Luke 22:63 And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. 64 And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? 65 And many other things blasphemously spake they against him. 66 And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying, 67 Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: 68 And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. 69 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. 70 Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. 71 And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.
Speaking of blindfolds reminds me of playing blind man’s bluff or whacking a stick at a pinata. I couldn’t even tap that donkey. It was fun to play these things. Blindfolds are used either for a game or as an instrument of terror. They really have no other purpose.
A blindfold is one of the details in the suffering of Jesus. It’s something how he was treated before he was even tried. A person is usually considered innocent until proven guilty, but Jesus was found guilty even though evidence proved him innocent. Pilate and Herod could see it. Herod made fun of Jesus but never declared him guilty. By sending him back to Pilate, he was saying that he didn’t really find him guilty of anything.
The suffering of Jesus began while the Sanhedrin gathered. He was blindfolded. Verses 63-65 state and the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? And many other things blasphemously spake they against him. A blindfold is never used accidentally. Jesus allowed himself to be blindfolded. That doesn’t happen unless a person is participating in a game. When you leave here today, you won’t put on a blindfold before you start driving. You’ll end up down in David’s yard if you do.People are blindfolded today and don’t even realize it. Some people have taken theirs off but prefer it and put it back on. Usually a blindfold is put on a person against their will. If burglars comes in to rob a home they might blindfold the owners to keep from being identified. That’s what they did to Jesus except it was for a game. They took turns hitting him and would say Prophesy, who is it that smote thee.
They thought Jesus didn’t know who did it. No matter how blindfolded he was, he knew. Think God or Jesus are blindfolded? They are not! Who has it on? Don’t ask God why, why, why like he doesn’t see things. He sees far more clearly than we do. This crowd thought they were interrogating Jesus but he turned things around. Still they mocked and hit him. The way you and I behave, the priorities we set–are they mocking God and ridiculing him? Do you think you’re the only one who is saved and everyone else is a hypocrite? Think about it. Who is the blindfolded one? You think you can control Jesus? The best thing is to let him control you. We want God on our terms. We want to control our Bible reading and praying. We want to focus only on joyful scriptures. We’ve got to take the other parts too. Jesus said to take up the cross, deny self and follow him. Yet so many say by their actions “I’ll do what I please. I’ll come to church when I please.”
Who is this message for? I’m not preaching to people out there or who used to come here. It’s for all of us here today. It’s a lesson for us. We can’t control God. We can’t make our own rules. I have family and friends who say they’re Christians but have no intention of ever going to church anywhere. In essence they say “I want to be a Christian but I want to control it all.” If you’re like that, then you’re blindfolded.
The rich young ruler told Jesus that he had kept all the commandments from his youth up. Jesus told him to sell what he had (SURRENDER) and give it to the poor, take up his cross and follow him. The young man was saying that he wanted control of his own spiritual life. He had to deny himself. How much denying of self do we do? We read the Bible when we want. We pray when we want. We come to church when we want. God is taking our excuses away. Can you see you are blindfolded? There are a lot of things I could do in life, but there are things to do for God. We should do them not because we have to but because we want to.
Jesus wasn’t blindfolded to what was going on. They made a game of it. How are you treating him? Christianity is not a game. Church is not a game. The devil wants to destroy this church and God’s people so let’s not help him out ourselves. We need to get right with God. The reason there is a void in God’s house is not God. It’s not those ‘out there.’ It’s us! Who will God hold accountable for this church? Us.
There is not a blindfold on Jesus. Is there one on you? How can you tell? Well, you know if you’re seeing free and clear. If you’re not doing what you should, then you are blindfolded. The devil wants it on you to keep you from seeing what’s going on. We should be aware every moment. Walk as children of light, circumspectly and not as fools. Peep out from behind that blindfold and see your condition. In the days of hangings the first thing they’d do to the guilty party was put a sack blindfold over his head. It kept him from seeing the trap door beneath him. Imagine the terror of knowing that any moment the earth would move from beneath you and in seconds you’d suffer and die. People are going up the gallows to hell every day. The devil has put the blindfold on them. One day it will be too late to do anything about it.
You’ll never blindfold Jesus. Who is really the blindfolded one? You can’t control Christianity. Pilate released Barabbas and gave Jesus to them to do as they wanted. Jesus wore that blindfold so we wouldn’t have to. How dare we try to blindfold him again. Don’t be one who continues to say you’ll do what you want. Lay the blindfold on the altar today.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 