Well, this morning we'll be continuing our study of the Gospel of Matthew, turning to Matthew chapter 20, looking at verses 29 through 34. It's the close of Matthew chapter 20. If you're using your Pew Bible, you should be able to find this on page 1049. So hear now the word of God, Matthew chapter 20, verses 29 through 34. As they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside. And when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. The crowd rebuked them. telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. And stopping, Jesus called them and said, What do you want me to do for you? They said to him, Lord, let our eyes be opened. And Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes. And immediately they received their sight and followed him." Let us once again bow in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you for these words, and we pray that as we look at them, that you, by your Spirit, would illumine our hearts and our minds, our innermost being. Lord, give us eyes to see, and may you inscribe your truth upon our hearts. Our Father, we pray that you would bless my mind and my mouth, that I may think and speak clearly this morning. It is in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we do pray. Amen. I recently saw a YouTube video that was posted through Facebook, a very encouraging one of a young boy, I can't remember exactly his age, probably around the age of two, who was born unable to hear, was had a surgery where an implant was placed and actually enabled him to hear for the first time. And as the video unfolds, we see this small boy and we can hear his mom is not far from him. And as the doctors are doing the final adjustments of this implant and activating it for the first time, we can see this big smile come over his face as his mom speaks to him and he can hear her for the first time. can hear his mother's voice. And it is a remarkable, heart-moving video. And you can hear the tears of joy welling up in his mother's voice as she can see that her son can hear her for the first time. Imagine the joy experienced by these two men that Matthew recounts for us this morning as they see for the first time. Having been blind for most, if not all of their lives, Jesus reaches out and He touches them and gives them sight. The other Gospel accounts show us the celebration in more detail of how excited and joyous they are. Here, Matthew simply says that they recovered their sight and followed Him. You can imagine the joy and the amazement of the crowd through this miracle. They received their sight through faith in the Son of David, this Jesus Christ, trusting in Him to heal them. And that is the theme that we will be looking at this morning in this text, for us to trust in the Son of David to give us sight. To trust in the Son of David to give us sight. Now as we look at this text, we'll first look at verses 29 to 30, then we'll skip verse 31 and look at verses 32 and 34 and save verse 31 for the final point this morning. So as we begin in verses 29 to 32, blind men cry out to the son of David. Matthew begins his account as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. Now, Mark and Luke tell of the same account in Mark chapter 10, verse 46 to 52, and Luke chapter 18, verses 35 to 43. And what's interesting, if you look at those accounts, is that Mark and Luke say that as they're entering Jericho, and let's not get tripped up of whether or not they're coming into Jericho or whether or not they're leaving Jericho, the fact is they're in Jericho, and they're on their way to Jerusalem. This is the last major stop before Jesus gets into that city on their road. And so this miracle takes place within the vicinity of Jericho. And as we see here, a great crowd was following him. Let us keep in mind that as Jesus here is entering towards Jerusalem and he's entering the Passover season and they're going to come and they're going to make preparations for the Passover. before the night that He is betrayed. If we consider Deuteronomy 6, verses 1-8, that people of the nation were to come and offer a sacrifice in Jerusalem. So as this crowd is coming, and people are making their way towards Jerusalem, they join Jesus. And a crowd begins to gather and to follow Him. Now in verse 30, And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside. And when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, Lord, have mercy on us, son of David. Now, another difference between Mark and Luke and Matthew is that Matthew has two blind men and Mark and Luke have one. And what we need to keep in mind here is that as Matthew was actually here with Jesus and walking alongside him, and Mark and Luke are recounting accounts that they have heard from the apostles, another eyewitness testimony, that Mark and Luke are probably giving the account of the one that probably did most of the talking. One of these two blind men probably did most of the talking in this scenario. Mark and Luke just mentioned the one prominent blind man that interacts with Jesus, whereas Matthew shows us that there were two sitting by the roadside. And whether or not there's one or two, the reaction here that they have is what we need to focus on. They cry out, Son of David. Now Luke shares with us in his account that they asked. They were sitting there, by the way, and they could hear a commotion. They could hear a crowd walking past them. And so, in Luke's account, they actually ask, what's going on here? And so someone tells them, well, Jesus of Nazareth is walking by. And so then they begin to cry out, have mercy on us, Son of David. Now that title, Son of David, is a kingly title for Jesus. It references that prophecy of old that God gave to David that his son would sit on his throne for all of eternity and as you know it's pointed out in the scriptures in reference to David actually dying we we know it can read in the scriptures that Solomon did not fulfill that prophecy he too lived and he died and his tomb was there in Israel and And so this son of David that was prophesied of is this Jesus Christ, this Messiah. And so they cry out to him, Lord, son of David, have mercy on us. Now, what's amazing here, brothers and sisters, is that these men did not see anything that Jesus had done. They didn't see him walk on water. They didn't see Him divide a handful of loaves and fish and feed 5,000 and 4,000 people. They didn't see Him heal demon-possessed men and women. They didn't see Him raise the dead. They heard, though. The testimony of this Jesus had reached their ears, and they heard. This is in stark contrast to those who were with him day in and day out. And as we looked at the preceding passages, and the one immediately before this one, and the mother's request of how James and John asked for positions of honor and power in the kingdom of God, more concerned with their own position, rather than taking notice of Who was there right in their midst? In stark contrast to this, these poor blind men, not seeing what Jesus had done, but merely hearing, cry out for mercy. Our Lord will later say to one of His disciples, you believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who believe and yet have not seen. Meaning that These blind men in many ways are exactly like we are. You're not physically blind. But like them and not being able to see what Jesus had done, we have relied on the testimony and hearing what Christ has done. And through the work of the Holy Spirit, As God reached out and touched these blind men, physically healing their sight. So through the work of the Holy Spirit, God has reached out and touched us, healing us of our blindness. These men cry out to God to heal their greatest need. And brothers and sisters, that is what we are called to do as well. We're called to cry out to Jesus to heal our greatest need. It's not a physical blindness, but it's a spiritual blindness that we are in need of healing. In our second point this morning, Jesus gives them sight to follow Him. In verses 32 to 34, we read, In stopping, Jesus called them and said, What do you want me to do for you? They said to Him, Lord, let our eyes be opened. And Jesus, in pity, touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed Him. They knew their greatest need. In their instance, it was clearly before them. They could not see. We don't know how long they had been living in this situation, whether it was from birth or maybe it happened at some point in their life, but they were blind. And they knew and were clearly aware of their greatest need. Now as Jesus here, and we see in verse 34, and Jesus in pity touched their eyes, His compassion here is spoken of. It is a compassion that we were all in need of. But one of the differences between how these men point us to the blindness that we have, a chief difference between this physical blindness that they have, and our own blindness that we are all born with naturally, is that the opening of the eyes of these blind men was an instantaneous one-time event, where Jesus reached out and he touched them, and immediately their physical eyes were healed, and they were able to see. Whereas our blindness is healed in a one-time event of God giving us faith through the work of His Holy Spirit. Yet in another sense, our blindness is something that continues to linger and God continues to heal throughout our life. It is a lifelong process. Well, how is this blindness and being healed of this blindness lifelong process. Well, there are two ways that we can look at it, and Paul gives it to us in the positive sense in Ephesians chapter 1. Feel free to turn with me there in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 15 through 23. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 15 through 23. As you're turning there, I'll briefly speak of the negative aspect first. Negatively, it's our own sanctification. That is what I mean by God's healing of us of our spiritual blindness is our own sanctification. His day-by-day, throughout our lifetime, once we have first believed, revealing to us our need for Him even more clearly as we come to understand and to see just how sinful we are apart from Him. It should be made clear that when God heals us and when we first believe, we are His. But in His grace, He does not reveal to us all at once the great picture of how sinful we are. Can you imagine if God did that? If God, as soon as we believed, just showed us everything, well, here's how sinful you really are. That would break us. That would smolder or snuff out a smoldering wick. That would destroy and break a bruised reed, which God says He will not do. It shows us that we are sinful before Him, But in our own process of sanctification, we may have victory over one sin, but then as we begin to progress more, we realize, oh, I'm also sinning in this way. And God begins to work on us in that way. It's a lifelong thing. And brothers and sisters, we're all at various times and points along the ways in which God is working in us and our growth in Christ. process of sanctification, of God making us more into the image of Christ. But as we mature spiritually, one thing we come to understand is how great our need for Christ is. We know it when we first believe, but as we mature, as we grow in our knowledge and understanding of Christ and what He has done and who He is and who God is, in His righteousness and holiness, and in our own unrighteousness before Him, apart from Christ. Our eyes are opened all the more clearly to our need for a sanctifying work. But now to the positive sense, brothers and sisters, and I invite you to look down at Ephesians 1, verse 15. Here Paul says, for this reason, Because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you. What are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints? And what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe? According to the working of His great might, that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." Now this section here in Ephesians, what Paul is talking about here, first he's giving thanks for the faith that he sees and has heard about in the Ephesian church, in the saints in Ephesus. He doesn't cease to give thanks for them, remembering them in His prayers. And one of the things He prays for them is that they would have the eyes of their hearts enlightened. And that they would grow in understanding of their glorious inheritance they have in Jesus Christ. And who Christ is. And so positively, the blindness that we have is a blindness to who the complete glory of Christ and who He is. And what He has done. and what He is able to do. And now we see this when we first believe and we bow in humble submission to Him and glorify Him. As we progress along in our life, He continues to reveal, piece by piece, just all that it entails that He has done. Jesus left the realms of glory for me. The eternal God who created heaven and earth died in my place. He took on the full weight of this Father's wrath for me. And we continue then to understand, well, what have I, He has given me His righteousness. You mean my approval before God is not dependent on what I have or have not done, but rests solely on what Jesus did for me. He continues, brothers and sisters, to open up our eyes. And so what we are called to do in this text, back in our text this morning, in Matthew 20, verses 29-34, is this. As we have cried out to God to heal our blindness, to open our eyes and express faith in Christ, let us not stop crying out to Jesus to heal us all the more. You might say to remove the cataracts of our soul that we might see clearly, all the more clearly, our great need for Him and the great treasure that we have in Him that can never be taken away. Let us daily cry out. And that leads us to verse 31, our third point this morning. Continue to cry out to Jesus despite opposition. Now again, there's a remarkable response to people crying out in need to Jesus. And we saw it with the disciples as people were trying to bring their children to Jesus for a blessing. They rebuked them and said, no, don't bother our teacher with your small children. Well, here there are these two blind men crying out for mercy and for grace by the son of David. And the crowd that is following them rebukes them. It's as quiet. What's remarkable about this is that those around him, they have seen him heal blind people before. They have seen him heal deaf people. They've seen him heal the sick people. They've seen him raise the dead. So why not these two blind men that are sitting by the side of the road crying out for mercy, why don't they rebuke them instead of saying, well, Jesus, you can heal these men. Sure, let's bring them into His presence to heal them. But no, they rebuke. But notice their response in v. 31. Matthew writes that they cried out all the more. They didn't listen to that rebuke. They didn't heed the opposition. They cried out all the more fervently, Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David. They didn't allow the opposition their progression to Christ. So in this final point, brothers and sisters, I want us to ask ourselves, each and every one of us, myself included, what keeps you and me from coming to Jesus? What is in our way? What opposes us of crying out to the Son of David? I'm going to give you two categories to think upon. First, outward opposition. What's the outward opposition in our lives? Is there potential disrespect that we would receive from maybe family members or co-workers or classmates? Is there potential abuse or scorn that we might face? We prayed this morning for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing real physical danger for their faith in Christ. Is there potential physical harm That is keeping us from crying out to Jesus. Well, maybe we aren't dealing with these issues, but I think maybe some that we all struggle with and deal with is, is it a cozy bed? Is it traffic? Is it getting kids ready in the morning? You know, we may not when you consider the outward opposition from coming to Jesus. In all the various, what I just wanted to think about is not just the kind of clear examples of people abusing us, or people disrespecting, or people calling us names, or people scorning, or persecuting, but consider also the things in our daily life that in and of themselves are fine and good, but kind of eat up our time and our schedule that hinder us in our coming to Jesus. Now in coming to Jesus and crying out to him, we do this through our own private devotion, but we also do it here in this setting of public worship. What ways are, what outward things of opposition are we facing? Let us meditate on those and think upon them and cry out to the Lord Jesus to remove those oppositions. But there's also inward oppositions. It could be laziness, or doubts, or the very real, the very real cares of the world that we deal with day in and day out. These too, brothers and sisters, can be oppositions to coming to Christ. Things that hinder us, that fill up our schedule and our time, or weigh down our hearts where we don't even want to, to feed upon the good word of Christ. Let us humbly meditate and seek and ask the Lord to reveal to us, opening up our eyes all the more to what, what is opposing us? What is a stumbling block? What is shouting at us? Shh, quiet, don't cry out to him. Just sit there by the roadside. You'll be fine. And let us throw that opposition aside. Ignore it, as these two blind men did, and cry out all the more fervently, Lord, have mercy on me, son of David. In order to overcome the obstacles that keep us from Christ, we must rest on the strength of Christ and trust in Him to not only deliver us from our blindness, but deliver us from the very obstacles that keep us from Him. You notice it was Jesus who stopped and turned and asked these blind men and called them to Himself. They could not come to Him on their own, but they cried out and He stopped and brought them to Himself. Let us cry out to Jesus to help us overcome the obstacles in our life which keep us from Him. And so, brothers and sisters, in closing, These men continued to cry out to Christ despite the opposition because of the very real need that they had, the physical need that was before them day in and day out. I'm using kind of language which kind of contrasts with blindness. Things like clearly. Things that were before them. But although they were physically blind, they could clearly understand their need. And that is what we are called to, brothers and sisters. to be aware of our greatest need. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as we have bowed our knees to the grace of Christ before Him, seeking forgiveness of our sins and repenting, Our eyes then having been opened, may we pray and trust all the more in His good work that once He who began a good work in us will finish it, will bring it to completion. The author and finisher of our faith will uphold us and preserve us and continue day in and day out trusting in His care to remove the lingering blindness that we have. that we may see our need for Him more clearly, and that above all, we may see the glorious riches that we have in Him all the more clearly. And so, brothers and sisters, trust in the Son of David to give you sight. Amen. Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, Lord, apart from Your gracious work, we are blind. We are physically blind, incapable of seeing You and Your love and Your goodness, incapable of seeing our own wickedness and sinfulness. Lord, we praise You that by Your grace, Your work through the Holy Spirit has opened our eyes to see our need for Christ. And Lord, we thank You for healing us of that spiritual blindness. And Lord, may You each day continue to restore our sight to enlighten the eyes of our heart. And may we see more clearly our need for You, but also, Lord, to see more clearly the great riches and the glory that we have in Christ. And in this way, Lord, may You more readily mold us into His image, giving us victory each day. And may we, Father, humbly seek Your wisdom in knowing what hinders us from coming to You What opposition we might face, both outwardly and inwardly, and Lord, by your grace, may you remove these stumbling blocks from our lives, that we may more freely come to you, both in our private times of devotions, but also, Lord, in this corporate time of worship. It is in the name of our great and glorious Savior that we do pray. Amen.