10/25/20 Mark 10:46-52 “Are You Blind?”

23 Oct 10/25/20 Mark 10:46-52 “Are You Blind?”

10/25/20   Mark 10:46-52    “Are You Blind?”

It has been my experience that the longer I know someone, the better I get to know them on a more personal basis.  I think this is a pretty safe statement and, of course, there are exceptions.  Over the years I hope that we have gotten to know each other a little better.  You have seen me go through several trials and many joys.  I have had the privilege of helping you in the good times and the bad times.  Today I would like to report another bad thing that happened to me last week.  I had written about ¾ of this sermon, when I lost the whole thing.  It went into cyber space, and there was no getting it back.  At first, I was upset and I think that is understandable.  But then, after talking to Jesus, I realized that maybe, just maybe what I had written wasn’t quite good enough.  Plus, I didn’t have this wonderful opening story of losing my sermon!  Anyway, let’s see where the Holy Spirit takes us today.  We are looking at Jesus healing a blind beggar.  There are many lessons to be learned from these few, short verses.  Let’s see how this all applies to your life.

This is a passage that many pastors don’t like to preach about because it has to do with Jesus healing.  These are the same false pastors that don’t believe in the resurrection, the virgin birth and many of the other miracles of the Bible.  Pastors who don’t believe that Jesus can actually heal people of physical ailments should probably go into a different vocation.  And believe me when I tell you that there are many of these preachers out there.  The fact is that there are many, many people healed today by Jesus.  Yes, He is working even today.

For example, there was a man a few years ago who had a severe pain in his neck.  Every time he moved, he had terrible pain.  He finally went to the doctor.  The doctor found the problem and it was a severe problem.  They could only help him through surgery.  This surgery would be very tricky and there were no guarantees that it would be successful.  He had a good chance of never walking again.  So, everything was lined up for the surgery.  Right before the surgery, the man happened to go to a healing service somewhere.  He came forward and was healed.  Remember now that the surgeons saw the physical evidence that there was a major problem.  He went back to the doctors for the pre-surgery stuff that they do.  They could find nothing wrong with the man.  They were absolutely stymied.  This man had been healed.  Now, I know we all have problems believing in this type of healing service.  I don’t even believe in these types of ministries, but I do believe that sometimes people are healed like this.  It happens.  It happened to me just like this man in the story.  Right before my gall bladder surgery, I was healed.  I was also healed from a massive heart attack.  These types of healings happen all the time today and every day.  I ask you; I beg you to believe in healing from the Lord.

And all this goes back to this blind beggar named Bartimaeus in our story.  Bartimaeus was a blind beggar sitting at the side of the road near Jericho.  Have you ever noticed that these poor handicapped people of the Bible were usually gathered in active public places?  They gathered at the fountains in Jerusalem and on public busy roadsides everywhere.  They were there because these were the best places to beg.  Begging was the only way to make a living for these people.  This is unlike today where we have many beggars who are just too lazy to work.   Before Jesus came, there were no doctors for the common person.  There was no help that came from churches, governments and other places.  And there was really no hope for people afflicted with these de-habilitating ailments.  Jesus made all of these programs that help people out possible.  All the benevolent helpers of today came because Jesus walked on this earth.  The Christian church came was and is responsible for helping the poor, hurting, and ailing people.  Jesus Christ set all of these good things in motion and Bartimaeus is going to show us the way.

As we begin, we have Jesus and the disciples leaving Jericho.  Bartimaeus is at the side of the road begging.  He hears that Jesus is coming and he shouts out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Now Bartimaeus might have known a little about Jesus but there was no way he knew He was the Son of David.  Knowing this implies that Bartimaeus knew Jesus was God.  God has been working in Bartimaeus behind the scenes.  There was no way this could happen because this was not common knowledge at the time.  God gave him the knowledge that Jesus was God.

I think that we have a very hard time with this concept.  We are constantly under attack today and part of the attack comes from our churches who don’t believe Jesus is God.  I’ve already made mention of this.  Our seminaries are churning out pastors who don’t even believe in the Bible.  I read just this past week on a website for Christian pastors where most pastors don’t like to tell their congregations that Jesus is the only way to heaven because it might be offensive to non-Christians.  The Bible tells us in several places that the Bible is offensive!  So, now we have most so-called Christian pastors who don’t believe much of what the Bible says plus they won’t even help people to know Jesus so they can get to heaven.  This poor blind beggar in our story knows much more than most of our pastors today.

And what does Bartimaeus do?  He calls out to Jesus not once, but twice.  Twice he calls Him the Son of David.  But notice that Bartimaeus initiates the call.  He had been blind for a long time and he doesn’t take a chance that he might miss Jesus and His healing.  If he doesn’t say anything, Jesus keeps on going and his chance is lost.

Speaking of chances lost, I remember one time when I was in high school, we were coming back from a basketball game during a snow storm and our car started to stall.  I told Dad to hurry up and flash the lights so the other cars could see we were in trouble.  We couldn’t see a thing and we were at the end of the caravan of cars.  This was our only chance to be safe.  Another car stopped and we got back to town.  I’m sure that many of you have stories where you had to act now or bad things would happen.  Jesus doesn’t want any bad things to happen to you or anyone.  That is why He is always there for you to call out and be saved.  This is what Jesus does.  If you don’t call out to Him first, then you will be left at the side of the road to be on your own.  It is your responsibility to call out to Jesus first.

Also, I want you to notice that the crowd is against him.  They tell him to be quiet, shut up.  The crowd also wants to know and hear Jesus.  Why in the world should they relinquish their good spots to a poor blind beggar?  If they had their way, they would just kick this guy to the side because he doesn’t count anyway.

How many times have you been around someone like this?  Sometimes people just don’t know how annoying they are by their incessant, unnecessary questions.  I remember in junior or senior high when we would correct each other’s papers.  There was always someone who would get mixed up on true and false questions.  They not only got mixed up once, but several times.  It was annoying, exasperating.  It would drive me crazy.  That is what Bartimaeus was to the crowd.  They didn’t like his shouting.  He was driving them crazy!

But you know what?  Bartimaeus didn’t care what they thought.  He was going to use all the persistence that he could muster to get the attention of Jesus.  He wouldn’t quit because he knew that this might be or most likely would be the only chance he had for a healing from the very Lord of the universe.

This is another place where we need lots of help.  I attended a seminar on prayer about a week ago that was quite good.  One of the bottom lines there and is just about the bottom line with any pastor worth his salt, is not to give up praying.  Bartimaeus didn’t give up.  Notice that it wasn’t until after he had called out at least twice that Jesus noticed him. We know that Jesus knew he was there because Jesus is God and He knows everything.  But He is trying to teach us something here.  We are to keep on praying.  Never stop.  Jesus has many reasons when He answers our prayers and tells us to wait.  We only see a little micro dot of the universe and He sees it all.  Let Him be God and you be you.  I guarantee that you will like the results a lot better than when you think you are God.  Keep praying and never stop.

Another minor miracle happens when Jesus responds by saying “Call him!”  The crowd suddenly makes a 180-degree change.  They are no longer sick of his hollering.  They are now very nice and tell him it’s his lucky day.  The crowd changes 100% when Jesus talks.

I know this is getting to be harder and harder to find today but have you ever noticed when you are in a crowd in the presence of the Lord that things get different?  Many of you know what I mean when there are times when you can just feel the presence of the Lord in a place.  I often feel Him with the goose bumps I get.  Everything changes when God shows His presence.  Everything gets much nicer.  When I find myself in His presence like this, I just don’t want to ruin it with anything.

Ok, so now the Lord is here and He calls Bartimaeus.  He throws off his cloak and comes to Jesus.  He doesn’t come to Him in his old rags.  He sheds his persona in the knowledge that something new and better is coming.  This is the same as when He calls us to come to Him for the first time.  We shed our old personality and take up a new and far better one when we accept Jesus as our Savior.

And once again we have Bartimaeus acting first.  Jesus asks him what he wants.  What does he want???  Everyone knows exactly what he wants including Jesus.  But Jesus wants us to come to Him and ask for things.  We ask Jesus to come and live in our hearts.  We ask Him for a healing.  We ask Him for what we want.  Remember what James has told us and this is so very, very true.  You do not have because you do not ask God.

We are starting to get to the crux of the matter.  The great part is coming as Jesus asks him “What do you want me to do for you?”  The blind man replies, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  He wants to see.  This poor blind man wants to see.  He wants his sight back.

What is it that you would like Jesus to do for you?  We all have troubles and problems.  But I would be willing to bet that many if not most of you don’t ask.  Are you having trouble in your marriage?  Is your job getting the best of you?  Do you have wayward children?  Is your mind constantly full of bad thoughts?

Jesus said to the blind man, “Go, your faith has healed you.”  Wow!  This is about as strong a passage as you will ever find in the Bible.  Your faith has healed you.  You have heard me talk over the years and you know that I stress faith and prayer.  These should be the two most important parts of your life.  So, let’s be honest with ourselves today.  Where is your faith?  Even if you think your faith is in Jesus, is it strong enough or are you under the constant downward pull from the devil in this world.

I’m going to issue a challenge to everyone listening so that you can boost your faith life and become more in love with Jesus.  Last week at the prayer seminar, we relearned just how important prayer is.  Once again, you do not have because you do not ask God.  We read in Daniel and several other places, how to pray.  Daniel would stop three times a day to pray.  It didn’t matter what he was doing, he would stop to spend a few minutes with God.  And by the way, God loves when you do this.

Anyway, this is what I want everyone to do.  I would guess that we all have cell phones.  Often times they are a great waste of time.  So, why do you think God had us invent something to waste our time.  Well, He didn’t because He wants us to use these phones for His glory.  I want you to set your alarm or reminder or some type of bell so that your phone will go off three times a day to remind you that it’s time to pray.  It takes approximately 60+ days of doing something to make a habit.  Keep doing this for 60 days and you will be in the habit of praying three times a day.  This will be one of the greatest Christmas presents that you will ever be able give to God.  Plus, those around will benefit greatly from your new communication with Jesus.

This will be so great because the faith of Bartimaeus healed him and in turn he followed Jesus.  People, that’s what is so exciting about this.  I want you to jump start your prayer life and get all the faith in Jesus that you can get.  This in turn will help you to follow Jesus like Bartimaeus.  And when you are following Jesus, you will be having the best life there can be.  I have lived life on both sides of this and I know that the life we have in Jesus just cannot get any better.

You have the advantage of living in a world today where you can have so much information at your fingertips.  Some of you have made a god of the internet or cell phone or computer.  All these tools are good but they are in no way a god.  You can also check on who Jesus really is.  There is a lot of false information out there so beware.  Jesus Christ is God.  He came in the form of a human to show us the way to eternal life.  He died a most horrendous death on the cross.  But death could not keep Him.  Death could not hold Him.  He rose from the dead and went back to heaven to live forever with God the Father.  Jesus Christ is alive today. Learn about these things and put your total faith in Jesus.  He, in turn, will make your life so much better than it could ever be without Him.  He just flat out loves you and loves you and loves you.  And when you think you have had enough love; He loves you some more.  Thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.