Faith, Hope, & Love

Mark 10:46-52

Transcript

You, let's pray, Father. May youy will be done, Jesus. May youy Word be proclaimed in spirit. May youy work be accomplished in us. We pray.
Amen. Well, I love Bible study. Every week I get to engage and take a deep dive into the Scriptures. I love to have the opportunity to teach on Wednesdays, and I love the opportunity to preach God's word on Sundays. This is what I feel my ministry, what Christ has called me to do, which is preach and teach.
And I think it comes from this place where I like to actually cook. I like to find ingredients. And these ingredients come together as you bake them, and they form this delicious cake that you can enjoy and be satisfied with. Well, every week that I come to the Scriptures, that's what really takes place. I look in the passage and all these ingredients pop up and they form together this knowledge and understanding that my soul feasts on throughout the week.
And that's what we are going to look at today in our passage. Today, we are given ingredients of faith, hope and love. And when you bring these ingredients into your life, they form a meal that you can feast on and live out in your life. And so that's what I want to draw your attention to this morning is faith, hope, and love. Let's begin with faith.
Faith is this ingredient that it places itself in someone here in our story, in our Gospel lesson this morning, we have a blind beggar sitting on the side of the road. He hears because he can't see that Jesus the Nazarene is walking by. Now, because the blind man has heard much about this Jesus the Nazarene, he has concluded that this Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of David. Son of David is this title that we often refer to as Christ the Messiah. This is the Son of David who was prophesied to come and establish God's kingdom.
And so the blind man hears about Jesus walking by, and he cries out to Jesus, saying, son of David, have mercy on me. But it's just not that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus pauses in his tracks upon this title, and he stops and asks for this blind man to come. And the blind man comes. And not only does the blind man associate this Jesus man, Jesus from Nazareth, but that Jesus is the Son of David.
He is Messiah. But now the blind man, by the end of this passage, tells Jesus, you're my master. This is the thing that we learn from the blind man, that faith alone cannot be just in man coming from Nazareth. After all, we have read in the in the Gospels many times, can anything good come from Nazareth. Of course it can, because it's Jesus.
But not just that. Not just a man, but a Messiah. Jesus is the Son of God, the Son of David, the one who comes to establish God's kingdom. But it's in that last confession that faith really takes root. It's one thing to say, okay, here's the man.
It's another thing to identify him as the one who's come to save and redeem. But it is an entirely, completely thing to place all your faith by following after him as your Lord and master. And that's what the blind man does. Last of all. In fact, Jesus, upon giving him sight, does something interesting.
Jesus says, go, your faith has made you well. But the blind man doesn't leave. The blind man demonstrates the fact that Jesus. This is not lip service. I'm just not presenting a title from my mouth.
You are the Messiah and you are my master. I've asked for sight so that I can follow you. And that's exactly what the blind man does. The passage tells us he starts out sitting on the side of the road. And the passage ends with the blind man following not just the man, not just the Messiah, but his master on his way to Jerusalem by walking and following him along the road.
That's what faith is. Faith has an object to it. Faith is in Jesus specifically. And it's just not that Jesus was born of a virgin. It's not just that Jesus is the Messiah, but that Jesus is actually lord of your life.
This is what the scriptures scream to us. In Romans, it says hearing. Faith comes through hearing, just like it came to the blind man who heard about Jesus from Nazareth, who has heard of all the amazing things that Jesus has done and has given him the faith to believe. But not just that. But Romans 10:13 also says that anybody who calls on the name of the Lord or Master will be saved.
And that's exactly what is evidenced before us. That we are given an example of these scriptures proving true in the life of this blind beggar. And at the end of all this, what does it mean to have Jesus as master? It means to follow him like the disciples as Jesus goes to Jerusalem, he's having a large crowd, and his disciples are now a blind beggar following him as he goes to die. Which really lifts before us.
Why Matthew 16:24 says, if anybody wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. That's exactly what the blind beggar does. He follows after Jesus because that's his master. I'm here to serve him who has given me salvation. But not just is faith in someone who we ought to believe in.
Faith also is a how we ought to believe. And this blind man presents a picture of how it is we believe in Jesus. Jesus is the who. But what about the how? Well, this ingredient of faith can be is littered all through the passage.
Listen to all the action verbs that this blind beggar does. He's sitting down by the roadside. He hears about Jesus. He cries out to Jesus, son of David. He's told sternly to shush, be quiet, stop talking by the crowd following Jesus, which is interesting, but that makes him cry out even more to the Son of David to have mercy.
Then when he's told to come to Jesus, he throws aside his cloak. Now, you might miss this important message, but he's sitting on the roadside because he's a beggar and he's blind. And oftentimes you drape your cloak so that anybody who passes by can toss a coin into it. And what does the blind beggar do? He tosses or throws aside all that he has.
And whatever coins are there are there no longer because he tosses it or throws it aside. And then he jumps up and is led to Jesus. And he comes to Jesus, and he receives sight by Jesus. And Jesus says, okay, now go. And he won't go.
Instead, he follows. And so what we get from this ingredient of faith in this passage is not just the who we ought to believe in, but the how we believe in him. That it's just not enough to cry out to Jesus, but that we have to also come to Jesus. And it's not good enough just to be saved, but that we continue to follow after Jesus. This is what the ingredient of faith builds in us.
Faith always reveals itself through action. Faith is a belief and a trust founded in the heart and the mind, but demonstrates and reveals itself outwardly. The best way I can explain this, that if you've ever watched my son and you want to know how he's feeling, namely if he's extremely happy or if he's overjoyed, there's something my son does. He does this. He has happy hands.
He shakes his hands. He began to do this when we were feeding him baby food. And he would just sit there and just eat. I was like, I guess he is my son, because I get super happy when I eat. And this kid's just like biting a spoon.
I looked at him and listen, and I said, is there something wrong with him? Like, this is kind of a weird act. It's just Weird. And we're like, I don't know. And then I started talking to my mom one day.
I said, mom, you know, Beau does this weird thing. You know, it just kind of. It's not overly concerning, but just interesting. She's like, oh, you did that when you were little? And I was like, so nothing's wrong with him.
Okay, good, Perfect. So all that to say is this action isn't the joy. This is a evidence of the joy in Beau's heart when you're talking to him because he wants to be your friend and he wants to love you. He's like, I'm in here joyful. And here it comes out.
That's what faith is. Faith isn't something that's just in here that you don't demonstrate, you don't show to people. Faith is in here. And it should cause you to move and to follow after Jesus. It should cause you to sing a little bit louder than you do to Jesus.
It should cause you to want to gather around other people who are following because you are overwhelmed with faith in that Messiah, because he's my master and he's going to go die in Jerusalem, and I'm going to follow after him, and I will lay my life down with him because I am going to follow him. And that's what faith demonstrates. But not just are we left with one ingredient for this meal. We are given another one. And this one is hope.
We have faith, hope and love. The second ingredient is hope. And this one is a little bit interesting because this one is hidden right at the beginning of the passage. Now, sometimes you reach for that ingredient in your cupboard that you haven't used in a long time. Might be that brown sugar.
It's not soft and fluffy. It's kind of hard and stale. And you have to break it up before you can pour it in, right to whatever you're baking. This is the element. This is the ingredient of hope that is hidden in the passage that might seem a little old and stale.
Let me just read for you how the passage opens up. Mark 10:46 says this. Then they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples in a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimas, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. Now, why has the Holy Spirit decided to inspire Mark to write this particular thing?
Why is it a big deal? We already know Jesus is gone, is going to Jerusalem like he's on a mission. Mark makes this very known. I've talked about this in previous weeks, and we're just adding to the story, these little episodes. And why is it that Mark is telling us that he's going to Jericho?
What in the Sam Hill does Jericho have anything to do with this passage? Is it significant or is it something they wasted space on and don't need to think? Well, if you sit under my preaching and teaching, I will teach you that every word that is written down in the Scriptures has significance. The Holy Spirit wants it there, and it wants you to figure out what it means and then wants you to ask the Holy Spirit, what does this mean for us? Now, if you have been with us on Wednesday nights, you know that we just finished the book of Joshua.
And so in the book of Joshua you have this very interesting story about how the whole book of Joshua. Let me just summarize for you what the whole book of Joshua is all about. The whole book of Joshua is how do the people of God move toward their promised land that God has promised to Abraham to receive when it's filled with enemies? And the book of Joshua is about how God fights and clears out the land of all the enemies of God's people so that they can take possession of it and live and dwell and be satisfied by the fruit of the land. That's the summation of the book of Joshua.
And what's interesting is the first city that they come to that kind of. Is the one that prevents them from entering into the fullness of the land is Jericho. They cross over the Red Sea and they get there. Or the Jordan, sorry, they cross over the Jordan and the first city they come to is a massive fortress named Jericho. And what's interesting is before they go to battle, let me just read you what happens.
Joshua, who's commanding the Lord's armies. Let me just tell you what happens. Joshua. 5, 13, 14. Now, it came about when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite of him with his sword drawn in his hand.
And Joshua went to him and said, are you for us or for our adversaries? And he said, no, rather I indeed now come as captain of the hosts or the armies of the Lord. And then this closes the chapter. And then the next chapter is this battle of Jericho. That's Jesus in the Old Testament.
Jesus shows up in the Old Testament in Joshua bearing a sword because he goes to make victory and to conquer the enemies of his people and lead this host of people, Israel, into the promised land. So the first piece of hope that we get is that Jesus is on his way To. To conquer our enemies of sin, death and Satan. Because he's heading to Jerusalem and he's going through Jericho as a sign to people and to tip the hat to, hey, do you remember what Jericho was and how the Lord showed up and defeated our enemy and we were able to then possess the promised land? That's exactly why Mark includes it in the beginning of this passage.
He says, and they came to Jericho. The chapter or the verse before the verses before says, well, he was on his way to Jerusalem. What's going to happen in Jerusalem? Jesus is going to die. This time he's not wielding a sword, he's wielding his life.
And he's going to lay it down and he's going to conquer enemies. And that is how you're going to enter into paradise, is through him. So the ingredient of hope that we see in this passage is that Jesus is more than a conqueror. He's the victorious one. He is the one that conquered the enemies in Canaan.
And he is the one that led the people into the promised land. And here, Mark says it this way. And when they went through Jericho, he left with his disciples in a large crowd. Where is he going? To Jerusalem.
He's leading them to victory over their enemies of sin, death and Satan. And he's leading them to the paradise, the promised land. That's where we see hope take place and take shape in this passage. But not only that, do you know what Jericho was known for? It's the city of palms.
Do you know right after the last verse of this passage is chapter 11. Do you know what that. Chapter 11 is the triumphal entry. Do you know what they laid down to represent that Jesus is king? Palm leaves.
All of a sudden you begin to get this great tapestry and this great beautiful imagery and writing of this story that's really presenting Jesus as the mighty king. But not only that, not only is Jericho known for its palm trees, but the word Jericho itself means moon. And so as Mark is writing, he. He's writing this multifaceted story that's supposed to tell you that as Jesus is going from Jericho to Jerusalem, the day is dark, right? The story is getting dark.
You got moon, darkness, nighttime. But how does this story end? Well, as we continue on in Mark, we find out that the story ends with the dawning of the sun and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So Mark is writing also in such a way as to say Jericho, which means moon, Jesus walking through it, leading these people through darkness that will end in sunlight and resurrection. That's also the hope, the Hope not only is that Jesus is conqueror and provider of eternal life, but that there are better days ahead.
The psalmist says it this way in Psalm 35, verse 5. Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. That literally is describing Jesus walking through Jericho, grabbing blind beggars and the large crowd of his disciples and leading them to the way. But not only do we have faith, hope as ingredients, we have one more final ingredient. Love.
Love is very present in this passage. And it's in this moment where Jesus, like I've been saying, is on his way to Jerusalem. He's going to give up his life and die, right? To make ransom for many. He's going to lay down his life.
So he has a big task ahead of him. He's on a mission. Luke in his gospel will make it such a big deal that Luke would reference Jesus face, that Jesus turns his face towards Jerusalem. And then Luke just begins to tell you how his face doesn't turn from Jerusalem in his writing. That's how Luke writes about it.
But Mark here has already told us he's on his way to Jerusalem and he's going to offer his life. Jesus has told the disciples three times now this I'm going to die, I'm going to supper, we're going to Jerusalem. And they don't seem to get it. So while Jesus is on the way to do something that nobody else can do, we're given this passage where he stops for a blind beggar on the side of the road. Jesus, don't you have bigger, better things to do?
You're about to give your life up. That's enough. This is such a little thing compared to what you're about to do. We don't have time for this. Maybe that's why the audience or the crowd sternly hushed him.
Jesus is about to go. But they didn't really understand it. So that's not really the application there. But nonetheless, what we common experience is that Jesus does stop. Not only does he have time for the big things and accomplishes those, but Jesus grace is sufficient enough for both big things and small things.
Like a blind beggar who says, son of David, have mercy on me. What does this mean for you? This means that Jesus stops, sees you, and will take the time to listen. And Jesus says, what can I do for you, Jesus, you've done enough. You've given me salvation.
Yes, what can I do for you? I can't see. Can you make me see? Yeah, your faith has made you well, Jesus, I have These problems in my life, I can't overcome them. Can you help me with those?
I know that might seem small on your list. Can you tend to those? Jesus says, my grace is sufficient enough for the big things and the small things. You need me for it all. And that is the love that Jesus demonstrates to you.
That's how much he loves you. There's nothing so small that he can't tend to. And what's interesting is that the blind man, obviously Jesus knows what his greatest need is. But Jesus still asks him, what can I do for you? As if to show us and reveal to us in this Gospel lesson why prayer is important.
Does Jesus know what you need? Yeah, he knows it before you do. But he still wants us to come and pray to him and see if we believe that his grace is sufficient enough for even those small things that we need. I got an ache in my hip, Jesus, that annoys me, and if it's your will, please remove it from me. All these little prayers of the people that we do every Sunday matter.
And his grace is sufficient because Jesus cares. If you ever get a letter from me, I always close out my letters and have done this since I was a Teenager. With Psalm 55:22, cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. That was like my life verse, because that means a lot to me.
Hearing that moves me to love Jesus more because he does care for me. As I was growing up, that was what I wanted. I wanted people to care for me in a deep, meaningful way, that when I needed them, I want them to show up. That was significant for me. And when I read this, it moved me.
And how I came to read it is my youth pastor gave me a card. And on it, the card, it had my name, and it defined what my name meant. It said Bruce from a thicket. And Psalm 55:22, cast your cares on the Lord and he'll sustain you. You know what a thicket is?
It's a thorny place to be. It's a bad place to be. So my name is a reminder of all the times and all the bad places I've been. Cast your cares on the Lord because he cares for you. This is also in first Peter 5, 7.
That's the new Testament version. And that's what Peter says, Cast your cares on the Lord because he cares for you. That is the ingredient of love. But one final ingredient is that he does offer change to our lives. Blindness in this passage reveals the fact that we Live in a fallen world.
Things are not as they ought to be. We're broken, we're in need of help. We can't save ourselves. And we are hoping for something better. We are longing for joy and better days.
We are longing for that sunrise because we're living in darkness. And when Jesus heals the blind, that's what it represents. Because if Jesus can heal the blind, then he can do anything else, because nobody can heal the blind. Jesus can heal the blind. Jesus can calm storms.
Jesus can feed 5,000 with just a few loaves and fish. Jesus can do miraculous things. Jesus can do more than you can ever dream or imagine. And I can imagine quite a bit. Jesus not only cares for you, but Jesus can change you to be what he created you to be in the first place.
And it's only Him. So with these ingredients, faith, hope and love, what is it that we get to take home? What is it that we get to make putting this into our lives? And so I want to ask you a few questions upon reflection on this Gospel lesson number one, where is your faith? And I mean this in two ways.
Where is your faith? What are you putting it in? Where are you placing it? And two, where is it evidenced in your life?
Can your life be looked at? And can faith be observed like the shaking of hands when somebody is overjoyed? Does your life manifest and look like faith to others?
And if not, then where are you placing your faith? Is it exclusively and only in Jesus as master and Lord? Where is your faith?
What is your hope? What do you hope in? Is your hope in Jesus Christ who can make victory in your life? Who can resurrect you from the dead? This is what Hebrews 11:1 says.
Now faith is the assurance or the confidence of things hoped for, the convictions of things unseen. Are you assured of the hopes that you have in Christ Jesus? All of us live by hope. Maybe your hope is to be well established by the time you're retired. I mean, that is a huge hope almost for every American that I talk to is to be well established financially, to position themselves to where, when they get old enough and they're not able to work, that they're set up.
That's their hope. And so they spend all their working years towards that hope.
Well, let's translate that to the Christian life. The Christians hope is eternal life, to be saved and given a life abundantly. And that only comes in Jesus Christ. So do we live our day to day with that hope ever before us? One of the keys that Paul in the book of Philippians refers to is that the hope that you set in Jesus is what helps you in low times and in high times.
This is why Paul says, no matter what I experience, whether I have a bunch, that I have more than enough than what I need or. Or I don't have enough for what I need, it doesn't matter. Whichever comes, come what may, my hope is in Jesus and that confidence is assured. So it doesn't matter. I can't be shaken from my hope.
Do you live every day with that type of hope, with that type of confidence in Christ? And lastly, who do you love? Who do you love? Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
All these ingredients stir us up to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. When we love God, it fills every aspect of our lives, heart, soul, mind and strength. We couldn't be told to go because we can only follow because we're compelled and overwhelmed with love for Jesus. That's what guides our life. That's what fuels our life.
But is that true in your life? Do you and can you say that I love Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. It's not enough to just love Jesus with all your heart. It's just not enough to love Jesus with only your mind. It's just not enough to love Jesus with only your soul.
It's just not enough to love Jesus with only your strength. What the love you're called to embody in your life as Christians is to love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength, your whole entire being.
And I have to ask you, church, as I ask myself, is that the type of love I possess, or is that the type of love I need to continue to grow in and that I can only grow in it by feasting on the word of God, by growing in my faith, by being more sure of my hope in Jesus.
From this gospel lesson, we learned the ingredients of the Christian life, our faith, hope and love. To be moved by faith, to be driven by hope, and to be consumed with love for God and others. Does that speak of your life?
If not, cry out to Jesus and say, have mercy on me, son of David. And then him, seeing your faith, will say, you are saved. Follow. Let's pray.
Jesus, we thank you so much for all that you've done. You are the object of our faith. You are our assured hope, and you are our greatest love. Move us and grow us deeper in our faith, deeper in our hope, and deeper in our love, so that we can look more like you, who demonstrated perfectly all those things so that we can live the way God has created us to live. Jesus, I ask that you just be with this church.
That you would stir the hearts and the lives of each and every person here. For we are your family, we are your people, and you are our Lord and master. And we seek to follow after you. Show us how we can follow you more.
Fill us with your Holy Spirit and teach us your ways. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.