Mark 10:46-52
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
One of the worse experiences in life is not seeing things clearly. Some people are blessed with clear vision, but not me. My eyes continue to get worse as time goes by. In fact, my glasses at this point need replaced. Bad eyesight runs in my family. I remember well the first time I got glasses. I was able to fool the eye checker lady in PE class until 7th grade. I used to walk by the eye chart and memorize the line. When it came time for my turn, I would just give the letters because I could not see the bottom line. Finally, my parents took me to the eye doctor because I was squinting too much. When I got my first pair of glasses in Junior High school, I could not believe that the world was so full of color and vividness. I could see the leaves on the trees. By being partially blind I had missed a lot in this world.
A lot of people can see well physically but have bad spiritual eyes. They miss Jesus who is walking right by them. When blind Bartemaeus heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Bart knew who Jesus was. Even though he was blind, he had keen spiritual insight about the one who could bring healing to his life. Jesus called Bart over. Some people tried to get in the way and discourage Bart, but he would not give up. He threw off his outer garment, likely all he owned, and went towards Jesus. This man was desperate but hopeful. After he received his sight, he wanted to become a follower of Jesus.
We are reminded of several simple steps we need to take to receive our spiritual sight back:
1. We need to trust in Christ who is the source of life. Don’t give up. Be persistent even in the midst of what may look like an impossible situation. Bart faced opposition, people telling him to shut up. This made him call all the louder.
2. We need to have faith and put our hope in Christ. Bart believed Jesus had the answers.
3. We need to act on our faith. Bart acted in obedience to Jesus. He then responded in thankfulness by following after his healer.
When Jesus passes us by, how will we respond?
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