Blind Bartimaeus

What Must I Do?

the rich young ruler came to Jesus, fell down at His feet and said what thing do I lack to be saved?

What is the last step in my list of things that I have to do?

I am a good person

as far as I’m concerned I am a great follower of the law

this man came to Jesus asking what do I do

Jesus told him to do the impossible, and he went away sad

Did this man come to Jesus like this?

Luke 18:16–17 LSB

But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”

an infant is helpless

this is not the actions of a helpless man

all a baby can do to get something is cry out

to make as loud and nerve wracking sound as possible

so lets look at another man in the path of Jesus

Read Luke 18 35-43.

On The Way

coming into Jericho from the east across the Jordan river ford

but before we follow Jesus down this road we need to look into a life of a man who lives in Jericho

either all his life or for a long time he has been blind

he probably does not have good living conditions

all of his begging goes for food so his clothes are dirty and threadbare

he is considered an outcast

the belief at that time was if you are blind it is a direct result of sin

you are paying the penalty of your sin

you deserve to be begging

so why should I give anything to you?

so, this man Bartimaeus, finds someone to guide him to his favorite begging spot

he has no hope of ever becoming well, to see again

before Jesus came to Israel there has never been a blind person made well

this man is sitting in his begging spot and starts to hear a commotion down the road

what could it be?

it is getting closer it sounds like a large crowd

Hey buddy, whats going on?

who is that? is it a politician trying to get elected into office?

is it the circus coming to town?

Let me look his friend says

I think it’s…

it just might be...

WHO?

Jesus!!

Jesus is coming our way

This man Bart knew who Jesus is

the Messiah God

Jesus God the Son

Here is my chance, My only chance the only hope I have it’s now or never I cant let anything stop me from getting His attention!!

He know’s from the scriptures that the Messiah will heal the blind

Ps 146:8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous;

Isa 29:18 On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.

Isa 35:5+ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

V 35-38

Jesus son of David

a direct reference to the Son of God

He is calling Jesus the Messiah the Christ

the anointed one of the Father

he knows Jesus is the Messiah and only the Messiah can heal a blind person

so he yells and yells

at the front of the crowd there are men who are keeping order

and now there is a disturbance from one of the beggars

they don’t need to be bothering the Master after all He is an important man and we need to shut him up

but the more he was prodded to keep quiet the louder he became

JESUS SON OF DAVID

HAVE MERCY ON ME!!!

V 38-40

Jesus calls the man to himself

and He puts Himself into the role of

Servant

V 41

What do you want me to do for you?

What did the rich young ruler want?

what must I do?

after flattering Jesus with choice words

But Jesus had a totally different response to this blind man

what do you want?

This mans first prayer request was for mercy

he knows his only hope is for God’s mercy to be given to him

This mans faith in the prophesies and what they say about the abilities of the Messiah

this mans faith in the mercies of God made him cry out to Jesus

this mans Faith calls Jesus Lord

calling Him God

after calling Him son of David

This man knows exactly who he is talking to —God the Son

then the man specifically requested by faith that he would regain his sight

How do we know it is by faith?

V 42

Your faith has saved you

not only has he recieved his sight but he has been saved

how do we know this?

V 43

evidence

when someone is saved there is evidence of a changed life

old things are passed away

we become a new creation in Jesus

the sin we used to love is now a horror to us

the sinful things we used to do we now hate

this man began following Jesus

following means a disciple learning , being disciplined by God

he also glorified God

there was a new song in his heart

Jesus not only changed him physically but eternally

changed him from a child of satan to an adopted child of God

why? because because he cried out to Jesus by faith for Jesus to heal him

the same way anybody is saved

Ephesians 2:8 LSB

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;