The Book of Mark
The Final Miracle of Mercy
Mark 10:46-52
Mark 10:46-52
There is quite a contrast between this passage and the previous one that we studied last week, even though they both contain the same question from Jesus.
In verse 35 and following, James and John come to Jesus asking Him to do whatever they ask. In verse 36 Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do” and in response they ask for the thrones on His right and left hands.
By the way, Jesus didn’t answer their prayer, saying it wasn’t His decision to make.
Here we find Jesus asking the same question of a blind man and when He makes his request, Jesus responds by healing Him. And what we have here in this section is the final miracle of healing of the ministry of Jesus.
Through the years since His baptism at the Jordan River, He has filled the land of Israel with supernatural power displays. He has demonstrated power over disease, over demons, over death, over nature. He has shown that He has absolute authority over everything. And remember, all of that is done to authenticate His identity as the Son of God.
And remember, I said this is the final healing miracle. There will be one more miracle after this one and that is the resurrection.
But He has now come to the place where the miracle-working Messiah must assume the responsibility of being God’s Suffering Servant. It is time for the anointed one to become the rejected one. It is time for the sovereign Lord to become the sacrificial Lamb.
There will be no more miracles, no more amazing displays of power. These are very heavy days that are filled with sorrow. And once He makes entrance into Jerusalem, things will really spiral downward until His execution.
He is now on the way to Jerusalem. The last stop He makes before arriving there is Jericho and in Jericho, two wonderful salvation stories take place. One is the story of the blind. The other is the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector.
Mark doesn’t record his story, but he does tell us about the other one, a blind man named Bartimaeus.
The story breaks very logically into two parts that focus on the two main characters in the story and that’s how we’ll look at it tonight.
First we meet
1. The Blind Man
verse 46
When Jesus arrives in Jericho, we once again find Him surrounded by a huge crowd. Since Jericho is about a six hour walk straight to Jerusalem, many would have been traveling to Jerusalem for Passover. Some are, no doubt, following Jesus. Some are traveling this route to avoid passing through Samaria. So you have this combination of factors generating this crowd of people.
Now just in case you happen to read Luke’s version of the story, Luke says He was approaching Jericho while Mark says He was leaving Jericho. That’s quite interesting. Jericho. What’s going on here?
Well, its possible Jericho was just a small town and entering and leaving took place at the same time. When we live at Rubottom years ago we used to say the “Welcome to Rubottom” and the “Now leaving Rubottom” signs were on the same post!
I think more likely those references can be taken to mean He was passing through Jericho. By now, the disciples know Jericho is not the destination. They are going to Jerusalem and when they passed through Jericho, they encounter this man.
We do know that Jesus spent the night in the home of Zacchaeus, so maybe during the day He came and went. I don’t see a need to be dogmatic about it. I understand them to be telling us this healing took place in the vicinity of Jericho.
The story focuses on a blind beggar named Bartimaeus who is sitting by the road. That is a good strategy, especially at a time like this when people had to travel to Jerusalem.
If you want to be successful as a beggar, go where the people are. And this particular beggar is blind, so if was much easier to sit where people could see and identify him since he was unable to see them and make his approach.
We aren’t told the cause of his blindness as we are with others in the Gospels, but we do know that blind people were pretty much reduced to begging because if you were blind, in their theology, you were under divine judgment. You were blind because God was punishing you.
We are told this man’s name which is Bartimaeus which means “son of Timaeus”. Luke tells us in Luke 18:6 that Bartimaeus hears the crowd going by and he says, “What’s happening?” And somebody responds and says, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
When he heard that it was Jesus, he began to cry out. Mark uses the verb to indicate he was shouting. It’s a very strong word used elsewhere in Scripture to speak of the shouts of demon-possessed people and the screams of a woman giving birth.
And he becomes quite a nuisance and receives no sympathy at all from the crowd.
verse 48
That was the attitude of the people. Be quiet. Quiet that man down. He was a nuisance. They had disdain for beggars. He was an outcast. But it had no effect on him. He was persistent. I really believe the Spirit of God is drawing him.
He kept crying, verse 48, all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Obviously, he’s trying to be heard over the noise of the crowd and he is calling Jesus by name. In fact, He is identifying Jesus as the Messiah. He is “the Son of David”.
Here is a man who recognizes Jesus as the true Messiah. And here is a man who knows what he needs and it is mercy. He’s not deserving of anything and he knows it. He would have understood the theology of his people as well and thought himself cursed by God because he was blind. He knows he needs mercy. He knows he is a sinner. His blindness aids him in facing that.
This man has a great theology. He’s heard the testimony of others regarding Jesus and believes Him to be the Messiah. He understands his own condition and sees his sinfulness. And he comes in desperation, understanding his only hope is mercy.
And by faith, he responds to Jesus. Listen: his heart had seen the light before his eyes ever saw the light. So we meet Bartimaeus.
The focus of the story then turns from the blind beggar to
2. The Supernatural Healer
verse 49
“So Jesus stood still”. Jesus stopped. Isn’t that a great thought? That is the response of the compassion of God.
He stopped and told them to bring the man to Him. What a contrast! Here you have the crowd telling him to be quiet while Jesus stops and gives Him His attention. In fact, the word is very emphatic, Jesus commanded that He be called.
Verse 49b
Now all of a sudden they change their tune. Jesus’ response to the man changes their attitude for the moment. Their curiosity drives them to let this thing happen and see what could be made of it. Maybe they’ll see another miracle.
How does he respond?
verse 50
Do you think t he boy is anxious to meet Jesus? What a moment!
Then comes the question:
Verse 51
Remember, we’ve just heard Jesus ask that same question of James and John. Their request was to be elevated and honored. They wanted to be put in a postion of authority and rule where everyone else would serve them.
Here we see a completely different attitude. What do you want me to do for you? The high King of heaven is assuming the position of a servant to the lowest of the low. This is the attitude Jesus is trying to teach His followers.
You want to be great in the Kingdom? Then be the servant. Do you want to be first in the Kingdom? Then be the slave of all. Here is Jesus taking that position. So far, this man has only asked for mercy.
Unlike James and John who thought they needed elevation, this man knows he deserves nothing. He’s not laying claim on anything. Mercy means to not give people what they deserve.
And notice, in verse 51, how he address Jesus. He calls Him “Rabboni”, which means Master. And according to Luke 18 he also said, “Lord”. His theology is very precise!
So far, he’s called Jesus by His name, which means “savior”, he’s called him “Son of David”, which means Messiah,, He’s called Him “Rabboni” which is master and he calls Him Lord.
And yet Jesus takes the role of a servant and a slave and asks, “What can I do for you?” What kind of King does what a beggar asks him to do?
“What do you want?” He says, “I want to regain my sight.”
verse 52
What we have here is so much more than a physical healing. Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has made you well,” He uses the verb from which we get our word “saved”. Jesus literally said, “Your faith has saved you.”
Now, no doubt, his eyes were healed, but he got so much more than that as he was saved!
And the evidence is there for both. Want proof? It’s right there in verse 52. “And immediately he received his sight”. That’s the result of the physical healing. “. . .and followed Jesus on the road”. That’s the result of his salvation.
He comes out of his blindness into sight and out of his sin into salvation and walks with Jesus to the triumphal entry. I would guess he’s there through the week and he’s there after the resurrection. My guess is he was one of the 120 in the Upper Room at Pentecost.
He’s had a lifetime of being an outcast and now he’s accepted in the beloved. He’s no longer on the outside. He’s on the inside! Isn’t that amazing?
He is a man who can’t go anywhere. He can’t see anything. He is stuck as a hopeless beggar until one day Christ comes to him and forever changes his life!
Listen, that is not only the story of Bartimaeus, that is your story and mine. It is the picture of every sinner, hopeless, sitting by the road, desperately needing a healer to show up. And the wonder of wonders is the King of Glory showed up one day and became our Servant!
That’s why we’re here tonight. We have been approached by Jesus somewhere along the road in our lives, in our blindness, in our desperation He passed by and we cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on me.” And He heard our cry. And all of this is possible because He went all the way the cross and out the other side of the opened tomb.
Let’s pray.
