- Jesus stood still Matthew 20:29-43
- I preached on this story a few years ago- This is the nature of preaching a synoptic Gospel- you end up repeating certain stories.
- But as I was praying and reflecting on this scripture- and what the Lord would have for us- I got caught up on one part.
- The story is quite simple- Two blind men want to receive sight- they call out to Jesus, their acquaintances tell them to shut up- They cry out louder- and Jesus stops and heals them
- Tons of sermons in this scripture– 1. Misery loves a friend 2. People who don’t want Jesus always want to shut you down. 3. You got to speak up for your blessing 4. If you don’t praise Jesus for who he is, you’ll never know who he is 5. Jesus can Heal you 6. What will you do with your blessing? 7. Follow Jesus
- Preach after preach in that thing. I prayed and sought the Lord. This is what we’re focusing on today- Jesus Stood Still.
- Now the context of this verse is paramount to its understanding- We just Got done having Jesus respond to the request of a mother of two sons, He talks about the Resurrection, and the Parable of the Vineyard, and he’s on his way to the triumphal entry into Jerusalem (palm Sunday). He’s telling them what is happening, and he’s on his way to the beginning of the end of his earthly ministry- he’s busy- he’s on his way- he’s got a plan- Jesus stood still
- Are you a busy person? When you’re on your way somewhere does it bother you if people want to stop and talk with you when you’re in the middle of something? Mr Stark.
- He stops in the midst of what is of the most cosmically important- and stood still-
- He stops on his way to heal these men- who, cry out- in their blindness the truth of the reality of who Jesus is- “Son of David” and that they believed that Jesus could heal them!
- Often times, many of us are like these blind men on the side of the road, stuck in our blindness, but different in that we don’t cry out to Jesus because we think that he is concerned with more important things– Children to cure from cancer, widows to feed, demons to fight, etc
- But what I want you to know today- Jesus stood still for these guys on his way to the cross, and he will stand still for you and deliver you as well.
- In a world with 8 billion people, he knows you, your situation, and what you’re going through
- Jesus stood still for you, because he is with you.
- We serve a God who is omnipresent- that means he is at all places at all times, that he sees everything and knows everything going on in his kingdom
- Psalm 33:13-14 The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. 14 From the place of His dwelling He looks On all the inhabitants of the earth;
- This means he is at your house, work, car, relationships, recreations, churches, etc
- He is everywhere. All times, He is all knowing and knows everything going on
- And some of you would say “yes pastor, I know this” I don’t think you do, because you would be living differently, praying differently, speaking differently and acting differently.
- Many people think of God as a concept or an idea, not an ever present actor in their lives.
- Genesis 28:15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go
- Joshua 1:5 as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.
- Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
- If you believed that you’d walk in that- you’d pray more and sin less and have less anxiety
- You would live with a constant awareness of the presence of the Lord in your life
- When you are going through something you would remind yourself of God’s presence
- It’s like these phones, alexas, googles, siris, etc. smart speakers and such. These things are wicked and most of us have them in our pockets and homes- They harvest info from our texts and emails and internet searches and track where we go and what we are doing.
- Talking about a vacation or a product and an ad comes up. Its scary
- And we’ve seen what governments can do with data- what are you purchasing, through covid- where are you going, your voting record, BOFA gave up info after Jan 6 to track purchases
- It should scare you! You should take steps to protect your data! They will use it against you!
- You want know what is more intrusive than that?
- Hebrews 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
- Now this omnipresence of God isn’t just a scare tactic it’s a comfort as well!
- Since God is with me?
- Jesus stood still you do not have to be afraid.
- These two guys called out because they were blind- and I’m sure that being blind is scary- they didn’t want to live that way anymore- so they cried out to Jesus to heal them and he DID
- Seemingly I would think, that their fear they had when they were blind was gone- they were no longer afraid of what they couldn’t see anymore, because now they could see- healed
- Can you imagine if Jesus had healed you of something and then you acted like you still were the way you used to be? Do you think these guys put on blindfolds and shut their eyes and walked around ‘just to remember the old times’ and ‘go back to being afraid’ NO- prolly looked at stuff!
- Jesus stood still for YOU- he delivered YOU he set YOU free- You do not have to be afraid
- People are afraid of other people But not just in the sense of physical harm and calamity- it’s the sense that another person is going to hurt your relationships, or keep you from job promotion, or turn someone against you in a relationship- that somehow they can hurt you with their words or actions- embarrass you etc.
- Psalm 56:11 In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Honestly- there’s a freedom in realizing who is on your side and who is in your corner- and it’s Jesus- He’s the omnipresent- stand still be there God- and you don’t have to walk in fear-
- Back when I was in college- Driving through Compton- windows down- didn’t want to fear
- Jeremiah 1:19 They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.”
- Gen 26:24 the Lord said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you.
- And for me, as I’ve been through the relational wringer over the past 40 years I have been abandoned, hurt, gossiped, discouraged, attacked, maligned, smeared, defamed, mis represented, slandered, disparaged, and discouraged. And that was before I was a pastor!
- I have, numerous times, been pulled aside and discouraged by some well meaning person to ‘tone it down’ from the time I was a child and Its continued into adulthood- Maybe I’m the problem- quite possibly. But I’m loud- I’m energetic- I’m confident and people hate it!
- But God uses me- in spite of me- and in those times I want to change who I am to accommodate those people that hate me- The mentors that abandoned me, I’m reminded-
- Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
- I only Got Jesus! That’s all I got- and that’s all I’m staking it on- I’m not going to let someone keep me from Being who God made me to be. He likes loud matt. I popped out this way.
- and neither should you! I’m not exceptional- I just happen to serve an exceptional God- and omnipresent God that Knows WHO you are and WHERE you are an WHAT You’re doing and he’s NEVER going to Leave you! You are not are your own- Alexa in the other room- ‘yes’?’
- Psalm 121:5-8 The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.
- Jeriemiah 20:11 But the Lord is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten.
- So many translations of that verse- Mighty warrior, great warrior, dread warrior, fearsome warrior, mighty terrible one, mighty awesome one, powerful champion, violent warrior, mighty man of war,
- YES! That encourages me! That’s the God who is on your side! The One who will be over you!
- I WILL NOT BE AFRAID
Jesus stood still so you can cry out to him
• THIS IS WHO HE NEEDS TO BE CRYING OUT TO- JESUS IS THE ONE TO HELP HIM
• Blind, no means of support, unable to live a full life- and he’s crying out to the LORD
Maybe you don’t identify with this guy- Maybe you have it all and don’t need it from Jesus
But these guys- saw the Lordship of Jesus- they cry out to him because they know WHO he is!
• Crying out to God produces results! When you have no where else to turn, that’s who you want to cry out to! That’s who you want to have hearing your prayers!
• Israel cried out and God heard Exodus 2:23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
• Judges 3:9 When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them:
• Crying out to God is normal when you’re in need– Jesus did it! Matthew 27:46 on the cross
• What does it mean to you?
• If you have a need- CRY OUT TO GOD- Quit suffering in silence. Quit thinking that God is too busy for your requests or that he doesn’t want to hear what you have to say.
• Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry
• He DOES want to hear from you- he DOES want you to cry out to him
•God is WAITING for you to come to him and to ask him. To ask for his help. To be there for you
- The beauty of this story is that Jesus STOOD STILL and STOPPED for these guys- was able to be interrupted on his way to heal these guys! Because they cried out to him!
- The problem is that many of us (myself included) are not willing to be interrupted. We have a plan- we are on our way- and we do not want to be interrupted. We have stuff to do!
- We don’t have time to talk, or stop, or give our attention- thinking about doing whatever we’re not doing currently- because we have our next thing to get to- NOT GOD- don’t put that on him
- You do God no favors when you do things on your own. That was never the plan-
- Psalm 77:1 I cried out to God with my voice— To God with my voice; And He gave ear to me.
- This can’t be some sort of quiet- maybe God will hear me type of prayer- Cry OUT TO HIM
- Get before him, pray, cry, worship, weep, go to HIM
- Psalm 57:2 I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.\
- Romans 8:311 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
- Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus stood still so he can heal and deliver you
- God is a healer! That’s what he can do and what he will do! He Stopped to HEAL YOU
- And this is for spiritual and physical ailments of the body! I’ve seen cancers healed, hearts healed, joints, skin, eyes, digestion, etc. I’ve seen God heal many people.
- These guys- and the story of these guys is here for a reason in the scriptures-
- I think we see healing more in the scriptures because people didn’t have any other option.
- Picture yourself, blind for years- you hear about a healer- what’s the worst that could happen?
- I’m not against doctors, but they are my last step, not my first step- I want God to heal me
- Exodus 23:25 “So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.
- And that means that you can pray for healing! You can ask God to heal the ills of your body!
- Because here’s the truth- being in pain or misery is pain and misery- God wants us to pray!
- Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, And He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.
- As you’re going through it- You can know that God will See you through it and he will sustain!
- Psalm 103:2-3 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
- Why do some get healed and some don’t? I don’t know- but I do know God’s word- I know that God is a healer because I’ve seen it- We just don’t depend on God enough- we go to the cabinet
- Matthew 8:17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses.”
- This week- pray over yourself- Pray for healing. Pray that God would take away the pain.
- And he can deliver you! From Demons, anxiety, depression, fear, doubt, all of it.
- Believe it! Get people to pray over you and with you! And see what God does!
- James 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
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