Blind Faith
Preached by Jason Abbott
February 23, 2014
This week we find Jesus passing through Jericho on his way to Jerusalem. This would put him about 20 miles from and 3,500 feet beneath the holy city. Quite literally, therefore, Jesus and his disciples will travel up to Jerusalem.
Recall also that Jesus just dealt with his disciples who were blinded by their longings for personal glory and fame. Consequently, he had to re-teach them that greatness in the kingdom of heaven is realized through self-sacrifice and service. He had to open their eyes once again.
Today, Jesus will encounter a man, who is literally blind, named Bartimaeus. He will have, however, a rather different interaction with Bartimaeus than he did with James and John and the other disciples.
In order to dig into this touching interaction between Jesus and Bartimaeus, we will try to answer 3 questions: (1) Where is Bartimaeus when the story begins? (2) What’s notable about the conversation Jesus has with Bartimaeus? And finally, (3) Where is Bartimaeus when the story concludes?
Let’s read this passage together and, then, let’s pray that God would open our eyes to the truths which he would have us learn from it. Please follow along with me as I read.
Mark 10:46-52
46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 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.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
1. Where is Bartimaeus when the story begins (v. 46)?
When I was in grade school in Jefferson City, one of my favorite things to do was to go to the high school football games on Friday nights. I didn’t really go to watch the games as much as I went to screw around with my friend Jeff Falzone. He and I would make up strange and slightly dangerous competitions.
One of these competitions was to walk against the stream of traffic between the bleachers and the concession stands; it was a glorified game of mass chicken. Typically we’d start at one end of the stadium and then walk directly into the oncoming masses to see how far we could get. Were we brave enough to do it? Could we make it all the way to the other end of the stadium without getting pummeled by the oncoming flow of giant high schoolers?
Now, obviously, this didn’t endear either of us to the people we walked into. We were begging for a bruising by moving against traffic into the crowd of much larger people—many of whom were looking for an excuse to knockdown two little bratty grade school kids.
But what if instead of begging for a bruising, we were begging for pop-corn (which we also sometimes did)? How would this chicken technique have worked? How many handouts would we have received doing that?
Not many! Beggars, who inconveniently get in the way, are not often successful beggars!
This is why it is so easy for us to miss a very important detail that Mark shares about blind Bartimaeus. Where is he when the story begins? Mark says:
[As Jesus] was leaving Jericho with his disciples…Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside (v. 46).
He’s smart. He has stationed himself just outside of the busy flow of traffic. He’s visible to many but not a nuisance to any. This is what we want of beggars. Isn’t it? “Just stay out of our way!” “Don’t be an inconvenience!” And if we’re really generous: “Here’s a little something for you!”
Bartimaeus is just sitting on the side of the road, playing the smart beggar, not shaking things up socially when our story begins. Remember that!
Then along comes Jesus.
2. What’s notable about this conversation Jesus and Bartimaeus have together (vv. 47-52)?
a. It’s notable that they have a conversation at all.
In Jesus’ day, beggars were one of the most hated classes of people. Consequently, one scholar explains:
As to professional beggars…they were a despised class among the Hebrews; and the Jewish communities [were] forbidden to support them from the general charity fund.1
We see the disdain people had for beggars like Bartimaeus in this passage. So the crowds try to silence him when he cries out for Jesus. Mark records:
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent (v. 48).
There is no stated reason for why they would essentially tell him to shut up. Rather, we are left to fill in the blanks for ourselves. However, considering the thematic we’ve recently been encountering in Mark (i.e. the danger of arrogance), it seems likely to me that they’re probably rebuking Bartimaeus here for simply being a nobody! They’re rebuking him out of their arrogance.
He’s not important enough to warrant stopping this really famous rabbi! He’s not worth Jesus’ time!
Yet, this famous teacher does not see it that way. Jesus hears and he stops. The ESV says:
And Jesus stopped… (v. 49).
But, as one commentator notes, the Greek literally reads:
And Jesus stood (still).2
Jesus halts everything for a beggar! How beautiful is this picture!
When’s the last time you (like Jesus does here) stood still for a nobody—dropped everything for a beggar? If you’re like me, it may have been quite a long time since you’ve done that.
If you’re like me then, even the last time you did so, it wasn’t second nature!
b. It’s notable that Jesus asks Bartimaeus a familiar question.
Jesus sends for Bartimaeus to come over and so the crowd sends him over. Then, once he is standing before Jesus, Mark records:
And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you” (v. 51)?
When was the last time we heard Jesus ask this question in Mark’s gospel? The answer is, of course, that it was with James and John that this question was last on Jesus’ lips.
The contrast Mark is setting up, therefore, couldn’t be made more clearly. We must contrast the character of the brothers’ response to the question from Jesus and the character of Bartimaeus’ response to the very same question from Jesus. The two responses couldn’t be more different.
As we saw last week, the brothers want Jesus to give them fame and power. They ask:
Grant us to sit…at your right hand and…at your left, in your glory (v. 37).
Basically, they are saying that they want to be second and third in command in Jesus’ coming kingdom—“Jesus you can be king, and we’ll be assistant king and the assistant to the assistant king.”
But, Bartimaeus responds to the question from Jesus differently. He says:
Rabbi, let me recover my sight (v. 52).
He does not demand the world from Jesus but only the ability to live normally in it. While “…the Sons of Thunder asked for extraordinary glory, Bartimaeus asks only for ordinary health.”3 What a contrast between requests!
c. It is notable that Jesus asks Bartimaeus a question at all.
Why do I say this? I say this because it is more than obvious what Bartimaeus is going to ask from Jesus. Isn’t it?!
When I’m watching the medical drama House M.D., there will invariably be at least one scene in which the main character, Gregory House, comes abruptly into a critically ill patient’s hospital room, completely ignores him or her as a person, consults the medical chart, and finally leaves the room (as abruptly as he came) having solved another medical mystery and having saved another life.
It is a picture of nearly mechanical efficiency. House gets results and, then, is off to get more results. After all, his time is incredibly valuable!
But, Jesus sacrifices such mechanical efficiency upon the altar of love here! One commentator explains it beautifully:
Surely Bartimaeus’s need should be obvious to Jesus. The most practical response would be for Jesus to heal him and be on his way. But for Jesus, Bartimaeus is not [merely] a problem to be dealt with. Jesus will not do something to him, but something with him. He responds to the blind man not as an “It” but as a “Thou”…by asking a question… [Jesus allows] him to express himself as a person rather than apologizing for himself as a social problem or victim.4
You see, Jesus doesn’t need Bartimaeus to tell him what his need is; however, Bartimaeus desperately needs Jesus to ask him, as a fellow human being, as someone created in the image of God, what his need is. Beautiful Savior!!!
Have you ever shared something personal with someone and, in doing so, noticed that he or she keeps distractedly looking around you at something else? How did that make you feel?
Have you been that distracted person who is not really listening but, instead, is worried about something else you need to do? Is that the person you want to be?
I get the feeling, from this interaction, that Jesus was never that person!
3. Where is Bartimaeus when the story ends (v. 52)?
We know where he was when the story began. He was on the roadside. Bartimaeus was begging for pocket change. He was going nowhere in particular. That’s where he was before he met Jesus.
However, Mark (inspired by God) has wasted no words in this account. Bartimaeus meets Jesus outside of Jericho, and Bartimaeus’ life is totally changed. Mark expertly demonstrates this when he writes:
[Bartimaeus] recovered his sight and followed [Jesus] on the way (v. 52).
Bartimaeus, at the story’s beginning, is blind and on the side of the road; Bartimaeus, at the story’s ending, is able to see and on the road following Jesus. It’s a picture of transformation through faith in Jesus’ ability to transform.
Ironically, here we find the prototype, the model, for Christian discipleship. It’s ironic because you’d have thought the brothers would’ve been a better picture. But, that just isn’t the case.
So often in the church we talk about having and increasing our faith in Jesus. However, in many cases, we have such conversations in absence of any activity. What I mean is that any faith in Jesus must naturally lead to some action for Jesus! Because this is the case, Bartimaeus provides the model image of discipleship.
He is a lowly beggar before he meets Jesus.
He is a transformed follower after he meets Jesus.
He is going nowhere before he meets Jesus.
He is on the road to the holy city after he meets Jesus.
This is a picture of discipleship. This is an apt image for salvation in Christ. However, we must not leave it as some kind of Hallmark card or Disney special. Following Christ Jesus means a hard road. Discipleship entails trouble in the glory. Persecutions are a part of Christian faith.
Bartimaeus is now on the road following Jesus. He’s been transformed. Yet, we must not forget where that road ends for the one whom he follows, at the cross. As Jesus’ disciples, we are called to pick up our crosses too (Matthew 16:24)!
1 George B. Eager, The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia: Beg, Beggar, Begging, 425.
2 James Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, 330.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid, 330-331.
