Blindness

He Opens Blind Eyes

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

And He cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto Him, and besought Him to touch him. And He took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when He had spit on his eyes, and put His hands upon him, He asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, “I see men as trees, walking.”
After that He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And He sent him away to his house, saying,
“Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.”                         Mark 8:22-26

For those who desire to see; He will open blind eyes.

When Stones Would Cry Out

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“And He answered and said unto them, ‘I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.’ ” Luke 19:40 (KJB)

Jesus had come into Jerusalem fulfilling Scripture riding on a donkey. This was a presentation of the humble King, not a conquering king, but a servant King (Zechariah 9:9). The people who had some wisdom, recognized the Scriptural significance, laid palm branches down as a coronation and worshiped Him, saying,

“Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.” v. 38

The response Jesus gives to the spiritually blind Pharisees is one that sounds quite odd, and we might think and say, “Well, that would be impossible”. We need to remember that nothing is impossible with God.

If people will not recognize the King of kings, then the rocks of God’s creation can and will.

Let me leave you today with thoughts from teachers from the more recent past:

From John Gill –

“And he answered and said unto them, I tell you,…. As a truth, which may be depended on, and you may be assured of; this he spake with great earnestness, fervour, and courage:
that if these should hold their peace; be silent, and not sing the praises of God, and ascribe glory to him, and profess the Messiah, and make this public acknowledgment of him:
the stones would immediately cry out; either against them, or in a declaration of the Messiah: by which expression our Lord means, that it was impossible it should be otherwise; it would be intolerable if it was not; and rather than it should not be, God, who is able out of stones to raise up children to Abraham, would make the stones speak, or turn stones into men, who should rise up and praise the Lord, and confess the Messiah; hereby commending his disciples, and tacitly reflecting upon the Pharisees, for their stupidity; and also giving a hint of the conversion of the Gentiles, who might be compared to stones, especially in the opinion of the Jews.” From John Gill’s EXPOSITION OF THE BIBLE

From John Wesley –

“If these should hold their peace, the stones, which lie before you, would cry out – That is, God would raise up some still more unlikely instruments to declare his praise. For the power of God will not return empty.” From John Wesley’s NOTES ON THE BIBLE

Have you cried out to the Lord for His mercy and grace in salvation? His presentation that day was as the Servant King to serve as a sacrifice for the sins of Adam’s race. He died, was buried, and He rose again.  Call on His name. He will hear. He will save.

Taking Away Sin

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

Take Away Their Sins

Romans 11:25-36

In the last study vv. 15-24 we saw a warning from Paul to what could be called the apostate church. The apostate church would be those who deny the truths of the Word of God; who believe they are Israel, claiming for themselves things which are not theirs; who do not believe the prophecies of the Word of God; those who have a form of godliness, but deny the power of God.

It is the mere grace and a blessing of God that the Church has been grafted into the tree. Just as there was/is an apostate Israel, there is also an apostate church. This “church” rejects the Word of God, God’s messengers, and seeks to indulge in the world’s ways to “build the church”. God promised to restore Israel, but there are no promises of restoring an apostate church. The apostate church will be destroyed (1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; Rev. 3:14-22; 17:1-7; 18:1-8). The apostate church is any “church” or denomination which spiritualizes the Scriptures, denies the power of God to change lives, denies the authority of God’s Word, and denies the physical body and blood of Jesus and physical resurrection. Any one, or all of these are refused and/or denied by the apostate churches.

THE BLINDNESS OF ISRAEL IS ONLY TEMPORARY (v. 25).

1.  This blindness of Israel will begin ending when Gentile rule of the world is brought to the full.
2.  Their blindness will only last until the final soul is brought into the Church, and then, judgment will come on the earth; also known as the “Time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7).

GOD WILL NOT FORSAKE HIS PROMISES, NOR HIS PEOPLE (vv. 26-29).

1.  “All Israel shall be saved” does not mean that everyone ever born a Jew will be saved. It does mean that all those Jews who came through the ‘time of Jacob’s trouble’, believing in Jesus as their Messiah, Lord and Savior will be saved.
2.  It is God’s covenant promise that He will send “The Deliverer’ and ‘turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Jeremiah 31:33-40).
3.  Are we to assume that Paul in writing, “Turn away ungodliness from Jacob” is only speaking spiritually? This includes the full promises of God.
4.  If we assume Paul is spiritualizing this promise then, we surely must assume the same thing concerning his own heritage in verse one of this chapter.
5.  The promises God made to Israel are for Israel and do not go to the Church. These promises are of their having and ongoing future kingdom on earth.
6.  When God makes promises, gives gifts, and calls; those things are irrevocable (v. 29).

THE CHURCH A SOURCE OF MERCY TO NATIONAL ISRAEL (vv. 30-32).

1.  We have received mercy because of Israel’s unbelief.
2.  Through the mercy of saved Gentiles, who make up the majority of the Church, Israel will receive mercy.
3.  Unbelief is and was perilous for Israel, and is perilous for all. It is especially perilous for those who profess Jesus Christ, yet, only give Him “Lip service”, but their “Hearts are far from Him.

THINGS TOO HARD TO UNDERSTAND CAN BE ACCEPTED BY FAITH (vv. 33-36).

1.  Following his writing of the irrevocable promises of God Paul breaks out into praise
2.  Paul, having called this a “Mystery” (v. 25), still sees this as being beyond understanding, We can know that the promises of God never fail. If they do; we could all be in a whole lot of trouble.
3.  “…His ways past finding out” (v. 33), but he believes God, and so should we. Faith is expressed in living a life of commitment and praise even when we do not understand.
4.  We have this assurance – “Believing God; He declares us righteous.”
5.  All this is about God, and for His glory.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Hearing God: Repentance

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath He covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.” Isaiah 29:9-12 (KJV)

At the time of Isaiah’s prophecy there was much religion, but little actual faith. There was a faithfulness to ritual religion, but no real faith. There was much repentance, but it was false repentance; because there was not real turning around.

The prophet says, “Stay yourselves” or “Stop” or “Pause” and “wonder” or “be amazed”. They talked of God, of the way of God, of their religion, and faith; but they only lived it on the Sabbath day.

Some of the more modern translations of where we read “cry ye out, and cry” read “Blind yourselves and be blind”. That is what happens when people hear the word of God and refuse to submit themselves to God and what He says. The crying out reminds me of what is said of Esau in the New Testament (Hebrews 12:17).

We can all be like the little boy who was caught taking the cookie from the cookie jar after his mother had made them, and clearly told him, “No cookies till after supper”. When he was caught with the cookies he says to his mother, “I am sorry momma”. She says “That is okay son. Just put the cookies back in the jar; and all will be fine.” “But momma”, the boy says, “I want to keep the cookies”.

The boy was not sorry for taking the cookies. He was only sorry he got caught. That is how the unrepentant are with God and sin. Too many times we are not sorry for our sin; we are only sorry we got caught. Too many times in our culture, and with society today there are many, even professing Christians who do not even acknowledge sin.

Christian; when God speaks, calling for repentance we best hear Him. When we refuse to hear Him we will receive discipline if we are His (Hebrews 12:7-8). When we are disciplined, then we need to know to repent; turn away from our sins; and believe the LORD. When we cease hearing God He can be silent to us as well.

If you have not heard from God for awhile; maybe you need to check your life, and judge it.

Open His Eyes That He May See

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! How shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:15-18 (KJV)

Any time the king of Syria made a move against Israel the plot was spoiled. He believed, at first, that there could be a traitor in their midst. It was revealed to the king that the prophet Elisha was the spoiler of their plot; and sent soldiers to catch the prophet and bring him in.

In Dothan the servant of Elisha sees the army, sent to fetch one man; and becomes frightened asking Elisha, “How [What] shall we do?” Elisha answers, “Fear not…” and explains, “they that be with us are more than they that be with them.”

Elisha was seeing a far greater host surrounding themselves, and the Syrian soldiers. It was a heavenly host of angels with horses and chariots of fire. Elisha prayed for his servants eyes to be opened that he might see; then prayed to blind the eyes of the Syrians; and the LORD did according to the word of Elisha.

God’s protection for His people is beyond any protection we can provide for ourselves. When we walk in the power and fear of God; there is nothing else we need to fear.

Open our eyes Lord, that we might see and know that YOU are with us.

Making Judgments, Bearing Fruit, From the Heart

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?  The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.  And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Either how canst thou say to thy brother, ‘Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye,’ when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye. For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”   ~Jesus (Luke 6:39-45)

Mark Ten – Thirty Two through Fifty Two

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

“32 And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, 33 Saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: 34 And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again. 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. 36 And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? 37  They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. 38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? 39 And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: 40 But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. 42 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. 43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: 44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. 45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:32-45 (KJV)

There are at least three things we should note that Jesus taught.  First of all, He taught that he would be delivered over to the spiritual leaders of Jerusalem and be put to death, and then the third day he would rise from the dead.  Secondly, when the disciples were asking to sit on His right and on His left hand in His kingdom, He taught them that they were asking something difficult for them, and that it was not for Him to grant their petition, but would be given to the ones for whom it had been prepared.  Thirdly, Jesus taught that even He had not come to be served by the masses of people, but to serve them and to give His life for the salvation of all who would believe in Him.

It is amazing how easily the idea of servanthood is lost and so quickly among political leaders and sometimes even church leaders.  The idea can get into a persons head that they are in that position because they deserve to be, and every body else is there to serve them.

Jesus would teach the disciples contrary to this when He would wash their feet and dry them with a cloth.  Jesus:  What a Servant – What a Savior.

“46 And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.”  Mark 10:46-52 (KJV)

A blind man or any blind individual is one who cannot see.  That is a clear statement that everyone should understand.  There are some who are blind, and do not realize it.  That is, those who cannot see the truths of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ.  There were probably many in the crowd who were following Jesus who did not realize who He was, but were following Him merely because they wanted to see His miracles, or they wanted something from Him.

Here was a blind man who was known as the “son of Timaeous” or “Bar-Timaeus”.  He had been cared for by his parents probably most of his life.  Now his parents have  probably died, and he has to beg to get anything to eat, or for clothing and shelter.  He has heard of Jesus.  He has heard Him called, with contempt, “Jesus of Nazareth”.  He has heard the stories of how Jesus has, caused the lame to walk, healed the lepers, cast out demons, and caused the “dumb” to speak, and the deaf to hear.  He has even heard of Jesus raising the dead to life again.

He has probably only hoped to one day get any where near Jesus and ask him to open his eyes that he might see.  Now, He is passing near to where he is sitting by the roadside begging.  His anticipation is bubbling over.  He is anxious, and can hardly wait.  He calls out to Jesus.  Others try to silence him, and that only makes him call out louder and bolder.  Note, he does not call out the name of contempt – Jesus of Nazareth – rather he cries, “Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.”  He sees Him for who He is without eyes to see the physical, he sees the spiritual, and recognizes Him as the Messiah who was promised years and years earlier, even before anyone who was present was ever conceived in their mother’s womb.

This man used the term “Jesus, thou Son of David.”  twice.  The first time to call Jesus’ attention to himself, and it seems, the second time, to inform the crowd that Jesus, the Son of David was the only one who could opern his eyes and give him physical sight.

O, what a thrill and honor it is to have Jesus call your name, and say “Come”.  Jesus calls us to come to him.  We were, before we knew Jesus, without sight, and we could not see the things of God.  When Jesus called to us to “Come” and we went, then we received our sight and we saw Jesus as the virgin born Son fo God, without sin, holy, blameless, undefiled, righteous, and worthy of praise.

I just imagine that when Jesus called to Bartimaeus, he would have ran to him as best he could.  He was thrilled to hear the Master’s voice.  He was thrilled to hear that the Master had called to Him.  Even though the theme of Mark is Jesus as a Servant, we see Him performing a great kindness to this man in great need.

When Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted Him to do for him, he said, “That I might receive my sight”.  O, how blind are those who see, and yet, do not see.

Jesus did not touch him, He only told him, “Go thy way, Thy faith hath made thee whole.”  The Scripture tells us, that as he was leaving the eyesight came and he was healed, and he followed Jesus “…In the way”.  Was he only following Jesus as He walked this road?  He was following Jesus, “…In the way”; that is the life of Jesus.  In every way He would follow Jesus.

-Tim A. Blankenship

Unclean Hands, Lips – From The Heart

/ Tim A. / 1 Comment

We have in these verses further explanation of the “washing with unclean hands” issue which the scribes and Pharisees had attacked Jesus and His disciples. It seems that the men were thoroughly offended by Jesus’s remarks, “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man”, and His disciples noticed. Does anyone ever give thought to what might “offend” Jesus? Just a thought.

“Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.” Matthew 15:12-20 (KJV)

Jesus is the Son of God, the Prophet of God foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18); and not a bit concerned about offending the disgusting arguments of manmade doctrines. He even goes on and tells His disciples that “Every plant not planted by My Father will be uprooted”. He is probably speaking of these foolish doctrines, and He could be speaking of the Pharisees themselves, or maybe both. Doctrines that are false will one day be revealed as being false. The doctrines of men are usually false doctrines which bind men, rather than setting them free, as the doctrines of God do.

This part of the verse which speaks of the “blind leading the blind” somewhat reminds me of the Financial chaos of our nation [USA] and that of the world. One bankrupt nation, asking loan from other nations who are nearing bankruptcy, sounds as though the blind are leading the blind, at least to me. Enough of that. The doctrines of men will fall, and those who follow the doctrines of men; unless they are drawn by the Spirit of God to Jesus; will also fall into the ditch, because; in essence they are blind.

Jeremiah the prophet said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” 17:9 (KJV). We often think that we know what is in our “heart”, and then when we get too assured about it something will happen, and bring us down from our perch. Understand, that when we speak of the “heart” here we are not talking about that blood pump in our chest. The “heart” could also be rendered as our “Innermost being”. It is the seat of our being, our soul and our spirit. It is that within us that is eternal, and that will never die. God/Jesus Christ is the only one who can know our hearts.

Some of the men and women who are in prison for murder, negligent homocide, manslaughter, and some other things, never thought they would be there. They had better plans than spend a good portion of their lives in prison. They were full of themselves, and not God. When you get to thinking, “I know what’s in my heart” you may find yourself in trouble. The only way to know your heart is to know the One who knows your heart, and that is Jesus Christ. Look what Jesus says comes from our hearts – “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies…”; these He says, “Defile the man”, and “man” here is generic for all of us; male and female.

We can so easily become carried away by teachings of men which empower us over others, and that is what the Pharisees were trying to do with Jesus. By showing themselves more knowledgeable than Him; by showing themselves more holy than Jesus they thought to prove Him a blasphemer. Since Jesus was who He claims to be, then their words were empty and powerless. They were the words of men and not of God. They were defiled in their hearts, and thus could only give “lip service” to God.

 

How is your heart today?

 

-Tim A. Blankenship

The King and Blind Men

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

The King Meets the Need of Sightless Men

“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.” Matthew 9:27-31 (KJV).

There are two not so blind blind men who have follwed Jesus from a distance. The reason I say, “Not so blind blind men” is that they had clearer vision of the identity of Jesus than that of those who professed to seeing. The Pharisees had physical eyesight, but no spiritual eyesight; these two who were blind, had no physical eyesight, but they had 20/20 spiritual vision. They who had eyes to see, see not. The blind men recognized Jesus. They must have heard and known the prophecies of the “Son of David”.

They believed Him even though they were blind. Others were believing because of His powers, and instead of the Scriptures. As soon as He is gone they are practically unbelieving. Many of the crowd who later cried out for His crucifixion, and the release of Barrabus were those who had followed Him only because of the signs. Those who follow Him because of His Word are faithful without the signs.

Jesus gave these men their physical sight. Now, they had vision for this world and the world of new life in Jesus Christ.

Jesus gave these men a “Charge” to tell no one about this event. I wonder how they could remain silent. They did, however, disobey the Lord, though I really doubt that it will be held against them. The following is commentary from the Gill Commentary on this topic —

“and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, see that no man know it. This was a very strict charge, and according to the signification of the word here used, it was given with great austerity of countenance, and severity of expression, in a very rough and threatening manner; which Christ might be the rather induced to, because he had given such like orders already, and they had not been observed: the reasons for concealing the miracle are not very obvious; it seems likely, that with the same view he took no notice of these blind men in the street, but went into an house, and cured them; which seems to be, to shun all appearance of vain glory, or seeking popular applause, that he gave these orders; or it may be, he did not choose to be made more known by this miracle, or at this time, or by these men; he might foresee that it would be attended with ill consequences; either the more to irritate the resentments of some persons against him; or to put others on doing things which were disagreeable to him; as setting him up for a temporal prince among them, being David’s son.“

It could be that these are not being commanded to be quiet about the miracle of their healing. Their healing would be obvious for all to see. They might have been told, rather, to be quiet of His identity as “The Son of David”. At least that is a thought to consider. To have gone and boldly proclaimed His divinity as the Son of David would have caused Him greater discomfort, larger crowds, distraction from what His main reason for coming was. Remember His purpose for coming in the likeness of sinful man, yet without sin, was to die on the cross to put away sin, and reconcile God and mankind. These were actually some of the things the devil would have used to sidetrack Him from His task.

Doing good things, and giving good words and acts can often be distractions to doing the will of God. That is something we all need to be aware of. Is it possible that doing good things are not always the godly way?