Mark 10:46-52

(46) And they came to Jericho: and as He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. (47) And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. (48) And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. (49) And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; He calleth thee. (50) And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. (51) And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto Him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. (52) And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Introduction

Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem. The proverbial rubber was about to meet the road. He was on His way to the Last Supper, to the agony in Gethsemane, to the betrayal of Judas, to the abandonment of ten disciples, to the denial of Peter, to the march to Calvary, to the cruel death of the cross. Multitudes were following Him. Some came to see and hear Him out of sheer curiosity; some came because they believed He would use His miraculous power to free them from Roman occupation. Some had evil intent. Please don’t get paranoid, but there will always be those who will come to work their evil agendas. These malicious individuals were hoping they would lure Him into speaking against the religious leaders or against the Roman government, and that would ensure incarceration or even execution. They wanted to use His own words, taken out of context, to vilify Him.

However, there was a blind man, in this well-known Scripture, who could see more than all the others. His physical vision was lost, but his spiritual vision was better than 20/20. As we review this familiar narrative, we can learn much about spiritual vision from this blind man.

Exposition

1. He Saw That His Greatest Opportunity Had Come.

(He Heard That Jesus Was Coming.)

(He Used What He Had - His Ears Were Working Just Fine.)

(At First, He Was Probably Impressed With The Great Crowd.)

(More People, More Charitable Donations.)

(He Lost Interest In The Monetary Gains And Concentrated On Jesus.)

(Sometimes Our Priorities Need To Shift.)

2. He Saw That This Opportunity Could Easily Pass By.

(He Knew Jesus Was Passing By - Passing By.)

(Jesus Was Leaving Jericho – He Was Just Passing Through.)

(Time Was Of The Essence.)

(He Appealed Loudly To The Savior.)

(Since His Priorities Had Changed, He Stopped Listening To The Crowd.)

(He Would Not Allow The Crowd To Make Him Miss His Blessing.)

3. His Spiritual Vision Gave Him His Physical Vision.

(He Received His Physical Sight Immediately.)

(The Blessing Of Eyesight Leads To Many More Blessings.)

(He Discarded His Blanket.)

(There Are Some things You Need To Get Rid Of As You Come To Jesus.)

(He Committed “Holy Disobedience.”)

(Jesus Told Him To Go His Way, But He Followed Jesus.)

Closing Thoughts

Jesus is our Lord and Savior. All throughout the Passion of our Savior, He never failed to bless others. He saved a repentant thief as He was dying on the cross. With the burden of knowing He would soon face the cross, He still healed blind Bartimaeus. I am reminded of the rhetorical questions of our ancestors: He sits high and looks low, who wouldn’t serve a God like that? Jesus died to set us free, who wouldn’t praise a Savior so sweet? Give God Glory! Give God All The Glory!

End Note

It was common for rabbis, priests, prophets, and other religious leaders to lecture and answer questions as they traveled from place to place. People would hover around them to hear the leaders speak. They wanted Bartimaeus to keep quiet so they could hear what Jesus was saying. Bartimaeus knew it was “now or never,” and he kept on calling Jesus.

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