Lessons From Bartimaeus

The Sunday morning message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on August 20, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Mark 10:46-52.

            Once Jesus started His ministry, He started attracting crowds.  Some of them came because they truly believed He was the divine Son of God.  Some came because He was a really good speaker, and they wanted to hear Him talk.  Some came because they had heard about His miracles and were hoping to see Him perform one.  Some probably just came because Jesus had become a celebrity.  And I’m sure there were lots of other reasons, too.

            Jesus and His disciples had been in Jericho.  We don’t know what they did there or how long they were there.  Mark just says they came there, and then he says they were leaving.  There was a big crowd with them.  They were walking along the road, and they came to where a blind man was sitting, begging.

           His name was Bartimaeus, which we’re told means “son of Timaeus”.  I’m not sure why Mark thought it was important for us to know that, but we’re told that everything in the Bible is there for a reason, so I assume there’s some reason for this, even if I don’t know what it is.

            Anyway, Bartimaeus is blind.  He’s sitting there by the side of the road, begging.  There was not much else a blind man could do back then.  There were no government assistance programs for the blind.  There was no disabilities act protection.  There was no real work a blind man could do then.  So, Bartimaeus did the only thing he could do.  He sat by the side of the road and begged, hoping someone would give him enough to get through the day.  It was not much of a life.  Try to get through today so you can get up and try to get through tomorrow.  I’m sure Bartimaeus did not like it much, but it was about the only option he had.

            So Bartimaeus is sitting by the road, and a crowd starts going by.  I assume Bartimaeus could hear them.  Somehow, he heard that Jesus was the reason for the crowd.  Maybe he asked somebody, I don’t know.

He apparently knew who Jesus was.  We don’t know how much he knew, but he knew enough to know that Jesus could help him.  So when he heard it was Jesus, he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Have you ever been in a big crowd of people?  How easy is it to hear one solitary voice in a big crowd?  It’s pretty hard, right?  Bartimaeus had no way to know whether Jesus would be able to hear him.  And in fact, the people around him told him to be quiet.  But he just shouted even louder, the same thing.  “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

And somehow, Jesus heard him.  Did Bartimaeus shout so loudly that he could be heard above the crowd?  Did Jesus use His divine power somehow?  We don’t know.  But Jesus heard him.  And he called Bartimaeus to him.

Bartimaeus came as fast as he could.  He even threw aside his cloak, which may have been about the only thing he owned, so he could get to Jesus faster.  We don’t know if he followed Jesus’ voice, or if someone steered him in the right direction, or what.  But there Bartimaeus is, standing in front of Jesus.

And you know the rest of the story.  Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Bartimaeus responds, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  Jesus says, “Go, your faith has healed you.”  Bartimaeus can see, and he follows Jesus.

This is a wonderful story of faith, of course.  It’s also a wonderful story of Jesus’ power.  But it seems to me that there’s more we can learn from this.  There are things in this story we can apply to our lives.

First, don’t be afraid to cry out to Jesus.  As far as human beings were concerned, Bartimaeus’ situation was hopeless.  He had always been blind.  He always would be blind.  We don’t know if anyone ever tried to help him, but even if they did, there was nothing they could do to help him see.  But Bartimaeus believed that Jesus could help him.  And so, when Jesus came by, he cried out to Jesus.

We all have times when we’re in a bad spot.  It may or may not seem like a hopeless situation, but even if it does not, it can sure be a tough one.  When that happens, don’t be afraid to cry out to Jesus.  We don’t have to wait until we have a really bad situation, of course.  We can call on Jesus anytime.  But especially, if things look bad for you, cry out to Jesus.

Because, here’s the second thing.  Jesus will hear you.  No matter how much noise or confusion there is in your world.  No matter how much noise or confusion there is in your life.  No matter how much noise and confusion there is in your own mind.  Jesus will hear you.  You can be completely confident of that.  If we cry out to Jesus, Jesus will hear us.

And Jesus will respond.  That’s the next thing we can learn from this story.  Not only will Jesus hear us when we cry out to Him, Jesus will respond.  Jesus wants to hear from us.  In fact, I suspect there are times when Jesus is just waiting for us to cry out to Him, so He can respond.  The Lord will never leave us or forsake us.  The Lord will never ignore us, either.  When we cry out to Jesus, Jesus will hear, and Jesus will respond.

But when Jesus does respond, the responsibility falls back on us.  Jesus asked Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”  When we cry out to Jesus, Jesus may very well ask that same question of us.  “What do you want me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus had his answer ready.  He said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  Do you have your answer ready?  If so, what would it be?

You know, sometimes, when we read this story, that part seems a little strange.  Why would Jesus ask Bartimaeus what he wanted Him to do?  I mean, the man’s blind.  Everyone knows he’s blind.  Surely Jesus knew he was blind.  So you’re asking him what he wants?  He wants to see.  What do you think he wants?

But you know, there are all kinds of ways Bartimaeus could’ve responded to that question.  I mean, after all, he’s a beggar.  It’s not his fault that he’s a beggar, but he is.  He could’ve said, “Lord, give me some money.”  He could’ve asked for a large sum of money, enough that he wouldn’t have to beg anymore.  He could’ve asked for nice clothes and a good place to live.  He could’ve asked for servants to help him.

There’s another way this could’ve gone, too.  Beggars were looked down on in society back then.  They still are, I guess.  The chances are there were people who did not treat Bartimaeus very well.  Bartimaeus could’ve said “Lord, I want you to punish all those people who’ve pushed me around, who’ve made fun of me, who’ve treated me like dirt just because I’m blind.  I want you to get back at those people for me.”

But of course, Bartimaeus did not say any of those things.  He had what was really a very simple request.  “Rabbi, I want to see.”

And that’s another thing we can learn from this story.  When we ask the Lord for things, we need to be careful about what we’re asking for.  We need to not make our requests too small, which Bartimaeus would’ve done if he’d just asked Jesus for some money.  We need to not make our requests selfishly, which Bartimaeus would’ve done if he’d ask Jesus for a lavish lifestyle.  We need to not make our requests things that will hurt people, which Bartimaeus would’ve done if he’d asked for revenge on people.

Bartimaeus asked for the one thing he needed.  It was the one thing that would allow him to live a life that would honor God.  Not that blind people cannot honor God, of course, but again, think of the society Bartimaeus was living in.  There was little he could do but beg.  Bartimaeus asked for his sight so that he could live a normal life, a fulfilling life, a life that would allow him to bring honor and glory to God the way he wanted to.

And one last thing.  What did Bartimaeus do when Jesus gave him his sight?  He followed Jesus.  When the Lord gives us what we asked for, we need to follow Him.

Maybe that seems obvious, but let’s think about it a little.  We’ve had a lot of folks praying for rain.  Over the last couple of weeks, we got some good rains.  How many of us, including me, have done more than just say a perfunctory thank you to God?  In fact, how many people have failed to do even that?  How many of us have just accepted the rain, maybe said thank you or maybe not, and just gone on with our lives as if nothing much had happened?

Bartimaeus cried out to the Lord.  The Lord heard him.  The Lord responded.  Bartimaeus told the Lord what he wanted.  The Lord gave it to him.  Bartimaeus followed Jesus, not even going back to pick up his cloak.

We cried out to the Lord.  The Lord heard us.  The Lord responded.  We told the Lord what we wanted.  The Lord gave it to us.  What have we done?  Have we followed Jesus?

This is more than just a nice story about Jesus giving a man his sight.  This is a story about how we relate to the Lord.  We can always cry out to the Lord.  The Lord will hear and respond.  If what we ask for will bring honor and glory to God, the Lord will give it to us.  But then, it’s up to us to follow Him.

May we all respond the way Bartimaeus did.  May we all follow Jesus.