Focus: Turn your eyes of faith toward Jesus.
Function: To move the people to anchor their faith in Christ, for he is able to meet us in our needs and to bring us restoration and renewal.
Text: Mark 10:46-52
Her name was Alice. When I met her as her new pastor in 1989, she was confined to a wheelchair. When I called her to set up a time for a visit, she had no clue as to who I was. I noticed a sharp edge and impatience in her voice. And I made it a point to listen to her story.
Alice was blind. Her eyes were physically misshapen; and Alice had become bitter over the years, because her family had kept her from public sight. Perhaps they were embarrassed and did not know how to meet Alice’s particular needs. When visitors would come to her parents’ home, her parents locked her up in a closet—out of sight of the people. Eventually, her family institutionalized Alice, and thus she led a lonely, and yes, a bitter, life.
Alice was blind; yet, when I met her I noticed that she was very good at seeing with her eyes of faith. Somehow, by the grace of God, Alice was learning to overcome her bitterness and loneliness with a strength that came from God. Alice was a woman of faith. Although she had a bitter edge to her, she learned to love other people; our children still remember her with fondness, because Alice had time for them and always remembered them in her prayers.
Today, Alice is with the Lord. All throughout her earthly life, Alice did not receive the healing that Bartimaeus received; yet, she experienced inner healing, and yes, she will receive full healing when Jesus comes again to restore and renew all things. On the great day of resurrection and judgment, Alice will see—not only by faith, but also with perfectly shaped eyes and 20-20 vision; she will see the glory of God in Christ Jesus.
A blind person like Alice helps us see today. And a person like Bartimaeus moves us to turn our eyes of faith toward Jesus. Why? Because from Scripture we learn that Jesus is able to meet us in our needs and to bring us restoration and renewal.
As we enter the story of Bartimaeus’ remarkable healing, let me say something about the setting. Mark, the gospel writer, first tells us the story of Jesus’ two disciples (James and John, the sons of Zebedee) who came to Jesus with a request. Jesus asked them: (Mark 10:35-37) “What do you want me to do for you?” They replied: ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.’”
This request raised the eyebrows of the other disciples, and Jesus told James and John: “You don’t know what you are asking.”
The next story stands in contrast to the first story; It’s about this blind man by the name of Bartimaeus; he is the son of Timaeus. He cried out to Jesus for help. And Jesus asked him the same question that he asked of the sons of Zebedee: “What do you want me to do for you?” It is this question that holds these two stories together. By comparing these stories, we learn that we may make very specific requests of Jesus. For Jesus is able to meet our needs and to bring restoration to all of us. But at the same time, we must be careful about our requests. Some of our requests, like the ones from James and John, may be inappropriate.
The story is simple. Jesus and his disciples have come to the town of Jericho. Jericho rings a bell to anyone who knows the story of Israel’s escape from Egypt, in the days of Moses, and Israel’s entrance into the land of Canaan in the days of Joshua.
For example, Jericho is the town where God revealed his power on the inhabitants of Canaan. God brought down the walls of Jericho. Jericho is the town where the prostitute, Rahab, found hope and life. Rahab put her faith in the God of Israel; she staked her life on protecting Israel’s spies and in doing so, Rahab found favor in God’s eyes. God rewarded Rahab by sparing her (and all those who were with her in the house).
The old Jericho was never fully rebuilt. In fact, in the days of Jesus, there was a “new” Jericho built by King Herod the Great. This new Jericho has become a city of hope and renewal as well. Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, for example, found Jesus Christ. And with him, Zacchaeus found life and hope for the future. Jericho, then, signals hope for all who turn to Jesus, the Son of God.
The story, of course, is not so much about Jericho. Rather it is about Jesus who is “on the way.” And that phrase “on the way” is a hot button phrase in the story. In the gospel of Mark, for example, the word “way” or “road” describes Jesus’ journey to his suffering and death on the cross. Note: Mk. 8:27 “Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’”
Mk. 9:33,34 “They came to Capernaum. When (Jesus) was in the house, he asked them (his disciples) ‘What were you arguing about on the road? (on the way).
Mk. 10:17 “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him….”
Mk. 10:32 “They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way….”
Mk. 10:46b “As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man…was sitting by the roadside (on the way) begging.”
In the story of blind Bartimaeus, then, we find the Lord Jesus, together with his disciples, “on the way” to the cross, to Christ’s death—and resurrection. And at the end of the story, we notice that Bartimaeus joins Jesus “on the way.” Listen: (vs. 52) “Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road (or literally “on the way.”)
Now the early Christians reading this story in the gospel of Mark were called “followers of the Way.” They pledged allegiance to Jesus who has said that he is “The Way, the Truth and the Life.” And anyone who follows Jesus must be “on the way,” must be willing to follow Jesus on the road of suffering, self-denial, on the road that leads to a new, eternal future.
In a very subtle way, then, Mark tells us the story of Bartimaeus, how he got to follow Jesus, and how Bartimaeus (and you and I, too) should follow Jesus as people “on the way.” In other words, this story calls us to turn our eyes upon Jesus and follow him on the way.
A striking feature of the story, I think, is Bartimaeus’ eyesight. He is blind. He can’t see a stitch. Yet, he sees things that others don’t see. The crowd that surrounds Jesus have a difficult time believing and seeing with the eyes of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world promised by God through the words of the prophets of Israel. They admire Jesus for his teachings and his miracles, but they fail to see the hand of God on Jesus; they fail to see that this carpenter’s son of Nazareth is the Christ, anointed by God to bring God’s rule here on earth.
Not so Bartimaeus. The moment he hears that Jesus has come to Jericho, Bartimaeus cries out with a loud voice, addressing Jesus with his Messianic title: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” In his need for mercy and healing, Bartimaeus puts all his eggs of faith in the basket of this Son of David, called “Jesus.”
And as Jesus calls Bartimaeus to come to him and asks him, “What do you want me to do?” Bartimaeus yields himself at the mercy of Jesus, saying: “Rabboni” (yes, the same address as Mary’s on the day of Jesus’ resurrection) “Rabboni, I want to see.” In his response to Jesus, then, Bartimaeus anchors his faith and trust in Jesus, and he yields himself entirely to the mercy of Jesus. Bartimaeus believes. He is a man of faith. And thus Jesus tells him: “Go, your faith has healed you.” And Bartimaeus receives his eyesight. The healing power of Jesus has brought light and sight to Bartimaeus’ eyes. He is healed.
So, what shall we do with this story? What is the Lord saying to us today through Bartimaeus’ response of faith and healing?
Bartimaeus helps us see, with the eyes of faith, who Jesus is: He is the Son of David, that is, he is the One sent by God to establish the eternal heavenly reign of God here on earth. Jesus, by virtue of being the eternal Son of God, by taking on our human nature, and by demonstrating his divine power—healing the sick, casting out the demons, silencing stormy winds and waters—has revealed himself as the Savior of the world, the Christ who is to come and establish God’s kingdom of peace.
There is still time to turn our eyes upon Jesus. There is still time to draw from him the words of life: “be healed, be saved, be filled with hope, be of good cheer.” For his kingdom will come! And Christ will bring renewal and complete restoration. He is the Christ; Therefore, the day shall come when there shall be no more sickness, no more death, and no more tears. Turn your eyes of faith toward Jesus!
way” and be prepared to make sacrifices : Did you notice the text? It says that Bartimaeus threw “his cloak aside” and that when he received his sight, Bartimaeus “followed Jesus on the way.” The cloak represents Bartimaeus’ old life—a life reduced to begging; he leaves that life behind; he gives it up; he sacrifices it for something new, for being with Jesus “on the way.”
In his gospel, Mark points out that whenever someone follows Jesus, he leaves something behind. For example, Simon and Andrew abandoned their nets (1:18); James and John left their father with the hired servants in the boat (1:20); Levi walked away from his tax office (2:14); Jesus commanded the rich man to sell all his possessions and give to the poor in order to follow (10:21); Peter pointed out that the disciples had left everything to be with Jesus (10:28); In a similar way, Bartimaeus left behind what he had in order to come to Jesus and be with Jesus on the way.
The point is this: as we turn our eyes upon Jesus and follow him “on the journey of faith,” on our way to the new heavens and new earth—we must be willing and be prepared to leave things behind, to make sacrifices if necessary. We do well to “travel light” as we walk with Jesus on the way into the future.
me to do for you?” asked Jesus of his disciples and Bartimaeus. He still asks us today. We may be bold and specific in our requests. And our requests may reflect our needs and our conditions.
I have a friend and mentor who is suffering from pancreatic cancer. There is no cure for this disease. My friend is dying. He has invited all of us to pray to Jesus on his behalf. This is what my friend wrote this week: “…my kind of cancer, pancreatic, has no cure. The cure that we hope and pray for is divine intervention.” My friend is not afraid to ask. He also knows that the healing he longs for—and the healing or complete salvation we all so desperately need and long for—will come when Jesus comes again and restores all things. My friend is not afraid to die, for he knows that complete salvation or healing is coming. He knows because with the eyes of faith he can see that salvation already in Christ Jesus.
Ask Jesus. Be specific. And be prepared for his answer to us: It may be “yes”; in his divine wisdom, it may be “no”; and more often it is: “not yet.” But always it is: “I am with you. There is healing in my wings.”
As a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I declare to all here today: anyone who puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ has life—life eternal, in principle, through faith, already today; that life will come in all its fullness when Christ comes again.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.