GOD IN THE MIRROR?

Psalm 50:16-21

But to the wicked, God says:
What right have you to recite my laws
or take my covenant on your lips?
You hate my instruction
and cast my words behind you.
When you see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.
You use your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit.
You speak continually against your brother
and slander your own mother’s son.
These things you have done and I kept silent;
you thought I was altogether like you.
But I will rebuke you
and accuse you to your face.

The psalmist (Asaph) points to the sins of those who claim to be followers of God’s way but live their lives in sin. They are hypocrites. They recite God’s laws and speak of his covenant with them. Yet they have no interest in God’s words. They want to go their own way. They steal, commit adultery, lie, and slander. These hypocrites do all these things thinking they will not be judged yet God says he will rebuke and accuse them. Why do they think they can get away with ignoring God’s word and living any way they want to live? What is behind such foolish behavior? Asaph hits the proverbial nail on the head in verse twenty one: You thought I was altogether like you.

If you think about it, that is the kind of thinking behind all kinds of sin. People don’t think they were made in the image of God. Instead, they make God in their own image. They think, “God is just like me! Surely he won’t judge me for doing what I like to do? God wants me to be happy! He wants me to enjoy my life!”

People are always attaching their own values and standards to God. “What kind of God would allow little children to starve to death in Darfur?” Inherent in that statement is this: “If I were God I would do a much better job than he is doing.” The very same person might say, “God wouldn’t want me to have this baby. I’m just too busy right now to have a baby and it wouldn’t be fair to the baby or to me!” God’s word and his commands have no place in such thinking. God will just have to understand!

God is not like us! God is completely other from us! The biggest mistake we could ever make is to think God is altogether like us. When we begin thinking that God thinks like we think or feels like we feel or shares our values and standards then we will be giving ourselves a green light to do whatever it is that we want to do. And then we will expect God to understand and give us a break, because that’s what we would do. We will expect God to grade on a curve. We will expect him to open heaven to us because we know a lot of people who are much worse than we are. That won’t happen. God says it himself through Asaph, I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face. There will be a lot of surprised people when they discover God is not altogether like them!

FOLLOW THAT CLOUD!

Numbers 9:17-23

Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD’s order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the LORD’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the LORD’s command they encamped, and at the LORD’s command they set out. They obeyed the LORD’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.

Here is an illustration of living by faith. God led the Israelites. They camped or moved according to the Lord’s direction. Notice that the text has “whenevers” and “wherevers.” The Israelites did not have control over their time or their place. God controlled all that. There is no mention of convenience for the Israelites. Sometimes they stayed in one place only one night. It was no small thing to set up the tabernacle and their tents. They never knew if they were going to be somewhere overnight or for a year! They had to set up the tabernacle every single time they stopped. Some places may have appeared very comfortable and perhaps the people would have liked to stay there for awhile but the cloud lifted first thing in the morning. Some places may have been very unpleasant. Men would rise early in the morning hoping to see the cloud lift but it didn’t. Sometimes the people may have grown very bored with their location but the cloud didn’t move. Some of the women must have really struggled with the fact that they didn’t have a place of their own to create a home. Sometimes the cloud lifted in the middle of the night and the people had to awaken the children, take down their tents, pack up their things, and move out. That would be inconvenient!

Am I willing to follow God’s direction for my life in this way? What about when things become very inconvenient? What if God wants me to be in a place I don’t really like? What if he moves me from a place I really like? What if I have to do a job I really don’t want to do? What if I lose the job I really love? What if my kids move far away from me? What if my health fails? What if my job doesn’t provide a secure retirement? What if the people I work with are extremely difficult? Am I willing to follow the Lord’s clear direction for my life no matter what?

Second question: Do I even spend enough time with the Lord to know when the cloud is moving or settling? How can I say I’m following the Lord if I don’t know where he’s leading me? How can I know if he’s leading me if I don’t spend time listening to his voice?

Do we even know what it means to really live by faith anymore?

GIVE US THIS DAY...

Mark 12:41-44

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."

I’m amazed at how the economic recession through which we are living is affecting the way I read my Bible. Passages that I have read hundreds of times have a fresh hue and tint to them. I see them with different eyes. People around me are losing their jobs. Their businesses are losing customers as people are being more careful with their money. Homes are being taken back by banks and mortgage companies and people are on the streets for the first time in their lives. Churches are frantically looking around trying to figure out what they can do to help. They don’t know how to help because it has been so long since they’ve had to deal with homelessness and unemployment among their own people! That doesn’t even address the sense of responsibility they have for the people in their communities!

Money is tight! Many of us sit down at bill-paying-time and have to decide which bills are going to be set aside for the time being because we can’t afford to pay them. How are we supposed to get through this difficult time? What are we supposed to do? That’s why this passage struck me so hard this evening.

Jesus intentionally went directly to the temple treasury. He wanted to watch the people giving their offerings. I can see him sitting there in the shade, unobtrusively observing as people came and deposited their offerings in the barrel-sized receptacles. He watched as many rich people came. They threw their offerings in. The word Mark chose indicates a very flashy and showy manner of giving. And the throwing would make a scene and a very large noise drawing attention to the giver. As these many rich people came and went Jesus sat quietly in his place. What was he watching for?

That’s when it happened. Nobody else seems to have noticed. It was just a poor widow. She dropped her offering in the can. Jesus saw what she put in. Two tiny copper coins that added up to only a fraction of a penny. I can see Jesus jumping up in joy with a look of complete jubilation on his face! “Did you guys see that? Did you see it?” The disciples looked at one another and then at Jesus and then back at each other wondering what in the world Jesus was talking about. Jesus was absolutely delighted. “You missed her offering? That widow woman who’s just leaving? You should have seen it! Oh! I can’t believe you missed it! It was huge! I’ve rarely seen such a significant gift!” The disciples, really confused, asked Jesus what she had done. They hadn’t heard anything at all! And Jesus said, This poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on!

Did you ever notice that she gave more than all of the others? Not more than any of the others; more than all the others combined! That is the significance of her gift in the eyes of Jesus!

What do we take away from this? Not a lesson on giving this time; although there is a great lesson to be learned. Rather, a lesson on faith. The poor widow gave all she had to live on. From where would her food come tomorrow? How would she pay her bills? What in the world was she going to do now that she had no money left at all? The answer is implied. She was going to live by faith. She was going to trust God to provide for her. She was confident that God would not let her starve and she put her faith into action. If only we could learn to live by faith in that way!

THE GREAT COMMANDMENT

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)

This passage is commonly called The Great Commandment. Love God with all your being and love your neighbor. Because of the way Americans look at love, this commandment raises a bit of a difficulty. These are actual statements I have heard from people over the course of my ministry: “I don’t know if I love God. Sometimes I feel a lot of gratitude for what he’s done for me but other times I don’t feel anything.” “I find it hard to love God because I see God as a male and it’s just too hard for me to be in love with a male” (obviously from a man!). Then there is the Mary Magdalene syndrome from Jesus Christ Superstar (“I don’t know how to love him”). I’ve met women who seem to be completely, romantically in love with Jesus, “I just love him so much! He meets all my needs! I get a warm feeling all over when I think about him.”

Then what about the second part of the commandment? The part about loving one’s neighbor? “I don’t even know my neighbor, how am I supposed to love him?” “I show my love for my neighbor by not calling the cops every night about his music being so loud!” “I tolerate him. That’s how I love my neighbor!” “I live out in the country. I don’t have any neighbors.” “But you have no idea what my neighbor has done to us! He always drives over our piece of lawn next to his driveway!” (Yes, I’ve heard ALL of these!)

First, we need to remember that love is not a feeling. Love is an action. Love is demonstrated in our behavior, not in our feelings. That’s why Jesus can say something like, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” The apostle John says that love is abiding in God and living righteously. Jesus showed us that he loved us by laying down his life for us. He didn’t just say, “Oh, I love you all so much!” He demonstrated it by his actions. Do I love God? The way I live my life and keep God’s commandments gives me the answer to this. Am I committed to putting God’s will before my own? Am I dedicated to keeping his commands no matter how inconvenient or difficult it seems to be?

What about our neighbors? Many people don’t seem to have understood the parable of the Good Samaritan. Who is my neighbor? Anyone whom God puts in my path whether he lives near me or not. And again, it has nothing to do with feelings. Love for my neighbor is demonstrated when I treat them the way Jesus would treat them; or when I put their interests and needs before my own. When I lived in Michigan I tried to show love for my neighbors by shoveling the snow on their sidewalks while they were at work. (I have to find something new now that I live in California!) Love is about actions, not feelings. We need to get that through our heads if we want to keep the Great Commandment.

FOR ALL NATIONS

Mark 11:15-18

Jesus and the Twelve descended the Mount of Olives, crossed the valley, and entered Jerusalem. Jesus went straight to the temple and immediately began to clear out the Court of the Gentiles. He drove out the people who were buying and selling. He pitched over the tables of the moneychangers. He knocked over the benches with the doves on them. And he stopped people from using the court as a shortcut.

Jesus’ act of clearing the temple was an act of teaching. He was teaching God’s perspective on the Gentiles. His actions demonstrated what God said through Isaiah, “And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:6, 7). Jesus also quotes Jeremiah, “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 7:11). Jesus was prophetically clearing the way into his kingdom for the Gentiles!

We need to recognize the significance of Jesus’ actions on this day. He was revealing that he was the Promised One, the one who came to defend the holiness of God and call men to repentance. He showed that he was the one who would fight for the cause of the Gentiles and remove the barriers that had been raised to keep them from coming to God. He came to unmask the hypocrisy of the religious leaders; to reveal that their false religion was fruitless. Jesus came to warn the people of Jerusalem. They were in a precarious situation and if they did not hear his invitation and call to repentance they would be destroyed. He amazed the people with his teaching (v.18) because he was willing to point the finger at Caiaphas. No one else would stand up to Caiaphas, but Jesus did. Is it any wonder that the religious leaders redoubled their efforts to find a way to put this zealous reformer to death?

Jesus told us to make disciples of “all nations.” The church is one body made up of “all nations.” When we gather for worship our gathering place needs to be a place for “all nations.” Are we intentionally trying to find ways to reach out to all the nations that are represented around us? Does our worship or our fellowship make it difficult for “all nations” to participate with us? What do you think?

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

It was early Sunday morning after the crucifixion of Jesus and some of the women who had been his followers were on their way to the tomb where he had been laid late on Friday afternoon. As they walked together they worried, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” This was a problem. The stone was very large and it had been moved into its place sealing the tomb. They wanted to finish treating Jesus’ body because it had been done hurriedly on Friday. But the stone presented a barrier to their plan. For them, it was an immovable barrier. The stone blocked their way to Jesus. He had been their hope and they had devoted their lives to him. But now he was dead. Their hope of eternal life had been crushed when Jesus died on the Roman cross. The stone locked him into the tomb and it locked them out. It buried their hopes. The stone seemed to say, “The dead are dead and there is no escape from death!” Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead but now it was Jesus who was dead. Who was around to raise him? The stone presented them with a temporal problem because it prevented them from getting to Jesus. It was sealed by the authorities and it was guarded by Roman soldiers. But it also presented them with a spiritual problem. What now? What is their hope of heaven?

This is the same question that is addressed by all religions. What now? What about life after death? What about paradise? How can people have hope for life on the other side of the stone? Every religion tries to answer that question. Every religion tries to find a way around the stone that blocks the way to eternal life. Every religion asks the question, “Who will remove the stone that is blocking our way?”

When the women arrived at the tomb they were amazed! They found the stone already rolled away and there was an angel sitting on it! The removed stone is a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. It speaks volumes about the uniqueness of Christianity. That stone which shut Jesus in and kept us out renews all our hopes and shows us the way to life eternal.

In much the same way the fact that the stone was rolled away from the tomb testifies to the fact that death no longer has any hold on us. Christ has broken down the wall that held us captive in sin and blocked us from eternal life. The stone is rolled away! The tomb is not the final resting place but an open door to enter into Christ’s presence! Jesus entered the tomb as a hostage of death. He had taken upon himself the sins of men at the cross and he was bound to pay sin’s price. His work was accomplished on the cross. He had cried out, “It is finished.” He lay in the tomb throughout the Sabbath but on the first day of the week he was raised and the stone was rolled away. It reminds us that the grave cannot hold those who are in Christ through faith. There is nothing that can hinder the child of God from rising to eternal life with Jesus. Our sin has been paid for. The stone has been rolled away. No authority, no government, nothing can bind us to the darkness of death and the grave. Let the stone remind us that we have a free path to eternal life!

THIS IS WHO HE IS!

Who is this man? When we look at Jesus riding into Jerusalem we know who he was. He was completely other from every other person there that day. He was the Son of God. He was the one who set aside the glories of heaven to become a man. He was the Son of God whom the angels worshiped and adored. He was the infant at whom the angels gazed from heaven in wonder to observe in the stable in Bethlehem. He was the Word made flesh who came to dwell among us. He had been with God the Father throughout eternity. He created all that is. That man sitting on that donkey was no mere man. He was the God-man. He was fully God and fully man. He came to earth at the will of his Father to fulfill the prophecies. He came bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth. Who is this? This is Jesus, the Son of God!

Who is this? The people who saw Jesus ride into Jerusalem that day did not know what he had come to do. They hoped he had come to establish his kingdom and rid them of Rome. But he had come to do far more than rid them of Rome! He had come to rid them of their sin! As Jesus rode into Jerusalem he came as the Savior of the world! Thousands of people hailed him! As they watched him come into the city they had no idea that Jesus was involved in a cosmic, spiritual transaction! They had no hint that he had come to Jerusalem to die for the sins of the world. In less than a week all of these adoring people would forget this day. They would cry out for his crucifixion. And to the cross Jesus would go. He was about to do something unimaginable! He would take the sins of men upon his shoulders and claim them as his own. Bearing the sins of his followers, he would give them his own righteousness. Jesus would suffer the excruciating punishment for sin that was not his. These were the terms of the spiritual transaction to which he had agreed. This was the very reason for which Jesus had come to earth! Who is this? He is Jesus, the Savior of the world!

The people who saw Jesus ride into Jerusalem in triumph that day did not really know who he was. He only looked like a humble, rural rabbi. This was the appearance Jesus took on when he humbled himself and took on the form of a servant. This was the last time they would see Jesus coming to them in humility and offering peace. The next time he enters Jerusalem will be very different! John writes about it in Revelation 19:11-16, “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter.’ He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

This is how Jesus will appear when he returns! He will come as one who is king over all kings and as lord of all lords. He will not come offering peace and life but judgment and death. He will not be alone; he will be accompanied by the armies of heaven. He will conquer and enter his city as the victorious King!

Who is this? This is the Lord! It is hard for Americans to grasp the significance of lordship because we are and always have been freemen. We hardly understand that most of the world is not like us. Our British founders were not like us. Although they may not have been slaves, they owed their livelihoods and allegiance to lords and kings who owned their lands and the right to their military services. These lords had the right to a percentage of their produce. Whatever the lord asked for he received. People did not have rights. They did not have the option to refuse their lords. We have no lords over us. We are unaccustomed to being told what to do. It is not easy for us to understand that we don’t have rights and are not free to do whatever we want to do.

Jesus is our Lord. What does that mean for us? It means that we live not to serve ourselves but to serve him. Our lives are not our own. Our time is not our own. Our energies are to be spent for him and not on our own pleasure. We owe him our lives, our resources, and our all. It means that his commands are not suggestions. Jesus is Lord! That means that we ask him what he would like us to do. It means we will wait as long as is necessary to hear his answer. It means we will leap to do his will. This may be difficult for us to understand. It may be something we have to learn. But it is not optional! When we think of Jesus riding in humility into the city of Jerusalem we must see him as the lord who has conquered our hearts! Who is this? This Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords!

WHO IS THIS?

What did the Romans think of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem? The Roman officers and soldiers would have been out and around the city making their presence known. Thousands upon thousands of pilgrims had come and were overcrowding Jerusalem. There was always an anti-Rome whiff in the air when the crowds arrived for feasts. Although the gospels don’t say anything about a Roman impression of Jesus’ arrival, they surely witnessed it. There may have been some of the officers or soldiers who had been in Rome and seen the triumphant return of victorious generals or emperors. They would have seen the glorious parades of legionnaires marching into the city with their armor and uniforms and weapons. They would have seen the royal carpet laid out through the entire city and the commanding general riding upon a great warhorse or in a golden chariot. All the nobility of Rome would have turned out to welcome the conquering hero.

But who is this? It might have appeared somewhat comical to the Romans to see a man riding on a donkey with mobs of children and common people escorting him. Their branches and clothing provided a very poor replica of the royal carpet. The man on the donkey must be someone of some importance to the Jews but he obviously wouldn’t make much of an impact on the world. Even if some of them had heard of Jesus and knew he was the one on the donkey, they just knew he was someone who was causing a stir among the Jews. They had no idea who Jesus was!

What about the political leaders of the Jews? Who did the chief priests and the teachers of the law think Jesus was on this day of his triumphant entry? These men were Sadducees. They had developed a kind of working relationship with Rome. They had their power over the people. They had rather comfortable lives. The Jewish people looked up to them and respected them. They had been trying to find a way arrest Jesus for quite awhile. He was upsetting the balance of life in Jerusalem and putting their livelihoods at risk. They did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. They didn’t even believe he was a prophet. They thought he was a deceiver, a false Messiah. After his entry into Jerusalem Jesus made his way to the temple where he healed the blind and lame. Children were still shouting praises at him. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were indignant but Jesus only said, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise” (Matthew 21:15, 16). The political leaders of the Jews wanted to kill Jesus.

But what about their religious leaders? What about the Pharisees? Who did they think Jesus was? We know that at least one of the Pharisees, Nicodemus, had come to believe in Jesus. Apparently, Nicodemus was in the vast minority. The Pharisees were always trying to entrap Jesus with their obscure theological questions. They were trying to find a way to prove he wasn’t the Messiah. He simply did not fit their interpretation of the Messiah. Ultimately, they even joined forces with their opponents, the Sadducees, to try to stop Jesus by calling a meeting of the Sanhedrin. They had received eye-witness reports of Jesus’ raising Lazarus and things had reached a critical point. They decided Jesus had to die and began plotting to kill him (John 11:45-53).

Who did the crowds think Jesus was? They had heard Jesus teach and they had witnessed his miracles, even the raising of Lazarus. On that triumphant day they shouted all kinds of things that would make us think they had finally figured out Jesus was the Messiah. “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Blessed is the king of Israel!” In spite of all this, it becomes clear that they had a mistaken impression of who Jesus was. They had it partly right. He was the Son of David. He had come in the name of the Lord. He was the king of Israel. But they clearly expected him to come and set up his kingdom in Jerusalem right then! They had no concept of a suffering savior. They had no clue about the spiritual nature of the kingdom. And when they answered the question, “Who is this?” they said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee” (Matthew 21:11).

Then surely Jesus’ own disciples understood who he was! Surely they recognized the true significance of this triumphant passage into Jerusalem! But they had questions about Jesus too! There was that night on the Sea of Galilee when the terrible storm came up. Just when they feared they were going to drown Jesus rose from sleeping in the stern and calmed the wind and the waves. Then the terrified disciples asked, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41) Didn’t they recognize the fulfillment of prophecy that day? “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). But John tells us that even his disciples did not understand that these things were written about Jesus until after the resurrection! The questions they ask later show that they too were expecting Jesus to establish an earthly kingdom!

HAVE MERCY ON ME!

Mark 10:46-52

Bartimaeus had apparently heard many stories about Jesus. He lived in Jericho which was a major crossroads for caravans and pilgrims. As a blind beggar he worked the gates of the city where he would be sure to encounter the largest number of people possible. Over the last few years, as the pilgrims and travelers passed Bartimaeus and gave him some money, some of them must have told him stories of the young rabbi in the north who was healing people of all kinds of diseases and disabilities, including blindness. Galilee was too far for Bartimaeus to go but he probably harbored all kinds of hope that one day Jesus himself might pass by his gate.

Day after day Bartimaeus sat and begged money. Day after day he thought about Jesus, the healing rabbi. Day after day he considered the possibility that Jesus might be the Promised One, the Son of David. Day after day he determined that if Jesus ever passed through Jericho he would do whatever it took to meet him. Then the day came. As the Passover pilgrims moved through Jerusalem word spread that Jesus was among them. When they came near he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Louder and louder he shouted. The people around tried to hush him but Bartimaeus wouldn’t be hushed.

If only people today had the same sense of desperation! We seem so casual about spiritual things. We think about them intellectually, in a kind of detached way. We want to make a well-considered decision. Why? Our condition is critical! No, it’s terminal! Mortal! We should be crying out with all our energy for Jesus to have mercy on us instead of trying to decide which recovery program we should attend or which special interest group we should join.

Jesus heard the cries of Bartimaeus and called for him to come to him. When he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus did not hesitate. “Rabbi, I want to see!” He knew what he needed and he asked Jesus for it. Do we know what we need? Do our preachers make it clear that we need life? Do we understand that we are dead in trespasses and sins and unless we receive life from Jesus we will be lost for eternity? What do we ask for? Help? Insight? Strength to improve ourselves? Shouldn’t we be crying out to Jesus for life?

And here is true discipleship. Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you,” and Bartimaeus could see. What did Bartimaeus do? Did he say, “Thank you so much, Jesus! I appreciate what you have done for me. Have a blessed Passover!” The text says, “he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.” He followed Jesus! He became a follower of Jesus! With his newly received sight he followed the Son of David to Jerusalem and observed the events we recall during Holy Week. He became a disciple, a follower of Jesus.