[0:00] Mark, Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, our verse this morning,! We'll be starting in verse 46 And then they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road.
[0:42] When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me.
[0:58] And Jesus stopped and said, call him here. So they called the blind man, saying to him, take courage, stand up, for he is calling for you. Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And answering him, Jesus said, what do you want me to do for you?
[1:13] And the blind man said to him, Rabbi, I want to regain my sight. And Jesus said to him, go, your faith has made you well. Immediately he regained his sight and began following him on the road. Let's pray.
[1:28] Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for these people. Thank you for your word. Lord, I pray that now as we have read it and heard it, that your word would take root in our hearts and minds. That it would captivate our attention.
[1:42] That our focus would be drawn to you and to you alone. And Lord, as we focus on you, we'd see what a savior you are. We'd see the hope of humanity. We'd see the help of all that are hurting.
[1:54] So, Father, lead us as we see your word today for your glory and honor. We ask it all in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated. I believe it was about 22 years ago I was challenged to preach a message on a Sunday night.
[2:18] At that time, I kind of was wrestling with the call. I don't want to say I ever ran away from, but I was wrestling with the call to preach. And I knew the Lord was calling me into preaching and teaching ministry, but I wasn't really prepared for it. I wasn't really confident in it, if you will.
[2:36] But that Sunday night, the pastor of the church had told me, he said, well, I'm going to let you preach this Sunday night, so be prepared in advance. I struggled and I wrestled, but it was this passage that I preached from about blind Bartimaeus.
[2:50] And we see the wonder and the joy that takes place in his life. But I want you to see this morning from our passage, a beggar's faith found in this simple individual. A beggar's faith that is found on the side of the road. When we were going through our Sunday school time, we had spoke about supposed contradictions in scripture. And I told you if you were present, I don't want to not mention it. I'll mention it here that we have to reconcile this with the other synoptic gospels. We'll go ahead and do that on the front end. That way we can just get to the meat of the text and not be distracted from it later.
[3:28] Matthew tells us in the gospel according to Matthew in the 20th chapter that there were two beggars that were on the side of the road and that both of them were blind. Now, that should not be hard to reconcile because if there were two, surely there was one named Bartimaeus.
[3:45] Matthew just acknowledges that there are two. Luke is a little bit harder to reconcile because Luke tells us his name, but Luke tells us that he met him as he was entering Jericho. Here we find that it tells us in Matthew and Mark that it is as he is leaving Jericho. So we ask ourselves, which location was Bartimaeus and the other individual sitting at? That's really easy to reconcile when we go back to the original language, going back to our question that was asked, because in Luke the wording just simply means near Jericho.
[4:25] To be near Jericho. It was not giving either an instance of being one at the front or at the back, but being near Jericho. And Luke emphasizes this reality because he connects it also with another story that is connected with Bartimaeus and that is another man who is in desperate need of help.
[4:45] But he is a wee little guy who has to climb a sycamore tree. You can find him in the gospel according to Luke. So it is not hard to look at this. One really unique interpretation of the two, because how do we look at Mark where it says that he came into Jericho and he was leaving Jericho and he met a man named Bartimaeus.
[5:05] One writer refers to the reality that during the time of Christ there was the old city of Jericho and then there was the new city of Jericho and between the two there was a gate. More than likely, if you want to be historically accurate, it is at that gate that Bartimaeus is setting. He is caught somewhere between the old city and the new city. But he is doing so because people are coming in and out there continuously and he knows it is a profitable place to be. And it is from there that a beggar such as he can make an existence because people are going back and forth between the two.
[5:39] And it is here in this location in which he hears of a man coming. I want you to see first and foremost the sorrow of the man's condition. Notice the sorrow of his condition.
[5:51] It tells us that they came to Jericho and as he was leaving Jericho, his disciples in a large car, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. It is a blind beggar who is sitting here. He is not just like the one we find in the book of Acts where Peter and John are going into the temple and he is the man looking around begging for alms because his legs are without being used.
[6:17] We like to talk about the one found in Acts that used to sit at the beautiful gate. He asked for alms but he was given legs instead. And it is a wonderful story how he used to sit at the beautiful gate but he does not do it anymore. But Bartimaeus is the same. But he is a blind beggar.
[6:33] He does not really know what is going on around him. He is daily sitting in this location crying out and begging for alms. He hears of the ruckus and the roar but he cannot see it.
[6:46] He is going by a faith in which he hears not by one which he sees. He has not been an eyewitness to any matter of things but yet he has been attuned to them for he has heard continuously of this man who is passing through. If we reconcile the three synoptic gospels we find that Matthew refers to quote two blind beggars.
[7:10] Luke tells us that there is a blind man named Bartimaeus. Mark tells us there is a blind man named Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus. It is really telling that Mark the shortest and the quickest of the gospels gives us the more information about the individual than any other.
[7:28] Because see how we see people in such a sorrowful desperate condition absolutely matters. Is he just one of a multitude the way Matthew pens him? He is one among another who is there on the side of the road begging? Is he someone that we are aware of as Luke tells him because he has a name and that name is Bartimaeus or is he one that we know because we not only know his name but we know who his daddy is too and we know where he's from.
[7:55] And awareness of the individual gives us a concern for the sorrow of his existence. And it is here in Mark that we are made intimately aware that this is not just a beggar.
[8:07] This is not just a beggar with a name. This is a beggar with a name who is the son of someone and yet he is confined to sitting between the two cities begging for an existence.
[8:21] Friend when we understand this reality the sorrow that he finds himself in at each and every time we have been that individual. We have been that beggar. We have been the one sitting on the side of the road who was just one of many going along with the crowd and kind of lost up in the multitudes not being paid any special attention by anyone.
[8:42] And then we become someone that some are aware of and they may know our name. They may have heard. You know people like that. Well I know them by name. That's the way when somebody says oh do you know this person? Well I know them by name.
[8:53] I don't know them but I've heard of them. I know their name. I've heard their name but I cannot say that I know them. But when you know who they are and who their dad is then all of a sudden you become intimately aware of the individual.
[9:06] It was a way of connecting this man in this condition as being someone. Someone worthy of what was about to take place and we must praise God that there was a time that in each one of our lives we were caught in a crowd and then we were kind of made aware of and then someone knew us well enough to call us to themselves.
[9:30] That we were that person in our sorrow and shame and we were the individual in such a condition as Bartimaeus. Look at the sorrow of his condition.
[9:42] Some don't even know him. Some are aware of him. Others know who he is but none can do anything for him. Yet each and every day he sits there and he begs for alms and he begs for help.
[9:57] He is a beggar in a desperate condition. But worse than that look at the shame of the crowd's judgments. For there was a day when Bartimaeus is sitting there and he hears that an individual is coming through.
[10:13] It is Jesus the Nazarene. He is passing that way. He is on his way to Jerusalem. He is making his journey. And as he hears that he is coming through he hears that he is drawing nigh for the crowds are gathering.
[10:31] And it says that when he hears that Jesus is coming he begins to cry out. Notice that. He says when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene he began to cry out and say Jesus son of David have mercy but look at the shame that the crowd puts upon him.
[10:45] many were sternly telling him to be quiet. Now the wording is intentional. They didn't just say now Bartimaeus that's enough. No it says many were sternly telling him to be quiet.
[11:00] Why? Because Jesus has got more important things to do than deal with you Bartimaeus. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. Just a few verses prior to this we will find that those who followed Christ were amazed at the way in which he had set his face to go to Jerusalem.
[11:16] They were in wonder and amazement because he was intent on being in Jerusalem at a certain time. Jesus himself said that he had to be in Jerusalem for when he got to Jerusalem he would be handed over by the priests to the Gentiles there he would be flawed and beaten.
[11:32] He had set his face to Jerusalem because that was the time of prophetic fulfillment. The time had come as the gospel of John tells us that when his hour had come and Jesus knowing the time was intent to be there he was set by a divine time schedule and he was keeping every moment of it.
[11:51] He was going in such a way that people said leave him alone don't distract him. He seems to be so busy his face is so sad and yet everyone around Bartimaeus says Bartimaeus be quiet leave him alone for you're just a blind beggar sitting on the side of the road.
[12:09] He's got no time for you. See the shame of judgment. He may have time for the crowds that are following him but he's got no time for you. He's got no time to be interrupted.
[12:21] He's busy doing something. You know what's even more shameful is that today there are multitudes and multitudes of people crying out and there are people gathered around them saying be quiet he wants nothing to do with you.
[12:37] Be quiet you've gone too far he's too busy there are people that have allowed the enemy of their souls to tell them that Christ does not have time that he has set his face to doing other things that God is too busy to hear them and the multitudes have sternly told them to be quiet for it is the shame of judgment who do you think you are calling out to who he is.
[13:02] Oh we've all faced that in our own sorrow in our own miserable condition I remember the greatest obstacle I had to come over was the reality that one such as he would want to hear from someone such as I.
[13:16] Why would he want to listen to me? And a multitude of people around me would agree with me. Why? Because he's so busy. He doesn't have time.
[13:28] People have told me before God's not concerned about what happens in my world or I don't think that he wants to hear from me I've done too much I've went too far but listen here he is with his face set towards Jerusalem and Bartimaeus is crying out and people are saying be quiet but what happens and Bartimaeus cries out even the more.
[13:48] Don't let the judgment and the shame of those around you ever push you away from crying out to him in any moment of desperation. We see that Bartimaeus would not listen and neither should we for he could not see their judgmental looks because remember he was blind.
[14:04] He could not see the sad eyes that they were giving him or the shame they were trying to put upon him but his ears were attuned to the reality that Christ was passing by and at that moment he cried out but as he cried out so did those who were opposed to him.
[14:24] Third we notice the sign of the Savior's acceptance. Notice the sign of the Savior's acceptance.
[14:36] It's really subtle but we don't miss it and many were sternly telling him to be quiet but he kept crying out all the more son of David have mercy on me and here it is and Jesus stopped and Jesus stopped he said well sure but do you understand he had something to do he had somewhere to be every Old Testament prophecy concerning his death and burial and resurrection was hinging upon him being in Jerusalem the triumphal entry was before him he's on his way shortly after this he would tell them to go find the coat of a donkey so that he may set upon it Zechariah 9 is in waiting the people are gathering for the festival of Passover in Jerusalem and Jesus stops it's a subtle thing that the creator sustainer of the universe the one who holds it all in the palm of his hands the one who is fulfilling every last prophetic word spoken of him takes a moment to stop because there's a blind beggar on the side of the road crying out to him there are crowds around him there are multitudes we are told following him the crowds will call out
[16:01] Hosanna blesses he who comes in the name of the Lord as they put the palm branches on the road before him but before he gets there he stops because Bartimaeus is crying out he heard the cry of Bartimaeus even though Bartimaeus was being cried out sternly to by others telling him to be quiet he still stops and not only does he stop but he says and he called him to himself Bartimaeus was crying the Savior is calling what a wonderful thing Bartimaeus cries in desperation the Savior calls in hope for they go to Bartimaeus and they say take courage for he is calling for you and he gets up and he throws off his cloak I believe it was Warren Wearsby who said that cloak probably held all of the money he had been given the entire time he was sitting there he threw that cloak off for all the money gathered in his lap mattered little to the fact and the reality that the
[17:10] Savior had stopped and had called him the calling was more important than the money he had collected the calling was what would give him courage he was crying in desperation now he has the courage to run notice the difference between the rich young ruler who runs up to Jesus as he's on the road falls at his feet and says what must I do but then leaves in sorrow and the blind beggar who waits to be called oh it is the calling of Christ that says you're welcome into my presence it is the calling of the Savior that says you're deserving and he called him to himself for man does not come on his own initiative but he comes when he is called we may cry out in sorrow we may cry out in desperation but it is the call of the Savior who says come to me that causes us to take courage to jump up to cast off all encumbrance and run before him and he called him to himself and Jesus said what would you have me to do for you notice here the sign of the
[18:21] Savior's acceptance you say well how do I know that the Savior has accepted me for he has called you well how do I know he's called me what do you have a longing and a desire for him is there a burning in your heart to be pleasing to him do you want to acknowledge him as your Lord and Savior you say well yes pastor I do well those things are not natural to man it is natural to cry out because you're in misery it's natural to cry out because you're in pain it's natural to cry out because you're blind and in need but it is not natural for the heart of every man is wicked it tells us and the intentions of his thoughts are desperately wicked it is not natural for man to have a longing for the Savior but when the Savior calls you and you're drawn by his love it is the sign that he has accepted you and welcomed you into his presence and it is then that we take courage and say well my every need is met for the one I need wants me he calls us to himself what a beautiful thing this call of the Savior and it shows us that he has welcomed us and accepted us forth and finally look at this look at the submission that changes everything see this submission that changes everything in this passage there are a multitude of people around
[19:43] Christ there are crowds that are following him the apostles are behind him they are in awe and wonder of how he has set his face many will cry out blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord but notice what Bartimaeus does again they are subtle but we dare not miss them for when he hears that Jesus the Nazarene is passing by what does he say he cries out Jesus son of David have mercy on me and the crowd says be quiet he cries out all the more son of David have mercy on me son of David is a messianic title among the Jewish people he is declaring there that you are more than Jesus the Nazarene you are the son of David there is something special about you I know who you are Jesus you are not just an individual who is on his way to Jerusalem you are the son of David it is a messianic title reserved only for those that they were expecting and longing for
[20:47] Bartimaeus is saying this is the one I have been waiting on and then when he calls him to himself and he is standing before the son of David he doesn't even see him yet how does he submit to him Jesus says what would you have me to do for you do you remember what the rich young ruler said rabbi that is to say teacher what must I do and now all of a sudden Bartimaeus stands before him and says rabbi I you know what that word means my master that's what it means it means my master Bartimaeus acknowledges his lordship before he is ever given a miraculous event he comes before him and says my master I want to regain my sight it is a subtle submission but it is bold in its existence he says you are my master you are deserving of the messianic title I know who you are I submit to who you are so my master
[21:50] I would have you to give me my sight and Jesus says your faith has set you free and immediately he regained his sight but Jesus says you may go your way but the way he wanted to go was not in contrast but it was in agreement with his confession for he had said my master and rather than going away seeing for the first time in his life what does it do it says and he immediately began to follow Jesus friend if we call him master before he does the miraculous then we'll be sure to follow him after he does but if he's only master because he does the miraculous then we're only following him as long as he gives us what we want the submission must come before the miracle he is my master and then when he does what only he can do we long to follow him wherever he goes this is a beggar's faith it's an astounding faith and it's really the only faith that is required for salvation one that would cry out even when others say we shouldn't no matter the misery and sorrow and shame we find ourselves in one that knows who it is that is passing us by who will not be silent who gives him his rightful position as being the son of
[23:11] David the messianic long expected coming king and the one who is willing to say you are my master and my desire is to follow you wherever you go and it's the faith that Bartimaeus had and it's the faith that each and every one of us are called to have let's pray father we thank you we thank you for this day we thank you for your word and we pray oh father that you would use it for your glory may it transform us and move us to become more and more conformed to your image be with us as we get ready to sing this hymn of invitation lord if there be any here today who do not know you as lord and master may today be the day we ask it all in Christ's name amen