The Last Miracle

Introduction

Last week we looked at how we are imperfect but how Jesus is perfect. We saw how two of the apostles asked to sit next to Jesus in glory and Jesus reiterated that greatness and prominence is found in a selfless life and by becoming a servant to all. This transitions us to the last miracle that we see in the book of Mark, the healing of a blind man named Bartimaeus. Jesus immediately put what we talked about into practice. As we will see this man was looked down upon and is even told to be quiet so that he does not disturb Jesus, everyone was degrading him, he was the least in society.

As we begin tonight I want to not separate what we are discussing in this weeks passage from last weeks. What we learn we must practice. Knowledge of the Bible that does not lead to action is useless knowledge. Jesus practiced what he preached and we to should practice what he preached.

Lets read this story of the healing of the blind beggar as we begin tonight.

Mark 10:46–52 ESV

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. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 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.” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

As they travel closer to Jerusalem here at the end of part 2 of Mark there is a great crowd in Jericho. This town was known for it’s beauty and was often called the city of roses. Bartimaeus never saw this beauty but he was surrounded by it every day. As the crowd was approaching he was just doing his usual begging and he hears them approaching. He begins to ask what is going on to which he is told it was Jesus. Stories of Jesus must have spread to this region by this point and this man must have been convinced that this is the Christ. He begins to cry out with all that he had to Jesus calling him the son of David which was as big of a title as Christ and the first time someone outside of the 12 has used it. People tell him to be quiet but he shouts all the more and Jesus heard. Jesus calls this man to him and he threw off his cloak and sprung up and went to him. Jesus knew exactly what he wanted but he ask him what it is. He uses the term Rabbi which was a term of respect and he says he says he wants his sight. Jesus says that his faith has made him well and his sight was restored.

This story is a great one about being healed but there are deeper meanings to it relating to our spiritual blindness. Even when we are spiritually blind Jesus hears us and sees us and the life of faith that we are called to live is to be one that is characterized by the right hope, the right request, and the right response.

Lets pray then we can begin to look at this passage tonight and see what we learn about Jesus and what we learn about a life of faith.

pray

What do we learn about Jesus?

What do we learn about Jesus here in this passage? Throughout this book we have been learning a lot about Jesus and in this passage we learn a few things about Jesus that should give us comfort because they apply to us as well. When we see how Jesus is with this man we can know that he will be the same for us.

Let’s look at two things that we learn about Jesus in this passage.

the king who hears

The first thing is that he hears us. Here is where it happens in Mark 10:49 “And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”” Jesus heard the man’s cries.

In our lives things sometimes do not go how we would like, whether or not it is blindness like in this passage. In those times we tend to feel alone and we cry out to God but feel like he isn’t listening. This is a tough feeling to have but we can know that we have a God that hears. It says in Psalm 77:1 “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.”

What comfort we can have knowing that our God hears our cries. Whatever you are going through, when you call to him he hears you. This is not the only thing that we see learn about Jesus in this passage, he does more than just hear us, he sees us.

the king who sees

The second thing that we learn about Jesus in this passage is that he sees us and our faith. Again in Mark 10:51 “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.”” Jesus hears his cries and now sees his condition and the faith that this man has. Though it is obvious what he wants Jesus ask him.

In our spiritual blindness God sees us. He sees our condition and hears our cries. He sees our faith and has compassion on us. So many people thing of God as being far off and only seeing what is going on on earth when things get really bad. God is not distant like this but rather he is involved. He sees our lives, he sees our faith, he sees us.

This too can provide us with comfort, our faith is not all for not. Our faith is seen by our king. Our desire for him is seen. We are seen.

transition

We serve a king that hears us and sees us. He knows our faith and listens to our cries. The creator of the universe hears and sees you. We do not serve a distant God but rather a close one. Even in our fallen state he hears us and we can cry out to him. Just like in this passage he heard and saw a blind man, when we are spiritually blind he hears and sees us.

This is not all that we learn in this passage though, we also learn a great deal about the life of faith so lets turn our attention to that now.

What do we learn about a life of Faith?

Through this passage we learn more than just about Jesus but we learn about a life of faith through the beggar. In this passage Jesus commends his faith and we see a few things this man. The three things I want us to see are his hope, his request, and his response.

right hope

As the crowd that is with Jesus draws near this man knows that he only has one hope we see him showing this in Mark 10:47–48 “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”” He has the right hope and he cries out to him with all that he has.

So often in life we are dependent on ourselves for things and not on God. The life of faith is a life that has the right hope. We should put all of our hope in God knowing that he sees and hears us. When we hope in him we will not hope in the things of this world that always disappoint but rather in the perfect master that gives us exactly what we need and always cares for us.

The life of faith hopes in God over everything else.

right request

When Jesus calls this man to him we see a question being asked and we see him having the right request. We see this in Mark 10:51 “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.”” The blind beggar asked Jesus for what he needed.

The temptation in our lives is to send God our Christmas list. I used to do this all the time as a kid. This man humbly told Jesus exactly what he needed. I’m not saying that we should not tell God about things we want, I want people to be saved and pray about that. The problem begins to arise when we ignore our spiritual needs because we don’t want them. I used to never ask God to show me his plan for my life because I was scared that this would be it! I needed to know what he wanted me to do though so that I could follow in obedience. This man could have thought that he had been blind his whole life so he could stay that way if he had a lot of money. He was a beggar he could have asked for Jesus to make it where he would never have to beg again. He went past those surface thoughts though and asked for the deep root issue of it all, he needed his sight.

The life of faith focuses on asking God for what we truly need even when we don’t want it.

right response

The final thing that we learn about the life of faith from the beggar in this story is about our right response to what God does in our lives. After he is given sight we see him have the right response. This is shown in Mark 10:52 “And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.” He began to follow Jesus.

The life of faith is one that follows Jesus. It is one that gives him the credit and glory that is due to him. Often times when we do offer the right request and God answers we do not have the right response if we even do have a response. This might be a bit of a goofy example but when it comes to headaches I am a big baby, if I have a headache for to long I am sure I will die. Whenever this happens I typically pray a lot for God to remove it from me. Most of the time though I never thank him after it is gone. When God answers we are to have a response of thanksgiving and a response that follows him more and more.

The life of faith responds rightly when God works.

Conclusion

In this passage we learned a few things about Jesus and a lot about the life of faith. Tonight I have this question for you though, have you given your life to the king that hears and sees you? Or stated a different way, do you have your faith in the right thing to live a life of faith in God? Putting your faith in and submitting to Jesus is the most important thing anyone will ever do. See we are sinners which just means that we do things that displease God and because of this we need forgiveness. This forgiveness is found in Jesus.

We often get hung up in different things saying; you don’t know what I’ve done, or bad things have happened to me, or some other excuse. Let me tell you that it does not matter how much bad you have done, he will forgive it. And hear this, the bad that has happened to you is because of sin not because of God.

Jesus hears us sees us and he wants to be your king so that you too can live a life of faith.