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Text: Mark 10:46-52
His Condition (vs 46)
- Blind
- Living in darkness
- Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
- Rummage through the memories of a blind man.
- Stuck on the side of the road
- Begging
- People try to find the best way to handle their infirmity and problems. They adjust their behavior to accommodate their problem. Adopt a lifestyle that provides the most comfort to accommodate the infirmity.
- Lady who lost her sight late in life and all the little things taken for granted. She still went to the mirror on a daily basis though she couldn’t see. She didn’t know if she looked pretty or not, if her clothes matched, if her hair was nice.
His Cry (vs 47)
- Identified the power of God
- Calls Jesus the Christ by calling him the Son of David
- Identified by what he heard, like you and I, and any sinner that will come to Jesus Christ.
- The ones that came for what they could see rarely if ever stuck around. But the ones who came to hear stayed.
- Infirmity was recognized
- This infirmity made Bartimaeus more prepared in, many ways, to receive help from the Lord than the people who could see around him.
- Bartimaeus recognized his own infirmity
- Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior (by Fanny Crosby)
His Confrontation with the world (vs 48)
- Opposed
- Faces opposition getting to the Lord.
- Opposition to your drawing close to the Lord will do one of two things. It will make you give up or it will make you dig in.
- Take that opposition just like Bartimaeus did as an indicator that I’m heading in the right direction.
- Overwhelming
- Fervency and urgency defined Bartimaeus cry for help.
- Our prayers are missing this because we don’t really believe in answered prayer or we don’t really care.
- Bartimaeus had nothing to lose and everything to gain. If I can’t get to the Lord then I might as well go back to doing what I was doing on the side of the road and resolve to deteriorate beside the road of life.
- Earnestly contend
His Comfort (vs 49)
- The Lord’s compassion is a comfort
- What would cause God in the flesh to stop what He’s doing and take notice?
- But you think about it that Jesus did not stop what He was doing, that is what He was doing.
- The Lord’s call is a comfort
- The opposition was now making the offer
- The enemies had become evangelists
- The wisdom of God to take a painful circumstance and use it for a productive change.
His Change (vs 50)
- Defiled wardrobe
- Threw off his old clothes. Don’t take them with you. You don’t need them anymore.
- The old rags you’ve been sleeping under won’t help you in this new life. They will only be a hindrance and a stench along the way.
- Dead works
- No more dead works. Letting go.
- The articles of an old life are cast away.
- Yes to the call is no to the old clothes. No to the old life. No to the old man.
His Confession (vs 51)
- Humble
- Question Jesus asks is not what wilt thou that I should do FOR thee, but what wilt thou that I should do UNTO thee?
- What part of you do you want me to change?
- The thing that had defined Bartimaeus’ life was something he wanted to get rid of.
- Public nature of what defined his life.
- Private nature of what defines your life?
- Heard
His Commission (vs 52)
- Faith
- Faith is your response to His voice. The Lord didn’t always respond this way to people. Sometimes he scattered the ones following Him. Sometimes He gave instruction to those who approached Him. What you find is that the Lord responds to faith in Him.
- Pleases God
- Follow
- In answer to Bartimaeus question, the first word out the Lord’s mouth is “Go.
- Not that your going has made you whole, but now that you’re whole, Go.
- That was what Bartimaeus couldn’t do before.
- Led as you go.
- Helped as you go.
- Provided for as you go.
