LUKE 18:31–43
The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about
(Luke 18:34).
We return today to our survey of Luke. As Jesus was going to Jerusalem, He took the disciples aside and told them that He was going to be delivered up to the Gentiles, mocked, flogged, and killed, but that He would rise on the third day (Luke 18:31–33). We are told that the disciples did not understand what He was saying: They could not conceive of the Messiah suffering and dying.
At the same time, though, Luke says that the meaning of what Jesus said was intentionally hidden from them. God, for some reason, put a veil over their eyes. He kept them from understanding it for His own reasons, waiting for the Resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. All things would then be made clear to them.
Luke goes on to tell us that as they approached Jericho on the way to Jerusalem, a blind man called out to Jesus for mercy. People in the crowd tried to quiet him because he was making a disturbance. He cried louder and louder until Jesus asked that the man be brought to Him. The man asked Jesus for sight, and Jesus healed him. He then followed Jesus, praising God (vv. 35–43).
If there was ever a time when Jesus might have been too busy to stop and heal someone, this was it. He was on His way to Jerusalem to accomplish His purpose. His attention focused on doing His Father’s will. Yet Jesus stopped and showed compassion to this blind man.
Jesus told him that his faith had healed him. The blind man had shown faith in crying out to Jesus for help, and Jesus had answered his prayer. When the blind man received his sight, he praised God, and when all the people in the crowd saw it, they also praised God. Seventeen miles from Jerusalem, as Jesus ascended to the city of David, the crowd saw Him perform miracles and praised God. But how much longer would the crowd adore Him?
CORAM DEO
Isaiah 45–47
Colossians 3
It is interesting to compare these two stories. The disciples did not understand because God did not give them understanding. The blind man did not see until God gave him sight. Now read James 1:5. What do these stories teach us about prayer?
For further study: Isaiah 42:1–9; 53:7–12; 55:8–9; Luke 24:13–32; tape #B57INT.78/79
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