Luke 18:35-43 is how I would open this that I feel led to share because it is the call being made to us to

1. Cry out to King Jesus
2. To request the opening of our eyes (but in order to do this we need to acknowledge that we are blind.)
3. To receive our healing from King Jesus
4. To Walk in our healing following King Jesus from whence our healing come
5. To open our mouths with praise and thanksgiving, glorifying God.

That will incite love and fine works in others who will begin to praise God too. Let’s look at those verses now:

Luke 18:35-43

Luke 18:35-43 New King James Version

A Blind Man Receives His Sight.

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”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!”So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him,saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

But even as I open with Luke 18:35-43, I want to make it known that these verses were not where I started, but it was where I ended. So in my introduction, I have given you the end.  Now let me tell you how this all started…

On December 11, 2022, I sat down on a Sunday to get into the presence of the Lord and be taught. I was put off by something that I saw because of what the Lord has previously spoken to me through the Word of God. Therefore, I found that I couldn’t listen to a televised service.  So I sat with Pen and Paper preparing to do some studying in God’s Word. But I knew that I needed to first clear my heart because I was really bothered by what I saw.

Though I sat with my books before me, I was looking out the window and talking to God, my Father, in the name of Jesus. In all that I said, and I spoke a lot, I also asked a question that was fueled by my desire to be obedient to the Word of God. My question was…

How do we go and make disciples?

I remembered hearing that there is a difference between making a convert and making a disciple, so I wanted to look up the definition. But what I did first was I turned to Matthew 28:19-20.

Matthew 28:19-20

New King James Version

    Matthew 28:19-20 New King James Version

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. 

Immediately I realized that the Holy Spirit was answering me, and I took note again. My question was, How do we go and make disciples?

The immediate answer I was given was:

1. Isaiah 52:10
2. Luke 24:47
3. Acts 2:38-39
4. Romans 10: 18 and
5. Colossians 1:23

Before I looked up those verses, I made note of all that Matthew told me in chapter 28 verses 19-20, which was:

1. To baptize them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and
2. To teach them to observe all things that Jesus has commanded us.

So now I was ready to begin looking up the scriptures.

Isaiah 52:10

Isaiah 52:10 New King James Version

10 The Lord has made bare His holy arm

In the eyes of all the nations;

And all the ends of the earth shall see

The salvation of our God.

Starting with Isaiah 52:10, again my original question was, “How do we make disciples?” As I read over it, I found myself asking the question, “What is the Holy Arm of the Lord?” 

I learned that an arm is symbolic of strength and power. So the Holy Arm of the Lord represents His Justice, His Holiness, and His Strength. The fact that it was made bare to all the nations means that it was made plain. So from Isaiah 52:10, I learned that to make disciples of all the nations, I need to make plain the Holy Arm of the Lord to the nations, and this is done by making plain the Lord’s Justice, His Holiness, and His Strength. (I understood this.)

Luke 24:47

Luke 24:47 New King James Version

47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

The next scripture was Luke 24:47. There we are told that repentance and the remission of sins must be preached in Jesus’ name. The remission of sins means the cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty.

Now, one of the things Jesus taught us is that the mercy we show others is the mercy we will receive. So, I understood that we must teach people to forgive so that they can be forgiven. I was directed to three scriptures in this area of remission which was Daniel 9:24; Acts 13:38, 46; and 1 John 2:12.

• Daniel 9:24 listed our debt as transgression, sins, and iniquity. Each is different. For example, one area covers unknown sins and in Daniel, we are shown that under the Kingdom of Everlasting Righteousness those come to an end.
• Acts 13:38 and 46 tell us that the word of God must be spoken first because the forgiveness of sins is offered through Jesus Christ.
• 1 John 2:12 says that our sins are forgiven for Jesus’ name’s sake

Now as I ponder all of this, I am soaking it in because I realize that this is what I should focus my writings on if I am to do what God has assigned me to do.  I also recognized that this is not always what happens in the hearing of the people of God, which is why there is not a change taking place.  Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations.

We should be leading people to repent and to the remission (forgiveness) of sins, but instead, we have been empowered by our blindness. We have learned to navigate being blind. Remember the blind man of Luke chapter 18 who was told to be quiet when he was crying out for Jesus. I praise God that he didn’t listen because his experience was a word for us today.

I was encouraged to stay focused. So, I shook the wandering of my mind and returned to my notes.

Acts 2:38-39

Acts 2:38-39 New King James Version

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

The next scripture, Acts 2:38-39, tells us to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit which is a seal of conversion that empowers us to live by faith.

The fact that this verse mentioned baptism led me to list it under the area where I wrote the instructions from Jesus to baptize (the disciples) in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I wrote regarding baptism that it is a public declaration of our repentance and faith.  I also wrote that it symbolically covers us in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

That is when the Holy Spirit brought Zacchaeus to my mind, which led to my writing and sharing what I was taught. Something was being revealed to me as I read of his public declaration of repentance and faith. I began to realize that symbolically he was covered by something that hadn’t yet happened, just like Noah who became an heir to righteousness.

Now I found myself looking at Zacchaeus’ actions which were reported directly after the healing of the blind man in Luke 18:35-43 whose story we considered at the beginning. So, now that we are caught up to date, let’s now look at Luke 19:1-10 and this amazing story about Zacchaeus who was a Jew but was considered a traitor because he worked for the Roman government as a chief tax collector.  It was known that anyone who held this job extorted money from those whom they required to pay taxes.

In this story, Jesus was coming out of Jericho and headed toward Jerusalem.  Zacchaeus had heard that He was coming and he wanted to see who Jesus was whom he kept hearing about. So, he ran ahead and climbed a Sycamore tree that was on the road along the route that Jesus was going to pass by. Zacchaeus was a short man in stature which is why he decided to climb a tree.

When Jesus arrived at the place where the Sycamore tree was, He called Zacchaeus by name and told him that He wanted to stay at his house and for him to come down out of the tree. When Zacchaeus heard this, he immediately responded, and the scripture says that Zacchaeus received Jesus joyfully.

But the minute that the other Jews saw this blessing on Zacchaeus, they began to complain because of the type of work that Zacchaeus did.

Now what Zacchaeus does next reminds me of the counsel given in chapters 3 and 4 of Hebrews where we are told to not harden our hearts when we hear the voice of the Lord, and a great lesson is found in this that is applicable for us today.  Let me show you:

1. When Jesus calls out to Zacchaeus to come down from the tree so that He could stay at his house, Zacchaeus responded immediately.
2. When the people began to complain about this because of the type of man Zacchaeus had been in his work ethics, Zacchaeus’ response was a public declaration of repentance and faith – this was his baptism – and it was at this moment that he became an heir of righteousness, just like Noah.

Zacchaeus said, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” Notice what the Holman NKJV Study Bible says about this.

Zacchaeus’s words and actions were those of a transformed man. It was considered extremely generous to give one-fifth to the poor, but Zacchaeus stated that he would give half. Also, while repayment for extortion was 20 percent over what had been extorted, Zacchaeus promised to repay fourfold. Zacchaeus had become a son of Abraham and gained salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

What did Jesus say about all of this? Luke 19:9 tells us that Jesus said, “Today Salvation has come to this house.” So our response needs to be the same as that of Zacchaeus.

We need to see King Jesus. We need to see His Justice, His Holiness, and His Strength. We need to lift Jesus up so that all can see Him. We need to repent of our sins and declare our faith publicly which is what baptism is. In doing so, we are brought under the covering of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. We need to receive, as a seal of this conversion, the Holy Spirit who will empower us to live by faith.

Now there are two more scriptures that were given as a reference to the question that I initially asked, which was, “How do we go and make disciples?”

Romans 10:18

Romans 10:18 New King James Version

18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed:

“Their sound has gone out to all the earth,

And their words to the ends of the world.”

 The next scripture, Romans 10:18 shows us how far-reaching our message will be. Our sound will go out to all the earth, and our words to the end of the world. I am realizing this now through my website as I review the stats for it and I am able to see just how far-reaching my website has become.

What Isaiah was quoted as having said in Romans 10:20, “I was found by those who did not seek me. I was made manifest to those who did not ask for me”, I am experiencing that as many are commenting on my website and telling me how they were searching for something else and my website came up.

So the encouragement that I received in Romans 10:14-21 is that I am to continue to lift us Jesus Christ, and I realize that this is what is meant in verse 15 where we are told to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  Having the feet shod is about being ready to speak God’s Word everywhere I go.

Now the last reference scripture, as it pertains to “How do we go and make disciples” is found in Colossians 1:23, and it is definitely a confirmation of what I was thinking and feeling as I considered the lessons learned from Zacchaeus.

Colossians 1:23

Colossians 1:23 New King James Version

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Colossians 1:23 reminds us that we (I am) are to continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not be moved away from the hope of the gospel which has been heard.  This is just what I was thinking. In order to make a disciple, I must first be a disciple myself. Just saying that I am a Christian is not enough. Being a disciple of is a lifestyle 24/7/365.  It is more than a platform of words. It is shared testimony based upon a walk of faith. It is encouragement through life experiences.

People want the truth.

People want to see the results of the truth that we believe.

People are tired of being lied to.

People are tired of the hypocrisy.

The truth has to be evident in our own lives first before it begins to duplicate in the lives of others.

I am not just a Christian.

I am a believer.

I am a disciple of Christ.

The Word of God is the manual by which I live my life in order to bring my life into subjection to Christ.  I aim to work the Word of God in my life.  In this world, this is not easy, but I am finding great value in doing so regardless of how the world thinks or feels about me.

Walking out the Word of God in my life has been adding value to my life and that value is what I have been trying to share through my words written and spoken, as well as through the demonstration of my life lived.

Work the Bible because the Bible works.

I am a living witness to this.

And now I end this by saying WOW!

I asked my question, “How do we go and make disciples?” on 12/11/22 and I received my answer immediately, as well as the encouragement to keep doing what I am doing.