November 8-St. Mark 10:46-52

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,+ and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

‘And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.’ (V. 46)

A poet and an artist stood examining a great panting. It was a painting that depicted this scene. The crowds, Jesus, the blind men sitting at the side of the road calling for pity, mercy. To the poet all was perfect—the form of Christ, the grouping of individuals, the expressions on the faces of the lead characters in this brief account.

The artist saw things differently. He saw the scene with different eyes. “Do you see the discarded cane laying there? When the blind man heard of Christ, he was so sure of being healed that he let his cane lie there. He firmly believed that he would need it no longer.” To the artist it was as if the blind man could already see Jesus as he hastened to the Savior to be healed.

This is the confidence you and I have now. This is our faith. So often though, we cling to our crutches or canes or other means instead of coming directly to our Savior and helper.[1]

‘Blind man sit by the road and he cried.
Blind man sit by the road and he cried.
Blind man sit by the road and he cried.’ (camp song)

This is the refrain I heard in a camp song all while I was growing up. The blind man referred to here is the one from our passage. This was a common sight. Many, many men sat by the road looking for assistance for themselves in their blindness. A hundred years ago or so, a man walked the streets in the vicinity of Jericho and counted all the men who were blind or had defective eyes. It amounted to fully half the male population![2] So, Bartimaeus was not an odd thing for the travelers to see as they walked the Jericho road.

In fact, Bartimaeus like we often joke that we have our own marked pew, this blind beggar had his reserved seat along the road. During the years of his blindness, Bartimaeus may have worked his way up to holding one of the better spots for getting peoples attention.

What is it that Bartimaeus called out when he heard whom it was that was approaching? He cried out with a refrain that is very familiar for all of us. After all, this blind man cried: ‘“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”’ (V. 47) What part of our liturgy does this remind you of? The Kyrie: Lord, have mercy! We even take the words of the Kyrie from this very passage. We cry out to our Savior with the words of blind Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus called out in anticipation of what he wanted Jesus to do. We cry out with the same words crying for mercy but also rejoicing that the words we say have been fulfilled for you already in Jesus.

How are these words received by all of us? Well, with rejoicing. We cry out for mercy for ourselves, that we would receive forgiveness of our sins. We are rejoicing even as we cry for mercy from our gracious God because we know that He has had mercy upon us. How were the cries of Bartimaeus received?

The crowd tried to muzzle this upstart. They did not want him to bother the great Teacher. These people did not think that this lowly beggar was worth Jesus’ time. ‘And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”’ (V. 48)

We might think that if we were so treated, we would not cry for help any more. It would be easy to become discouraged in the face of such treatment. How do these blind men, as Saint Matthew reminds us (20:29-34), react? Instead of being discouraged and going back to begging, they cry out all the louder and more insistently. ‘“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”’

In bold faith those who sat at the side of the road called out to this great teacher. As they may have heard, this was thought to be the long-awaited Messiah. They knew from Isaiah’s prophecy (ch. 61) that among other things, the Messiah would restore the sight of the blind. So, Bartimaeus and his companions cried out in faith to this man who passed by in the sure hope of healing. There’s was a confident faith, as we see in their call to Jesus.

We too are so bold. We also cry out in faith for mercy knowing our Savior will heal us.

‘And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him,” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”’ (V. 49)

The persistent prayer of this blind man was rewarded. The insistent faith, which cried out to be heard as the God-Man walked by, paid off. Jesus stopped by and beckoned for he who called for help to come near. Now the response of the crowds changed. They are hopeful. They may have told the blind man to be quiet because they did not dare to hope for him. Now, Bartimaeus is being called forward!

The words used here by Mark are all in very vivid language. You can almost see the blind man calling to Jesus, being called forward by the Teacher and then encouraged by the crowd nearest to Bartimaeus. They are saying, “rejoice! rejoice! Your plea for help has been heard. Hurry before it is too late.” The mood of the crowd turns on a dime. The change with the words of Jesus is immediate. Now they hope. Now they encourage the blind in his insistence.

We see in this insistence and the following encouragement being commended to you and me. We are encouraged to be just as bold in our prayers. Bartimaeus’ insistence is your insistence. His confident faith is yours. When life is going well for you. Your job is enjoyable, the crops are coming in with comfortable yields, rejoice that you have been blessed by our heavenly Father.

When life is in the dumps and nothing seems to be going your way. When your job is at its most miserable, or worse, there is no job, when the crops are not coming or cannot be brought in—rejoice. Rejoice for your heavenly Father has redeemed you. He will not let you go and He will never stop providing for you. Even at those times when you and I cannot see how our providing and redeeming God will do this.

Even at the lowest times of our lives in this sinful world, yet our faithful God is caring for each and every one of us. We are redeemed through the work of Jesus, we are now made God’s sons through adoption (Gal. 4:4-7).

It is at the best of times and even at the worst of times that our persistent prayers pay off. ‘I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come from? My helps comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. … The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your life’ (Ps. 121:1, 2, 7). We are encouraged when God turns His face to us. This encouragement comes in the most vivid of tones: “Cheer up! On your feet!” None of us are too insignificant for Jesus to notice and help.

‘And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”’ (V. 50-51)

This outer robe that Mark mentions here was probably the only thing this man owned and it would have served as his bedclothes when he lay down in his appointed spot to sleep at night. This was all that kept this man warm, such as it was, on many a cold night. As I said, this and any cane Bartimaeus may have had were forgotten in his joy to run to the Savior. He heard the words of Jesus and ran toward the sound when he was called forth! He could see his Savior waiting to heal him. Bartimaeus had eyes to see!

Because of this reaction, the people may not have realized that the man was blind. So, Jesus words were as much for their benefit as to ask Bartimaeus. Often Jesus works with us this way as well. He wants us to come to Him with our petitions. He wants us to cry out for help, even though He already knows what we need. Our God wants us to acknowledge what we often forget in our sinfulness. That all we are and have comes from Him.

Jesus does the same thing with Bartimaeus as He did earlier when He taught His disciples how to pray. ‘Give us this day our daily bread’ (St. Mt. 6:9-13) God does this even without our prayer, yet we pray in this petition that we will recognize this also. Bartimaeus, with the crowd, was being led to receive the things they need from the Father with thanksgiving. So we rejoice in this day which the Lord has made (see Ps. 118:24); for we know ‘the LORD knows the way of the righteous’ (Ps. 1:6).

We rejoice in all things because we know above all else, we are redeemed. We are forgiven, washed clean by the blood of Jesus (see Rev. 7:14).

‘When man’s help and affection
Shall unavailing prove,
God grants me His protection
And shows His power and love.
He helps in every need,
From sin and shame redeems me,
From chains and bonds reclaims me,
Yea, even from death I’m freed.’ (TLH 393:2)

In Jesus’+ Name. Amen.

[1] Encyclopedia of Sermon Illustrations, CPH. Entry #325 p. 76.
[2] Word Pictures in the New Testament, Robertson vol. 1, p. 356.