Sensing Jesus

Luke 18:35–43 NKJV

35 Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. 36 And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. 37 So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, 41 saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.” 42 Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

This set of scriptures identifies the three types of people we often find in the church houses today. There was a great contrast between motives, purpose, reverence and acceptance that particular day and we see the same today.

Bartimaeus was the son of Timaeus according to Mark’s Gospel. He was on the outskirts of Jericho sitting and begging for provisions. On this special day though something else hit his ears. It wasn’t the normal bustling of the crowds that day but something unique. Bartimaeus could here an enormous crowd coming his way. As the noise became louder he asked what it all meant and why the raucous. Then one of those walking by told him it was Jesus of Nazareth. Surely the news had made it’s way to Bartimaeus by this point in the Lord’s ministry that He had the power to cause the blind to see. So without reservation or restraint He begins hollering at Jesus. He says “Jesus, oh Son of David have mercy on me!”. Then those who went in front, the people who felt compelled to be the deciders of who Jesus seen or helped went up to him and told him to pipe down. Pretty easy for them to say, I mean after all they weren’t blind. Can you even imagine? The One who it has been told of could give sight to the blind has just walked down your street. The all powerful One has made you a part of His routine. When you had left out that morning you perhaps were just hoping for a couple bucks or maybe a couple meals. Instead the greatest prophet of all of Israel , the One who declares Himself to be the Son of the living God is about to pass right in front of you and the church just told you to keep your mouth shut because they have a schedule that they must keep. We in our perception of what ministry must look like can become spiritually blind to the work of our Lord. We look at people differently once our lives began to fall into place. After twenty years in that once again newly remodeled ranch style house on the good part of town we forget about that drafty apartment or leaky mobile home. When that promotion finally hits we forget about them minimum wage days trying to make two ends meet. Oh how short the memory of the rescued. It is the classic case of forgetting where you came from. This crowd of people were once destitute themselves and received spiritual sight from the Lord. Perhaps some of them are still lost in their self righteousness. We can become completely lost in our goodness. Maybe you never tasted alcohol but you’ve been drunk on pride. Perhaps you have never burnt a bridge in a fit of anger but you have raised a mountain of distrust in a night of lust. That lie you told to save your job, the gossip you kept going knowing not only was not helpful but also not fully true, all of these make you lost in sinfulness. Well Bartimaeus wasn’t going to let this oppurtunity pass! Look at his response “he cried so much the more”! Their rebuke brought reprise. The vain words brought volume increase. These stiff necks wasn’t about to cause him to miss his blessing. If he was going to leave there blind that day it woul;d because Jesus Himself refused him not these guys. “So he cried all the more” the