Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” 34 But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar

35 As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

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Hello everyone, I am Kiki. The Chinese name of the second phase of our program is “读经大讲堂.” The English name is “Bible Study.”

We will adopt a relaxed and enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new learning world. Each time I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and discussion of questions with everybody.

I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring you all a new learning experience. The following is my interview with Sister on related issues. Today is the 53rd lecture on the Gospel of Luke.

Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion!

2. My Summary of Luke, 53rd Study:

Well, everyone! First, as always, here is my personal study summary for today.

This story has two parts.

First, Jesus told his disciples for the third time that he would go to Jerusalem. He said he would be mocked, beaten, killed, and then rise on the third day. But the disciples did not understand at all. They could not accept that their Messiah would suffer.

Second, near Jericho, Jesus met a blind beggar. The man shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” People told him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder. Jesus stopped and asked, “What do you want me to do?” The blind man said, “Lord, let me see.” Jesus healed him and said, “Your faith has saved you.” Right away the man could see. He followed Jesus and praised God. Everyone who saw it also praised God.

The disciples had physical sight but were spiritually blind. The beggar was physically blind but had spiritual sight – he knew who Jesus was. This teaches us that faith is more than seeing miracles. It is trusting Jesus even when we don’t understand his plans. Jesus respects our needs and asks what we want. When we cry out to him with faith, he hears us. And when he helps us, we should thank him and follow him. True sight is not just in the eyes, but in the heart.

Now let Sister Ingrid give us a further summary.

3. Sister’s Comment on My Study Summary:

Hello sister, as you mentioned, we have two totally different stories here, but both talk about blindness.

The disciples walked with Jesus for more than three years, but still they did not understand the purpose of his mission. Still, they were spiritually blind and could not see that the purpose of Jesus’ walk on earth was not to work a lot of miracles, but to die for our sins on the cross. He tried to explain to them what would happen. But they did not dare to ask and preferred to remain blind.

The second person, who was physically blind, was a beggar. He only knew the name Jesus of Nazareth, the name Jesus Christ had on earth, and he cried out loudly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” It was enough for him to know the name of Jesus, and he called him Son of David, which was the title of the Messiah. He recognized who Jesus was, and that is why Jesus called him to come and asked what he should do. The beggar wanted his sight to be recovered.

Some people might think, how strange, to ask a blind man what he would like to have. But Jesus did not act without permission. Getting his sight back meant a big change in the life of the beggar. He would no longer sit by the road and beg for gifts; he would have to be active and do something after his healing.

Therefore, Jesus always asked people whether they wanted this change.

The beggar wanted it, he received his sight, and after this he followed Jesus, and the people praised God.

We must not forget that 10 days later they would cry, “Crucify him!” when Jesus was condemned. So the effect of the miracle was very short.

4. Q&A Part: Based on Luke, 52nd Study Items:

Okay. Based on the above Bible study content, let me now ask Sister some related questions. We hope the following questions can be helpful to our brothers and sisters.

1. What did Jesus tell his disciples would happen to him in Jerusalem? He told them that he would be condemned and crucified.

2. What bad things did Jesus say people would do to him? They would reject him and cry, “Crucify him!”

3. What did Jesus say would happen on the third day after he was killed? He would rise from the dead.

4. Did the disciples understand what Jesus said? Why not? They understood nothing at all.

5. Who did Jesus meet near Jericho? It was a blind beggar sitting by the roadside.

6. What did the blind man shout when he heard Jesus was passing by? “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

7. Why did the people in front tell the blind man to be quiet? The Bible does not say much about this; maybe they did not want to be stopped on their way. It could be that they did not want to lose time with a worthless beggar. We have to remember that most of them wanted to crown Jesus as king in Jerusalem; they were not thinking about the crucifixion.

8. What question did Jesus ask the blind man? “What do you want me to do?”

9. What did the blind man ask Jesus to do for him? He wanted him to restore his sight.

10. What happened right after Jesus healed the blind man, and how did the people react? The blind man followed Jesus, and the people glorified God.