Mark 10_46_52 Jesus the Merciful Messiah is Calling

“Jesus the Merciful Messiah is Calling”

Mark 10:46-52

Mark 10:32-45 precedes our text, from it we learn that Jesus and His disciples along with a crowd of pilgrims are on the road to Jerusalem for Passover. There was fear and excitement in the air because everyone knew something special was about to take place, Jesus sets the record straight by predicting His passion for the third time (8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34). The disciples show their ignorance and selfishness as they each wanted the highest places of honor in His kingdom. Jesus teaches by illustration using the Roman occupation as how the world sees greatness. In the world the greater you are the more people serve you, but in God’s kingdom the greater you are the more you serve others. Then Jesus uses His coming as an example, “For even the Son of Man didn’t come to be served but to give His life a ransom for the many.

We see that in our selected text Jesus teaches this kingdom principle as He heads to Jerusalem entering Jericho beginning the last leg of His mission of mercy. He stops and serves a blind beggar who is desperate by calling him and asking him his needs then meeting his needs, sight and more importantly eternal life. Jesus said “Go, your faith has made you well.”

Now we read the following text, Mark 11:1-12:12. In this section we find Jesus entering into Jerusalem with a royal reception, people threw their clothes on the humble colt Jesus rode on and on the road before Him. Perhaps Bartimaeus threw his coat down (10:50) which was most likely His only possession. The pilgrims sang Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! As Jesus enters Jerusalem He walks into the temple but instead of claiming His throne He goes to Bethany. However, the next day He returns and curses a fig tree because it showed the appearance of fruitfulness yet fruit was not found. He then returned to the Temple in righteous indignation and chased out the buyers and sellers as well as the money changers and the chief priests wanted to kill Him. The next day Jesus and the disciples returned to the fig tree to see it withered and the disciples were astonished but Jesus simply said “have faith in God.” That day as Jesus enters the temple He is asked who gave Him the authority to clear out the temple but He did not answer instead He gives a parable about the owner of the vineyard who after he built it and planted it (Israel) he leased it out to tenant farmers (Israelites) who refused to give the owner fruit. They beat or killed the servants the owner sent (The Prophets) and when he sent his son (Jesus) they killed Him too. Now the owner will come and kill the tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others (AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem.)

We learn that Israel has the appearance of God’s people but in reality were far from it, like the fig tree they bore no fruit. Likewise, the Temple had the appearance of God’s House but in reality was far from it, it had become a place of profit for the priest. The people were found faithless, yet poor beggar Bartimaeus who was an outcast, simply cried out ”Have mercy on me, Son of David” and by grace through faith he became God’s child. Jesus shows mercy on the humble who cry out to Him but destruction comes to those who reject Him.

Then they came to Jericho. And as He [Jesus] was leaving Jericho with His [Jesus] disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he [Bartimaeus] heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he [Bartimaeus] began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many were sternly telling him [Bartimaeus] to be quiet, but he [Bartimaeus] kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him [Bartimaeus] here.” So they called the blind man, saying to him [Bartimaeus], “Take courage, stand up! He [Jesus] is calling for you.” Throwing aside his [Bartimaeus] cloak, he [Bartimaeus] jumped up and came to Jesus. And answering him [Bartimaeus], Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him [Jesus], “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him [Bartimaeus], “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he [Bartimaeus] regained his sight and began following Him [Jesus] on the road.

People: Jesus, The disciples, the crowd [most likely pilgrams], Bartimaeus, Those who told Bartimaeus to be quite, and Those who called saying “take courage stand up Jesus is calling you.”

Setting: Jericho,

Things: The road and the cloak

Repeated Words: Came (verb) 2x, Jericho (noun) 2x, blind (adj.) 3x, son (noun) 3x twice used of Jesus and once for Bartimaeus, Jesus 6x, David 2x, have mercy (verb) 2x, said 4x, say/saying (verb) call/called/calling (verb) 3x, want (verb) 2x, regain sight/regained sight (verb) 2x. He (pronoun, antecedent is Jesus) 2x, he (pronoun, antecedent is Bartimaeus) 5x, His (pronoun, antecedent is Jesus) 1x, his (pronoun, antecedent is Bartimaues) 2x, Me (pronoun, antecedent is Jesus) 1x, me (pronoun, antecedent is Bartimaues) 2x, you (pronoun, Bartimaeus) 4x

From this list I see that Jesus is mentioned by name or through a pronoun 10 times and Bartimaues is mentioned by name or through a pronoun 14 times, this tells me that I should focus on what Jesus did for Bartimaues. Most often times the word used the most will tell you the focus of your text.

Main and other Important Verbs: Sitting (vs. 46), Heard (vs. 47), Cry Out (vs. 47,48) Have Mercy (vs. 47,48) Call (vs. 49), Came (vs. 50) Do You Want (vs. 51) Regain my sight (51,52)

*Question and answer: (Q) what do you want me to do for you? (10:51) (A) Rabboni, I want to regain my sight. NOTE and COMAPRE (Q) what do you want me to do for you? (10:36) (A) Grant that we may sit on your right and one on your left, in your glory.(10:37) How is this connected and is it important?

“Jesus the Merciful Messiah is Calling”

Mark 10:46-52

Intro:

Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem along with Him are His disciples and a large crowd of pilgrims, there is excitement in the air as they come into Jericho the scene is one similar to a Royal Procession, Luke tells us that the crowd was huge and that a man of small stature had to climb up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus. On the side of the road sat a poor and desperate beggar who cried out to Jesus that He show mercy on Him.

The Gospel of Mark can be broken down into two sections Chapters 1-8 tells us who Jesus is The Messiah, Chapters 9-16 tells us what kind of Messiah He is. In context we see that He is the suffering Messiah who dies for the sins of the world, and in our text today we see that He is the Merciful Messiah who calls people out of their desperate state and into a newness of life that is full of hope!

Jesus has just predicted His death and resurrection and it is lost upon the disciples who were yet unable to understand, they all wanted to experience His glory and deeply wanted a place of honor but Jesus told them that to be great in the Kingdom of God they must serve and the Greatest in the Kingdom of God is the one who is slave to all. As Jesus enters Jericho He enters the last leg of His mission of mercy yet He takes time to show mercy to a desperate beggar.

CPS:

In Your Times Of Desperation Cry Out To Jesus

In Your Times Of Desperation Jesus Calls

THIS TEXT IS ABOUT SERVICE AS IT RELATES TO THE PRECEEDING VERSE, IT SERVES AS AN EXAMPLE OF 10:45. THIS TEXT IS CONNECTED TO THE VERSES THAT FOLLOW, JESUS FOUND THE ISRELITES FAITHLESS AND FRUITLESS. WE MUST BE SERBANTS LIKE JESUS AND BEAR MUCH FRUIT AS HE DID!

The Cry of a Desperate Man (46-49)

As Jesus, His disciples , and the pilgrims following Him were headed to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover they entered into Jericho. Jericho is a town located about 5 miles west of the Jordan river and as the crow flies a little over 10 miles from Jerusalem. While entering into Jericho Jesus encounters a poor blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus which means son of Timeaus, now Luke’s gospel says they met Bartimaeus as they left Jericho… How can this be? There were two Jericho’s the Old Testament Jericho that was destroyed during the time of Israel’s conquest and then 1.5 miles away was New Jericho that was built by Herod the Great and served as His winter capital. Jesus left Old Jericho and entered into New Jericho, Now Jericho was a tropical Paradise sitting 740 feet below sea level its temperature range from 59* in the winter to 88* in the summer. It is known as the city of palms and was known for is medicinal balms, Jericho was the perfect place for a beggar, great weather abundance of wealth, but these things couldn’t satisfy the longing in the heart of the blind beggar.

He was desperate, sitting in the same place, by the road day in and day out begging with his cloak which was probably the only possession that he had laid out in front of him waiting to catch what little money a generous man would toss his way. Begging is the Greek verb prŏsaitĕō which means to ask repeatedly or to solicit.

There were very little opportunities for the blind in Jesus’ day begging was one of the very few options for survival, I tell you this man was desperate not only did he have no means to earn money he was a social and religious outcast. Eye disease was very common in the sandy places of the ancient world, verse 51 tells us that Bartimaeus could once see but had lost his sight, there was a very great possibility that the blind would be exploited and mistreated by those around him. Certainly Bartimaues would hear a coin drop onto his cloak then he would scramble to put it away before someone else took it. ILL: When I think of this I think of the Sheriff of Nottingham in the classic Disney cartoon, he was always collecting taxes… he took a coin and threw it in the blind beggars can making all the coins jump out of the can and into Hs hand. But the Law took exploitation of the Blind seriously, Deut. 27:18 forbids misleading the blind and Lev. 19:14 forbids one from causing the Blind to stumble but as to provisions they were at the MERCY of others!

They were religious outcast, the common thought of the day was that sin was the cause of blindness and an array of other physical ailments and disease, And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2), In Pharisaic Judaism a sinner wasn’t worthy of God but Jesus said “The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)

On this day all the followers were concerned with the coming Kingdom of God but they failed to realize that all the world hung in the balances and didn’t understand that Jesus had come to offer forgiveness for Sin. As Bartimaeus heard the great sound, one similar to a royal procession, people running and yelling, perhaps he was stepped on as the crowd gathered. Luke 19 tells us that the crowd was so big a man of short stature, Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree in order to see what was taking place. Bartimaeus probably asked “what is going on” and when he heard it he cried out. I’m sure we have all cries out before, I’m reminded of the time ILL: Little Johnny was asked by his mother why is your sister crying, he said because I helped her. Well that’s a good thing! What did you help her with? I helped her eat her gummy bears!

Cry out is the Greek verb krazō it means to shout out loud! Out of desperation Bartimaeus cried out to the only one who could heal him and make Him whole. Jesus! He cried Jesus, Son of David have MERCY on me! Son of Davis is a Messianic term; he had heard that Jesus could do what only the Messiah could do. He had healed the leper, made the lame walk, bring the dead to life, and He had made the dead to see! Here was man who had depended on mercy for so long and had been let down time and time again. Mercy is the Greek verb eleeō it means to show pitty,it is often said that marcy is God keeping you from what you deserve, ILL; A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death. “But I don’t ask for justice,” the mother explained. “I plead for mercy.” “But your son does not deserve mercy,” Napoleon replied. “Sir,” the woman cried, “it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.” “Well, then,” the emperor said, “I will have mercy.” And he spared the woman’s son. Mercy is an action taken by the strong towards the weak, the rich towards the poor, the insider towards the outsider, those who have towards those who have not.

It has been said that Mercy is for the weak, Mercy is not the way of this world, notice the crowd around and perhaps many of Jesus’ followers rebuked Bartimaeus telling him to be quite, isn’t that just like our world! But then He cried out all the more.

Application: Are you desperate today, perhaps are you dead in your trespasses and sin, if you died today where you spend forever? Perhaps you are desperate for a fresh word, your soul is weak and weary desperate for nourishment, perhaps you desperate in your circumstances and need wisdom and provisions…. If you are desperate today there is only one thing to do, cry out to Jesus!

The Calling of the merciful Messiah (49-52)

Unlike the crowd that was gathered around, Jesus truly cares for people. In fact His mercy is motivated by the unending love that He has for us. This fact is proven to be true through His trip to Jerusalem, knowing what would take place (Mark 8:31.9:31, 10:34) yet He journeyed on.

I find remarkable that Jesus could hear through large crowds the blind beggar calling His name, Im reminded of the suffering women in Chapter 5 who amongst the huge crowd touched the fringe of His cloak and He said “who touched me.” I imagine the wails of the blind man was drowned out by the crowd and people were standing in front of him perhaps even on top of Him watching Jesus go by (Luke 19:3). Yet, He paid attention to the lone cry, “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me!” Jesus hears your cries He knows your hurts and pains, He sympathizes with each of us and is moved with compassion to help us.

When we cry out to Jesus in desperation He is faithful not leave us in that state, Jesus stopped and told the people to tell him to come. Jesus calls out in the darkness come to me ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest, He promises to give us life abundant. There were people in the crowd who began to encourage Bartimaeus to come to Jesus, they said HE IS CALLING YOU!

Calleth thee is the Greek verb phōneō it means a summons or an invitation and when Bartimaeus heard the calling he forsook everything and came to Jesus, “casting away his garment he arose and came to Jesus!” His cloak was his out garment that kept him warm when the temperature got chilly, it was used as his bedding at night, and most importantly iy was used to catch coins that were tossed at him as sat begging. Bartimaeus had hope after all and it didn’t include coins or possessions his hope was in Jesus!

Perhaps Bartimaeus followed the sound of Jesus’ voice to Him or people in the crowd led him to Jesus either way he got their and Jesus asked him a simple question. It’s the same question Jesus asked James and John (10:36) who answered honor, we want greatness and honor, but that wasn’t Bartimaeus’s answer he wanted the Lord’s mercy granted to him in the form of regaining his sight. Jesus asked this question knowing what the answer was but He gives us opportunities to express ourselves and give evidence of our own faith. The question is really this “What do you believe I can do for you?”

Bartimaeus simply responded Lord, that I might receive my sight.” Lord is the Greek noun rhabbouni it means my master. Son David is a nationalistic term for Messiah but now He is claimed as His own Jesus, the Lord. I promise you if you cry out to Jesus He will call unto you “come” and He will not leave in the same state that you were in and when he called… Jesus to Bartimaeus, “go your faith has made you whole!” Made thee whole is the Greek verb sōzō it means to be delivered into divine salvation. Jesus says if you ask through faith in His it will be granted you. In a twinkle of an eye, Bartimaeus regain His sight and was given eternal life. He could see and he was saved!

Then Bartimaeus followed Jesus, and I wonder for if a moment as Jesus made His way to Jerusalem and the pilgrims lined the humble donkey’s colt with their cloaks and laid their garments on the road for Jesus to ride over if remembered his cloak that he left by the road side, either way it was trampled over. Listen to me… forsake this world and trust Jesus!

Application: Now we have seen what took place lets go over why this matter to us. This story serves as an example of what Jesus meant by service. He came to pay His life a ransom for the many sinners including blind Bartimaeus, as well as me and you! 1 John 2:6 tells us He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked, meaning we are to do as Jesus does. Serve the lowly and desperate. Let me ask you today are you one of the ones who cause the lowly to stumble, are you a hindrance to the lost through your words and actions… repent of your sin and tell the lowly and desperate around you “He Calleth Thee!” He is calling you!

Are you one who wants honor and glory and you follow after Jesus to gain these things, you will not find them but Jesus offers Mercy and Grace, will you receive it with an open heart?

Does your life bear fruit or are you just going through the motions, did you come here today to be entertained, you will find no such thing here but I pray down Holy Spirit conviction that you will give yourself to Jesus and serve Him faithfully bearing the fruit of the Spirit and leading people to Jesus.

I pray today that you will follow Jesus, Matthew tells us that there were 2 blind beggars that day but Mark and Luke focus on the one whom they came to know... Bartimaeus because he was truly a disciple.

Here was a desperate man who had lost his sight most likely due to eye disease, the only opportunity he had for survival was by begging them for money or food.:

ILL: You have all been approached by someone asking for money, there is a woman who wanders downtown Tifton that asks me for money every time she sees me. This woman is a drug addict and begs because she has found it easier than working, but this man had no other options, it was beg or starve to death.

But then he heard what sounded like a royal procession and after asking learned that Jesus was in town and headed to Jerusalem, he began to cry out to Jesus for mercy! Perhaps he had once heard Is. 35:5 read aloud as the Prophet speaks of Zion’s happy future “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.” He cried out Jesus Son of David have mercy on me!

ILL: In Nashua, New Hampshire, a woman and her dog were rescued from a sewer system they had fallen into while out on a walk. The woman started screaming for help through one of the pipes in the system. As one of the people involved told the reporters, “We could hear her, but she couldn’t hear us” (Christine McCarthy, “Nashua Woman and Dog Rescued after Being Trapped in Sewer,” Boston 25 News, June 4, 2020, https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/nashua-woman-dog-rescued-after-being-trapped-sewer/KGO2TZNM3BDHFGPTLDFY7NDJLU/). That description really sums up how our relationship to God can sometimes feel. We’re crying out to him for help, and he can hear us, but we can’t hear him. We are reminded through the readings today that no matter how bleak the situation, God is faithful to his promises, and we can trust that he hears our cries for help.