Bartimaeus Refuses to be Silent

In the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, there is a story of a blind man named Bartimaeus. Starting in verse 46 and going until the end of the chapter, this happening has several truths that can and should be extracted for our benefit and spiritual growth. To give some background Jesus is in the city of Jericho ministering to the people. A large crowd had gathered around Him, which was very a-typical for Jesus' ministry. As Jesus, His disciples, and the crowd were all leaving the city they passed a blind man known as Bartimaeus. Having been out begging all day along the roadside, Bartimaeus might have been relieved to hear a large crowd wondering past as the chances of someone having mercy on him, giving him some money, just went up. Imagine his surprise, his bewilderment, to hear that the crowd followed the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, The Healer! All the stories of Jesus' great works must have flooded into his consciousness at that moment, filling him with courage, excitement, and faith, because he immediately started shouting "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

The 1st Truth: The first idea that sticks out to me is this: we can't be afraid to make a commotion when we are in need of God's healing touch. I have heard it said that Jesus heals who He wants, when He wants, that we must sit there along the road in our misery and frailty, like Bartimaeus, and wait for Jesus to pass by. When He does eventually pass by, He will heal us if He wants to and there isn't much we can do to change that. If this were the case I believe the story of Bartimaeus would have been very different. But the way it is written authoritatively suggests that Jesus had already passed by, fully capable of healing Bartimaeus, but it wasn't until he made a commotion, shouting after Jesus, that Jesus stopped and called for Bartimaeus to come to Him. The very fact that Jesus had the blind beggar come to Him, rather than the other way around, throws into the question the belief that Jesus does it all, and we just have to sit there.

The 2nd Truth: He Refused to be denied. "Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more." Mark 10:49. Bartimaeus' faith, I believe, was made clearly evident here. He had faith that Jesus could and would heal him, if he could only get His attention. So he shouted after Jesus, the crowd tried to silence him, tried to stop him from seeking his healing. But his source of faith wasn't found in the good graces of those around him. If it was he would have apologized for being "disruptive" or "too radical" and sat back down. His source was Christ Jesus, and the healing that he knew was there, that's why he kept shouting all the more. How many of us have listened to the crowd, only to have Jesus pass us by?

The 3rd Truth: Your Faith has Healed you. "'What do you want me to do for you?' Jesus asked him. The blind man said, 'Rabbi, I want to see.' 'Go' Jesus said, 'Your faith has healed you.' Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road." Mark 10:51-52. Its absolutely incredible to me, when one studies the miracles of Jesus, how often He says "By your faith you have been healed." He makes it abundantly clear, He can only give to what our faith will allow. He is not limited, God is truly infinite. We, on the other hand, are finite and truly limited on our own. Apart from God we can do no thing. With God "Everything is possible for him who believes" Mark 9:23. When it comes to physical healing, Jesus works within the confines of our own faith in Him. He doesn't force His power upon us, instead He freely apportions it to those who are able to receive it.

If We Truly Live to Love Christ, Our Love Will Show the World Why We Live.
-Jared Carlson