Springs Lighthouse Church

Pastor Brian Michaels: Turn with me to Matthew chapter 20 if you would please. Excuse me, Matthew chapter 20. We left off at verse 17, so that is where we will pick up in our study today. And Father, we thank you that you are the God who loves to speak to your people.

Father, thank you so much for your ministry to each and every one of our hearts. Lord, whatever cares and concerns and frustrations and struggles and troubles and whatever else it is that we may bring into this place, whatever things are filling our thoughts about what we have yet to do today to prepare for the coming week, Lord, may we put all of that aside in these next moments.

May we just simply settle our hearts before you and settle in to hear from your word as your Holy Spirit speaks to us. So Lord, this time is yours, we offer it to you in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, right on.

All right. All right. So as we come into this text this morning, it's important I think to kind of catch the flow of what is taking place because there is a lesson that Jesus is trying to get across to his disciples that actually we began looking at in our study last week coming out of chapter 19 and into chapter 20. Jesus has been basically trying to get across to his disciples the idea that the Kingdom of God works differently than the kingdom of this world.

And the bottom line is in this instance, in this context, he's been talking to them about the fact that the first will be last, the last will be first. And he takes the way that the world looks at power and he turns it over and basically lands it on its head. And he says the Kingdom of God is very different, that your notoriety if you will or your position in the Kingdom of God comes about by learning to serve others.

So what we saw in chapter 19 was Jesus stating the principle because you remember that the Rich Young Ruler came to Jesus, he has this conversation with him, the young man goes away sad because he wasn't willing to let go of his possessions. And then of course, Peter pipes up because that's what Peter does. Peter Piper, right? That was free, it just came into my head. I'm so sorry. Peter speaks up and he says, "Well, what about us? We've left everything to follow you. What do we get?"

And it's in response to that question that Jesus says it's not about what you get. Don't be so focused on this temporal life because as you're trying to figure out how to grab everything in this life, you're missing out on laying up treasure in heaven. That's his basic point that he brings out, the first will be last, the last will be first. Then we came into chapter 20 and Jesus uses a parable to illustrate the point that he had just made that Matthew records in chapter 19.

Why is this principle important? Well, it's important for all of us today because we are in the midst of navigating this life trying to walk with Jesus and serve Jesus, right? That's our goal, that's our desire, we want to glorify God, we want to do what the Lord would have us to do, and so we want our lives to glorify him. We need to know and understand what his kingdom is really like. The one who created us and then redeemed us back with his precious blood has a service for each and every one of us to perform.

We all were brought into this life for a reason. It may not be something grandiose, and I know that's what we like to focus upon, what great thing can I do for God. The great thing that we do for the Lord might be the ministry we have within the walls of our home. Are we willing to say, "Lord, what do you want for me?" It's not about putting my name in lights, it's not about getting some place of position or prestige or power, it's about serving you. So obviously, this principle is important for all of us.

But for these disciples, for Jesus trying to communicate that to the boys, man, this is critically important because of what they are about to see unfold in the next couple of weeks. The Kingdom of God looks and works differently from the kingdom of this world. They know he's the Messiah. Peter has already declared it. You are the Christ. Christ is the same word as Messiah. Two different languages. Messiah is Hebrew, Christ is Greek. You are the Christ, the son of the living God.

So they know who he is, but they don't understand the timing of his kingdom, they don't understand his mission. They don't yet fathom how this kingdom is going to come into fruition and so Jesus is trying to impress this point upon them. Do you think they're getting it? No, because we know these guys by now, don't we? Of course they're not.

And if there's any question, look at verse 17. Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem." Now we know, and you'll see this more clearly as we continue our march through Matthew, we know that they are headed to Jerusalem because it is the time of the Passover feast. Jewish law required that all Jewish males be within a certain geographical distance from Jerusalem, they had to make every effort to be there in person for this Passover feast.

So they're on their way to the feast, they're walking along the road, there's a multitude of people there, and they're going to come down the Mount of Olives, they're going to cross the Kidron Valley, and they're going to go up the other side coming into the city of Jerusalem. And as they would do so, because of the Passover sacrifice, the brook that flowed through the Kidron Valley would flow black with the blood of the lambs that were being sacrificed.

And I wonder, in Jesus' 33 years of walking the earth, how many times had he, as a Jewish man, gone on that path, coming down the Mount of Olives, crossing that valley, coming up the slope into the city of Jerusalem? How many times had he done this at Passover time? How many times had he looked down and seen that river, if we want to call it a river, it was a brook, Kidron? How many times had he looked at it, seen it flowing black with the blood of these animals, and thought about the sacrifice that he was going to one day make on a hill called Calvary? How did that hit the mind and heart of Jesus year after year?

And now they are embarking on their journey to Jerusalem for the final time in Jesus' earthly life to celebrate this Passover together. The one that all of these sacrifices through the generations pointed to. Every lamb whose throat was cut and blood was poured out in offering and sacrifice to the Lord pointing to what was about to take place at Calvary. Millions upon millions upon millions of them all prefiguring the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the whole world.

So now he's headed to Jerusalem with the boys, he pulls them aside off to the side of the road so he can just talk to them away from the crowds that are traversing the path. And he says to them, "The Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles." Now this sounds like just a passing comment, but as Jesus is relating to his disciples what's about to take place, this is an important crucial fact.

The Romans had taken away from the Jewish people the right to capital punishment. And yet all of the prophecies had declared that he would be ultimately executed by the Gentiles. Very important also for those who want to point to the Jewish people and say they're the ones who killed Jesus, the Jewish people are Christ-killers. This has been leveled at the Jewish people. It's very important to understand that because Rome had taken away that right of capital punishment, Jesus had been handed over to the Gentiles as he says here to mock and to scourge and to crucify.

It was Gentiles, it was non-Jews that ultimately were responsible for putting him to death. And when it comes right down to it, I am a Christ-killer. My sin nailed him to that cross. I can't point at anyone else or any other people group for crucifying Jesus. Jesus went to that cross because I'm a sinner who had no hope in and of himself and needed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

So he's explaining to his disciples what they're about to see, that the first is about to make himself last because the last will then be first. He's about to illustrate this with his own death and he's explaining this to them. The Son of Man, that's a messianic term borrowed from the book of Daniel. The Messiah will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes and they will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. Pretty exacting detail of what's about to happen, yes?

It's important, why? Because I want you to remember this. You know this, but I'm going to drive it home every step of the way through the remainder of our study. Jesus was not a victim. When he went to the cross, it was not because of some political miscalculation, it was not because he made a misstep somewhere, this is all working according to the plan of God. He is fully in control. So more than a week before it all goes down, he's telling his disciples exactly what is going to play out.

Now here's where their minds seem to freeze. We mentioned this last week particularly with Peter, but all of them seem to get to this point and it's like their brains short-circuited. And everything that he said thus far just continues in this loop because the next phrase is the one that brings hope and they never seem to get it. He said the third day he will rise again. There's hope, there's a resurrection coming. I mean that's astounding. They've watched him raise people from the dead, right?

Do you realize those weren't true resurrections in this sense? Every person Jesus raised from the dead would ultimately go on to have to die again. Did you ever think about that? We think it's awesome, Lazarus was called forth from the tomb. "Lazarus, come forth," and here he comes all looking like the mummy. And they had to unwrap him. Did you ever think what Lazarus is thinking? Why? Listen, if some Sunday I have a heart attack and keel over in here, leave the AED on the wall, let me go. If I see the face of Jesus and you bring me back here, I'm going to find out.

Lazarus had to go on and be ultimately in a place where he died again. In fact, the scripture tells us they tried to figure out how to kill him after Jesus raised him from the dead because to the Sadducees who didn't believe in the resurrection, he was bad theology. So they're going to try and kill him again. But Jesus was the firstfruits of the resurrection in the sense that he was raised never to die again. And he's the firstfruits because he held out the promise for all of us, we have a resurrection coming, amen? When this life is over, we're going to breathe our first breath in the next life.

We are going into eternity and we will be raised never to die again. That's the hope we have, but they miss this completely. They're just still stuck on betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, condemned to death, delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, scourged, crucified, and their brains just short-circuits. And then, verse 20. Gotta love this. Think about what Jesus has just been saying. He's marching towards his crucifixion. He knows this is coming. He understands what awaits him and this happens.

Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from him. Now it seems that the boys, this is the mother of Zebedee's sons, who are Zebedee's sons? James and John, right? So Mrs. Zebedee comes with her boys and she brings them to Jesus. It tells us in Mark's gospel that the boys put her up to this. Matthew, who's an eyewitness to the event, says that they actually put their mom up to it and she comes because they sent mommy to ask.

And here's what she says, verse 21. Because he said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to him, "My two boys, they're good boys." Great Jewish mom. "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on your left, in your kingdom." Have you watched any presidential cabinet meetings lately? Good for you. Good for you. But if you do, realizing who is seated to the president's immediate right and his immediate left gives you a sense of who the power brokers really are in the cabinet.

The closer they sit to the man in charge, the greater their proximity to power. That's what she's asking for. "I want my sons to sit one on your right hand, one on your left, when you come into your kingdom." Because she's looking for some measure of celebrity. Now listen, this is important. There is a measure of faith that is being demonstrated here. She believes Jesus is coming into his kingdom. So do James and John. They just don't understand what that kingdom is going to look like.

The same thing he's been trying to tell them. The first will be last, the last will be first. And here she comes asking for them to be first because she doesn't understand there's a massive difference between being a celebrity and being a servant. A lesson the Western church really needs to understand in these days. We in our culture are so enamored with celebrity that we bring that into the church so often.

It's a message that many pastors need to understand. You're chief slave in that position. That's what the scripture says and we can so easily lose sight of that. So though there is a measure of faith that is being displayed, their understanding is displaced. "You're going to come into your kingdom. We're getting ready to march into Jerusalem. Daniel chapter 9 tells us that this is the time that the king, the Messiah, will make his triumphal entry. This has got to be what's about to happen and Jesus is going to overthrow the Roman government, he's going to set up his throne, he's going to begin his kingdom, and I want my boys to be one on your right, one on your left when you come into your kingdom."

Well, Jesus answered, verse 22. He said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to him, "We are able." Yeah, we can do that. No problem. Have you heard that scripture that talks about zeal without knowledge? Yeah, this is classic zeal without knowledge. They have no idea what they're even talking about. They have no understanding of what Jesus is about to experience.

The extent of Jesus' suffering is more than any of us could ever imagine or endure. And I'm not talking about in the physical dimension. The Romans crucified many thousands of men in Jesus' day. So many experienced that physical suffering. I'm talking about what Jesus experienced in the spiritual dimension. When Jesus went through his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the capillaries beneath his skin burst through the tension that he was dealing with and the agony he was experiencing.

And that blood mingled with his sweat and came out through those sweat glands so that it looked like he was sweating blood. When he went through that, I don't think it was in any way a concern about what he was going to experience physically. When he said, "Father, if there's any way possible, let this cup pass from me," it had nothing to do with the physicality of what was about to take place. It had to do with the spirituality of what was about to take place.

Let me help us understand just a little bit. How many times have you looked in the mirror, seen the face that stares back at you and been overwhelmed by the weight of your own sin? How many times have you experienced sin in your own life that has cost you, that has weighed you down? The guilt and the despair and the depression that comes in knowing how sinful we can be. Have you ever been in a place where you've done something and you've looked around and thought, "I can't even believe I would do this? How have I gotten here? What were the steps I took to get me to this point?" Raise your hand if you've ever been there. Just overwhelmed by the weight of your own sin.

Sometimes it's unbearable for us. There are times people take their lives because of the weight of their own sin, not being able to deal with that. How precious it is that Jesus has taken that from us, amen? We've been forgiven and cleansed, but that's because of what was about to take place at the cross. Where all of that weight of your sin that you're thinking of right now, all of the weight of my sin that I have committed in the past, sin that I'm wrestling with right now, and sin that I don't even know I'm going to commit later.

And I'm just saying that for illustration. We know that I'm not going to sin later, that's just to help you, I'm trying to relate. Of course, we'll all have sin in our future if the Lord tarries. We're sinful people, we struggle, we wrestle. And all of that placed on him who knew no sin. He had never experienced sin in the entirety of his life. And now all of my sin all at once laid upon him, and not only that, all of your sin laid upon him as well. And the sin of every man and every woman who ever lived and ever will live. All laid on him at that moment and the judgment of the Father coming upon him and our sin in that moment. We have no idea. We can't fathom it. We're not capable.

So here comes Mrs. Zebedee. "When you come into your kingdom, can my sons sit on the right side, on the left side?" He just kind of completely ignores her and turns to James and John. "Hey Jimmy, Johnny. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I'm going to be baptized?" "Oh yeah, we're able." And he said to them, verse 23, "You will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with." You ready to suffer, boys? You will suffer.

And they would, and Jesus knew this. They obviously wouldn't suffer in the same sense that he will, they will suffer in the physical dimension and identify with the fellowship of his sufferings, which to some degree all of us will in this life. We identify with Christ in his suffering in the physical dimension, maybe somewhat in the emotional dimension, not in the spiritual dimension. James, mister we are able, he's going to be beheaded for his faith in Jesus Christ. John, they won't be successful in killing him. Tradition tells us that they tried to martyr John.

They put him in a cauldron of boiling oil, but it did nothing to him. I could have told him it wouldn't, he's a friar. So sorry. No, I'm really not. They tried to boil him in oil, but that didn't work, so they banished him to the Isle of Patmos. And of course, it was there that he received the Revelation. But that was not an easy life on that island. Finding food, finding water, finding sustenance, trying to get out of the heat of the day. They would suffer. "But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my Father."

Think about this for a moment. When Jesus was crucified, John was there at the foot of the cross. This same John. Jesus came into his kingdom at the cross where he purchased salvation for every single one of us. That's when he came into his kingdom. We come into the kingdom by faith in Jesus Christ and what he did at Calvary, yes? Jesus came into his kingdom on that cross and who was on his right hand and who was on his left? Two thieves, yes? Did John look up at Jesus and look over at those two thieves, one on his right, one on his left, and shake his head and say, "We had no idea what we were asking"?

"It should have been us up there, could have been us up there. We had no idea what we were asking." Well, verse 24, when the ten heard it, I love that, they're no longer the twelve, they've already gotten rid of James and John. When the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers. You know why? Because they didn't think of it first. That's these guys. They were always arguing over who was the greatest. Now they're mad at James and John only because they didn't think of going and asking to be on his right hand and on his left.

But Jesus, verse 25, called them to himself. He calls them all over for a staff meeting and he said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and those who are great exercise authority over them. You know this is how the world system works, jockeying for position, trying to be close to power. We want to be on the right hand and we want to be on the left." He says, "That's what the Gentiles' leadership does."

"Yet it shall not be so among you. Whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant." It's the same word that elsewhere in the scripture is translated minister. "I want to be in ministry." Oh, do you really? It means being a servant. "And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave." Can I ask you something? How long is the line for those positions? Do you think the line for the position of head servant looks like the line at the DMV? Do you think people are pulling numbers in order to be a slave?

"I want to be a slave, I gotta take a number and stand in line. What number do I have? 546. What number are they on? 340. It's going to be a long time for me to be a slave. Guess I'll just sit here and wait." No. When was the last time you walked into a Christian bookstore and on the best-seller list saw a book entitled, *Become a Better Slave*? *Power Servanthood*? No, these are not things that we're attracted to and drawn to by our flesh, but it's what Jesus says the Kingdom is about. God's kingdom is about serving each other.

We know that theologically, don't we? Two of you do, that's great. We know the Kingdom of God is about serving one another, yes? It's like, well, if I say it out loud then I'm accountable for it. Yeah, and if you don't say it out loud, God still knows you know it. It's about serving each other. Even the Apostle Paul, can we agree that the Apostle Paul was probably the greatest minister in the body of Christ in human history? At least one of. I mean, he wasn't even a b-postle, he's an a-postle. He was top tier, he was the guy. He wrote a big portion of this New Testament.

And yet Paul writes to a church, a very messed up church, the church in Corinth was a disaster. Read First Corinthians, they were doing everything wrong. They were still God's children. And Paul writes to them because he wants them to do better. Doesn't mean they had to change their last name, they're still servants of Jesus, they're just wrestling with a lot of stuff. But here's what Paul says to them: "Not that we have dominion over your faith." He says, "We're not writing this to control you." That's not what we do in ministry to each other. And every one of us are ministers.

"I'm called to ministry." Yeah, everybody wants the microphone. But we have ministry where God has planted us. Every one of us has a sphere of influence. It may be in your home. Parents, you have a ministry. They're called children. Yard apes. Whatever you call them, rug rats. But that's your ministry. At least one aspect of your ministry. Are you a husband? You have a ministry. Are you a wife? You have a ministry. Are you a kid? You have ministry to your parents, young people. We all have a ministry. Do you have a job? Well, there's a sphere of influence for you to serve as a minister. Every one of us are called to this.

And Paul says we don't do it having dominion over your faith, we're not trying to control you, but we are fellow workers for your joy. That's one of my favorite verses on ministry. We're fellow workers for your joy. That's what we're about. We want to see God's people walking in joy. Are you walking in joy? Okay. Some of you are, and it's very evident. Some of you are, but you need to tell your face. But we need to understand that the Lord wants us to have a life in him that is filled with joy. And when we're ministering to other people, that should be our goal.

And that doesn't mean that we can never be involved in some measure of correction, we've talked about that, we do so with an attitude of gentleness, considering ourselves because of our own proclivity to sin. But understand that our goal is to see God's people walking in joy. Should always be our goal. Just as, verse 28, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. Jesus came to serve. Why would we think we'd be greater than our master? If he came to serve and to give his life for us, well, maybe we need to serve and give our life in service to others.

Not talking about give our life physically and die for them, although maybe. Whatever that means. Whatever God determines it means. We need to serve others. The church is the bride of Christ. It's not ours. Church doesn't belong to any of us. It's Jesus' church. In a little bit when we take communion, don't get excited, I'm not done. But in a little bit when we take communion, I pray that we'll reflect on the attitude of Jesus. When we take the bread and think about his broken body, when we take the cup and we think about the blood he poured out for us, hopefully we can reflect on how are we doing leading like Jesus? How are we doing serving people the way that Jesus served people?

Well, verse 29, as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David." There's another messianic term. Son of Man, Son of David, they all refer to acknowledgment of Jesus as the Messiah. So these blind guys are sitting here. This account tells us that Jesus is being followed by a large number of people, he's coming out of the city of Jericho.

Another gospel writer records this event and says they were going into the city of Jericho. And at this point the critic says, "Aha, that's a good reason not to believe in God." Crazy. Is it a discrepancy in the scripture? No, it's not actually. Jericho, the original old city of Jericho in Joshua chapter 6 had a curse pronounced upon it in the rebuilding of the city. The one that would try to rebuild the city had that curse placed upon them. So there was the old city.

So rather than rebuild the old city, they built a new city called it Jericho that was geographically close by but was distinct and separate from the old city. The new city, the modern city, was a Roman city. In fact, Pontius Pilate, the prefect of Judea, had a palace there in the new city of Jericho. So from one writer's perspective, they have Jesus coming out of Jericho because he would come out of the old city, come down the path, go through the new city, and out the other side. So he's in between the old city and the new city, he's coming out of one and going into the other. Real simple if the critic of the scripture would just actually do a little bit of digging.

But we'd rather not believe in Jesus. That's the bottom line. So he's coming out of the old city of Jericho, probably heading towards and into the new city, and there are two blind beggars that are there. Because when you were blind in that day, they didn't have ADA requirements. So if you were blind, you were consigned to begging for the rest of your life. And you'd sit by the side of the road or you'd sit in the gate of the temple and you would ask for alms.

Mark and Luke tell us that one of these men was more prominent than the other and was kind of the spokesman for the group, his name was Bartimaeus. And so you've got these two blind men and they start crying out. They weren't just saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David." They're screaming it. "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" Trying to be heard over the sound of the multitude. So what happens? Verse 31. The multitude warned them that they should be quiet. You can always count on the multitude for compassion. "Shut up, you blind beggar. Be quiet, knock it off, don't bother the master."

Remember in our last study, the parents trying to bring their kids to Jesus and how the disciples were trying to push them away? Don't bother him, he's way too busy than to deal with your kids. Don't bother him, you blind beggars. He's got way too many important things to do than to worry about you. You're the outcasts of society, you're the dregs of social life. You don't even begin to enter into the social strata of our culture. Just pipe down. And I love their response, it's basically, "Oh okay, thanks. Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" They just scream all the more. I can't wait to meet these guys in heaven.

They cried out all the more saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" These guys may have been blind, but they saw more than the multitude. They understood this is the Messiah and we're going to get our need to the Messiah. No one is going to stop us from getting to Jesus because there will always be a crowd that wants to keep you from coming to Jesus. There will always be a crowd that wants to keep you from walking with Jesus. And they're like, "No way. Thanks for the advice, we're yelling louder. We're going to get his attention."

And so Jesus stood still, verse 32, and called them and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" They said to him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes and immediately their eyes received sight and they followed him. I love this because while I don't know if they were born blind, they could have become blind later in life. That was common in the Middle East in that day because of the dust and dirt and sand that was always being kicked up into people's eyes, and different diseases they didn't have treatments for and all of that.

Blindness was not uncommon and late-onset blindness was not uncommon. So I don't know if they had ever had vision before, but I'll tell you this, however long they had been blind, when Jesus touches their eyes, the first thing that they see is the face of Jesus. Many, many years ago, actually when I met my wife, she was attending a fellowship and there was a blind lady there, she'd been blind all of her life. And her love for Jesus was amazing. I used to love talking with her.

And I asked her, I said, "Do you ever wonder because you try to imagine how do they envision certain things? How do you envision a sunset if you're blind? How do you envision an elephant when you're blind?" And I said, "Do you ever wish things had been different?" She said, "Oh, I don't know. Here's what I know. My eyes have never seen anything, but one day the first thing these eyes are going to see is the face of my Savior." And that so impacted my heart as a young man to have that kind of attitude of faith and trust in the Lord.

These guys come to Jesus, he touches their eyes having compassion on them. The ones that no one else wanted anything to do with. In fact, no one else wanted Jesus to have anything to do with them. "Well, we want him to hear us, we want him to listen to us, we want him to meet our need, you guys shut up and sit down." Jesus always looks for the one with the greatest need. And I love that when we deal with Jesus and people who are blind, I love the accounts in the gospels. They fascinate me because Jesus never deals with a blind person the same way twice, does he?

Never does. Here he touches their eyes and they're healed. In another place he speaks the word and they're healed. In another instance, he spits on the ground, makes mud with the spit and the dirt, puts it on their eyes, sends them down to the pool of Siloam to wash, and when they do, they can see. In another instance, they bring him a blind guy, now put yourself in this guy's sandals. Close your eyes for just a moment. Some of you won't, that's fine. I'll close my eyes for you.

Close your eyes for a moment, imagine you're blind, you can't see. Jesus is coming by, you think he'll heal me? Yeah, let me get you to Jesus. And your friend brings you to Jesus, you can't see anything, Jesus says, "What do you want?" "I want to be able to see." And the next thing you hear is (spitting sound). I gotta swallow that. Just giving you some more time so you don't have to worry about lunch. And then all of a sudden you hear a spit and liquid hits your eyes. "Did he just spit on my eyes?" That's exactly what the scripture says happened.

But if you were blind all your life, would it be okay for someone to spit on your eye in order for you to be able to see? See, there's no pattern, there's no formula. Jesus doesn't always work the same way twice. The Kingdom of God doesn't always look or act like we expect. So here's how I'll close. Whatever your need is today, you bring it to Jesus. Bring it to Jesus. He will meet you at the place of your greatest need. But don't expect that he has to work it out the way that you demand.

Two things are true in this life: there is a God and we're not him. He gets to decide, but he will meet you there, he will have compassion on you and you can receive the touch of Jesus Christ this morning, whatever that need is. So Father, thank you for your incredible love for us. Thank you for this teaching that you have given to us in your word and the way that you reiterate it by illustration, the way that you demonstrate it in the folly of your disciples, and then the way that we see it enacted in your life when you reach out to the least in society, these blind beggars.

The first will be last and the last will be first. Because Father, so often we just feel like we are just at the bottom looking up. But Lord, that's where you want to meet us. The messes are where you do your greatest work. And so Lord, may we bring our messes to you this morning. And may we lay them at your feet and only take up that burden that you desire us to bear because your load is easy, your burden is light. And in you we will find rest for our souls.

So Lord, may we just draw near to you this morning. As we come to the communion table, may we be encouraged and blessed that you, the creator of the universe, would offer yourself up for us. Your body broken, your blood poured out for us. Meet us here. And Lord, I pray that if there are any within the sound of my voice in this room, watching online, those that will hear this later on the radio, Lord, if there's any who right now is touched by your Spirit and are being brought to a place of recognition of their need, Lord, may this be the moment that they simply relinquish control of their life to you. The one who died in order to bring us salvation and forgiveness of sin.

Lord, that right where they're sitting, they can just simply say, "Father have mercy on me, I'm a sinner, I need forgiveness, and I believe the only way for me to have that forgiveness is trusting in Jesus, that what he did at the cross, he did for me. And I believe. And I believe that by his resurrection, I also have life and that I will one day be resurrected into glory in your presence." Father, for those that would pray that prayer, seal them by your Spirit right now. Let them know that they know that they know that they have gone from death into life and that they are your child.

And then Father, may we take of this communion together, enjoying your goodness. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Would you stand with me, please? I'm going to ask the worship team to lead us in a couple of closing songs as we take communion together. We'll invite you up to the table, you can take the elements back to your seat. And when you're ready, take that bread and remember that Jesus loves you enough that his body was broken for you. Take the cup and remember he loves you so much he poured out his blood for you.

If you're visiting with us, you also, if you love Jesus Christ and you want to commune with him and with God's people, you are welcome at this table too. It's not just for people who are here regularly. It's for all those who name the name of Jesus. If you want to go get your kids out of Kids' Cove and bring them back and let them take communion with you if they're old enough to understand that, please do so. I think families need to take communion together, amen? So feel free to do that. Enjoy these next few moments in fellowship with him. So Aaron, would you lead us please, and you come.