on the 333 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,360 road, one came running, knelt before him and asked him, Good 334 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:02,720 teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 335 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,319 So Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? 336 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:07,880 No one's good but the one that is God. 337 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:11,640 You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not 338 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,319 murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not 339 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:15,800 defraud, Honor your father and mother. 340 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,480 He answered and said to him, Teacher, all these things I've 341 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,880 kept from my youth. Then Jesus looking at him, loved 342 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:25,000 him, and said to him, One thing you lack, Go your way, sell what 343 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,200 you have, give to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. 344 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:29,000 Come, take up your cross and follow me. 345 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:32,680 But he was sad at this word, and went to his sorrowful for he had 346 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,920 great possessions. Then Jesus looked around and 347 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:37,640 said to the disciples, How hard it is for those of riches to 348 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,040 enter the Kingdom of God. And the disciples were 349 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,160 astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again and 350 00:17:42,160 --> 00:17:44,960 said to them, Children, How hard it is for those who trust in 351 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:46,600 riches to enter the Kingdom of God. 352 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,480 It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than 353 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,360 for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. 354 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:53,560 And they were greatly astonished, saying among 355 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:55,160 themselves, Who then can be saved? 356 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,080 But Jesus looked at them and said, With men it is impossible, 357 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,960 but not with God, for with God all things are possible. 358 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:04,000 Then Peter began to say to him, see, we have left all and 359 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,000 followed you. So Jesus answered and said, 360 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,760 assuredly, I say to you, there's no one who has left house or 361 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,320 brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or 362 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:15,240 lands for my sake in the Gospels who shall not receive a 363 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,680 hundredfold. Now in this time houses and 364 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,240 brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with 365 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,800 persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 366 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:26,240 But many who are first will be last, and the last first. 367 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,440 This guy came to Jesus totally good, good intentions. 368 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:31,800 The desire came running. In fact, he was in a hurry. 369 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,520 He was urgent. He wants to make sure he knows 370 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:38,800 that he's on the right track. He was rich, but he was a good 371 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,360 guy. But he was blind as well. 372 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:44,680 Spiritual blindness prevents people from realizing the 373 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,120 dangers of earthly wealth. How many people would we say 374 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:51,680 today do not want more, bigger, newer? 375 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:54,480 And I'm not saying it's never justified. 376 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:57,240 Sometimes we do need something newer or something more we do 377 00:18:57,320 --> 00:18:59,600 once in a while. But what for? 378 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:01,880 The man comes running, kneels before Jesus, and asks the 379 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:03,920 question. What's interesting is how Jesus 380 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:05,840 started this man off with where the man was at. 381 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:07,720 Gives him a quick rundown of the commandments. 382 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,600 This is what the commandments say. 383 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,160 He says, OK, that's good, I've done all that. 384 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:15,520 He says you're missing one thing, and the thing that you're 385 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,040 missing is what's holding you. It's your wealth. 386 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:23,640 He had a lot of stuff. And it's clear in this man's 387 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:25,480 life, there's an emptiness that needs filling. 388 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:28,800 There are people in this world who reach a high standard of 389 00:19:28,800 --> 00:19:31,560 wealth totally honesty with honesty, integrity. 390 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:33,560 They work hard. They they're blessed with 391 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:35,520 wealth, but they're still empty inside. 392 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,520 And I want to say to anyone who's listening, if you have 393 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:42,640 wealth and you feel empty, you're blessed. 394 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,760 That's a blessing. Earthly wealth is never intended 395 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:50,600 or meant to satisfy the soul. If it does, that means your soul 396 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:54,320 is plugged into the wrong thing. The feeling of emptiness is a 397 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,160 gift from God, which God never intended to satisfy with 398 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,160 material stuff. I'll say this for the person for 399 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,360 whom wealth has become a satisfying thing. 400 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,560 That person is in great trouble. That's total blindness. 401 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,000 For this man to come running to Jesus knowing he needed 402 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,360 something he didn't have, he just wanted to know what it was 403 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:13,720 that was a good thing. That's God designed. 404 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:15,000 Take the human body for instance. 405 00:20:15,360 --> 00:20:18,720 What would life be like if you would never know you're thirsty? 406 00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:20,880 You would need water to hydrate your body, but you never know if 407 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:22,240 you're thirsty. Somebody you have to test 408 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:23,440 somehow. Oh, it must be thirsty. 409 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,640 I'm getting sick or something. Your body lets you know you need 410 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:27,720 water. There's a need, there's a, 411 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,120 there's a need for water and you and you drink and your need is 412 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:32,640 your need is gone and now you're good for a while. 413 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:38,000 The same holds true spiritually, but this is where the blindness 414 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:39,640 comes in. Satan tells us, OK, just get 415 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,320 this and you'll be happy again. Well, it may seem that way until 416 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:44,720 a few days go by and then it's the same old, same old and we 417 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:49,200 feel as empty as we did before. We can't trust wealth. 418 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:52,280 The man knew he was not where he needed to be. 419 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,000 He came to Jesus, looks at him, what need, what do I need to do? 420 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:59,640 And Jesus says, Mark 10/21 one thing you lack, go your way, 421 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:01,920 sell whatever you have, come, give to the poor and you'll have 422 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:03,600 treasure in heaven. Come and take up the cross and 423 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:05,280 follow me. What his response? 424 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,000 But he was sad at his word and went away sorrowful. 425 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:10,320 Fred. Great possessions. 426 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:14,480 The very thing he thought he needed or wanted or had to have 427 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,160 for life to be meaningful or purposeful or just to get by was 428 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:21,520 holding him back. And so it was crowding out. 429 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:23,800 It was full of that. He needed to empty that. 430 00:21:24,160 --> 00:21:26,200 This is not here to say, sell all you have and give to the 431 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,160 poor. This is not said to everybody. 432 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:29,800 But in this man's case, he needed to. 433 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,000 And some people to stay today still may need to. 434 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:34,640 He was missing something, couldn't see what it was. 435 00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,520 He was blind, spiritually blind, what his wealth had done to him. 436 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:44,160 If love of wealth would make people physically blind, how 437 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,320 many blind people would we have today? 438 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:51,040 Think about that for a second if material wealth would blind us 439 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:56,360 physically or the desire for it. In this man's case, he wasn't an 440 00:21:56,360 --> 00:22:00,080 evil man, he was just had his priorities mixed up. 441 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:03,240 He was spiritually blind. The disciples are blown away. 442 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:08,520 What who can then be saved and God says, Jesus says with man 443 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:10,520 this is impossible, but with God is possible. 444 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,000 And Peter's quick to chime in and we've left everything. 445 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:18,120 And Jesus points out that the, the, the permanent blessings are 446 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:21,040 not here and they are, they come in eternity. 447 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:27,560 But then there's another story that we come out to story #4 448 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:33,240 this is perhaps maybe the most difficult one of all, I would 449 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,720 say maybe even more so than than the first one with the divorce 450 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:40,160 and the marriage case story #4 is where Jesus goes and he 451 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:41,680 starts talking to disciples about him. 452 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,760 He's going to be arrested and he's going to be killed. 453 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:48,520 Let's read the story, verse 10, verse 3210, verse 32. 454 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,840 Now they're on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was 455 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:53,640 going before them, and they were amazed. 456 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:55,840 As they followed, they were afraid. 457 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,480 Then he took the 12 aside again, began to tell them the things 458 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:01,280 that would happen to him. Behold, we're going to 459 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,040 Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be betrayed 460 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:05,440 to the chief priest, to the scribes, and they will condemn 461 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,120 him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles. 462 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:10,720 They will mock him and scourge him and spit on him and kill 463 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:12,320 him. On the third day he will rise 464 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,040 again. OK, if you stop there, so far so 465 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,560 good. Now let's get Stacy verse 35. 466 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,160 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying, 467 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,680 teach you, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. 468 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:24,280 And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you? 469 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,440 They said to him, grant us that we may sit one on your right 470 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,800 hand and the other on your left in your glory. 471 00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:31,840 But Jesus said to them, do you not? 472 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:33,240 You do not know what you're asking. 473 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:36,760 Are you able to drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the 474 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,520 baptism and baptized with? They said to him, we're able. 475 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,520 So Jesus said to them, you will indeed drink the cup I drink and 476 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,520 with the baptism I'm baptized with. 477 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,760 You'll be baptized. But to sit at my right hand and 478 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,520 on my left is not mine to give, but it's for those who for whom 479 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,720 it's prepared. And when the 10 heard it, they 480 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,920 began to be greatly displeased with James and John. 481 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:01,360 But Jesus called him to himself and said to them, You know that 482 00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:04,040 those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lorded over 483 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,200 them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 484 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:09,320 Yet it shall not be so among you. 485 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:12,400 But whoever desires to become great among you shall be your 486 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,480 servant. Whoever of you desires to be 487 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,800 first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not 488 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,960 come to be served, but to serve and give his life a ransom for 489 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:23,640 many. This story is just a jarring 490 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,000 interruption into everything so far that Jesus has been doing. 491 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,440 They were blind in their hearts and minds. 492 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,840 Spiritual blindness prevents people from understanding 493 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:37,000 Christ's mission. Jesus had explained to his 494 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,680 disciples once before already what was going to happen. 495 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,480 Now they're traveling southward, getting closer to Jerusalem. 496 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:44,760 He takes them aside and talks them about his upcoming 497 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,280 suffering, and so on. And here we see how badly his 498 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:51,040 disciples missed the mark and understanding what Jesus was 499 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:53,720 truly about, He's telling them what's going to happen. 500 00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:57,560 But right on the heels of that conversation, we find the 501 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,160 disciples jockeying for positions of power. 502 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,400 He talked about suffering. They're talking about 503 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:06,360 promotions. They have no idea. 504 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,840 They completely missed it. He had talked about how this 505 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,520 earthly life would end and he would rise, but they missed it. 506 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:19,320 Sons of Zebedee, grant us what we want, and we want to sit on 507 00:25:19,320 --> 00:25:21,800 your right and your left. There's a blind as can be. 508 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,720 No idea. They're thinking power, Jesus 509 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:29,680 thinking serving. He says, can you experience what 510 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,640 I'm going to experience? Yeah, we can do that without 511 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:34,920 batting an eye. And then the rest of the 512 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,320 disciples, one would think that they would just be happy. 513 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:40,640 Oh, God, I'm not asking that question. 514 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:41,680 No. Look at what they're getting 515 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,520 from the Master. They're upset they have an issue 516 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,760 at the 2 for the audacity to request of Christ that position. 517 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:53,360 And you know what the response from the 10 reveal what's in 518 00:25:53,360 --> 00:25:56,760 their hearts. They didn't ask for positions of 519 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,400 power, but they're sure angry at those who did. 520 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:05,240 What a mess. 12 disciples. Can you just imagine the the 521 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,400 loud arguing that would have happened? 522 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,640 Jesus calls time out. This is not how it goes, guys. 523 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:17,880 And then he explains to them the disciples were blind when it 524 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:23,440 came to the mission of Jesus. How many times do we not do the 525 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,400 exact same thing? All we're serving, we're 526 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,560 participating, we're involved. But sure, it has to go my way. 527 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:35,520 I want to be in control. I want to be in charge. 528 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,520 My idea is better. I, I deserve this. 529 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:40,320 I'm entitled to this. I'm entitled to that. 530 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,360 And then when somebody who shouldn't be getting something 531 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:50,680 doesn't get what they shouldn't be getting, we're glad they 532 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,600 don't get it in the next breath. We want the exact same thing 533 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,920 Jesus says. Even the Son of Man did not come 534 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:02,720 to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for 535 00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,880 many. This is the key verse. 536 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:11,920 This is the model, this is the template, this is the point of 537 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,880 reference. And when this is solid in one's 538 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:16,640 life, everything flows from that. 539 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:22,040 All the rest of it becomes very small, often insignificant and 540 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,680 of low consequence. The 10 needed a lesson and they 541 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:27,560 got one. The 11, the 12 needed a lesson. 542 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,040 I believe there'd be a lot less stress, tension, conflict, and 543 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,320 division in churches of every member, every participant, every 544 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:36,680 attendee would come to church with that mindset. 545 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,000 How can I contribute? What can I bring, how can I 546 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,160 serve instead of I hope my needs will be met here. 547 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:44,520 If they don't treat me this way, I'm out of here. 548 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:46,640 I deserve this. I deserve that. 549 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,480 Or Jesus keeps on traveling after this event. 550 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,960 Now we come to the fifth story and this is the last one, the 551 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,440 final event or story that took place before Jesus entered 552 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:58,000 Jerusalem. There's an interesting thing in 553 00:27:58,000 --> 00:27:59,560 the placement of the story in Mark. 554 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:04,720 If we go back to chapter 8, 22 to 26, there's a story of Jesus 555 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,920 healing a man who's blind. He did it in two stages. 556 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:10,160 Commentator Timothy Get it, writes the following. 557 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,320 And I don't want to make too much of it, but it's very 558 00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:16,360 interesting, he says. He says Mark has framed this 559 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:19,200 whole discipleship journey section that we have gone 560 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,720 through the last few Sundays with two miracle stories, both 561 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:24,400 of them about opening blind eyes. 562 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:28,000 The first healing of a blind man happens in two stages. 563 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,440 That was chapter 822 to 26. Now this last 1 chapter 1046 to 564 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:36,360 52, symbolizing that the disciples who could see Jesus as 565 00:28:36,360 --> 00:28:38,520 the Messiah but could not accept the way of the cross are still 566 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,240 in need of another touch. The second one symbolizes what 567 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,280 faithful disciples do when their eyes are truly opened. 568 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:47,080 They follow Jesus on the way. I do not want to push this 569 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,000 emphasis too much and place too much on these miracles, but I do 570 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:54,680 agree that Mark did not do this randomly or haphazardly or just 571 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,000 this how the chips fall. This was intentional. 572 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:01,120 One of the big issues with the people, the religious leaders, 573 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:05,040 even the disciples, was they could not see what Jesus truly 574 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,440 was about. And oftentimes the miracles that 575 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,600 Jesus did were reflections of where the people's hearts were 576 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,800 and what he wanted them to grasp and comprehend and to respond to 577 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:16,880 while they come to Jericho. Here's the last story. 578 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,560 Now they came to Jericho. As he went out of Jericho with 579 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:22,960 his disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus the 580 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:24,760 son of Timaeus sat by the road begging. 581 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:27,960 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out 582 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:30,240 and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. 583 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,280 Then many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the 584 00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:35,800 more. Son of David, have mercy on me. 585 00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:38,360 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. 586 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,280 Then they called the blind man, saying to me, Be of good cheer, 587 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,240 Rise, he's calling you. And throwing aside his garment, 588 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:46,800 he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to 589 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:48,560 him, What do you want me to do for you? 590 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:52,160 The blind man said to him, Raboni, that I may receive my 591 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,080 sight. Then Jesus said to him, Go your 592 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:55,640 way, your faith has made you well. 593 00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:59,000 And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the 594 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:02,040 road. Here we have a scene of a man 595 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:03,520 who's not had an encounter with Jesus. 596 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:07,080 He's just heard of Jesus. Jesus coming by here is it? 597 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:09,600 He's blind. He can't do a lot for himself 598 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,880 except call out, which he does. He's begging, Oh, it's Jesus 599 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:14,920 coming by. OK, he yells, Jesus, son of 600 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:19,760 David, have mercy on me. Timothy Geddert mentions in his 601 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:23,360 commentary that just like the disciples said, Jesus asked his 602 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:25,120 disciples, what do you want me to do for you? 603 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:26,760 Well, I want to sit on your right, on your left. 604 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,560 Jesus asked this man too. What do you want me to do for 605 00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:31,960 you? James and John wanted power, 606 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:34,120 authority and status and privilege. 607 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:38,280 The blind man simply wants what he needs rescued from his 608 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:42,680 blindness. He wanted to be the way he was 609 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,760 supposed to be, but his crying wasn't welcome. 610 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,080 The crowd's trying to shut him up. 611 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,520 He's creating a ruckus. They're trying to shut up. 612 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:53,480 He just cries it all the more. And all of the arguments that 613 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:55,720 have been going on with the Pharisees and the disciples and 614 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:57,880 the rich man, and then again the disciples, here we have this 615 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:03,000 one, the one who should not have been told to shut up him. 616 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:07,200 They tell to shut up. Jesus hears it, stands still, 617 00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,600 stops walking, calls the man over and is what do you want me 618 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,160 to do for you and the man says Raboni, a title of honor 619 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,840 respectfully says I may receive my sight. 620 00:31:21,290 --> 00:31:23,570 Why is this story included in this passage? 621 00:31:23,570 --> 00:31:26,610 As I mentioned before, it's interesting how Mark frames his 622 00:31:26,610 --> 00:31:29,690 gospel in the story of the healing in eight chapter 8 verse 623 00:31:29,730 --> 00:31:33,730 3022 to now and chapter 10. The last part, friends, 624 00:31:34,450 --> 00:31:38,970 spiritual sight is a must to understand the message of the 625 00:31:38,970 --> 00:31:41,600 gospel. It's not optional. 626 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:44,600 Whether it's divorce and remarriage, whether it's money, 627 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,080 whether it's how we treat our neighbor, it doesn't matter. 628 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:54,960 We need spiritual sight. And with the blind man of all 629 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,560 people we can see, even though physically he was blind, 630 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:02,280 spiritually he could see. He cries for mercy from the one. 631 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:06,160 We all need to cry mercy from spiritual. 632 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,000 Spiritual sight leads to humility and to trust in Christ. 633 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:17,680 And that's our final point. Once we see we need Jesus and we 634 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:22,040 see that need supersedes all other needs, whatever it is. 635 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:23,160 Maybe there's marriage struggles. 636 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,480 Maybe there's all kinds of marriage breakdowns in our 637 00:32:25,480 --> 00:32:27,160 relationships. Maybe there's all of that stuff 638 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:28,680 going on. Maybe it's money, maybe it's 639 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,760 jobs, maybe it's it's family. Whatever it is, above all, we 640 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,920 need sight. And only then can we make our 641 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,760 way forward. The Pharisees, they failed, 642 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,040 didn't see God's principles from God's point. 643 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:42,760 They looked it through a human lens. 644 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:44,480 The disciples rebuked the mothers for bringing their 645 00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:46,160 children. They're blind as they categorize 646 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,280 people. The rich man could not see past 647 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:50,120 this earthly wealth. He knew he had a need, but 648 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:53,040 couldn't see past it. The disciples could not see the 649 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:54,160 true purpose of Christ's mission. 650 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,560 They're blinded by their personal ambition of blind word 651 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:02,920 Emmaus. He had sight, a heart open and 652 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:05,920 receptive, dependent on Christ, begging for mercy. 653 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:11,640 Where are you and I in these stories? 654 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,040 Can you and I see? Are we spiritually blind? 655 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:19,040 Where is our focus? Well, there's hope. 656 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:21,600 Matthew Chapter 7, verse 7 and 8. 657 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:23,720 Jesus says ask and it will be given to you. 658 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,440 Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be open to you 659 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:31,480 for everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds and to him 660 00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:36,480 who knocks, it will be opened. We do not come to God on our 661 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,280 terms, telling Him what we want, what we want to do. 662 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:42,160 We ask the Lord, what do you want us to do? 663 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,880 Humbly asking Him to make us what He wants us to be. 664 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:49,640 So do we have spiritual sight? We need it in every aspect of 665 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:51,840 our lives. So May God bless us with 666 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:55,560 spiritual sight to see clearly our way through life in our 667 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:57,720 earthly journey. I want to encourage us. 668 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:00,400 I don't want you to leave here this morning feeling guilt 669 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:02,120 riddled. And there's no hope. 670 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,720 No, whatever place you find yourself, there's hope. 671 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,560 There's grace and there's mercy. The best thing we can do is 672 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:11,560 acknowledge we've sinned. Repent before the Lord, ask Him 673 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:16,600 to redeem what we messed up, to make it holy and to heal us and 674 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:19,639 to increase our sight. And if we do so, he'll reveal to 675 00:34:19,639 --> 00:34:21,639 us. If we knock, He'll open. 676 00:34:21,639 --> 00:34:24,920 And if we ask, we'll receive. And by God's grace, as a family 677 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:26,960 of faithful believers, we can move forward. 678 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:33,639 Let us pray, Lord, we thank you for your word and the stories 679 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:35,159 through which you teach us how to live. 680 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:37,880 The teachings you've left in the Scripture are for us to read, to 681 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:40,679 listen to, and to learn from, and then to apply to our lives. 682 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,520 May we be faithful, Lord, living out your will on this earth. 683 00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:46,440 We thank you, Jesus. In your name we pray. 684 00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:46,800 Amen.