Blind Bartimaeus

The walls in our house moved. You could put your hand on them and feel the vibration, but I wasn’t concerned in the least. The sounds of Zach Williams’ song “Stand Up” surrounded and filled not only our home but our souls too. If you haven’t heard the song you can find it on YouTube. The Lord is making some great music through that man and uses it to encourage me often. With so many forces trying to discourage us these days, you and I need some good old fashioned praise to the Lord. I would encourage you to put on some of your favorite praise and worship music this weekend, and everyday for that matter, and let the Lord minister to your soul. He does tell us in Ephesians 5 to be filled with the Spirit, “singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord” (5:19b). It felt good to lift our hands and give Him praise. I could have done that for hours. Instead, I returned to my computer and started this blog post, but in the back of my mind the sweet melody and uplifting words about giving testimony to the greatness of God reverberated.

As I sat at the computer, I struggled to concentrate on writing because I found myself singing. Focus, Mark, I told myself. I started thinking about people in the Gospels giving praise to Jesus and this is who came to mind: blind Bartimaeus. Three of the Gospels tell of Bartimaeus. Matthew 20:29-34, Mark 10:46-52 and Luke 18:35-43 place the account just prior to Jesus’ Triumphal Entry which we celebrate on Palm Sunday and since that is just two weeks away, Bartimaeus is where my mind settled. I turned to Mark 10:46.

He sat along the busy road, but he was utterly alone. To the people around him, he was an absolute nobody. No doubt considered a sinner, undeserving of anyone’s attention, let alone anyone’s care. As I pondered what it would be like to be Bartimaeus sitting there along that road I felt a sudden heaviness, a loneliness. The praise I was feeling before was gone and in its place I could only imagine the hopelessness and emptiness that must have been the place Bartimaeus lived every single day. There was no remedy. No hope of a cure. No way out of the misery. On a different day, Jesus and his disciples passed by another man, blind from birth (John 9). His disciples asked Jesus, “who sinned, this man or his parents?” People considered Bartimaeus worthless; some made themselves feel better by throwing him a few measly mites (pennies) or maybe some old bread. But they cared nothing about the person.

The day had started like any other. Bartimaeus was facing more of the endless darkness, ridicule, and rejection. But this would soon prove to be a day like no other for him. His life was about to be changed forever, literally forever. Jesus was coming down the road.

Accompanying Jesus that day was a great multitude, as was often the case. Bartimaeus heard the tumult, the sound of the large crowd. The number of voices was overwhelming; he couldn’t isolate any one of them in order to understand what was happening. He called out to those around him, “What’s happening, what is the reason for this tumult?” They ignored him at first, I’m sure. They were tying to see for themselves, they had no time for the beggar. Finally, someone threw him a scrap, telling him that Jesus was coming. Jesus, he thought, I’ve heard of Him. Everyone’s heard about Him! Something stirred in him, a hope he had never felt before. Bartimaeus sat up tall, an unfamiliar strength filled his lungs. He cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The people around him told him to be silent, after all, what was this blind beggar doing calling out to Jesus? Bartimaeus was a nobody, less than a nobody, he was considered worthless.

Inside him, the hope that filled his lungs and voice continued undaunted by the rebukes of those telling him to be quiet. He could not be quiet. He cried out again, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” His heart was pounding, his body strengthened; it wasn’t anything he had ever felt before; it was hope. Not hope in some medicine, not in someone who might give him an old piece of bread. No, this was hope centered upon Jesus, the Messiah.

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” he cried.

The crowd was passing by, never giving any notice except to rebuke his audacious cries, but One at the center of the crowd heard. Jesus stopped. When He did, everyone else did also. Jesus looked in the direction of Bartimaeus who remained on the ground. Jesus commanded for the beggar to come.

“Stand up! Stand up! Bartimaeus. He is calling for you!” they told him.

Bartimaeus’ hope rose to even greater levels even as he leaped to his feet, throwing his cover aside like the dirty, old rag that it was. Someone next to Bartimaeus led him to Jesus. Suddenly, he was face to face with Jesus. While he couldn’t see Jesus, he knew he was standing before the King of Kings. He must have felt a little like the prophet in Isaiah 6, suddenly in God’s presence, completely overwhelmed and feeling utterly unworthy. Then Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Jesus, God the Son, the giver of mercy and grace stopped and stood with the blind beggar. That is the testimony. He cared for the unloved, but for the others too. The masses gathered and followed Jesus because He was a miracle-worker who did what no one else could do, but also because He spoke like no one else spoke (John 6:68-69; 7:46). They had seen him do miracles before. This one, however, would not only testify to who He is, but that He has compassion on the down-trodden and the outcasts. It testified to that crowd and to you and me that no one is worthless in the eyes of Almighty God.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked Bartimaeus.

“Teacher, that I may receive my sight,” the blind man answered in full expectation.

In that very moment, he was not disappointed; everything changed. The eyes that were blind began to see. Light began to shine into the darkness and the darkness fled away. Darkness cannot overcome light, Light overcomes darkness.

“Go your way, your faith has made you well,” Jesus said as Light filled Bartimaeus.

In the words of Zach Williams, “Stand up if you believe in the God of freedom, somebody give Him praise. Stand up if you believe in the name of Jesus, somebody give Him praise. Can I get a witness! Can I get an Amen!” Now imagine yourself as Bartimaeus. His faith in Jesus Christ made him whole. Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? If so raise your hands with Bartimaeus and give praise to the King of Kings who has made you whole! He has called you from darkness into the Light, from death into Life, and from utter emptiness into His glorious presence. Can I get a testimony?

You are not defeated. You are not without hope. You are not worthless. You are not alone. According to Ephesians 1, through faith in Jesus, the King of Kings, you are accepted, redeemed through His Blood, granted forgiveness for sin by the riches of His grace. Moreover, He has revealed His will, promises to gather together in one all things in Christ and granted you an inheritance which now includes receiving the Holy Spirit as a guarantee! As blessed as Bartimaeus was that day and afterward, he has nothing on you!

Bartimaeus, a disciple of Jesus, began to follow Him that day as He continued down the road. There is another song by Zach Williams playing in my mind right now; it’s called “Walk with You” (also on YouTube). I can almost hear Bartimaeus singing that song. How about you, what road are you walking? What song are you singing?

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Mark