BLIND BARTIMAEUS.
Mark Ch 10 v 46-52. Mat ch 20 v 29-34. Luke ch 18 v 35. Psalm 146. Isaiah ch 42 v 1-13.
This short passage describes an event, which took place nearly 2,000 years ago. There are only seven verses - 167 words. Yet it has so much to teach. The Bible is like a tutorial. As a man listens to the words and puts himself in the situation, he finds that he is thinking about how he would react, how he would handle the situation or how guilty he would feel. Imagine being one of the crowd that day, as Jesus left the northern gate of Jericho on His way to Jerusalem. Jericho, a city with a proud tradition - one of the oldest cities in the World. Then 5,000 years old, now 7,000 years old. Jesus was there in this city.
It is interesting that Matthew records that two people were healed that day. Mark and Luke record just one person healed. Sometimes people, looking to criticise, point to this situation and say: "How can you believe the Bible, which is full of inaccuracies?" Is it? If a man goes down town and meets two people he may return and relate meeting one of them. Later when speaking to another person he narrates meeting two people. There is no untruth there. Both accounts are true. Why Mark and Luke mention only one and not two is not know, but it does not detract from the truth. The meeting between Jesus and Bartimaeus. Bar is the same as Mac and means son of - Son of Timaeus.
Imagine being in the crowd wanting to hear what Jesus has to say. Everyone is quoting Jesus and talking about the miracles, the confrontation with the religious leaders of the day, the countless people who have been healed. Will there be a healing today? Will a Pharisee turn up and ask some trick question? Maybe there will be an opportunity to speak to some of His closest followers later on. Did anyone notice that there was a blind beggar sitting by the roadside? Suddenly he called out: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me." Who was it who told him to be quiet. He was disturbing the meeting. Was it right to tell him to be quiet. Jesus was speaking. The Son of God, in human flesh was speaking and naturally the people wanted to hear His every word. Was it a surprise that Jesus Himself stopped walking and talking and asked some of the crowd to call the blind beggar over? The blind beggar did not need to be asked twice. Although he was blind, there was nothing wrong with his hearing or with his legs.
It is comfortable to be in a group where everyone knows the others. What if someone brings in a lonely person, with big problems? It will never be the same again. Is it right to deny others the life, which Jesus offers? What would happen if, during a Church service, someone was to call out to be healed. Would it be embarrassing? Are Church members too busy to take the time to meet a lonely or disturbed person at their point of need? Jesus did just that. What was the point of talking, if it did not lead to action and did not help someone in real need. After all, it was the same Jesus who said: "It is the sick who need a doctor, not those in good health. My purpose is to invite sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend time with those who think themselves already good enough."
Believers cannot afford embarrassment or concern about what others will think. If they see a need, will they respond in the name of Jesus and with the compassion of Jesus? “Well done good and faithful servant.” It has to be one of the objectives of a group of believers to meet people at the point of their need - whether that is physical, emotional or spiritual.
It is interesting that Jesus did not call the man Himself but asked someone else to be involved. It is the same today. Jesus would ask believers to call people to join Him. The Holy Spirit may be at work in the life of another. Indeed without the work of the Holy Spirit nothing will happen. But then He usually works in conjunction with a human being. Perhaps a particular believer is the one He wants to use to issue the physical call to come to Jesus. It is also interesting that Jesus did not approach Bartimaeus. Jesus healed all who came to Him. Was it a coincidence that Jesus passed by that way? Did He see Bartimaeus at the side of the road and slow down, giving Bartimaeus the opportunity to call out? Perhaps the two were not the only blind beggars there that day. There is a mystery why some respond and others do not.
There is another mystery. How did Jesus heal the man? When there is healing today, how does the healer believe that there will be a healing? What makes it different from just wanting the man to be healed, however honourable that may be? Jesus said: "I only do what I see my Father doing?" Did Jesus ask His Heavenly Father; “Do you want to heal this man?” Did He then hear the word of God from Psalm 146 v 8. “The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.” Perhaps it was from Isaiah ch 42 v 6-7. “I have given you to my people as the personal confirmation of my covenant with them. You will open the eyes of the blind." Knowing what His Father wanted to do, in faith, Jesus spoke the words and the man was healed. Could that be the way it happened? Is that the way for believers to act, when it comes to healing?
Bartimaeus was not only blind. He was also lonely. Blindness was not uncommon in these days. Because of his blindness, he could not earn his living and had no alternative but to beg. That was his daily routine. What else could he do? If he had had family or friends, he would not have had to beg. Just another day, until Jesus met him at his point of need.
The World is full of lonely people. Loneliness is capable of hurling the heaviest weight the human heart can endure. Only those who have really been lonely will know the anguish it can cause. A prison inmate, an elderly person, who closes the curtains at 4 o'clock in the winter and does not see another person until the following morning. There can be children at school who are lonely - who have no friends - and have to hide themselves, pretending to be busy, so that their loneliness does not show. Perhaps when they go home on a Friday, it is simply to continue their lonely life, busying themselves with their video games and hidden away in their rooms, wishing that there was some way out of their lonely existence. Do not be too occupied with the words of Jesus in meetings and Bible study, to miss the lonely people, who are desperate to be involved in real life.
In a sense this man is a helpful picture of those who, the Bible says, are blinded by the god of this age. They do not know Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. Bartimaeus was helpless and hopeless, with no prospect of improving his lot in life. He was just waiting out his days on Earth. Those who are spiritually blind are just moving relentlessly to the day when their physical life will end and they have no hope of a life after death. Indeed they do not enjoy life to the full right now. So often people say that they are doing something to help pass the time. Time is a gift from God to mankind to be used for the glory of God. A man only has so much time and ought to use it and not let it pass by. Look what Jesus packed into three short years and learn from Him how to use the time available to effect. Do not waste it. Use it. The enemy comes to rob, steal and destroy. He will steal a man’s time and encourage him to fritter it away. There is a worldly attitude of doing as little as possible. In light of the gift of eternal life, believers cannot do enough for the Lord. God's children should not do as little as possible but as much as possible.
For a blind beggar, who relies on the generosity of people, a crowd passing by increased the possibilities of a better than average day. But this was no ordinary crowd. In the crowd was Jesus. This incident took place near the end of Jesus' three-year ministry. He was on the way to Jerusalem where He would lay His life down for the sins of the World. Bartimaeus must have heard talk of the miracles of Jesus, the healings of Jesus and the difference Jesus had made to lives of other people in deep trouble. He had plenty time to think and reflect. Would Jesus heal him if he asked Jesus? “If some are healed, why not me?” Faith feeds on facts and Bartimaeus had heard the facts. What had he to lose? This might be his only opportunity. Jesus may never pass this way again. In fact Jesus never did pass that way again. A man’s opportunities to be in touch with Jesus are always today and never tomorrow. The Bible says - today is the day of salvation.
It is clear that Bartimaeus had been thinking. He knew about sin and the need for forgiveness. Maybe he harboured envy and bitterness in his heart because of his condition. Mercy was what he needed and he was not too proud to let it be known in public. On another occasion Jesus said: "Forget about yourself." That is the key. Realising that man is a creature. He is the Creator. A man is nothing in His glorious sight. Many people cannot see past their own interests. It is not difficult to find someone worse off. Satan became Satan because he put his interests before God's interests. A blind person has little room for pride.
There was no great dialogue - nineteen words by Jesus and six by Bartimaeus. “What do you want me to do for you?” "O, Teacher, I want to see." “All right, it is done. Your faith has healed you.” There is a lesson about prayer there. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple Saint. Believers beat about the bush so often, never quite getting to the point. God knows what a man wants, before he asks Him. A man should make sure to ask the Lord for what he wants.
So many people get close to God and let the moment slip by. Perhaps when they are in hospital undergoing surgery, they realise that they might have died and they were not ready to face God. They say to themselves: "When I get home, I am going to do something about this." Others hear of a tragedy - a plane crash and realise that they might have been on that plane. Some hear the Word of God preached and go home poised to make a decision. They meet someone on the way and the moment is gone. Others want to keep an open mind. There is a danger that, if a man keeps his mind open too long on any matter, his brains will fall out.
This passage has something to say about physical healing. The problem of loneliness challenges believers about their attitude to the needs of others and the compassion of Jesus. It also has something to say about the difference between knowing about God and knowing Him personally. The main distinction is between deists and theists. The idea that a person can know God personally is ridiculous to most people. Yet that is what the Bible offers.
Religion v Christianity. Ideas about God abound. Usually they are the ideas of man transferred onto God. The mark of error in religion is that its gods are scaled down to a size, which the human mind can accommodate and its demands encourage the idea that man's religious practices can contribute to his own salvation. Jesus said: “I am God.” Did He? "Before Abraham was, I am." The religious leaders said of Jesus at the trial: "You, a mere man, make yourself out to be God." They understood His message.
How well a man knows someone depends on how much of himself that person chooses to reveal of himself. When a man knows someone, he does not know all about him. If a man loves another he wants to know everything about that person. Heb ch 1 v 3. God has spoken through the Bible and His Son Jesus to reveal Himself.
It is one thing to talk about Jesus. It all comes down to one question at the end of the day – “Does a man want to know God personally.” Only those who want to know God personally and are interested in His interests, will be in Heaven. The real question is not – “If you die tomorrow, will you go to Heaven?” It is – “If you live tomorrow, will you live in Heaven under the authority of God?” The Kingdom of Heaven is the rule of God in the hearts of men.
Bartimaeus obviously knew about Jesus. That was essential if he was to call upon Him as he did. “Jesus, Son of David.” The title meant the anointed one. The one who was to come from Heaven. Batimaeus knew about Jesus but did not know Him personally - until that day in Jericho. There he met with Jesus personally. His life was clearly changed. Not just physically but after the meeting he followed Jesus on the way. Once a man knows someone special he wants to know all about that person. That is how it is with popular idols - pictures, autographs, magazines, and so on. So it is with Jesus. When a man has met Him his desire for knowledge about Him should increase so that he can get to know Him better. There is also this idea. Jesus needed people like Bartimaeus. He did not court popularity but in His humanity Jesus needed human company. It is a truth found throughout the Bible that God works though people. In one sense God needs no one to accomplish His purposes. He is all-powerful and can do anything. But given that His plan for this World has been shown to be worked out through people, He does need people. He delights in the company of His adopted children. There is a story (not a true story) of Jesus’ return to Heaven. When asked by an angel what arrangements He had made for His Church on Earth the reply was: “I have left it all in the hands of twelve Disciples. No other arrangements have been made.”
The people saw in Jesus a great leader. They, who had physical sight, were blind spiritually. Bartimaeus, who had no physical sight, had spiritual sight. He recognised this man as God.
Just 167 words, but this encounter between Jesus and Bartimaeus has a lot to teach.