By: Dale Weckbacher
Mark 10:49
And
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man,
saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”
(ESV)
This text begins with a crowd following Jesus. This time they are following Jesus as he
leaves Jericho on his way to Jerusalem.
However, there is a difference this time for Jesus is not only going to
Jerusalem for Passover but also as the Lamb of God to become the ultimate
sacrifice for the sins of humanity (Mark
10:32-34).
Jesus most likely had much on His mind as he walked on ahead
of the crowd because He knew the pain and suffering he was about to endure. However, he also knew he must die as the sinless
Lamb of God for humanity to have any hope of salvation and out of great love
for fallen humanity, Jesus, God in the flesh, submitted to the will of God the
Father and died for our sins (John
1:14; Matthew 26:39; Romans 5:8). However,
even with this on His mind, Jesus takes time to minister to a blind man who
cries out to him.
The disciples and crowd following Jesus rebuked the blind
man. Once again the text does not tell
why they rebuked Bartimaeus but Jesus had just told them what would happen to
Him in Jerusalem (Mark
10:32-34). The response of James and
John to what Jesus said leads to the belief they may have thought Jesus would
establish His Kingdom immediately after the resurrection (Mark
10:35-37). Therefore, it is possible
those rebuking Bartimaeus believed Jesus had more important things to do and
could not take time to minister to this blind beggar they regularly saw begging
on the road to Jerusalem. However, just
as Jesus did with James and John, he stops and calls for Bartimaeus forcing the
crowd to also stop and once again see Jesus serve someone in need.
Since this is the only mention of Bartimaeus in the Bible,
we have no historical background as to how or when he became blind. His request for recovery of his eyesight does
indicate he may have been able to see at one time and is asking Jesus to
restore his sight. However, this is just
speculation with Scripture only telling us that He is a blind man begging on
the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. Since
this was not the first time Jesus traveled to Jerusalem with His disciples,
they had most likely encountered Bartimaeus before. It is also possible Bartimaeus had either
heard of or been present when Jesus performed a miracle. This would explain his enthusiasm this time
for when he heard the commotion of a crowd and discovered it was Jesus, he
began to cry out, believing Jesus had the power to restore his eyesight. Whatever was going through the mind of
Bartimaeus, Scripture does tell us that he came to Jesus when called and had
his eyesight restored.
However, the most interesting part of the text of Mark
10:46-52 is what occurred after Bartimaeus received his sight. Since his blindness, Bartimaeus had most
likely started begging along the road to Jerusalem for money to live. Even though he had received his sight, he
still had no source of income and yet left his begging to follow Jesus. We can surmise that he had possibly heard of
Jesus teaching on the importance of seeking the kingdom of God first and
trusting God to take care of his needs (Matthew
6:33).
When we cry out to Jesus, he stops to listen, knowing our
needs and stands ready to meet those needs.
Our response to God graciously hearing our prayers and meeting our needs
should be a desire to reciprocate by following.
This begins with one making a profession of faith in Jesus as his or her
savior (Romans
10:9-10). I encourage anyone reading
this that has not made Jesus their Savior to do so now by praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
This is the first step in a new life of following
Christ. God has given us His Word, the Bible
so one serious about following Jesus must begin to read and find out more about
God. It is also important to pray. Prayer does not require fancy or eloquent
words for it is just talking to God like we might talk to anyone else. A great pattern to follow when praying is to
follow the example of the Lords Prayer (Matthew
6:5-15). It is also important to
associate with others that have made Jesus their Savior by finding a church or
Bible study. The most important thing to
remember is that when we cry out to Jesus, he hears, listens, and wants us to
follow Him.
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