Sermon Notes by Pastor Mark Downey
October 29, 2017
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:21-24
From an anonymous quote I found years ago: “I see said the blind man as he opened his Bible.” A closed Bible availeth very little. The sights and sounds that Jesus spoke of in Luke were figures of speech. It was no more literal than Romans 11:25, “that blindness in part is happened to Israel.” The “blindness” was a hardening of the heart of which the good news of the Gospels could not enter a man. Thus, Jesus was speaking to His inner circle who would be receptive after being under the present influence of the Lord's teaching about Himself. Even though their faith was weak and wavering, they got a glimpse of His Divinity. It must have sunk so deep into their hearts, that they made the transition from physical sight to spiritual sight. They were blessed beyond measure. We find a lesson in Mark 8:24 in which a blind man, who was not born that way, was healed by Jesus. “Regaining his sight he said, I see people, but they look like trees walking." Interestingly, there are some who place more significance on the tree as “people”, than the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. If we were to point out a parallel of these trees, which not everyone will see, they represent a prejudice and presumption that prevents them from seeing the intents and purposes of God. The first sin and thus the Fall of man stems from the presumption that there would be no repercussions. Eve thought, 'well, this isn't going to kill me' (Gen. 3:4-5). God knew she would disobey Him and He said, “Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods.” Is that a good thing? Small 'g' gods are never good and you can never mix good with evil. The Fall of man was a curse, a combination of positive and negative, which results in a spiritual short circuit, the loss of immortality. Likewise, the healed blind man saw walking trees as such, because the restoration of sight was not immediate; he was seeing things in a state of confusion; obscured yet with imperfection.