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Christ Foretells His Death and Resurrection

Luke 18:32 For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 

Each prophecy of His death was more explicit than the last. This is His first mention of being turned over to the Gentiles.

Luke 18:33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” 

Christ had predicted His resurrection on the third day before (9:22). But the disciples missed the import of these words, and when He actually did rise, they were surprised by it (24:6).

Luke 18:34 But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

The whole matter of Christ’s death and resurrection was not grasped by the 12.  The reason may have been that they were enamored with other ideas about the Messiah and how His earthly rule would operate.

Supporting scripture;  Matthew 16:22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” :23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

Supporting scripture;  Matthew 17:10 And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” :11 Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. :12 But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.”

Supporting scripture: Acts 1:6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” :7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. :8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

Christ Heals Bartimaeus

Luke 18:35 Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. 

There were actually two blind men. One probably spoke for both of them. -Matthew 20:30 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

Luke 18:36 And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.

Luke 18:37 So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.

Luke 18:38 And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

The blind beggar somehow recognized Jesus as the Messiah, because he addressed Him as the Son of David. He asked the Lord to have mercy on him, that is, to restore his sight.

Luke 18:39 Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

In spite of the attempts of some to silence the beggar, he insistently cried out to the Lord Jesus. The people were not interested in a beggar. Jesus was.

Luke 18:40 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, :41 saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” 

Darby comments insightfully, “Joshua once bade the sun stand still in the heavens, but here the Lord of the sun, and the moon, and the heavens, stands still at the bidding of a blind beggar.” 

At Jesus’ command the beggar was brought to Him.

Jesus asked him what he wanted. Without hesitation or generalization, the beggar replied that he wanted his sight. His prayer was short, specific, and full of faith.

Luke 18:42 Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”:43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

Jesus then granted the request and immediately the man received his sight. Not only so, he followed the Lord, glorifying God.

We may learn from this incident that we should dare to believe God for the impossible. Great faith greatly honors Him.

As the poet has written:

Thou art coming to a King,
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such,
None can ever ask too much.

Christ Abides with Zacchaeus

Luke 19:1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.

Luke 19:2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 

Zaccheus probably oversaw a large tax district, and had other tax collectors working for him.

Jericho alone was a prosperous trading center, so it is certain that Zaccheus was a wealthy man. 

It is striking to note that only a chapter earlier, Luke recorded the account of the rich young ruler, and Jesus’ statement about “how hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God” (18:24). Here Jesus demonstrates that with God, nothing is impossible (cf. 18:27). 

Luke 19:3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 

Christ was probably traveling with a large entourage of pilgrims to the Passover in Jerusalem. But “the crowd” apparently refers to people in Jericho who lined the street to see Him pass through. 

They had undoubtedly heard about the recent raising of Lazarus in Bethany, less than 15 mi. away (Jn 11). That, combined with His fame as a healer and teacher, stirred the entire city when word arrived that He was coming. 

Luke 19:4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 

A sturdy tree with low, spreading branches. A small person could get out on a limb and hang over the road. 

This was an undignified position for someone of Zaccheus’ rank, but he was desperate to see Christ. 

Luke 19:5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 

Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 121). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. MacArthur, J. F., Jr., MacDonald, Farstad, Believers Bible; Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.