I invite your attention to the gospel of Mark chapter 10, verse 46. I have thoroughly enjoyed my weekend
with you. the hospitality of the Campbells
very much. I enjoyed a long conversation with
Diane. We were friends when we were
very young. We grew up very close together
in West Virginia. Our parents were members of sister
churches. So we've known each other for
years and years. And we reminisced at considerable
length regarding that. And then Lindsey has been kind
enough to tell me of the beginnings of your church and of the faithfulness
of so many of you over the years, long before I met you in 1984.
So this has been a very informative and a very blessed weekend for
me. And I appreciate your kindness. You've been faithful and liberal
to my ministry or the ministry the Lord has given to me for
lo these many years. And it is much appreciated. It's
always good to be here with you. Tonight, God willing, I would
address the subject of Bartimaeus. healed by Jesus. The passage before us is in Mark
chapter 10 verses 46 and down through the end of the chapter.
We here observe that Jesus and his disciples in chapter 9 had
departed Galilee and in chapter 10 verse 1 they had come to the
region of Judea. In verse 32, we read that he
was going up to Jerusalem. And in going up to Jerusalem,
he passes through Jericho. We read in verse 46 that now
they came to Jericho, he and his entourage, his disciples
accompanying him. And we read that he came to Jericho
and as he went out of Jericho and his disciples are with him
and this great multitude that was following him, many of them
probably curious onlookers and spectators. There was a man there by the
name of Blind Bartimaeus. That's the identification of
him in our text, Blind Bartimaeus. Son of Timaeus, and he sat by
the road begging. Now that is the introduction
to our message this night. This account regarding Jesus
and Bartimaeus is not only a beautiful story, and it is a beautiful
story, but it is also a very instructive lesson with regard
to the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Indeed,
Mark has given us an account. You can read parallels of it
in Matthew chapter 20. And in Luke chapter 18, all three
of the so-called synoptic gospels contain this account of Bartimaeus. Not exactly the same words, but
this event is in those three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. I want us to consider Bartimaeus
tonight. We will more or less just go
through the passage. phrase by phrase and bring out
some highlights, but first of all observe that Bartimaeus was
a pathetic man. Pathetic man in the physical
sense, but the things that made him pathetic in the physical
sense apply to our pathetic situation in the spiritual sense. He was
blind. He's identified as blind Bartimaeus
and of the five senses, which is the worst to lose than that
of sight. I mean, you may lose the sense
of smell. That sometimes can be a blessing.
You may lose the sense of taste. I can live with that. Lose the
sense of touch. I think I could live with that.
Lose the sense of hearing. And we're getting a little serious
now, aren't we? But lose the sense of sight.
No, no, no. Let me have my sight. I want
my sight. This man had lost his sight.
He had lost that sense, which is most important. And therefore, he was dependent on
the kindness of the consideration and susceptible to the mischief
of others. He's blind. He's blind. And so are every one of us. Every one of us is blind. All
of us, by nature, we're blind. We read that we are those who
are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded,
who do not believe. lest the light of the glorious
gospel shine upon us. We're blind. We're blind in our
sin and shame. We've been blind ever since Adam
fell in Eden and plunged our whole race into the darkness
of sin and depravity and spiritual blindness. We're just like this
pathetic man. We are pathetic folks by nature. We're blind. Furthermore, he
was impoverished. That's why he sat by the road
begging. He was a beggar, was he not?
He's impoverished. And it was not uncommon for the
blind to be beggars, for this infirmity hinders employment
and generally resulted in impoverishment. Unable to provide for himself,
he sat by the road begging and waiting for the charity of others.
And this is every one of us by nature. We are all impoverished. Our blindness has resulted in
our own poverty. The Holy Spirit says of us, surely
these are poor, for they do not know the way of the Lord and
the judgment of their God. And there we are. We are sitting
by religion road. waiting for the charity of those
who come by and what pathetic creatures we are, blind and impoverished. Furthermore, he resided in a
futile place, Jericho. Now we're not really certain
what this name Jericho means. Some say it means fragrant and
some say it means moon. The fragrance would have come
from the trees of that place. It was renowned for its palms
and the other trees, and it probably was a fragrant city. And on the other hand, some say
Jericho derives from a word meaning moon, and it was a center of
moon worship, Canaanitish moon worship there in this place of
Jericho. But the same is true of religion
in the spiritual realm in any place you are. We reside in a
futile place in our religion. Man-made religion may smell good. Did you ever notice that man-made
religion usually burns a lot of incense? There's a reason
for it. The stench of death is in the
place, and therefore they burn their incense. Man-made religion
loves its incense. It worships the moon. Interestingly,
the word moon comes from the word luna, l-u-n-a. That also is the name from which
the term lunacy comes from. Man-made religion is lunacy.
It may smell good, but it is sheer lunacy. And that's where
we lived, by religion road, impoverished and blind, just like this man. Number two, observe that He nevertheless,
although a pathetic creature, he nevertheless was the son of
honor. Now, how do we know he was the
son of honor? Because his name is Bar Timaeus. Bar means son and Timaeus means
honor. That's his name. His name is
Bar Timaeus, son of honor. His father evidently was named
honor, Timaeus. And here he is, his son. This
man in this pathetic shape, he does have a good name, does he
not? But his name seemed to mock him, because he's a beggar and
impoverished. And there he is. And you come
by, what's your name? My name is Son of Honor. Yeah,
I can see that. Yeah, you're the Son of Honor,
all right. Well, this is every one of us.
We are sons of honor because God, before the foundation, the
world chose us to salvation and predestined that we would be
honored. But in our natural state, here
we are by the roadside begging like blind beggars, like Bartimaeus. Nevertheless, Each of us is,
that is all of us who are God's people, every one of us is a
Bartimaeus, a son of honor, because God put his honor on us before
the foundation of the world. But here we are in our natural
state, blind and impoverished, and Jesus says that if anyone
serves me, him, my father will honor. The truest son of honor
is he who worships Jesus Christ because God will greatly honor
him. Then number three, I want you
to see that Jesus went to the place of Bartimaeus. You did
read in the text that Jesus went to Jericho. Why did he go to
Jericho? Same reason he went to Jericho
on another place, because he said when he came looking for
Zacchaeus, The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that
which was lost. That's why he came to Jericho
one time. It was to find a lost man called
Zacchaeus. But now there is another lost
man in Jericho and Jesus must come looking for him. So Jesus
went to Bartimaeus because Bartimaeus could not come to Jesus. He's
blind. He's impoverished. He's incapable of going. But
as surely as Jesus needed to go through Samaria, so surely
he must go through Jericho. This is the place, and Jesus
went there. Jesus says, no one can come to
me. No one will come to me. That's
true of Bartimaeus, and that's true of you in your spiritual
state. And you better hope, oh, my friends,
you better hope that Jesus will come to you. Oh, that he might
come to you. Jesus went to Bartimaeus because
Bartimaeus could not come to him. And he'll come to us, hopefully,
because we will not go to him. Furthermore, notice that Bartimaeus
recognized Jesus for whom he is in verse 47. Now, Luke will
bring in an incident in this account that Mark does not record. Luke chapter 18 verses 36 and
37 inform us of this, that hearing a multitude passing by. So Bartimaeus,
he's sitting there by the road and he's begging, begging for
alms. But he knows that a group of
people is walking by. The blind usually have great
senses of hearing. He can hear. He has trained his
senses of hearing. And he hears and he knows that
it's not just one or two going by. Luke tells us that it was
a multitude that was going by and he heard it. He knew the
footsteps of a multitude of people. And hearing a multitude passing
by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, Jesus of Nazareth. Observe the term. Jesus of Nazareth
is passing by. What's this sound? I hear a multitude. Jesus of Nazareth is walking
by. Now Mark will pick up where Luke
left off. Who's passing by? Jesus of Nazareth. That's what they told him. Jesus
of Nazareth is passing by. And what does he say? Here it
is in our text, verse 47. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of
David! Now, wait a minute. They did
not say Jesus, son of David, was passing by. They said Jesus
of Nazareth was passing by. Why would he refer to him as
Jesus son of David? Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Jesus is a man. Nazareth is a
physical place. So the people are telling him
this man from Nazareth named Jesus, he's passing by. But to
Bartimaeus, Jesus of Nazareth is much more than that. He is
Jesus son of David Jesus means Jehovah is salvation You shall
call his name Jesus You shall call his name Jehovah is salvation
for he shall save his people from their sins He not only is
the Savior He is the salvation You shall call his name Jesus. Jesus, the name means Jehovah
is salvation. And what is the son of David?
The son of David is the Christ of God. Now this man knew that. He knew somehow or other, he
knew that Jesus was the Christ of God, son of David. And you
cannot know that unless my father in heaven reveals it to you,
Jesus said. Jesus said. Jesus, thou son of
David. Elsewhere, in verse 51, he calls
him Rabboni, meaning my great master. In Matthew 20, verse
33, he called him by the Greek title Kurios, meaning Lord. And furthermore, by this he expressed
his belief in Jesus' deity, Jesus Jehovah, Rabboni, my great master,
the Christ of God. This man knew something. Somebody
taught him. We're not told who it was. But
evidently the Lord had taught him something. God had taught
him something. He knew this one is not merely
a man called Jesus of Nazareth. This is Jesus, son of David,
the Christ of God, my great master, Rabboni, the Lord Jehovah. I tell you what, good things
are bound to happen. to one who recognizes the passerby
as both son of man and son of God, son and Lord of David, master
and savior of sinners, because that's what he has acknowledged.
If you ever do that, I'm going to tell you something. Something
good is about to happen to you. Number five, observe that Bartimaeus
begged from Jesus what he could not obtain from others. In verse
47, he said, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. When others
would pass by, he would ask for alms. Alms, please. Alms, please. Some money, please. But when
Jesus passed by, he did not ask for money. Have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. Perhaps he
remembered the prophecy of Messiah's coming that the eyes of the blind
shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall
be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like
a deer and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. Isaiah 35 verses
five and six. Oh Lord, could this be the day
when the blind shall see? Could this have mercy on me?
If you'll have mercy on me, this prophecy will be fulfilled and
the blind will see. Have mercy. Number six, observe
that many warned him to be quiet in verse 48. Be quiet. Why? We're not told. I can give you a couple of reasons.
They may not have appreciated the fact that he addressed Jesus
as Messiah. They may not have appreciated
that. No, no, no, no. He's Jesus of Nazareth. We did
not say he's Jesus, son of David. We said Jesus of Nazareth. Shh. Don't be calling him that name
that you called him. Second, they may have been, some
of them, like the Gadarenes, when Jesus was there and they
begged him to leave. They begged him to leave. When
false religion sees what the master can do, it does not want
Jesus around any longer. They saw that gathering demoniac. They've been trying now for all
these many years. Couldn't do a thing. Jesus with
one word had that man sitting clothed and in his right mind.
And he said, it's time for you to leave. Get out. Get out. Maybe they wanted Jesus
out of Jericho. I mean, they'd already seen what
they wanted to see. Let him go out, let him go. We've
already seen him. Our curiosity is satisfied. And
Bartimaeus, if you keep hollering to him, he'll stay. Perhaps that's
what they're saying. But at whatever rate, they're
saying, shh, shh. Or maybe they're embarrassed
by him and they don't want Jesus to have a bad impression of their
town. Not knowing He's there, not because
of them, but because of Him. Whatever the reason, they tried to get Him to be quiet.
Now what happens when you try to get an awakened sinner to
be quiet? He will, you know, he'll cry
all the more, won't he? He'll cry all the more. Listen,
look in verse 48. But he cried all the more, Son
of David, have mercy on me. I tell you, a blind beggar will
not be silent when the only one who can help him is within hearing
distance. No, I will not be silent. No,
I will not be silent. Lord, can you get these people
to be quiet? If they do, the stones will start
hollering. No, no, the blind beggar is not
going to be quiet. He's going to holler out all
the more. Have mercy on me, son of David. Number eight, observe that Jesus
mercifully responded to Bartimaeus' cry. So Jesus stood still. Now, by the way, I want you to
think about that just for one moment. What makes Jesus stand still? He must needs go to this place. He may set his face like a flint
to go to some place. But observe a blind beggar called
out and Jesus stood still. This is the one who commands
the son to stand still in the day of Joshua. And now a beggar
causes him to stand still. Jesus stopped. stood still and
commanded him to be called. I say to you that Jesus never
turns a deaf ear to the sincere cry for mercy. And when he stood
still, so did the crowd. Because remember, they're all
following him. Want to get a good look at him.
There's a whole multitude with this entourage of Jesus and his
disciples, a whole multitude. When he stands still, It is now
deathly quiet in the street. And Bartimaeus can hear the deathly
quiet. He can hear the silence. He may
not see what happened, but he knew what happened. It is now
silent. That means that Jesus has stopped. And he hears it. Jesus said to
someone, bring that man to me. Oh, imagine the blind beggar has heard Jesus
say, bring that man to me. I say to you that if Jesus commands
for one to be called to him, he will not refuse the one who's
called. And we assume that Jesus gave
this word to his disciples. Jesus always calls others to
him through his preachers. I don't suppose he looked at
the mayor of the town or one of the older men or whatever
and said, you know, bring him. No, no, no. He's going to talk
to one of his disciples and say, now, go bring that man to me.
Bring him to me. The townspeople warned him to
be quiet. But Jesus said, bring him to
me. Bartimaeus heard it. Number nine, observe that Bartimaeus
was dutifully called to Jesus in verse 49. Then they, assumedly
Jesus' disciples, they called the blind man and they said,
now, sir, be of good cheer, rise. He is calling you. I say to you that If Jesus ever
calls you, oh, blind, impoverished Bartimaeus as you are by nature,
if Jesus ever sends the word to call you, you'll be cheerful.
You'll be cheerful. He'll bring cheer to you, and
you will gladly rise up and come to him. I did. I did. Number 10, observe
that Bartimaeus dutifully responded to Jesus' call in verses 50 and
51. Now watch carefully. And throwing
aside his garment, that's important. That is important. He rose, that's important. And came to Jesus, that's important. So Jesus answered and said to
him, what do you want me to do for you? Jesus knew what the man wanted. But he wants to hear it from
you. He wants you to acknowledge you
have a need. He wants you to acknowledge.
You cannot help yourself. He wants you to acknowledge that
no one around you can help you. Sir, blind man, beggar, what
do you want me to do for you? The blind man said to him, rabboni,
that I may receive my sight. Now I want you to note these
particulars, four particulars of this response. He discarded
his outer garment of tattered rags. Remember, he's a beggar. He's wearing the rags. He's sitting
by the road clothed in tattered rags, the rags of a beggar. Jesus
called and he threw the row of rags away. So did I when he called me. My tattered robes of filthy rags. Won't need them anymore. Threw them away. Oh, sinner,
listen. When the Lord calls you, throw your rags away. Throw your
old tattered rags away. Get rid of them. They will encumber
you in coming to Jesus. You want nothing to encumber
you. They'll even prevent you from coming. He threw off his
tattered garment. Then the Bible says he rose.
By the way, this is the very same word that is used of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus rose. So did Bartimaeus. Jesus rose because the dead had come to life. Bartimaeus
rose because the dead had come to life. He rose! From the dead, I say
to you, awake, you who sleep. Arise from the dead, and Christ
will give you light. He did to Bartimaeus. Arise. Arise. Then third, he came to
Jesus. Well, where else is he going
to go? You want mercy? You'll have to
come to Jesus. We have no Walter. So I won't
call you to it. It's worthless. We won't call
you to the baptistry for your salvation. It's worthless. We
won't call you to the mourner's bench for salvation. It's worthless. This man went to Jesus. He came
to Jesus. And then he prayed to receive
his sight. Lord, I want to see. I want to
see. Lord, I've been blind for these
many years, but I want to see. And Lord, when I am made to see,
I want you to be the first thing I see. I want to see. I want to see. I want to see. Jesus son of David, I want to
see my rival knee. I want to see my master. I Want
to see this one who came to Jericho looking for me. I Want to see
this one who stood still when I called his name. I Want to
see this one who's about to heal me Lord You ask what I want. That's what I want. I want my
side Number 11, observe that Barthimaeus
by faith was healed in verse 52. Jesus said to him, go your
way. Your faith has made you well.
Faith in Christ does what cannot be done by works of self or keeping
of law or duties of religion. He disbelieved. Lord, I want
to say it. I believe you can do this. Now
observe very carefully. Where did Jesus tell him to go? Go your way. That's what Jesus told him to
do, right? Go your way. What did Bartimaeus do? Look
in verse 52. And immediately he received his
sight and followed Jesus on the road. Bartimaeus' way was Jesus. Jesus said, go your way. And
Bartimaeus walks in behind Jesus. Where you going, Bartimaeus?
He told me to go my way. He's my way. He's my way. I tell you, my friend, if God,
if Christ ever comes to your Jericho, and gives you your sight
and says, go your way. He'll be your way from that day
on. He will. Bartimaeus had become truly the
son of honor. The son of honor. Think about
it. Poor, impoverished sinners like this one. A son of honor
through Jesus Christ. Oh, sinner, there just may be
one here tonight. There just may be one. Perhaps Jesus will walk through
your Jericho. And I'm telling you that he's
come. He's here tonight. Oh, that you might recognize
him for what he is. and call out Jesus, son of David,
have mercy on me. Right now. Right now. Call upon him. Jesus, son of
David, have mercy on me. What do you want me to do? I
want my sight. Lord, it's obvious. I can't see.
I want my sight. Your faith has made you well. Oh, sinner. Oh blind one, oh
impoverished beggar, call unto him. I've been doing so for lo
these many years. Jesus, son of David, have mercy
on me. Every day of my life, Jesus,
son of David, have mercy on me. I've never regretted it. And
if you'll call unto him, You'll never regret it. May you be a
Bartimaeus.