Modern
Israel is roughly 1/19th the size of California.[i]
Jesus spent
3 years preaching in this small area. Without
traveling the world, He did more to change the world than any other person in history
did.
Jesus made His
home base in a town called Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. To the south of Galilee, was Samaria, and then
south of Samaria was Judea. Jerusalem,
the center of Jewish culture and life, was in Judea. The temple and the political and religious
centers of national life were in Jerusalem.
He
ministered in the towns and villages of the region of Galilee, and in Jerusalem
and Judea.
The annual
festivals like Sukkot and Passover took Jesus and His disciples to Jerusalem,
and at these times, Jesus would preach in the temple and on the streets of
Jerusalem. During these times, He would
often stay in the home of Lazarus and his sisters in Bethany, which was near
Jerusalem.
The Jews
would not normally travel through Samaria when going between Judea and
Galilee. They chose rather to take the
long route around than pass through the land of the Samaritans.
John
chapter 4 tells the well-known story of the “Woman at the Well.” She was a Samaritan and Jesus met her on the
road between Galilee and Judea.
Mark 10 tells
the story of Jesus’s final trip to Jerusalem.
This time He has chosen to go around Samaria by traveling south through
the lands east of the Jordan River.
Because of this, in verse 46 we find Him in Jericho. It was near Jericho where He would have
crossed the Jordan into Judea and headed uphill toward Jerusalem.
He had left
Jerusalem to avoid being killed by the national leaders, and now He was on His
way back. (At the healing of Lazarus
this same issue came up, cf. John 11:8)
The people
accompanying Him were amazed and terrified.
(Mark 10:32) They were pointing
out to each other and to Jesus the fact that the leaders of the nation were
recently trying to kill Him, and now He was heading back to where they waited. However, Jesus was resolute and moving toward
Jerusalem with determination and vigor.
Not only
this, He was taking time to explain to His disciples everything that was about
to happen. He was telling them that the
leaders of the nation were going to kill Him.
Mark 10:33&34 says, “Listen,” he said, “we’re going up to Jerusalem,
where the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers
of religious law. They will sentence him
to die and hand him over to the Romans. They
will mock him, spit on him, flog him with a whip and kill him, but after three
days he will rise again.” (NLT)[ii]
The
disciples were so heartbroken by this that they refused to go – NOT! They were asking him for a favor. They were asking to sit in places of honor
when He got to His throne.
Jesus tries
to bring them back to reality by asking if they were able to drink from the bitter
cup He was about to drink. However, they
just did not understand.
As they
left the city of Jericho on the way to Jerusalem, a large crowd of people was
accompanying Jesus. (Mark 10:46) While they were amazed and terrified, they
were expecting big things. Jesus’s
determination and anticipation of the fulfillment of His mission must have been
catching. This same excitement would
result in the Hosannas of the triumphal entry.
Jesus was
creating quite a stir.
There were
a number of beggars lining the street as the crowd left town. The poor, the crippled and the lame, who
could not work, would sit outside the gate and beg from those passing. A blind person sitting among this group
noticed the commotion and asked what was happening. Someone told him Jesus of Nazareth was
passing. “He began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son
of David, have mercy on me!’” (Mark
10:47, NLT)
This blind
man shows unique perception. He is blind
physically, and perhaps this has sharpened his spiritual eyesight.
They told
him Jesus of Nazareth was passing, but He calls out, “Jesus, Son of David.”
In this
name, the blind man shows his unique perception. This title belongs to the Messiah.
Many years
before this, God said to David, “Your house and your kingdom will endure
forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” (2 Samuel 7:16, NIV) Based on this promise and further promises
made by God, the Jewish people knew the Messiah as the Son of David.
The blind
man had never seen Jesus. As far as we
know, he had never met Jesus. He heard
about Jesus like everyone else, through rumors, gossip and the talk of those
around him. From this evidence, he was
able to understand that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Even the disciples on the road with Him were
missing the things that Jesus was telling them plainly, and yet this blind man
could see the truth.
May I pause
here to say, this is the first point I wish to make. There is enough evidence that the unclouded
mind can recognize the truth of who Jesus is.
The history of His resurrection, His miracles and the prophecies He
fulfilled are evidence that He is the Messiah, the Son of God.
It is not a
big leap of faith to accept these things.
We do not
say, “I have faith that Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of
the United States.” We believe it. However, this is not faith. We say we know that he was the 16th
president. We know. It is history, and there is a record.
In the same
way, we know that Jesus rose from the dead, performed miracles and fulfilled
prophecy. There is a historical record
of these things.
People
showed faith in Jesus’s day by coming to Him for help. People show faith in the present day by
coming to Him for help. How did the
blind man show faith?
Mark gives
the blind man’s name. It is Bartimaeus.[iii] Apparently, Timaeus and his son were known in
Jericho and thus the name is given.
When Bartimaeus
began shouting, many of the people around him started yelling at him to be
quiet. This only made him yell louder.
This is
evidence of his faith. He would not be
stopped.
This is
evidence of his internal grasp of the truth.
First, he realized his need. Being
blind is an obvious ailment, but of all the beggars sitting there that day
Bartimaeus called out. Second, he drew
the connection between his need and Jesus’s ability to heal. This truth served as the motivation. He would not be hushed because he drew the
connection between who Jesus was and his own need.
This kind
of faith is what we need today. It is
not enough to know Jesus is the Son of David.
James 2:19 says, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is
one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they
tremble in terror.” (NLT) We need to draw the personal connection. I am a sinner. I deserve to be judged. Jesus is the Messiah. He came to save us from sin. He is more than a Savior. He is MY Savior. I have a need only He can meet.
In August of
2010, the San Jose Mine in Chile collapsed trapping 33 miners 2,000 feet below
ground. While the world watched, massive
rescue efforts began. Meanwhile, deep
underground the miners were doing everything they could to survive.
It was not
too long before they began to have daily prayer together as a group. As time passed, a time of confession and
making things right became more and more a part of this time of prayer. Men would confess things like, “I’m sorry I
did not do my part yesterday in carrying water.”[iv]
My point is
that I believe that all of us when reduced down to the barest necessities
recognize that we are not perfect, and have sins for which we cannot pay. Faith is what recognizes in Jesus the answer
to our need.
I see
evidence all around me that humanity tries to deny our need. We say we are wise. The ideas and standards of the Bible are
old. I hear men and women speak of
themselves as sinners as if it were a joke.
Movies, dramas, comedians and newscasters all challenge the idea that we
have to face God.
All of us
can deny our responsibility for problems.
We might blame others for our failings.
There is a temptation to deny that the problem in my life is me, and
that I need help. Recognizing one’s responsibility
is one of the principles behind the success of 12 step programs.
Bartimaeus
recognized his need, and saw in Jesus the answer or solution to his need. Faith moved him to call out. However, those around him thought it
inappropriate. They told him to be
silent.
We see in
these events the attitude that Jesus has toward our condition.
The crowd
around Jesus was noisy. Yet Jesus tuned
His ear to the cry for help.
The crowd
must have thought Jesus was too important to bother about a blind beggar. The trip to Jerusalem was too important for
Jesus to stop. In the midst of all the
noise and confusion, Jesus stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” (Mark 10:49, NLT)
Bartimaeus
jumped up, threw aside the cloak he was covered with, and rushed to Jesus. Jesus then said, “What do you want me to do
for you?” (Mark 10:51, NLT)
In these
words of Jesus, we see His attitude toward those who would come to Him for
help.
He did not
pass by Bartimaeus, but he asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” He amazed His disciples and terrified the
crowd with His determination to get to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, He stopped and focused His
attention on this one beggar. He dropped
everything in response to this one man’s plea for help.
Luke 4:40
gives us a glimpse of something that characterized Jesus’s ministry. It says, “He laid his hands on every one of
them and healed them.” Do not ignore the
significance of this. Everyone who was
brought to Jesus was healed, everyone.
John 6:37
Jesus says, “However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will
never reject them.” (NLT) Notice, “I will never reject them.”
No one is
too insignificant or unimportant. The
New Testament tells us that Jesus did not perform many miracles in His hometown
because of unbelief. The truth is that
they did not come to Jesus for help because of their unbelief.
It is the
same today. Jesus will help anyone who
will call on His name. In fact, He says,
"Look! I stand at the door and
knock.” (Revelation 3:20, NLT) His invitation is always for any who will
come, to come. In Matthew 11:28 he gives
this invitation, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.” (NLT)
Bartimaeus
saw and understood his need. He also saw
and understood where to find help.
Do we?
Are we
seeing, yet blind?
The one who
had faith that moved Him to seek help from Jesus received healing that
day.
It is still
the same.
[i]
http://www.mefacts.com/cached.asp?x_id=10190
[ii]
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible: New Living
Translation. Copyright 1996, 2004, 2007
by Tyndale House foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers,
Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All
rights reserved.
[iii]
The name Bartimaeus means Son Of Timaeus, and it's formed like a pretty
straight forward surname, comparable to something like Timson. And since the name Timaeus means Highly
Prized, the name Bartimaeus means Son Of He Who's Highly Prized, or Son Of
honor.
However, there are some problems with this
interpretation. First of all: some
scholars object to the hybridism of Bartimaeus, consisting of the Aramaic bar
and the Greek name Timaeus. But even
though it's unusual, it's not a complete no-no.
Our surname Peterson, to name an example, consists of the Greek name
Peter and the Germanic word son. The
surname McGregor comes from the Greek name Gregory and the Celtic word for son.
But then: although Mark writes for a predominantly
Greco-Latin audience, his wording seems rather redundant: a man named
Son-Of-Timaeus who was the son of Timaeus.
That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
Spiros Zodhiates (The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary)
circumvents this conundrum by deriving the second part of the name Bartimaeus
from the Hebrew verb טמא
(tame), the regular Hebrew word for to be or become unclean.
That would render the name Bartimaeus the meaning of
Son Of The Unclean One, or Son Of Uncleanness, which seems a bit stretched. But on the other hand, it would neatly solve
the puzzle of why Mark insists talking about one Son-Of-Timaeus, who was the
son of Timaeus. This statement may now
be explained as: what is high-prized in our society is really a state of
uncleanness, which results in blindness, which can only be healed by Christ. (http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Bartimaeus.html)
[iv]
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/07/07/sixty-nine-days
This is spot on. Thanks for sharing this Joe.
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