Discipleship Challenges: Everything Else

46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher, let me see again.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Getting the most out of Jesus

What do you get out of following Jesus?

The gospels are filled with stories where the disciples are faced with that question. It doesn't always happen directly. Often, the stories appear to be about Jesus interacting with other people while the disciples just stand around. Up until His resurrection, it makes us wonder why the disciples were in the story at all. Couldn't Jesus have just died on the cross for everyone after preaching, teaching, and healing for a while here on earth. Why did these men (and women) have to give up their lives and livelihoods and follow Jesus around Israel for 3 years? What did they get out of being disciples and following Jesus?

That is an important question and one that we each need to ask ourselves. Most people don't have a problem with being saved. The bigger hurdle is what comes afterward. Once you have been saved by Jesus, why continue following Him?

Far too many of us are good at making the most out of our own life. We read scripture like an instruction book and follow our heart’s desires as long as they do not contradict scripture. We hope to have the shortest and softest experience with death, find ourselves in heaven, be reunited with friends and family, and start the process of making our own way through eternal life all over again.

With all the temptations to turn away, what do you get out of following Jesus?

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Stuck

This month we have read scripture passages that describe things that get us stuck and keep us from following Jesus.

The first was relationships. Our relationships, especially when someone has hurt or wronged us, can prevent us from following Jesus. When we refuse to forgive others, we get stuck.

The second was our responsibilities. Whether we are responsible for things or people, those aspects of our life can hold us back from Jesus and leave us stuck.

Last week we read about the power ambition has over our lives. Following our hopes and dreams instead of following Jesus will get us stuck as well.

Today we are going to cover everything else.

Those first three things: forgiveness, responsibilities, and ambitions, are aspects of our lives that we have some significant control over. However, as you well know, there are parts of our lives that we do not have control over. Sometimes those things outside of our control stand in the way of following Jesus. We cannot be disciples without help.

Bartimaeus was stuck and he needed Jesus to get out.

Caught between two worlds in Jericho, neither offered him any hope. As a blind man, the Jews kept him from God's presence. He was not whole and could not stand before God. Being blind, He wouldn't be able to see it anyway. The Romans would have had even less pity for him. They valued strength and Roman citizenship and culture. Bartimaeus had nothing of value to them.

It was tough times for everyone, and there was only so much mercy that could go around. This man was stuck in place and only someone with the power and love of God could lift him out of his rut. Would the Son of God, heir to the throne of David, have mercy on him?

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What do you want Jesus to do?

Sometimes writers state the obvious to draw attention to something that is not so obvious. Bartimaeus, the blind man begs in the street. He hears of Jesus passing by and begins crying out to him for mercy, for help. At this point in the story, you and I, as well as the readers, understand that we are about to hear a healing story.

John gives more backstory to this event than the few verses Mark gives us about Bartimaeus. However, the fact that this blind man is named, and his family is identified as well, lets us know that Mark expects his readers to recognize or remember his name. He is a gospel celebrity, and this is the day he became one.

Why then, does Jesus ask what Bartimaeus wants him to do? Isn't it obvious? This man wants to be healed! He wants to see! He wants to feel whole again and have a chance at a normal life.

It is not the normal routine for Jesus to ask all sick people what kind of healing they want from him. The paralyzed man had his sins forgiven without asking. Jairus's daughter was brought back from apparent death at only the request of her father. The woman with the bleeding problem never asked at all, but only reached out to touch Jesus.

Who was asked? The rich young ruler. James and John. People of influence, power, and potential. A few others who, like Bartimaeus do not seem so likely to fit the status of New Testament VIPs, but then Jesus promised that the first would be last and the last would be first.

While we might put this man in a category of those who experienced healing from Jesus, Mark puts this man in a different kind of category. He puts him in a category of those who would become disciples, but who had challenges holding them back. Riches held back one man. Ambition held back James and John. Bartimaeus was held back by his blindness. While the others could take actions to remove their own challenges, as directed by Jesus, Bartimaeus could not. He was held back by things outside his control.

How do we know this was about becoming a disciple and not just about healing? Because Mark tells us that immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus on the way. Just like Peter, Andrew, James, and John when they left their boats. Just like Matthew when he left his table of tax money. Jesus said "go" and Bartimaeus left his blindness behind as he went, following Jesus.

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Made well

Healing is always temporary, but following Jesus is forever.

Betty Cinnamon grew up in church but married a man that did not. Delmar was a bit on the wild side and found things to keep them busy and entertained instead of being in church. About 13 years into their marriage their lives came to a drastic halt. A car accident left them both and their two children all injured, Betty with a broken back that she would deal with the rest of her life, and her husband with a broken neck that left him paralyzed everywhere below his shoulders. Both doctors and faith healers failed to make any difference in their lives, and Betty became his nurse and caregiver for the next 43 years of her life.

The last year was the hardest. Delmar was in the hospital in a coma, and mostly on a ventilator for nearly 5 months. Finally, she resolved to let him go and they moved him into a nursing home and removed all the machines that were keeping him alive, while the family waited for him to pass. The prayers had changed. They were no longer for healing, they were for comfort and peace.

One Sunday morning, a few weeks later, Delmar suddenly woke up and said he was hungry for pork chops. The doctors couldn't understand it as she took him home and he ate real food for the first time in many months, and the skeptics in the family began to see God's power at work in their lives in a new way.

I know this firsthand because Betty was my grandmother, who lived across the street from me for some 20 years of my life. I spent hours every week with her and Grandpa, and I was preaching in my first church the day that I found out Grandpa woke up and went home. But before you get distracted by those details, let me remind you that this story is not about me and it is not about my grandpa. This story is about Betty, my grandma.

Grandpa did indeed experience miraculous healing, and that healing lasted just under a month. He passed away in his sleep at home just a few weeks later. Just like the blind man in our passage would one day die. Just like the woman who had the bleeding issue, and Jairus and his daughter both would die. Just like every person Jesus ever healed would eventually die, in some cases, for the second time.

But the week after we buried Grandpa, Betty was back in church. She'd only missed about 50 years of services. She didn't know the bible hardly at all, so she started reading a chapter a day and she joined her neighbor for a bible study and prayer group. God brought healing into her life, took away the things that were keeping her from following Him, and she got up and went as a seventy-year-old woman. She kept following Jesus until she could no longer physically do it anymore. Her commitment without excuses was an inspiration to everyone around her and I expect she gave far more to the churches in town than they ever were able to give her. A few short years ago, her body died, but her soul followed Jesus into the next life just as she had followed Him here. Everything in her life tried to keep her from following Jesus, but she was willing to go where Jesus was willing to take her.

Healing is temporary, but following Jesus is forever.

There may be stones and stumbling blocks on your path today. Are you willing to pray and ask Jesus to clear away anything that prevents you from following Him faithfully? Even if it is something you are not willing to give up? You may have a hurt that you keep as your excuse to avoid doing what you know Jesus is asking you to do. You may be facing an obstacle and trying to figure it out yourself rather than asking Jesus and others for help. When we stop following Jesus, regardless of the stumbling blocks ahead of us, we can become stumbling blocks for those following behind us. When we follow Jesus in faith though, we find that Jesus is enough to overcome them, and we inspire those behind us to do the same.

If the entire world was against you, would it be enough to have Jesus for you? The Apostle Paul, who dealt with his own stumblingblocks and healing needs wrote these words:

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

Family of Faith, will you let Jesus have His way in your life, so that He may free you for joyful obedience?

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