Luke 18:31-34. Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall he accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spirited on: And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
It would be hard to imagine our Lord speaking more plainly. He tells them of his sufferings in detail describes exactly what happened. But their thoughts did not run that way; and when you are not expecting a thing, it little matters how very plainly you may be told of it. You are doating upon something else, and, therefore, you do not readily perceive the meaning. You know how; when you are expecting to hear a thing said, you can hear it even at a great distance, or think you hear it, from the very motion of the man's lips. But if he should say something clean contrary to what you expect, then you do not so readily hear. And these disciples of our Lord were looking to see him made a king, and they could not comprehend that the only crown he was to have would be one of thorns, and that the homage paid to him would be to be scourged and to be spat upon. They did not understand. And do not you think that the run of our thoughts sometimes may be so contrary to divine truth that we may not be able to understand some very plain things in the Bible, which are only difficult to us because our thoughts are not yet running that way? And when one day we shall be more completely cleansed from the grossness of this world, many a riddle will become plain enough to us.
Luke 18:35-39. And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace; but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
Only to think that there should be some who think that when results are to be seen they can ever be regarded as hindrances. For is it not a result of ministry a result of Jesus passing by that men cry out, «Thou Son of David, have mercy on me»? And yet, when the wave-sheaf is before them, they seem to put it aside as though it were an impediment in the Saviour's way. «Let him go on sowing.» Well, but, sir, it will not hinder him to let him also reap a little, for evidently there has been good seed shown in this heart, and here is the outcome of it, for the man is crying, «Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.» We do not get our sermons interrupted in this way, but what a mercy it will be when they are! And I suppose that in some better times when God's Spirit more mightily blesses the word, we shall bare to stop in our sermons every now and then to deal with anxious souls, or get them to step aside where those that are skillful in heaven's surgery may bind up their wounds. They will be crying ever and anon, «Sirs, what must we do to be saved? Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.»
Luke 18:40-41. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, Saying, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?
If Christ were to come near to every unconverted person here, and say to him, «What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?» do you know what it is you want? No. The unhappy circumstance is that the mass of mankind do not know what mercy they should ask for, even if they believed that they had only to ask and have. But, dear friend, you want deliverance from the power of sin. You want a new heart and a right spirit. You want to give up the sins you love, and to follow after the virtues which now you despise. May God give you grace to know that you want this. But this blind man knew what he wanted.
Luke 18:41-43. And he said, Lord that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith have saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.