Today we read Matthew 20:17-34. You probably saw the title just now. “What do you want?” All of you here would’ve come because you want something. You probably have something you are seeking from God, right? I want us to think about what it is that we want.

Jesus, whom we believe in, came to the earth through one particular nation. So, in the eyes of man, He appears as one of the people of that nation. Which nation is that? It is Israel. Israel is located in the Palestinian region near the Mediterranean. A person I know asked this question when I first started my faith life: “Why are you following the religion of Israelis when Korea also has its own religion? We have Dangun[1], but why do you follow Jesus?” He thought that Jesus was a man of Israel because He came to Israel. He regarded Jesus as the god that the Israelites believed in.

However, Jesus whom we believe in is the Son of God who created heaven and earth, not just Jesus of the Israelites. God wants to give us something, and giving us that is like planting a seed. For example, there’s an orchard full of apple trees. A farmer, who wants to build an orchard, plants apple trees. He wants to grow young apple trees and cultivate them. He wants to plant and grow trees from a seedling. But he doesn’t take the seed and plant it directly in the orchard. Instead, he first plants it in a small pot. Once it grows into a young seedling of a certain size, he then takes and plants it in the orchard. The place where the seed gets planted at first is just a small pot. The farmer has no choice but to use a small pot at first. However, what the farmer is ultimately after is not the pot itself or to profit the pot. Instead, it is to fill the whole orchard with that tree.

In the same way, when God wanted to give something to mankind, He chose one nation out of all the people on earth. And what He revealed through that one nation, He now wants all nations to possess. Hence, we should seek what He gave. When we come before God, that is what we are trying to obtain—that which God gave us. However, many people seek what God hasn’t even given. Of course, God does give those things too, but they are given to help us for that time being only. There is something else that God wants to give us forever, yet people are indifferent to that and only seek what they want.

The part of the Bible we read is the scene when Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. Matthew 20 is towards the end of the Book of Matthew. For what reason was Jesus going up to Jerusalem? It was for Him to die. He called His twelve disciples aside and said, “I will be put into the hands of the high priests and teachers of the Law and they will be determined to kill me. They will hand me over to Gentiles and finally have me crucified.” He spoke to them about His death.

It was a grim moment. Even if the disciples were in tears, they would not feel comforted. But did the disciples even understand what Jesus said? Did they understand or not? They didn’t. They didn’t understand what He meant when He said He was going to die. Their hearts were only filled with the yearning for the Messiah. Who is the Messiah that they were waiting for? They had something that they were after, and they believed that Jesus was the One they were waiting for.

The people of Israel were all waiting for a king like King David to appear again. Throughout the history of Israel, it was during King David’s reign that Israel was richest and most powerful. The nation was so powerful at that time that their influence extended to nearby regions, including Egypt. And stretching from east to north, Israel became a renowned nation. Even during Solomon’s reign in the next generation, people from Ethiopia in Africa came to see the splendor of Israel after hearing about Israel.

Hence, in the hearts of the Israelites, there was a longing for King David. After his reign, the nation gradually began to decline. After the time of King Solomon, the nation was divided into two—north and south—just like Korea. The ten tribes that moved up north perished first, and eventually, the south in Jerusalem also fell. Since then, they have been invaded by foreign countries, starting with Babylon, which is Iraq today. They were ruled by Babylon for some time. And just when they thought it was going to get better, Greece dominated them and they became a Greek empire. However, during Greek rule, they experienced some relief because the Greek colonial policy allowed freedom and respected their culture. So, they had some relief for a time being, but after that, the Roman Empire arose and took over them. The Romans ruled with a powerful military force so that the Israelites suffered insults and humiliation during that time.

Hence, they were longing and yearning for the return of the times of David’s reign. They wondered, “When will he come? When will a savior like David come? When will the king who will restore our nation come?” It was at that moment that Jesus appeared. Some people insisted that Jesus was the king they were waiting for. At first, they were not sure, but as they observed  the works He was doing which certainly were not common—He fed ten thousand people with five loaves of bread.

After witnessing such incredible things, the people began to think, “If He stays with us, we wouldn’t have to worry about military supplies.” And they heard that Jesus walked on water to reach the boat and even calmed the waves, the sea, and the wind with a command. They thought, “He definitely can liberate our nation from the Romans’ tyranny! If He can go and raise the flag in Jerusalem as our leader, we, full of love and zeal for our nation, will rise up, defeat the Romans, and regain our independence!” They were filled with such anticipation.

As the disciples were following Jesus, they heard Him say, “The kingdom of God! The kingdom of God!” However, they didn’t understand that as the kingdom of heaven which we think of today. Instead, they perceived it as the restoration of David’s kingdom in Jerusalem by defeating the Romans. Hence, they were picturing the kingdom of Israel on earth.

So when Jesus said, “Let us go. I am about to die!” the people who followed Him were not saddened but instead, they were excited. They mistook Jesus’ words as though He was saying, “Ok I am ready to fight unto death!” because He said, “I am going to die!” That is why Peter, who heard Him, said, “Lord, I will go with you even to death. I will also fight unto death!” Jesus said, “I will have to go to die!” But if we read the Book of Luke, we can see how Jesus was in tears as He looked toward Jerusalem. It was a grim moment. Jesus was actually ready to die. But the disciples thought Jesus was reaffirming His resolution with tears before heading into the decisive battle.

Probably the disciples who followed Jesus looked like this. If Jesus was going ahead, they would have followed behind Him in this manner. They probably followed Jesus a pompous air and proud faces. When Jesus said He was going to die in Jerusalem, a woman came to see Him. It was the mother of Zebedee’s sons. Zebedee’s sons were John and James, two of Jesus’ disciples. They were brothers and were also called “sons of thunder” because they had a fiery temper.

Their mother came to Jesus, bowing down. He asked her, “What is it you want?” He asked this very question, “What do you want?” Their mother’s reply was, “Let one of my sons sit on Your right and the other on Your left in Your kingdom, when You restore the kingdom.” To put it simply, she was saying, “When you come into power, let my sons be prime minister and deputy prime minister.”

When Jesus heard this, He said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave!” Then He asked, “Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” And the two disciples with Him confidently answered, “We are able.”

The cup here refers to the suffering that God gave Jesus. The sacrifice He must make on the cross. It is His death. So He was actually asking them, “Are you able to die?” But they didn’t even understand Him and answered, “We are able.” Even Jesus did not want to drink that cup and prayed to God to take the cup from Him, yet the disciples confidently said that they could drink this cup. So, Jesus said, “Whether you drink this cup or not is up to you, but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give. It is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father.” If they were able to take this, it would be great. But if they couldn’t, it would be impossible to sit on His left or right.

After He said this, He sent her away. And what do you think the other ten disciples felt when they heard about this? “So you two intended to be His right-hand men in secret? What about us?” And they were indignant, and a quarrel arose. What did we say the Lord was going up to Jerusalem to do? He was going to die, to sacrifice Himself. In this moment when He was about to die, the disciples were fighting among themselves about who would sit on His right and left. This shows the great gap between the Lord and the disciples. There was a significant difference between what the Lord knew and what the disciples knew. Though they had followed Him for three years and listened to His word, the kingdom of God they ultimately wanted was to hold power on earth. This was the level of knowledge the disciples had of the Lord at that time.

Now Jesus left Jericho and was drawing closer to Jerusalem. As He set off for Jerusalem, a great crowd began to follow Him. Why were they following Him? To them, it was the king’s grand entrance. Once He entered Jerusalem, nobody knew what might happen. The disciples followed behind Him proudly, shrugging their shoulders. Many people followed behind them, curious and marveling. They thought, “Hey watch out! It’s the end for you Romans! He is going to bring a strong wind and flip you upside down. When we are hungry, He will feed us all with one loaf of bread! The Roman Empire is at its end! Like the prophets of old, He will have fire sent down from heaven and burn all of you up!” This was their attitude as they followed Him.

Since many people were crowing around Him, He couldn’t be seen very well. But as He was passing by, there were some blind men nearby. And two blind men suddenly called out to Jesus. As everyone knew very well, Jesus was a descendant of David who would succeed David. Hence, the blind men called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David!” For these blind men, it was a decisive moment. They had never experienced Jesus walking past them before. But at that moment, Jesus was passing right in front of them. The people all believed that Jesus would enter Jerusalem to seize power and become king. Hence for them, their future king, their future president, was passing in front of them at that moment.

These two men had suffered a great deal in their lives. Being blind, what could they possibly do for a living? How can they make a living? We can guess this from their words when they said, “Have mercy on us!” They said, “Take pity on us!” This may sound uncommon to some of you, but when I was on a mission in China, I saw many beggars around the bus stops. They all said the same thing. In our country, what do the beggars normally say? We often think of them saying, “Please spare some change.” Some of them say, “Can you spare me some change please?” But in China, beggars actually say, “Have pity on me! Please take pity on me!” “可怜可怜我! (kĕlián wŏ ba).” This means “Please take pity on me! Look on me with pity!” So, from what these blind men said, “Take pity on us!” I can assume they were actually beggars. This is something that beggars always say habitually. They say, “Take pity on me! Have pity on me!”

In this way, when a beggar calls out, they always have something they want. If beggars in China are saying, “可怜可怜我! 可怜可怜我! (kĕlián wŏ ba),” what are they asking for? They’re asking for money. Since these blind men cried out, “可怜可怜我! (kĕlián wŏ ba),” what did the people think they were asking for?  They probably assumed they were asking for money. For the people, the king was making his grand entrance, and yet these beggars dared to beg him for some change. So, they rebuked the two men to be quiet.

But these two beggars didn’t stop; instead, they called out all the louder. “Have mercy on us! Have mercy on us!” They were desperate because if they missed this chance, they would never see Him again. So, they shouted even louder. Even if there were hundreds and thousands of people, they cried out, “Have mercy on us! Take pity on us!” Finally, their cries reached Jesus’ ears. He told men to bring them to Him, and so the two blind men stood before Jesus.

At that moment, Jesus asked again. Remember how He asked His disciples earlier what they wanted? Now He was asking the same question to these men: “What is it you want?” Who did they think Jesus was? If they had regarded Jesus the same as everybody else did—thinking He was going to be their future king or president—what would they have answered when Jesus asked, “What do you want?” They might have said something like, “We’ve been begging on this road for ten years. But now our throats are hurting and we can’t beg as well as we used to. Mr. President, please show more support for the welfare of the disabled. Please hand out free walking sticks for the blind! Please allow us pensions every month! Help us so that we can go nearer to the city to beg! Please implement measures to support people like us or announce an enforcement ordinance.” If they were of the same mind as the disciples and the many people following Jesus, they would’ve deemed Him to be their next king and made such requests to the king.

However, the answer that came from the blind men was remarkable. What did they say? “We want to see!” They were blind and they requested to be able to see. Who did they see Jesus as? To open someone’s eyes, to make the blind see again, is certainly not something an ordinary person can do. Actually, it’s impossible. These men were blind from birth and lived a tough life all those years. So can anyone make them see again? It’s impossible. Nobody believes that’s possible.

On another occasion, Jesus opened the eyes of another blind man, but as soon as his eyes were opened, Jesus moved away to another place. When people found him, they asked, “Who made your eyes open? Who opened your eyes?” And the blind man answered, “Don’t you people know? Who is able to open the eyes of a blind? No one except God can open the eyes of a blind!” That’s exactly right. When this blind man, Bartimaeus, said, “I want to see!” he had recognized Jesus as One who is equal to God.

All the other people deemed Jesus as their future ruling king and longed for the restoration of their nation Israel, picturing themselves taking back Jerusalem and driving out the Roman soldiers. Furthermore, John and James were thinking of becoming the president and vice president to rule the nation. While everyone else was dreaming about this, these blind men had this faith. We don’t know where they got the inspiration from, but they requested of Jesus, “We want to see!”

Jesus was so joyful. At the same time, He was disturbed. He was grieved. Why? Because it was so hard to find people with such faith! Therefore, He took them and said, “According to your faith, let it be done!” And their eyes were opened! Hallelujah!

For us who believe in Jesus, it isn’t that surprising to see the eyes of the blind being opened. Of course, it is marvelous, but it is not something out of this world. Such experiences are granted to all who believe in Jesus. Ever since I started my faith life, I also heard from Semuon, the Senior Overseer of our church pastor Ki-Dong Kim that when believers lay their hands on the sick they will get well, the eyes of the blind will be opened, the deaf will hear, and the sick will be healed. I believed this from the beginning of my faith life so that after three months into my faith life, I experienced many sick being healed when I laid my hand on them. Later on, I witnessed two blind people having their eyes opened right before me. Even a person like me was able to experience this. This is a power from God, not from man.

The blind man Bartimaeus believed Jesus as God and made such a request. That is why his story is written in the Bible. There are many records of Jesus healing the sick and opening the eyes of the blind,  but this story in Matthew 20 is not talking about a miraculous sign that was done. Why would the story of another blind man being healed be written here at this momentous time when Jesus was entering Jerusalem to carry out such an important mission? This was not written to teach about healing itself, but because of this man’s incredible faith. He believed Jesus to be God and therefore requested something that can only be requested from God.

As you came to church, you probably have something you want, don’t you? “Well, I am getting nowhere with job hunting. I want to believe in God and find a good job!” This is something you could ask of the president. People with such hopes may be disappointed after coming to church. Why? Because that is not what God wants to them. Of course, He can help with those aspects too, but He may not.

What you need to seek is that which only God can give. Some people come to church seeking a change in their relationship with their husbands. They may meet God in the process. Nevertheless, one cannot continue seeking God with only those goals. God is able to provide answers to all of our problems, but there is something specific that God wants to give us. And God will pay great attention to whoever seeks that.

At church, you need to seek what God wants to give, that which He can give an abundance of. What is most important above all is that your spirit gets saved from sin and has eternal life. This is a power we cannot find anywhere in this world. Even the president cannot give us. It is not the power of this world. Only God can save you. Jesus Christ is your one and only Savior. I bless you in Jesus’ name to seek that which only God can give you. I’ll pray.

God our Father, I pray that You will touch the hearts of the saints here and the newcomers to see Jesus who is truly God. And help them to receive and possess that which only You can give and wants to give us. In Jesus name. Amen!

[1] Dangun is a legendary figure in Korean history and mythology, believed to be the founder of the first Korean kingdom, Gojoseon, around 2333 BCE.