Luke 18:31-43

PRAYER PRACTICE

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

 Luke 18:31-43

DEVOTION / REFLECTION

by Nancy Gleeson

What I like most about this passage is the reminder that God chooses whose eyes will be opened, who will understand, and who is granted faith in Him. I am reassured that those people I love but who are non believers may one day hear Jesus’ calling and invite Him into their heart. For it is not through intellect or explanation that one is able to accept the Word of God. It is an act of God that opens their mind to Him.

The apostles were not meant to understand what Jesus was telling them. It was vital for them to hear these words but it would be for the glory of God that they would, on a later date, understand these words. The resurrection is when these men would be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah and their faith was made stronger. Up until then, the apostles remained blinded by their own expectations and their own agenda. They hoped for a new king to bring them power and good things. Their eyes were not set on a man who would suffer to serve them. They could not discern God’s plan for salvation.

God’s sovereignty and power work at the level of the mind. He allows us to understand things when the time is right and withholds other things when it is not. One must know that God uses suffering to fulfill His purposes. Expecting a life without suffering prevents us from seeing God at work, not only in our lives but in the world around us.  Eyes that see Jesus view the world in a different way. 

Only the suffering blind man in this story has spiritual sight. He recognizes Jesus as the Son of David and uses his voice to shout in order to be heard. For he wants physical healing and receives it based on his faith that is evident to Jesus. It is through faith, and faith alone, that we see Jesus and through God’s grace, we receive our faith.

How good are your spiritual eyes?

Heavenly Father,

You are my Faithful and Loving Father who is sovereign over all the world. I ask that you open my mind to understand your word and to discern your will so that I can apply it in my life. I know that I have been blinded by my own expectations and desires for my life. Rid me of my sense of entitlement and help me to welcome the suffering in my life knowing that you will use it for my good. In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Jesus Predicts His Death

 Cup Prayer – This prayer will help you pour your heart out to God (Ps. 62:8). Begin with your hands folded together like an upside-down cup. Pour out before God all your fears, anxieties, guilt, sin and shame. Tell Him what troubles you. Take time to be specific. When you feel like you’ve poured out your heart, flip your hands over, folding them like an open cup, ready to receive from God. Sit in silence, asking God simply to fill you with His Spirit. If your mind runs back to sin, shame, anxiety or concerns of the day, flip your hands back over and pour it out to the Lord. When you are finished praying, read today’s Scripture and listen as God shares His heart back with you.

Daily Reading - Luke 18:31-43

Devotional -
Jesus Predicts His Death
by Pastor Jeff Morlock

This the third time in Luke that Jesus predicts his suffering, crucifixion, death, and resurrection. But the crowds can’t imagine a crucified king. And neither can those closest to Jesus, including his disciples. In this passage, the people who are physically able to see seem spiritually blind, while the blind beggar sees Jesus’ identity and purpose clearly. Why? Maybe because he’s the only one who perceives Jesus through the lens of Scripture. The beggar calls Jesus, “Son of David”and cries out to him repeatedly for mercy. Apart from the Bible, you simply can’t understand Jesus, which is why daily worship and study matters so much.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus inquires of the beggar. My hunch is that most answers to a blank check like that would be “short sighted”. But not this beggar’s answer. He knows how some people like to make a show of their generosity to street people, but he also knows that Jesus is different. He’s heard of Christ’s miraculous signs, including healing. So instead of asking for food or money that will eventually run out, the beggar asks instead to regain his sight. And when he receives it, he immediately glorifies God and follows the Healer.
 
Luke uses this story to illustrate that the kingdom of God has broken into the world, and that “… everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.” Jesus is almost at Jerusalem, where God’s plan will be completed. There he will bear the consequences of our disobedience. By his death, Jesus will take on himself the blindness and despair of the world. By his resurrection, he will heal all who have been blinded by sin, death, and the devil. “We are all beggars, it’s true,” Martin Luther is said to have uttered on his deathbed. What do you want Jesus to do for you today?

Make the beggar’s prayer your own: ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Do you know what you want and need him to do for you? Ask Jesus to help you see God’s presence in your life and world; to see where it is that he would have you to join him in his work. Praise Jesus for who he is, thank him for what he's done and for his promises to you.