We are going to be talking about Matthew 20 starting at verse 29. Scripture says that there were two blind men on the road, and they knew Jesus was going to pass by. When that time came close, they began to cry out in a loud voice. Well, the crowd that was around Jesus was telling them, “You guys have to be quiet. You need to calm down.” The more they were told not to speak out, the more they cried out and with louder voices. They were able to get Jesus attention. He came to them, and He said, “What can I do for you? What do you want?” They wanted to be healed. Jesus, in His grace and His mercy, He healed them right there on the spot, and the Scripture goes on to say that then they began to follow after Him.
There are two things I want to look at today. 1) Over the years, being a pastor, I can’t tell you how many countless of times I’ve heard, “I have a silent prayer.” Beloved, all throughout Scripture, it talks about crying out. Jesus asked people, “What do you need from me? What do you want?” Listen, Jesus already knew what they needed or what they wanted, but He wanted them to speak it out. There’s a lesson there for you and me. We have to speak it out. We have to be willing to cry out so God can hear us. And if people are telling you to be quiet, say it even louder. Shout it out. Too many times in church, I see people during worship that are here, and they’re all slouched over and nothing’s coming out of their mouth. We are missing out on the blessings of God. We are missing out on healings. We are missing out on the glory God wants to put on us because we are unwilling to cry out. I want to encourage you to cry out. If you need prayer, you go to somebody, ask for prayer, cry out together, and do it in a loud voice and God will hear you.
The second thing that happened when their lives were affected and touched, the two blind men followed after Jesus. Why is it in 2023, we want the miracles from God? We want the goodness, the grace, and the mercy, but we don’t want to follow after him? It’s such a one-sided relationship. The more God does for us, the more that we should want to follow after Him. Listen, we want God; we want the miracles. We want that, then it’s called the relationship. You have to go after Him. These two men, they were healed, and they went after Jesus because they saw what he did for Him. There was something that changed in their lives. He has done something in my life. Hopefully he’s done something in your life that should cause us to want to go after Him and not turn back. Do you think the two blind men want to be blind again? They were given sight. If you’ve been healed, if your life has been changed, why would you want to go back? Follow after Jesus and see what He has for you? Cry out in a loud voice and follow after Him and watch what He’s going to do with your life. Until next time. See you soon.
Pastor Jim, Journey Biker Church