Let us turn once more to God's
Word in Mark chapter 10. We were in the chapter this morning
as we considered something of the Lord's dealings with the
rich young ruler spoken of in verse 17 following. And I made
remark concerning the contrast between Christ's dealings with
this young man and then what we have at the end of the chapter.
And so turning now to that latter part, and his dealings, that's
the Lord's dealings with Blind Bartimaeus, verse 46. We're told, 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. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, our son
of David, have mercy on me. Many charged him that he should
hold his peace, but he cried the more a great deal, our son
of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still and commanded
him to be called. And they called the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he,
casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. 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. 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. Again here we have an account
that is also found in the other synoptic Gospels. in Matthew
chapter 20 at verse 30 following and then again in Luke 18 35
following. The threefold account then of
the Lord's dealings with this man just as the same as we have
that threefold account of his dealings with the rich young
ruler. And as we're told in Ecclesiastes,
this threefold court is not easily broken. There are events in the
ministry of the Lord Jesus that are obviously of some significance
because of the repetition there. They're underlined, they're underscored.
We know that there are no vain repetitions anywhere in the Word
of God. And so I wanted to continue with
this contrast between blind Bartimaeus and the rich young ruler. We concentrated more especially
on that young man this morning, but now concentrating on Bartimaeus. And how we said this morning
that in these events we see something of the discriminatory nature
of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember how I think
it's three times in John's Gospel we have that statement made concerning
a division. There was a division among the
people because of him, that is because of the person of the
Lord Jesus. or it says there was a division
amongst them because of his sayings. His ministry was a dividing ministry. And now we see that the Lord
Himself discriminates in the way in which He answers certain
individuals as they come to Him. with the rich young ruler, the
Lord speaks to him very much in terms of law. What does Christ say to him?
Verse 19, Thou knowest the commandments. And why was it that the Lord
spoke to him in this fashion? Because of the way in which he
came to Christ and the thing that he asked of Christ. Verse
17, He asked him, Good Master, what shall I do? What shall I
do? Or as we have it in Matthew's
account, what good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? Remember what we quoted from
Calvin, how this youngster is a young man dreaming of merit,
thinking in terms of works that are meritorious, He wants, as
it were, to put God into his debt. He wants to earn some blessing
from God. Now he is looking to himself
and looking to his own performance. In verse 20, after the Lord has
spoken of the commandments or the second table of the law,
he says, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. always
a law keeper and this is where he puts his confidence and really
he doesn't understand anything about the law in so many ways
similar to Saul of Tarsus when he was a Pharisee and imagine
that touching the righteousness which is in the law he was a
man who was blameless he didn't understand the law at all and
the Lord had to teach him what the law was about, had to show
to Saul the real nature, the spirituality of that Lord of
God. And there he learned that lesson,
as we see in the epistles to the Romans and also in the letter
to the Galatians. He asked, wherefore then serveth
the law? It was added because of transgressions. All the Law is meant to serve
the Gospel. The Lord is, in that sense, subordinate
to the Gospel. The Law was our schoolmaster,
says Paul, to bring us to Christ. And here is the Lord, and He
deals with this young man just in terms of what He discerns
in this young man. And He knows the hearts of all
men. He knows the heart of this young
man. But then the contrast, and the very striking contrast, because
when it comes to Bartimaeus that we're going to consider a little
of this evening, the Lord doesn't speak to him in terms of the
law. No, here we have gospel words. And what striking words they
are, Verse 51, Christ asks, What wilt
thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. 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. Or the Lord
speaks of what he will do. The blind man had not come speaking
of merit and what he would do. What must I do was the language
of the rich young ruler. But this blind man had come begging
for mercy. And so the Lord speaks of what
he can do, what he will do. What wilt thou that I should
do? And how the Lord Jesus answers
his request so remarkably, that I might receive my sight, but
it's more than his sight that he receives. The Lord tells him,
thy faith hath made thee whole, or as the margin says, thy faith
hath saved thee. Well, he asks for physical sight,
but he receives spiritual signs he receives salvation he follows
the Lord Jesus in the way well first of all tonight I I want
us to consider something of the faith of this man the faith of
blind Bartimaeus and some four particular aspects of the faith
as we see it as it's recorded here. First of all, it's a begging fight. He was
a beggar. Oh, he was a beggar. How was
he introduced to us? In verse 46, they came to Jericho. As he went out of Jericho with
his disciples, a great number of people, And we're told, blind Bartimaeus,
the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side, begging. That was his business. He was
a beggar. How the Lord speaks of the beggar,
remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the words of
the Lord Jesus there in Luke chapter 16, And what does the
Lord say concerning that poor beggar? There was a certain rich man
which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fed sumptuously
every day and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was
laid at his gate full of saws and desiring to be fed with the
crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs
came and licked his saws And he came to pass that the beggar
died, and was carried by the angels into Abram's bosom. The rich man also died, and was
buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes,
being in torments, and seeth Abram afar off, and Lazarus in
his bosom." Now, here the The rich man, no name is told concerning
that man, but we know the name of the beggar, he was Lazarus. And it's the same when we come
to this 10th chapter of Mark, we're not told the name of that
rich young ruler, but see how the Lord knoweth him that are
his, we have the name of the blind man, he was Bartimaeus. And what similarities between
these two named men or Lazarus is carried by the angels into
Abram's bosom, into heaven itself. It has been well observed that
there are none but beggars in heaven. All friends, if we're
those who would know heaven as our eternal home, we must know
what it is to beg. And that's the only way really
we can approach God. We have nothing, no meritorious
works. It's not a matter of any good
works that we can do. All we can do is beg of the Lord
that he would have mercy upon us. Here is the faith of this
man then. He's a beggar. It's a begging
faith that he has. But then also we see here how
he is one who is really pursuing after the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, it is interesting sometimes, oftentimes really, to compare
the different accounts as we have them recorded in the Gospels. And some would seize on the differences
and say, oh look, there are contradictions. There's no contradictions, they're
simply complementary, these accounts. They're eyewitnesses. These men
who record the the life and the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now look at what we're told in Luke's account. In Luke chapter
18, verse 35, it came to pass that as he was
come nigh unto Jericho, now mark the words, he was come nigh unto
Jericho a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging and hearing
the multitude pass by he asked what it meant and they told him
that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by and he cried saying Jesus
our son of David have mercy on me it was as he came nigh to
Jericho but then Here in the accounts of Mark, it's somewhat
different. Verse 46. They came to Jericho,
and as he went out of Jericho, not as he came nigh, as he went
out of Jericho, with his disciples and a great number of people,
blinded by Timaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side
begging. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, our son
of David, have mercy on me. He is there by the wayside begging
as the Lord enters into the city of Jericho. And he is there by
the wayside again as the Lord is leaving the city of Jericho.
Here is a man who pursues the Lord Jesus through the streets
of Jericho. And isn't that a significant
aspect of his faith? He will not be denied. He pursues
after Christ. He perseveres in calling upon
Him, even though there are those who would silence him. Many charged
him that he should hold his peace, but he cried the more a great
deal, it seems. The more they told him to shut
up, the more he cried, Thou Son of David, have mercy upon me. Oh, this is the faith of this
man. He will not be denied. He asks the Lord for alms. He asks the Lord again and again
and again. This is his occupation. He's
a beggar. And he's begging now mercy of
the Lord. And look at the response of this
man when Christ calls him. Oh, how immediate it is! Verse
50, "...he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus."
As soon as the Lord issued that gracious word and called him,
why, the response was immediate. What a faith! Isn't this one
who is a true son of Jacob? Isn't this a real Israelite?
An Israelite indeed, a spiritual Israelite. What do we read concerning
the faith of Jacob there at Peniel, back in Genesis chapter 32? How
we find him cleaving to the angel. Oh, the angel is wrestling with
him initially, but then when the angel touches him in the
hollow of his thigh and the flesh shrinks and he's crippled, And
he cannot wrestle with the angel as he was once wrestling, but
he clings, he clings. I will not let thee go, except
thou bless me is the language of Jacob when he becomes Israel. And I say that this man also
is a child of Jacob. Remember the significance of
that incident back in Genesis 32 why Jacob became a prince
with God and here we see how the beggar blind Bartimaeus also
is one who becomes a prince with God and it's faith oh he's a beggar
he will not be denied he's pursuing after the Lord Jesus Christ but
then Thirdly, with regards to the faith of this man, we have
to observe how he comes and he makes a very specific and a very
particular request of the Lord. There is something that he wants.
And what does he want? He's blind. He wants to see. He wants the Lord to give him
sight. When Christ asked the question, what wilt thou that
I should do unto thee? All he knows exactly what to
say, Lord, that I might receive my sight. Give me sight is his
prayer. Oh friends, are we those who
come and make those sorts of requests, are we particular when
it comes to our prayers? Are we those who see that we
have a need of faith? How can we obtain faith? We can't
work faith in our own hearts. We can't weave it out of our
own bowels like the spider weaves a web. It's the Lord who has
to give us faith. By grace I say, through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Do we want faith? Maybe we have
faith. Thank God if we've got saving
faith, but we feel at times our faith is so weak and so small. Can we not learn from that man
in the Gospel in the previous chapter here? In Mark 9 verse
24 he says, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Or if we feel that there's too
much unbelief, too many doubts and fears in our faith, we have
to ask the Lord we have to be specific and tell him have to
be honest with him we're so full of unbelief it's not surprising
isn't unbelief bound up really with our fallen nature what was
the real sin of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden it was
unbelief that's the root of all our sins and we need the Lord
to come and help us only He can give us that faith. Always looking
on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And as we need
to ask the Lord for faith, so we have to ask Him for repentance. He is that one who gives repentance. Acts 5.31 Him hath God exalted
with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance
to Israel and the forgiveness of sins how clear the scriptures
are you see who gives repentance where does repentance come from?
I don't mean remorse, I don't mean the sorrow of the world
that only works death but that real evangelical repentance that
godly sorrow that grieving over our sins, that compunction of
conscience. Godly sorrow work as repentance
to salvation, it says, not to be repented of. Or where does
that come from? It comes from the Lord. The Lord
Jesus Christ has been exalted by God the Father, having accomplished
that great work of redemption. The Father has raised Him from
the dead, received Him into the highest heavens, exalted Him
a Prince, a Saviour for a purpose, to give to give repentance to
Israel and the forgiveness of sins. Do we come and ask? All
this man knows what he needs. He needs sights. Are we those
who feel that we need faith? We need repentance. We see the
importance of these graces, faith and repentance. Only the Lord,
only the Lord can give these things to us. And how do these
things come to us? They come by the ministry of
the Holy Spirit. And so, ultimately, that's what
we need more than anything. We need God, the Holy Spirit,
and the Lord gives the Spirit. The words of the Lord Jesus,
again, if ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto
your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Do we ask the Lord to
give us the Holy Spirit? When we come and read the Word
of God or we come under the sound of God's Word in the public reading
or the preaching, do we ask that God would give us eyes to see
and ears to hear and hearts to believe? That's the work of the
Spirit. Or this man, he comes to the Lord And he has a great
particular need and he makes a very specific request. He knows
what he stands in need of and he asks the Lord to give it.
The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my
sight. And then fourthly, he also makes
a spiritual request. It's more than a specific request.
It's a spiritual request. What is the first thing that
this man asks? He doesn't really ask for sight,
does he, in the first place. Oh yes, that's his response when
the Lord says, What wilt thou that I should do? But how does
he come to the Lord? Well, we have it here, and it's
repeated. Verse 47, again, verse 48, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. And then subsequent to that,
that I might receive my sight is first request. It's not for
physical sight. He wants to know the mercy of
God. Or seek ye first the kingdom of God. and his righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto you says the Lord
are we those who are seeking that first and foremost the kingdom
of God that reign of grace established in our hearts or the Lord has
taught us in that pattern prayer I were to pray thy kingdom come
and we need that kingdom to come into our hearts only the Lord
can do it can break down every barrier, can subdue every sin
can scatter away from us all our unbelief only the Lord can
do it all we need the Lord then to have mercy upon us how different
you see this blind man Bartimaeus to that rich young ruler oh how
that young man alas was so full of himself What shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life? There's something to be done.
And the Lord tells him, Thou knowest the commandments. The
Lord speaks of the commandments. What's his answer? Master, all
these have I observed. All these have I observed from
my youth. I've done all these things. I'm a righteous man.
All touching the righteousness which is in the law. I'm a blameless
man. And then in contrast, Bartimaeus,
all he can do is sue for mercy, beg for mercy. Why is he so like
that man that Christ speaks of in Luke 18, those two men that
go to the temple? And the Lord speaks of them,
one's a Pharisee, and one's a publican. And the publican's prayer, oh
the publican's prayer, he cannot lift his eyes to heaven. He's
so ashamed of himself and his sin. He smites upon his breast,
he feels he has a wicked heart and he seeks to strike at the
evil that is within him. And he cries out for mercy. Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. For he feels his sin, and this
man also feels his sin. And so the Lord hears the man,
just as Christ says of that publican, he goes to his house justified,
rather than the other. Though he feels himself a sinner,
he's accounted righteous, he's justified. How is one justified? It's the righteousness of Christ
alone that justifies the sinner. It's that righteousness of Christ
imputed to the sinner, put to the sinner's account. The sinner
is a sinner in himself. Oh, but the sinner by faith is
righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so it was also here with
this man. Christ says unto him, Go thy
way, thy faith hath made thee whole. Or as we said, the margin
has the alternative, thy faith hath saved thee. Thy faith hath
saved thee. He's a saved man. Or he's a justified
sinner. Here we see something then of
the prayer the pleadings which indicate
to us the reality of the faith of blind Bartimaeus. All he can
do is beg. That's what prayer is, is it
not? It's real beggings with the Lord. He's one who will not be denied. He's pursuing after Christ. He's
there when Christ enters the city. He's there as Christ proceeds
through the city. He's there as Christ is leaving
the city. He wants an answer. He'll keep
on begging till he gets an answer. He comes with a very specific
request. He asks for something very definite
from the Lord. But really, his great chief concern
is a spiritual concern. He wants mercy. That's the faith of blind Bartimaeus. Or is that true of us? Is that
the sort of faith that we have? Can we in any way relate to this
man who received so graciously at the hand of the Lord Jesus?
But let us secondly turn from the beggar, the blind man, to
the Lord Jesus himself. What do we see here? As I said,
the Lord deals with this man so differently. With the rich
young man, it's law, because that's what the man needs. But
here, it's gospel, it's all compassion. Oh, it's the compassion of the
Lord Jesus. What do we see then? Well, Christ
clearly is one who feels for sinners. Oh, this is the man,
you see, who loves sinners. This is the man who receives
sinners and eateth with them. He is full of empathy for sinners.
He loves them. He has come, not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, as I said, there are differences
in the accounts that we have in the Gospels. If we turn to
Matthew's account, it seems that there were actually two men.
there in Matthew chapter 20, verse 30, Behold, two blind men
sitting by the wayside, when they heard that Jesus passed
by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.
And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their
peace. But they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord,
thou Son of David. And Jesus stood still, and called
them and said, What wilt thou that I do unto you? They say
unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened. So Jesus had compassion
on them, and touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes received
sight, and they followed him. Now, how do we reconcile two
men with the one man that's spoken of here in Mark? Well, it's the same incidents. but
it is Bartimaeus who was obviously more vociferous and as Mark is
recording the incident he remembers that he remembers that and he
speaks specifically then of this particular man of the two beggars
but there were two beggars but what we see so interestingly
there is how the Lord had compassion that's not spoken of in Mark's
account or in Luke's account that last verse in Matthew 20
so Jesus had compassion on them now the word is interesting literally
is the word for the inward parts of a man it's a reference really
to the the inward parts, the kidneys as it were the seat of
the feelings and here we see the Lord as a real man and how
he feels for men why this morning remember when we were considering
the rich young ruler we were told how Jesus beholding him
loved him verse 21, then Jesus beholding him loved him. He's touched. This is the sort
of man that he is. He's a man of deep feelings,
the Lord. And what a comfort that is. The
truth, you know, of the reality of our Lord's human nature is
the most precious truth. Oh yes, He is God. He is equal to the Father, He
is the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father, He is very God of very
God, we believe that, we rightly contend for the truth, the blessed
truth of His deity, His eternal Sonship. But He is also One who
is truly human, a man there is, a real man. And how this man
feels, all we have not an High Priest, that's not touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, Paul says. Oh, he's so touched. It's his
human nature that we see here. He feels. And he feels for these
men, these beggars. He has compassion upon them.
His bowels yearn towards them. That's the force of the word
that is being used. Oh, we have not an high priest.
that he's not touched with the feeling of our infirmities. No,
here is one tempted in all points like as we are, yet without seeing.
Oh, therefore we're to come to the throne of grace. We have
every encouragement. This one is the mediator. And
this mediator is equal to God, but he's also bone of our bone,
flesh of our flesh, as much as the children were partakers of
flesh and blood, how He has likewise taken part of the same. All the
compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ. And again what a contrast,
what a contrast we see here. Oh, those who were following
the Lord Jesus turned on this beggar. Verse 48, many charged
him that he should hold his peace. They wanted to silence him as
he's pursuing after the Lord Jesus. They wanted him to be
quiet. They charged him that he should
hold his peace. But he cried the more a great
deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood
still. and commanded him to be called. Why he's so different to the
multitude? The Lord will answer him. And
it's not just this incident. We have it previously in the
chapter. We read the opening part of the
chapter this morning. Remember verse 13, they brought
young children to him. that He should touch them, and
His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus
saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the
little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for
of such is the kingdom of God. Why, His own disciples were rebuking
those who were bringing the children, but not the Lord. Not the Lord,
how He feels for the little children. suffer the little children to
come unto me. Oh, what does he go on to say?
We remarked on it this morning, verse 15. Verily I say unto you,
whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child,
he shall not enter therein. We have to be converted. And
we have to be calm as little children. The simplicity, the
humility of the little children. If we are going to enter into
this kingdom, why it is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of God. The eye of a needle, that's a very little space. The
reference they say is to a tiny gate there in the walls of Jerusalem
and it was very difficult to get a camel through that little
gate. We have to become very small,
you see. We have to become as little children. Oh, the Lord, you see, He's so
different. He's full of compassion. Think
of the woman of Samaria, how He must needs go through Samaria,
we're told there in John chapter 4. And His disciples have gone
into the city to get bread, to get food. And He enters into
conversation with this woman of Samaria. There's no dealings
between the Jews and the Samaritans. And we're told when the disciples
return and they see him talking to this woman, they marveled.
That's what it says. There in verse 27 of John 4. They marveled. What's she doing?
Ah, but the Lord must needs go through Samaria. The Lord must have dealings with
this woman. Why? Because she's one of the
election of grace. She's one who must meet with
the Lord. There are these people that must meet with the Lord
Jesus in the course of His earthly ministry. And of course all those
who are saved, all who know His grace, we all have to be those
who are meeting with the Lord Jesus. Have you met with the
Lord Jesus as the Lord Jesus met with you? How He has compassion
you see. and we see even his own disciples
marveling why they despise this woman she was a Samaritan no
she's a trophy of grace the Lord's going to save this woman again
when we think of that woman of Canaan spoken of in Matthew chapter
15 the woman of Canaan Or the Canaanites? What do we read in
the Old Testament? The Canaanites were never to
enter into the congregation of the Lord. The Canaanites are
excluded. And what do they say when this
woman comes and she wants the Lord to appear and to help and
to heal her child? Send her away! Send her away! She's troublesome, send her away.
But no, that's not the way of the Lord. All the Lord deals
with her in a remarkable way. He seems initially to refuse
her, but ultimately we see His gracious purpose is to do the
very thing that she desires of Him. And I do love that passage. It says how she worshipped Him. saying, Lord, help me. She worshipped him. And her worship
was simple. Three words, that was her worship.
Lord, help me. That's how she worshipped him.
How the Lord had compassion upon her. You see, the way of the Lord,
you see, He is such a compassionate Saviour. He feels, and He feels
for sinners. and he loves sinners, filthy
sinners, foul sinners. He loves them. These are the
very ones he came to save. And so, as he feels for them,
so what do we also see? He has a great favor. He has
a great favor to sinners. Well, he says unto this blind
beggar, Bartimaeus, Receive thy sight. Jesus said unto him, Receive
thy sight. Oh, the way in which the Lord
deals with him. What a favour it is. It's not just invitation. Look at the authority of the
Lord Jesus in verse 49. Jesus stood still and commanded
him to be called. The Lord issues a word of command and the man comes forth and the
Lord grants his request. Oh, it's the word of a king and
where the word of a king is there is power. The Lord Jesus, of
course, knew exactly what this man wanted. The Lord knew he
was a blind man He knew everything about you. He knew
not that any should ever testify of man. He knew what was in the
hearts of men. But what does he do? He asks the man, what
will thou that I should do unto thee? The Lord, as it were, draws
the man out. He wants the man to say it again,
that I might receive my sight. This is the way the Lord deals
with us. He draws us out. He loves to hear us coming and
being specific and pleading with Him and making all our requests
known to Him. Oh, it's true, before they call,
He says, I will answer, whilst they are yet speaking, I will
hear. This is the God that we have
to do with. But He would have us, you see,
to come and to ask in faith. This is the thing that He he
delights in, it's the faith of this man go thy way thy faith
hath made thee whole without faith remember it is impossible
to please him either cometh to God must believe that he is and
that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him
oh God grant that we might be those who would come in faith
to come in faith to the Lord. But the difference is that we
see here, and this is the great difference, surely, between the
rich young ruler and the blind man. The rich man says, what
shall I do? What shall I do that I may inherit
eternal life? But with the blind man, Bartimaeus,
it's what the Lord does. What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee? Oh, it's all of the Lord, it's
all of the Lord. It's what Christ does that matters,
because He is the only Savior. And He is that Savior in an absolute
sense. It's all of the grace of God.
O God, grant that we might know then the Lord's gracious dealings
with us. This discriminating ministry
of the Lord Jesus, when He comes, or when He comes to deal with
any individual, He deals with them just as He sees their need.
Might He be pleased then to have such gracious dealings with you
and with me. Amen.