Mark – God is On Our Side!
Jesus knows us by name and sees into our hearts. He hears us when we pray, asking for help. He also knows what we need most in this life. He wants us to know our greatest need and say it out loud. Jesus makes us stop and think about what we think we want which is a way for us to evaluate our own hearts’ motivations.
Bartimaeus has only one goal as Jesus passes by on the road out of town. He wants to see. He knows Jesus can heal him. Jesus tells him his faith has healed him. Faith is knowing Jesus and believing that Jesus can do the impossible. Faith is knowing your true need, “I want to see”, and the Source of getting that need met in the best way possible. Jesus healed Bartimaeus instantly. Bart also instantly followed Jesus farther down the road than he had been before, seeing what he had not seen or imagined before his healing!
HOLY PAUSE…What do you want Jesus to do for you today?
Yes, God is on our side! Don’t you love all the ways Mark shows us how He is on our side? Yes, and Amen!
Mark 10, NLT
Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus
46 Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. 47 When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 “Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.
But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.
“My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”
52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.
PICTURE THE SCENE…
There were two blind beggars sitting by the road (See Matt. 20:30), one of whom was named Bartimaeus. Both Mark and Luke focused attention on him since he was the more vocal of the two. The beggars heard that Jesus of Nazareth, the Healer, was passing by; they did their best to get His attention so that they might receive His merciful help and be healed.
At first, the crowd tried to silence them, but when Jesus stopped and called for the men, the crowd encouraged them! Desperate people do not permit the crowd to keep them from Jesus (see Mark 5:25–34). Bartimaeus threw off his garment so it would not trip him, and he hastened to the Master. No doubt some of the pilgrims or disciples helped him. “What do you want Me to do for you?” seems like a strange question to ask a blind man. (It was the same
question He had asked James, John, and Salome; Mark 10:36.) But Jesus wanted to give the man opportunity to express himself and give evidence of his own faith. What did he really believe Jesus could do for him?
PAUSE TO PRAY…What do we really believe what Jesus can do for us?
When Bartimaeus called Jesus “Lord,” he used the title Rabboni, meaning “my Master.” The only other person in the Gospels who used it was Mary (John 20:16). The beggar had twice called him “Son of David,” a national messianic title, but “Rabboni” was an expression of personal faith.
Matthew tells us that Jesus was moved with compassion and touched their eyes (Matt. 20:34), and immediately they were healed. Out of gratitude to Jesus, the men joined the pilgrim band and started toward Jerusalem, following Jesus. This is the last healing miracle recorded in Mark, and it certainly fits into Mark’s “Servant” theme. We see Jesus Christ, God’s Suffering Servant, on His way to the cross, and yet He stops to serve two blind beggars! What love, what mercy, and what grace! THIS is amazing grace! Jesus still stops to hear us and help us on our own journeys, following Him.
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior
Thank you for your faithfulness, love, mercy and grace. You loved us first with a love that knows not limits and never ends! Your compassion for us is undeserving but we are eternally grateful for Your merciful ways. Oh Lord, how I love you. You are God and we are not. You are ready with answers to our needs even before we know we will have a problem. So, all our trust is in You alone. Be our wisdom today.
In Jesus Name, Amen
And I’m singing…This is Amazing Grace, by Phil Wickham
Who breaks the power of sin and darkness
Whose love is mighty and so much stronger
The King of Glory, the King above all kings
Who shakes the whole earth with holy thunder
And leaves us breathless in awe and wonder
The King of Glory, the King above all kings
This is amazing grace
This is unfailing love
That You would take my place
That You would bear my cross
You lay down Your life
That I would be set free
Oh, Jesus, I sing for
All that You’ve done for me
Who brings our chaos back into order
Who makes the orphan a son and daughter
The King of Glory, the King of Glory
Who rules the nations with truth and justice
Shines like the sun in all of its brilliance
The King of Glory, the King above all kings
This is amazing grace
This is unfailing love
That You would take my place
That You would bear my cross
You lay down Your life
That I would be set free
Oh, Jesus, I sing for
All that You’ve done for me….
