Faith in Jesus Sees!

23rd Sunday after Pentecost, 10/27/24 Mark 10:46-52 Faith in Jesus Sees! I. It sees spiritual truth. II. It sees divine power. “Don’t you see it? Don’t you understand what’s happening? Don’t you see the trouble and hardship we’ll face if we don’t make this decision and take this course of action?” I imagine you’ve been hearing and even asking those very questions or similar ones lately. A major event is about to take place in our country and it’s gripping the attention of nearly everyone. The media make sure the issues are in our faces and on our minds constantly. And those issues range far and wide. The problem is that there’s little agreement about what the important issues are and what should be done about them. What one person considers to be of prime importance hardly appears on the other person’s radar. It’s replaced by others. And it’s frustrating, isn’t it? You’ve put time and effort into informing yourself. You know what the issues are. You’re fairly certain what will happen if we choose this path or that one. But your view of things isn’t getting the traction you had hoped. In fact, it seems as if, at times, no one agrees with you. No one seems to be listening. No one makes the same logical conclusions that you do. And it makes you want to shout to anyone who is willing to listen, “Don’t you see it!?” What makes perfect sense to you is not only challenged by others, but even attacked. And you end up gripping tenaciously to your “truth,” while they still cling to theirs. Truth. What’s true and what’s false? It’s a constant debate. In fact, it’s become a way of life. But that’s not a modern dilemma. It’s been around ever since Satan used one of his lies to get the world’s first humans to doubt God’s love for them and his words to them. And there’s no worse lie. Spiritual falsehood is the most damaging falsehood that exists. In this morning’s First Reading from Jeremiah, the Jews shortly after 600 BC were suffering in exile for their insistence on believing spiritual falsehood—lies—about the only true God. In this morning’s Second Reading, the Christians in Laodicea were suffering because they allowed wealth and materialism to fog their view of spiritual truth. But you have come to this place at this time to immerse yourself in truth, divine truth, eternal truth. The truth that no one, even Satan himself, can overturn and overcome. And that truth centers in this: Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and the word’s only Savior from sin. By God’s grace, you possess that saving faith in Jesus. This morning, our Lord Jesus impresses on us the truth that faith in him sees. Faith in Jesus sees! But sees what? Let’s see, shall we? I. “Did you see that?” I’m sure you’ve been asked that question. In the opinion of the person who is there with you, they witnessed something amazing, and they want to know if you saw the same thing. Sometimes you see it. Sometimes you miss it. Did you miss the amazing occurrence in this morning’s sermon text from Mark 10? I’m guessing you didn’t, at least if you were paying even a minimum of attention. The event before us relates the account of Jesus miraculously giving sight to a blind man named Bartimaeus. I’m sure you caught it. If I asked you what this account was all about, I’m sure this would be your immediate response: Jesus gave sight to a blind man. But I submit that isn’t the greatest thing that happened here. To be sure, we’ll spend a little more time on that miracle of Jesus a little later. But right now, I want to point you to something else that was even more astounding than this blind man receiving his sight. “But what could be more astounding than that?” you ask. It’s in these words that Bartimaeus spoke. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Did those words leap off the page at you when you read them a few minutes ago? Did they ring in your ears? Maybe not. But they should have. Why? First, consider the setting of this text. It occurred in Jericho which was about 12 miles east of Jerusalem, roughly the distance between here and Fairborn. The location isn’t that important, but the reason for Jesus being there was. He was on his way to Jerusalem for the final time. In short order he would be entering Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday. On that day, the crowd that was traveling with him and the crowd that welcomed him would shout the same words of praise to Jesus. The title “Son of David” was clearly messianic. In other words, the Jews used it for the promised Messiah, who would be one of David’s descendants, as Jesus clearly was. The problem with the term, however, is that some Jews used it properly and others improperly. Some used it improperly as the designation for the person whom they hoped would establish a glorious Jewish earthly kingdom, such as King David had done. That was the false hope of the majority of Jewish people. But some Jews used it properly, and this man, Bartimaeus, was one of them. How do we know that for certain? Because of what Jesus says about him and his faith at the end of our text. He told him, “Your faith has healed you.” With those words, Jesus verified that Bartimaeus believed the truth about Jesus. His faith in Jesus as the world’s Savior from sin healed him. And I’m impressed! Aren’t you? Surrounded by his fellow people with their deadly spiritual misconceptions about Jesus stood Bartimaeus. He was physically blind, but he had 20-20 spiritual sight. He saw Jesus clearly. He saw Jesus for who he truly was. Faith in Jesus sees! It sees spiritual truth! A few minutes ago, I began by noting that we all have concerns about the way things are going. And I asked, “What concerns you?” Now I want to ask, “Do you think it will be much different two weeks from now? Two months from now? Two years from now? Twenty years from now?” At the risk of sounding like a Debbie Downer, I’ll tell you probably not. In fact, I’m almost sure things won’t be different, at least in the big picture of things. That’s the way things go in our sinful world. What one individual thinks is true will be different than what the next person thinks is true. But don’t let that concern you any longer. Why not? Because by the grace of God you already see absolute, eternal truth. In spite of the fact that you won’t know what will be true about your world tomorrow, you know this eternal truth: Jesus is your Savior, the one who lived a perfect life in your place, the one who died your death on the cross as the punishment for your sins, the one who rose again to assure you that all is well eternally, and the one who is now ruling over all things—as uncertain as they may seem to us—for the good of his Church, for Christians, for you. You know it! You believe it! Faith in Jesus sees. It sees spiritual truth. II. I’m sure you know that human beings have five senses: hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, and touching. Of those five, which one do you consider to be most important for you? It’s your sight, isn’t it? The vast majority of people think so. Part of that is due to the visual world in which we live. So much of our communication today is done visually. To be unable to see would be a major disadvantage. But that was Bartimaeus’ reality. He lived with blindness. And he lived in the hopelessness of being blind. There was no cure. Medical “science” was crude, even when it existed. Did he ever wish that he could see? I imagine so. But I also think he didn’t dwell on it. That was useless. Until he heard about Jesus. No doubt he had heard about the Prophet from Nazareth who was performing miracles: the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the demon-possessed are set free, a few dead people had been raised, and the blind see. The blind see! Before he met Jesus this day, his world was filled with darkness. He could not see the things we all take for granted: the beauty of nature, the stars at night, an infant deeply sleeping in its mother’s arms, the face of a loved one. But no longer. From this day forward, he was able to see. And the first thing he laid eyes on no doubt was the Son of David, the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ the Son of God. Imagine that being the first thing you see! I don’t think that Bartimaeus ever forgot it. And, if he died in the Christian faith, he’s still seeing that face of Jesus. He’s living in the brightness of the glory of the eternal God. He’s enjoying the bliss that Jesus won for him in the mansion that Jesus has prepared for him. All because he saw what so many of his fellow Jews failed to see—Jesus, the Son of God and Savior of the world. He saw Jesus and the divine power Jesus possesses. Faith in Jesus sees. It sees divine power. I’m guessing you have hoped and prayed for a miracle more than once in your life. Did it occur? Maybe. But probably not. And one of the reasons for it is that Jesus doesn’t want you to believe in him simply for the next miracle you want him to perform for you. He wants you to believe in him for the miracle that he has already performed for you. It’s the one you needed more than any other. It’s the miracle of him coming to this earth to be your Savior from sin and winning life in heaven for you. No one else could have done that for you. Jesus did. And he assures you of it by his resurrection from the dead. You see those miracles by faith in Jesus because faith in Jesus sees. Keep your eyes of faith focused on Jesus. Place your cares and concerns for this life in his hands and watch him carry out everything for your eternal good. Faith in Jesus sees! See him now! See him eternally! Amen.