The Holy Land
Back in October of last year, Alisha and I were blessed with an absolutely incredible opportunity to travel to Israel, to literally walk where Jesus walked, to see where he lived, to sail on the Sea of Galilee, to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, to see where He died and where He rose again, to look at the same sky where he ascended to Heaven and promised that one day, He would return!
I can’t begin to tell you how that trip impacted and changed our lives.
I knew leading up to this trip that this would be an incredible opportunity to experience God in a whole new way. I knew I would learn a lot. I knew there was an opportunity to gain knowledge from being there that you just can’t get from a book.
I’ve got degrees in Bible but I knew that touching the dirt, feeling the water on my feet, seeing the sun, floating in the Dead Sea, smelling the food and hearing the noisy streets of Jerusalem would teach me things I couldn’t learn any other way.
But I also knew that beyond learning, this was an opportunity to draw close to God in a whole new way. To have an experience with God that I hadn’t had before.
So leading up to this trip I started praying a breath prayer I’ve prayed on and off over the years. “Jesus, I want to see you.”
My thought was if there’s anywhere in the world where I could see Jesus, catch a glimpse of Jesus, this has to be the place, right? It has to be here in the Holy Land, here in Israel, here in the place where he lived, died and rose again!
Have you ever wished you could see Jesus? Really see Jesus?
Maybe you thought that if you could see Him, or even just see evidence of Him, that you could believe in Him.
You could trust Him.
You could ask Him, “Why?”
You could know Him.
You could know that this story is true.
Can we really see Jesus?
What would change in your world if you could SEE this Jesus to whom we pray, sing and have given our lives?
I think I know what some of you are thinking… can we really see Jesus?
I mean, why even pray a prayer like that? What are you praying for when you pray, Jesus, I want to see you.
How can we see Jesus today? Even if I believe He’s alive, even if I believe He is with us, He’s invisible! We can’t really see Him.
Or can we? What if we could see Him? What if He’s here? What if He’s near?
What if we’ve become blind to His presence in our lives and in our world?
What if we’ve become so surrounded by the darkness that we can’t see and we don’t even know we can’t see?
What’s worse? Being blind? Or being blind to the fact that we’re blind?
The Frog
You’ve probably heard about the frog in the kettle. They say, and I’ve never tried this, but they say you can put a frog in a pot of water and slowly turn up the heat. As the water begins to slowly heat up, the frog doesn’t notice.
He naturally adapts to the slow rising temperature of the water.
As the heat increases slowly, the frog is unaware. Until finally the water is boiling and the frog dies. Never had a clue that the temperature was rising. The frog was blind to the fact that he was dying.
I just wonder if the world around us has changed and we’re blind to the fact that it’s changing us. We’ve rationalized everything we do.
We live in a world, a culture, where the temperature is rising and many of us are unaware of the effect it is having on us. We’re blind to the fact that we’re blind.
Seeing Who We Want to See
The good news is that God can heal blindness. Jesus can heal our blindness.
[Tweet “Jesus can heal our blindness.”]That’s what happens in this particular story…
As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind.
There’s a large crowd following Jesus and they believe they have found the Messiah. And they believe He is heading to Jerusalem to start his reign as King! They believe they are a part of the procession.
Don’t miss this… They are following their version of the Messiah. They believe Jesus is going to be a Davidic king. A conquering king. They see the Jesus they want to see. And they’re following their version of the Messiah.
Despite his repeated announcements and predictions that He must die, the procession to Jerusalem has begun and they’re preparing to inaugurate their king and their kingdom, evict the Romans and regain their status as a sovereign nation.
We know that’s not what’s going to happen. But before we jump ahead in the story, I think we have to pause and ask the question: How often do we follow the Jesus we want to follow? See the Jesus we want to see? How often do we fail to see Jesus as He really is?
[Tweet “How often do we follow the version of Jesus we want to follow?”]What version of Jesus are you following? Who are you following, really?
Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
On their way out of the city, they pass two people not much different than we sometimes pass when we’re on our way to somewhere else. Two blind beggars sitting on the side of the road. They’ve been marginalized by their culture. Devalued because of their disability. Invisible to everyone around them.
They COULDN’T see those around them and those around them WOULDN’T see them.
Again, I think we have to pause and ask the question, If we can’t see those around us, if we continue to allow people to be invisible to us, how will we ever really see Jesus?
[Tweet “If we continue to allow people to be invisible to us, how will we ever really see Jesus?”]The two men can’t see, but they can hear. When they hear that Jesus of Nazareth was coming their way they began to make their presence known! Did you hear what they said? What they shouted?
“Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
The two people who were blind were perhaps the only two people who could see Jesus for who He really was. The coming King? Yes!
[Tweet “The two people who were blind were perhaps the only two people who could see Jesus for who He really was.”]They called Jesus, they identified Jesus as the Son of David. That’s what the prophets called the Messiah.
They identify Jesus as the Son of David, one who makes all things, sets all things right! Even their blindness!
The two blind men HEAR Jesus coming their way and they could not remain silent.
What do you want me to do for you?
The crowd heard them crying out and the crowd’s response wasn’t one of compassion.
“Be quiet!” the crowd yelled at them.
But they only shouted louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
When Jesus heard them, he stopped and called, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Now if you’re anything like me when you read this question that Jesus asked your wondering… Why in the world did Jesus ask two blind men what they wanted?
Maybe it was to clarify to the crowd that Jesus knew something they didn’t know… that these two blind men weren’t begging for money. They wanted something else. And Jesus wanted to make sure the crowd knew what He knew… that what they wanted was more than spare change.
That might be the reason. It’s a good one.
But I tend to think that Jesus asked the two blind men that question because he wanted them to give voice to their heart’s desire. He wanted them to put words to their request.
And it’s a powerful question. If you were face to face with Jesus and He asked you this question, “What do you want me to do for you?” What would you say?
Think about that for a moment. What do you want Jesus to do for you today?
[Tweet “What do you want Jesus to do for you today?”]We Want to See
“Lord,” they said, “we want to see!” Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Instantly they could see! Then they followed him.
I can only imagine as Jesus touched their eyes, the first thing they saw was the face of Jesus Christ. After seeing Jesus, they followed Jesus!
What’s interesting about this story is that it’s actually told by more than one gospel writer. Four people told the story of the life of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Of those, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell this story of Jesus healing a man outside the city of Jericho. But in Mark and Luke, Jesus only heals one man. And Mark actually tells us his name. It’s Bartimaeus.
Now it’s possible the gospel writers were talking about different stories. Different people Jesus healed. No doubt, there are SO MANY stories, at least according to John, that were never written down. There’s so much Jesus did that we’ll never know this side of Heaven!
But, what if all three were writing about the same moment? It’s more than likely. Many scholars think that this is what happened. That Matthew, Mark and Luke are all talking about the same moment outside of Jericho.
If that’s true, then what happened to the other guy that Jesus healed that day? What happened to the other blind man that was able to see Jesus?
And why did Mark give us the name of Bartimaues? We rarely if ever learn the names of the people Jesus healed. So why did Mark feel so compelled to give us the name of this man, Bartimaeus? Was it because that after this moment, after Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And Bartimaeus prayed, “I want to see.” That Bartimaues, after that life-changing moment with Jesus, was never the same again? Was it because he became a well-known member of the early Christian community sharing his story of how Jesus had changed his life with everyone he met?
Maybe!
What Happened to the Other Guy?
But that still leaves the question… What happened to the other guy Jesus gave the gift of sight to that day?
What happens when you experience the power of God in your life, YOU SEE JESUS!, and you become a follower of Jesus… BUT THEN, life happens. The memory of what Jesus did once upon a time in your life fades?
[Tweet “What happens when you experience the power of God in your life, but then the memory fades?”]Then you gradually stop following Jesus so close. You’re still following, from a distance. You’re still showing up at church, occasionally. You still pray, sometimes. You still open your Bible app from time to time to get the verse of the day.
But before long, you really can’t see Jesus anymore. You can’t remember the last time you saw Him, or experienced Him, or prayed to Him, or felt His presence in your life.
Your blindness has returned.
Jesus once asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The two blind men responded, “We want to see!”
They saw Jesus. They followed Jesus.
That’s what Jesus wanted for them. He wanted them to SEE Him and He wanted them to FOLLOW Him.
And, by the way, that’s what Jesus wants for you as well.
Jesus wants to open your eyes so you can SEE His face and FOLLOW His lead.
Jesus wants you to SEE + FOLLOW Him.
But what He really wants is for you to be Bartimaeus. He wants you to SEE Him and to FOLLOW Him for the long run. To take that LONG walk with Jesus in the same direction.
SEE + FOLLOW
What would happen if you prayed that prayer this week? Jesus, I want to see you.
It’s easier to follow Jesus when you’re looking at Him.
[Tweet “It’s easier to follow Jesus when you’re looking at Him.”]Let’s be honest, some of you are struggling to follow Jesus precisely because you’re looking at all the wrong things.
You can’t follow Jesus and fix your eyes on porn. You can’t follow Jesus and fix your eyes on your career. You can’t follow Jesus and fix your eyes on success, material things, appearances, achievements… fill in the blank.
The only way to follow Jesus, really follow Jesus, is to fix your eyes on Jesus. And the only way to fix your eyes on Jesus is to see Jesus.
Jesus, I want to see you.
That’s not a prayer, by the way, for an easy road ahead. After praying, Jesus, we want to see you and receiving their sight, they followed Jesus from Jericho along a dangerous road 18 miles to Jerusalem. Why Jerusalem? Because Jesus was headed to the cross.
But when you follow Jesus all the way to the cross you can follow him out of the grave to resurrection!
And that’s my prayer. That we would see Jesus, follow Jesus, even to the cross so we can die to ourselves and be resurrected to LIFE.
Want more from this Series… Click here.
