The Humble Kingdom Luke 18 Vs 31 43

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But hopefully you guys are all doing well today on this blessed day. Come and celebrate the

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Lord together. Before we go into worship and sermon, we'll go over the upcoming announcements that we have for this week.

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Reiterate that we have 6 p .m. today. If you can make it, I have a Faith Bible prayer session in the back.

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We also have Missionary of the Month with Jack and Beverly McMahan.

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They have a ministry of which they're a part of, I think it's the Biblical Ministries Worldwide, where they have a, it's a ministry that they serve down there in Auckland or in New Zealand, of which they're helping to raise up the local leadership there and spread the gospel message up there in New Zealand as well.

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So we just pray for them and the missionary work down there, as they're doing really good work for God down there.

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And then we next have the Praying with Paul book that Pastor Iljun has been having for a couple months now.

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So if you're not a part of that now and like to be a part of that session, they have it every bi -weekly

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Wednesday. The next one will be actually this Wednesday, June 5th. They have both an in -person option here, if you're willing to join, as well as an online option.

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But we'd love to have you. All are welcome. And then lastly, we have the Summer Greek Study, which is a new edition we're going to have here, which is also going to be led by Pastor Iljun.

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This will be on the second and fourth Saturday of every month, and it'll start actually this coming

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Saturday at 930 a .m. So it's a Greek Bible study. So if you're interested in learning more about Greek, and obviously we know there's

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Greek portions that were originally written in Scripture, so it'd be good to know those for, you know, just accuracy and even your own sort of understanding as well.

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So, but yeah, if you have any more questions about that, just see Pastor Iljun. And yeah.

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Outside of that, I guess we'll go ahead and get started with worship. Before that, we'll open in prayer.

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Dear Lord, thank you for this day you've given us today. Thank you for your many blessings. Thank you for allowing us to come here and worship your name.

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And I pray that you prepare our hearts, Lord, for this worship session that we're going to have, as well as for the the sermon that we're going to hear today,

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Lord, that we can better understand your character and walk out of here, Lord, with a greater understanding of your purpose for our lives here today.

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In your name we pray, in Jesus' name, amen. Sin to hide, but you have set him from your side.

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To walk upon the storm, and to become the storm.

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You have denied the sacrifice, the lamb.

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Sweet lamb of God, sweet inmost blood.

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My Jesus Christ, the light in the world set for me.

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And may my sin never cease as planned.

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It binds his quickness to my grace.

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You may be seated, please. Scripture reading today will come out of the book of Isaiah, chapter 42, verses 6 through 9.

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Once again, Isaiah chapter 42, verses 6 through 9.

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Verse 6, I the Lord have called you in righteousness and will hold your hand.

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I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the

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Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison, to those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

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I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to carved images.

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Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare before they spring forth,

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I tell you of them. This is the word of the Lord. Why should

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I gain from his reward and serve?

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But this I know with all my heart, his word.

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This next song we're going to sing is a very simple song, but being communion

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Sunday, I think the verses are very good as we think about our Lord and remembering him during our communion time.

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According to thy gracious word, pity,

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This will I do for thee,

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I say thee.

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This testamental cup I take and I leave.

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Thank you and you may be seated as we dismiss our youngsters at Children's Church and pastor comes to bring the word.

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Please turn with me to Luke chapter 18 verses 31 through 43.

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Luke chapter 18 verses 31 to 43. Then he took the twelve aside and said to them,

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Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the

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Son of Man will be accomplished, for he will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.

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They will scourge him and kill him, and the third day he will rise again. But they understood none of these things.

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This saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken. Then it happened as he was coming near Jericho that a certain blind man sat by the road begging, and hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.

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So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, and he cried out, saying,

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Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet, but he cried out all the more,

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Son of David, have mercy on me. So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to him.

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And when he had come near, he asked him, saying, What do you want me to do for you? He said,

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Lord, that I may receive my sight. Then Jesus said to him, Receive your sight.

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Your faith has made you well. And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying

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God, and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. This is the word of the

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Lord. Let us pray. Father, we are grateful that you have sent your

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Son, Jesus, who is so compassionate, who is never too busy to heal.

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And we are grateful that we worship your Son, Jesus. Help us to see him clearly this morning and help us to rejoice in who he is and what he's done.

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Thank you that he suffered the wrath that we deserved on the cross so that we may live. Help us to experience his presence through his word and songs.

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In Jesus' name, amen. Last week, we saw the rich ruler's response to Jesus' call to follow him.

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His response was the negative example. It was, What not to do?

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After all, we have seen through various characters, the tax collectors, the necessary for all of his disciples to humbly trust him, to depend on him.

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This week, we will see that Jesus the Messiah, in fact, came to die a humiliating death.

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And unfortunately, his disciples will fail to grasp the significance of this messianic mission.

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This is then followed by the blind beggar. Although who could not see physically, recognize

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Jesus as the Messiah just by the report of his arrival. At which point, he humbly calls out for mercy.

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We can see from these two texts, these two passages, all that humility is the thread that connects them together.

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The king and the subjects of his kingdom are connected by the thread of humility.

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That's what makes God's kingdom his kingdom. It's about humility.

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And this is crucial for us this morning because we live in a nation where humility is despised and pride is celebrated.

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The month of June is often celebrated by some as the pride month as people celebrate what

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God calls abominable. However, for Christians, we must not lose the value of humility.

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The right view of ourselves without minimizing nor maximizing. As Christians, we need to view ourselves truthfully and honestly.

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And when we do, we will recognize that there is nothing we can possibly do to be made right with God other than to humble ourselves and cry for mercy.

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When we humbly trust in the Lord Jesus, that's the first step of following him.

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So the main point of today's text is Jesus died a humiliating death for our sin and resurrected to save those who humbly call on him for mercy.

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Jesus died a humiliating death for our sin and resurrected to save those who humbly call on him for mercy.

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Although Jesus revealed his humiliating messianic death, according to scripture, his disciples did not originally grasp it.

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So the first point, although Jesus revealed his humiliating messianic death, according to scripture, his disciples did not originally grasp it.

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This revelation comes after the portrait of Christ's disciples. Those who humbly trust him and those who humbly depend on Christ for mercy.

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Verse 31, then he took the 12 aside and said to them, behold, we're going up to Jerusalem and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man will be accomplished.

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As Luke narrated since chapter nine, Jesus has been journeying to Jerusalem and we're nearing the destination.

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As he nears the final destination, he reminds his followers what will happen to him.

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And notice how Jesus calls himself the son of man, the son of man. This title refers back to Daniel 7, 13 through 14.

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I saw in the night visions and behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him.

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And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom in all people, nations and languages should serve him.

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His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed.

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Notice the son of man. There is a heavenly gathering in which thousands and thousands of angels are gathered around the thrones.

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And in the midst of the thrones, there's the ancient of days, God himself. And a figure approaches the ancient of days.

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And it is the son of man. The only being who is able to approach the ancient of days to receive what he's about to receive is a man.

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And what does he receive? Everything. Everything.

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The whole created realm. And when Jesus calls himself this eschatological title, whom the

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Lord gives all, it's another way of himself calling, calling himself the

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Messiah, the Davidic king to whom God will coronate to rule over the whole world.

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The son of man in this context and the messianic title, the son of David go hand in hand.

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Because God has prophesied that it is the

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Davidic king who will rule over the whole world. And it's a man, not an angel who will receive all the glory.

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Now with that in mind, Jesus claims that all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man will be accomplished.

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All things regarding the son of man are about to be fulfilled. And what will that look like?

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Does the son of man need to accrue a large gathering of armies? Does the son of man need to have the most advanced weaponry?

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After all, he's about to rule over the whole created realm. Verses 32 through 33 show us the most, the most opposite way of ruling the world that's known to man.

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For he will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked. And insulted and spit upon.

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This of course is not the first prediction of Jesus' suffering and death. Luke has shown it multiple times.

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However, this is the most detailed one so far. Jesus progressively reveals more and more of his final moment of his redemptive plan.

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And notice all the passive verbs here in verse 32. He will be delivered. He will be mocked.

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He will be insulted. He will be spit upon. These passive verbs signify the things that are done to him according to scripture that need to be fulfilled.

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These humiliating acts done to Christ are actually not plan B, but rather the only redemptive plan that God has set forth.

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Every saliva droplet that lands on Jesus' innocent face is still part of God's redemptive plan to save the world.

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Jesus did not accidentally die a criminal's death. That was the purpose of his redemption.

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And all of that mockery, shame, culminate in the final act.

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They will scourge him and kill him. And the third day he will rise again. The mockery and shame that Christ will face will find their fulfillment in his death and resurrection.

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In order for Jesus to restore the whole world and rule as the rightful king, he first needed to die a humiliating death.

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He needed to take on our sin and face the judgment that we deserved so that he can usher in his rescued people into his glorious kingdom.

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And this is how this is actually the exact opposite of how the worldly rulers rule.

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The worldly kings send you to battles. Not so this king, because he will die for those who belong to him in the most humiliating way possible.

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Now this parallels the humble responses that the disciples needed to show when they're following Christ.

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Remember the leper, the tax collector, the children, they completely depend on Christ because they humbly trust him.

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Jesus is the ultimate portrait of humility. The king of the kingdom suffers the most humiliating event of all, and that's the crucifixion.

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This is why his followers will respond humbly to the humble king who dies on his behalf, on their behalf.

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And this is why you cannot have a Christian who attempts to save himself. It's utterly unfitting.

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Now how do his disciples respond? But they understood none of these things.

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This saying was hidden from them and they did not know the things which were spoken. It goes right over their head.

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Now this does not mean everything Jesus said was just gibberish and they all of a sudden could not understand a word that he said, or they suddenly lost the intellectual capacity to understand

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Jesus' teaching as if they became toddler mindsets. Rather, Jesus' death and resurrection just did not fit in their mindset of how

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God would restore his kingdom. The Messiah dying for their sake just was not on their bingo card.

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They had their own presupposition of how God would reveal, how God would redeem his people, and it did not include the piercing of the king himself.

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Rather, it probably included the piercing of his enemies, but ironically it would be the king who would be pierced for his enemies.

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And that is the centerpiece of his redemptive plan of deliverance.

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Now although the disciples did not understand many of Jesus' passion predictions, they clearly grasped it when they saw the resurrected

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Christ. Even then, Jesus still explained to them through Scripture why all of these events needed to take place, and we will see all of that in Luke 24.

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And in one sense, those of us who understand the significance of Jesus dying on the cross for our sin and rising from the dead are truly blessed.

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It is a privilege if you are taught the gospel at an early age. It is a privilege if you are saying the gospel at an early age.

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It is a privilege if you got to hear Jesus loves me this I know, for the

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Bible tells me so at an early age. Many of us might envy the early disciples or the crowd who got to see lepers healed, demons cast out, dead raised.

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However, the biggest blessing of all is to know what these miracles ultimately pointed to, which is the chance of eternal life when the king redeems his people through his life.

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That is the biggest privilege of all, because back in those days there were people who got to see these miracles and still rejected

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Jesus, because back in those days they got to see a dead person be raised again and still schemed to kill the one who raised him.

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It is a privilege if your Sunday school teachers and your parents clearly explain the significance of Jesus dying on the cross for your sin and rising from the dead.

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That clarity of picture is something the prophets and even the early disciples before the resurrection would have envied to know, how he would have redeemed the whole world, how he would have ruled the whole world through his death and resurrection.

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Now, what does it look like to respond to the humble king? When we humbly cry out for mercy,

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Christ always compassionately restores. When we humbly cry out for mercy,

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Christ always compassionately restores. After Jesus' passion prediction, we see a healing miracle, and this is the test case to see what the proper response to this humble king would be like.

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Verse 35, then it happened as he was coming near Jericho that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.

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Jericho is a city that's about 18 miles away from Jerusalem. This is the first city that is mentioned by name in a while.

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Remember, all of these interactions, miracles prior, after Luke 9, we've been hearing a certain city, a certain man, a certain city, a certain city.

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Again, that's because the location really isn't important, it's really what the teaching is, right?

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What you can learn from that. However, as we get closer, specifically 18 miles away from Jerusalem where he will die and rise from the dead, the camera comes into focus.

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It zooms in, it slows down. Every moment suddenly is important.

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Every moment counts. We are seeing all the details clearly before the most important event, the crucifixion and resurrection.

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This is Luke's way of saying, slow down there and read carefully what's about to happen.

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The focus of this miracle is the blind beggar. He is not just blind, but he is also poor.

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Not only does he have to depend on others because he is poor, as he is begging for food, but also he has to depend on others because he is blind.

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That's a double whammy. This is the total opposite of the rich ruler just from last week.

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While the rich ruler completely depended on his own abilities and strength and wealth, this blind beggar can only live by depending on others.

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That's his only way of living. He would die otherwise. He can't even get to the place where he has to beg, he probably has to be guided there.

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And hearing the commotion, verse 36 tells us that the blind beggar inquired of it.

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What's going on? Verse 37, so they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.

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Notice how the crowd identifies Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth.

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Nazareth, that's his hometown where he mostly grew up. He was born in Bethlehem, but he grew up in the northern region of Judea.

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Yet the blind beggar cries out another name. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

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I think that distinction is meant to be noticed. The crowd tells the blind beggar

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Jesus of Nazareth is here. Yet the beggar screams out Jesus, son of David.

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The title son of David is messianic too. And that's because in ancient cultures, the son represented what the father did.

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So if your father's a baker, the son is a baker. The son does what the father does.

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The son is who the father is. The son of David presumably means that he would be a descendant of David, the great king of Israel, under whom

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God has so blessed the people of God. The son of David is a messianic title because God has promised

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David that his son will rule over his throne forever.

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And that's from 2 Samuel 7. The son of David is the

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Messiah because there's no other king who can rule forever, because there's no other king whom

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God has promised that. Now, how come this blind beggar is calling

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Jesus by that name instead of Jesus of Nazareth? This reveals a couple of things.

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First, the blind beggar has heard about Jesus before. He's probably heard of Jesus' miracles and his teachings.

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Hence, he knows of what Jesus is capable of doing and what kind of man

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Jesus must be. Second, although obvious but worth mentioning, this blind man has never seen

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Jesus nor his miracles because he is blind. Yet, he believed that Jesus is the

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Messiah just by the report that he's heard. He did not have to see the miracles himself.

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He did not even have to talk to Jesus. He just believed the testimonies about Jesus. He believed based upon the testimonies of the eyewitnesses.

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In one sense, this blind man is awfully similar to people of our days because he's calling out to Christ for mercy without ever seeing

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Christ before. And for some of you, that's the reality. You've called out to Christ for mercy not because you've seen him in person but because of the report you've heard about who he is and what he's done.

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And that was enough. And that was enough for this blind man to cry out,

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Son of David, have mercy on me. Third, ironically, while the disciples from the previous paragraph could not understand

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Jesus' messianic mission when he clearly spelled it out for them, the blind beggar believes

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Jesus as the Messiah without ever seeing him before or talking to him before. Those who can physically see could not see

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Jesus' true identity while the one who could not physically see could recognize from some distance away, just by the crowd muttering,

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Who is this? Have mercy on me. The request is simple and desperate.

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Have mercy on me. There's no flowery eloquence. There's no flattery.

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He doesn't need to persuade anyone. Save me. It's a concise cry of humble trust.

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Only you can restore. The cry makes sense in the context of the messianic text that we read in Isaiah even this morning.

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In the ear of the Lord, there would be restoration in the land like no other.

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Through his servant, the Lord will free the captives and give sight to the blind.

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Isaiah 42. Isaiah 61. The servant here is the one who will obey

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God fully to bring out the full redemption of God's people. This is the ideal king that even

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David could not have been because this king will not rule like David, but better.

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He's not just defeating human enemies. He's undoing effects of sin.

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He's undoing sin himself. This is the servant of the Lord that Isaiah introduces in Isaiah 42.

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Presumably, the blind beggar connected the two and two together.

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Oh, this man's healing. This man's restoring like no other. Maybe, maybe he's the son of David.

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Maybe he's the Messiah that I better call out quick before he passes by.

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I can't miss this moment. Now, how did those around him respond?

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Verse 39. Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet. This is yet another ironic response by those who can clearly see

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Jesus Christ. Although the crowd can physically see Jesus, they truly cannot see

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Jesus as who he truly is, as the Messiah. Just as the disciples tried to stop the children from coming to Jesus two weeks ago, the crowd attempts to silence the blind beggar.

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The crowd does not want Jesus to waste time with such an insignificant man as this blind beggar.

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He has better things to do. He has better people to meet. Stay out of the way, you useless man.

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Yet, this man does not care about what others think. But he cried out, all the more, son of David, have mercy on me.

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His response is that he cries out even loudly, even more intensely, to cut through the murmuring, grumbling of the crowd.

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Son of David, have mercy on me. His humble faith prioritizes

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Jesus alone. He does not care about manners. He does not care about common courtesy.

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The only thing that's on his mind is that Christ is here and he can restore.

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And the most important priority for me is that I better get to him.

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Then Jesus responds. So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to him.

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And when he had come near, he asked him, saying, what do you want me to do for you? Do you want to know what got

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Jesus to stop walking? What made him stop walking when he was going on the journey to save the world?

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After all, he just disclosed the important mission he has come to do. That's why he came, to die on the cross.

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What can make Jesus to stand still during his important mission journey? A humble cry of the one who needs to be restored.

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That's Jesus' heart. Jesus did not view the blind beggar the same way as the crowd did.

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Jesus did not ignore him, but rather stood, stopped, and brought him near to him.

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Jesus is never too busy for compassion. Jesus is never too busy for mercy.

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In fact, restoration is his business. Deliverance is his trade.

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Mercy is his specialty. That's who he is, and that's what he does.

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And Jesus will stop to mercy, to show mercy to those who need it.

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Jesus will stop to restore those who cry out to him, even when his mission is at hand.

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At the question, the blind man specifies, Lord, that I may receive my sight.

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Mercy from God through Jesus would be the restoration of the blind man's sight.

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Then Jesus simply restores, receive your sight. Your faith has made you well.

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Jesus confirms that the poor beggar's proper posture was what allowed him to receive

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God's mercy. The only appropriate way to receive

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God's grace is that of a humble faith. No works, faith alone.

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It's to trust that Jesus can restore.

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It's to trust that Jesus is the giver of mercy. He's the fountain spring of mercy.

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And his name alone we call out to, because he alone can save.

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And verse 43 tells us the result. And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying

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God and all the people. And when they saw it, gave praise to God.

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First, the blind beggar is restored, and he praises God and follows

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Jesus. This man's response is the exact opposite of the rich ruler's response.

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While the rich ruler sorrowfully leaves Jesus, the former blind beggar joyfully follows

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Jesus upon receiving God's mercy. From his individual faith, it leads to his individual praise.

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And that praise moves on to the corporate praise of those who witnessed all that happened.

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Even the crowd who witnessed the restoration rejoice at the power of the

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Messiah to bestow mercy on a completely dependent man.

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Now, the blind man may have understood Jesus to be the Messiah from Isaiah 42, 1 through 7.

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After all, Isaiah tells us that God's servant, the ideal Davidic king, who is filled with the spirit of God, restores

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God's people. He is God's chosen king par excellence.

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Think of all the great Old Testament kings out there, the faithful ones whom God has done miraculous and powerful things.

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Well, this servant, God's servant, beats them all. He is the

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Messiah. He is the greater son of great David. And if you read verses 6 to 7,

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Isaiah spells it out for us what that restoration would look like. I am the Lord.

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I have called you in righteousness. I will take you, the servant, by the hand and keep you.

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I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, the

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Gentiles, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in darkness.

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Now, how does this relate to Jesus' previous prediction? When you follow the servant figure in Isaiah chapter 42, you will actually see how he will accomplish the restoration that's promised in 42 when you get to Isaiah 53.

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Isaiah 53 actually reintroduces the servant of the Lord, whom we know as the suffering servant.

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The reason being, when you read verse 5 through 6, it sounds like he's dying.

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It sounds like he's suffering. Not because of his own sin, but for other people's sins.

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Isaiah 53, 5 through 6. But he was pierced for our transgressions, our rebellion. He was crushed for our iniquities.

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Upon him was a chastisement that brought us peace. And with his wounds, we are healed.

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All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the

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Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. How does

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Jesus accomplish the full restoration as the messianic figure, the son of man, the son of David?

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His full restoration of his people does not come from his might, but through his sacrifice for his people.

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It's not from conquering Rome. It's not from overthrowing the elites.

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He will not force his kingdom in with violence, but he will suffer violence himself.

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And this is peculiar, because for most kings, might makes right.

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Yes, there are rules. Yes, there are laws. But if the king breaks it, what are you going to do about it?

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Sure, the court may say something, but if the king breaks it, I would like to see you stop me.

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Not for this king. For this king, right makes might. His death is what makes his people right with God so that sinners like us can be forgiven justly.

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Because someone else had to pay for it. Your forgiveness is not by fiat, but by fact.

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Because we have gone astray from God and rebelled against the Lord, we deserve to be eternally condemned.

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Yet, the suffering servant, the Messiah, took on our sin, and instead of us, he was crushed for our iniquities.

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It was precisely his chastisement, his mockery, the mockery, the shame that's on him, that brought us peace between us and God.

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We are ultimately healed, restored, through his wounds, not ours.

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That's how these two passages come together. It's the role of the suffering servant.

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The servant who came to restore God's people, even from blindness, and even this blind beggar noticed that it is the

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Messiah, but how he exactly does it is through his own death.

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The full restoration only comes through the servant's death.

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And what do we need to do? We get the picture of the response through the blind beggar.

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All you need to do is to believe that he has died for you, and you call out to him for salvation.

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That's it. And in fact, we are actually in the similar place as the blind beggar. He didn't see

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Jesus before he called out. He didn't get to call, uh, he didn't get to touch

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Jesus. He didn't get to talk to Jesus. He just called out based upon the report and testimonies he's heard about Jesus.

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And we are all on the same boat. None of us, none of us have seen

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Jesus physically. Yet, just like the blind beggar, we can call out to him for mercy because we've heard of what he has done.

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We're even at a better place than the blind beggar. He's only heard about the report that Jesus has done up to that point.

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We get to see and read for ourselves the report of what Jesus came to do and has done on the cross and the resurrection.

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We get to see even with a clearer picture than the blind beggar, and the response is still the same.

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We humbly, totally trusting God cry out for mercy.

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You don't need to strengthen your spiritual resume. You just need to go to him and ask for his mercy, at which point he will immediately and richly provide you.

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He will lavish his mercy on you, and that's because that's who he is.

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That's his identity. That's his job.

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You may say, I've sinned too much to be forgiven that easily. Well, he suffered much to forgive you.

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You may say, I haven't done a thing for Christ. His work is fully sufficient.

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All you need to do is humbly believe. You may say, I haven't really been part of the church.

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You can't add to what he's done. Your church attendance, your good deeds, your acts of service cannot make a single ounce of contribution to the forgiveness and salvation that Jesus accomplished for you on the cross.

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All we can do is to humbly cry out, Lord Jesus Christ, save me from my sin.

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Let us pray. Father, we're grateful that it is not up to us even a little bit to be forgiven of our sin, but it is completely up to Jesus Christ and what he has done, and we're grateful that his heart is always towards restoration.

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No matter what he's doing, his heart is drawn to those who call out to him for mercy.

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Help us to call out to him for mercy this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.