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46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
As the children are making their way down to, children's church, I want to make just one announcement. It's the same announcement I make the 3rd Sunday of every August, and that is things are about to get crowded. And, I just I just want us to go ahead and think through that, and and how can we best be prepared for that. I know it seems like it's crowded now, but beginning next week, many of our college students start to return. And, once they return, things will get full rapidly.
Joel Brooks:And so just a few things I wanna remind us about. First is this, our college students are a blessing. And we we need to be reminded, they're not just somebody who takes your seat, they're a blessing. And what a privilege we have, what a joy that all these college students are coming here. The number of people coming isn't a problem.
Joel Brooks:Our space might be a problem, but not that the Lord is bringing these people here. And this is something that we should thank him for and we should really rejoice in, that we have so many people coming to sing praises to Jesus, to hear the gospel proclaimed. And so first off, I think that should be our posture, is just that, this is a blessing, and we shouldn't just take this for granted. Second, I want you to be on the lookout for those who, look like it might be their first time, or for those who walk in these doors by themselves. If ever you see somebody by themself, you should just think this is an emergency.
Joel Brooks:It's an emergency. I have to go and be with that person, because the most lonely you will ever feel is walking into a crowd all by yourself. And it takes a whole lot of courage and guts for people to come here alone, and so when they do come here alone, I want you to just have them on your radar and make sure you go up to those people and feel welcome, make them feel welcome, introduce them to some of your friends. Next, squeeze. You you think you've squeezed, but you haven't.
Joel Brooks:Like, I mean, like, really get to know your neighbor squeeze together, that would be a huge help. Also if you fill up the church beginning at the front. If it's not a communion Sunday, we're also gonna have at least 2 rows of chairs up here. You fill those up first, You could start sitting on the stage, do that, and then we will work our way back. That is by far the best way for us to maximize our space in this place.
Joel Brooks:And it makes it so much easier when those who are coming in a little bit later to actually find a seat. Next, come to this service. If if if you need to go to a morning service, come to this one. This is by far the least crowded service we have had this morning. And, so I would encourage you to keep coming to this one, or if possible, come to our 4 o'clock service.
Joel Brooks:There you go. We would why aren't you at the 4 o'clock service? Yeah. I'm doing what I said. Yeah.
Joel Brooks:That's right. But if you could come to our 4 o'clock service, there will definitely be seats there. It's more intimate in nature, and, it's just a great time to just linger, go out to eat afterwards. So 4 o'clock service if you can. My final announcement, I need all the single guys.
Joel Brooks:Look at me, single men here. Let me tell you where your parking space is. I have it reserved at Avondale Park and the library. That is where I would love for you guys to park. It is a 2 minute walk.
Joel Brooks:It is just one block away, and that would be a huge service to us if you could park there and walk here. And that way it would free up some of the families who are coming here with small kids, they don't have to worry about being run over or walking long distances, that they can find a parking spot. And so, a simple way to serve the church is to park over there in Avondale Park or at the library. Also, to come up early and to sit up front or sit on the stage. Or if you see somebody who needs a seat, give up your seat.
Joel Brooks:We had, at the last service, we had 2 families who came, checked their kids in, came up, couldn't find seats, had to go back down, checked their kids out. And, I would love to just see, actually, some of the single men just saying, hey, take my seat. I'll stand on the side. So I challenge you to do that. That would be a huge help.
Joel Brooks:Okay. Thank you. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's open up God's word together, and I invite you to turn to Mark chapter 10. We are continuing our study in the gospel of Mark, and we're gonna begin looking at looking at verse 45. I'm trying to read the verse before it because, really, the verse we ended on last week is kind of the introduction to what we're about to read.
Joel Brooks:For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. And they came to Jericho, and he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd. Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, he was sitting by the roadside. And And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
Joel Brooks:But he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and said, call him. And they called the blind man saying to him, take heart. Get up. He is calling you.
Joel Brooks:And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and he came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, what do you want me to do for you?' And the blind man said to him, 'Rabbi, let me recover my sight.' And Jesus said to him, go your way, your faith has made you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. And this is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Joel Brooks:You would pray with me. Father, what a privilege it is for us to be here. What a joy that every week we get to gather with our family, a family whose bonds are so much deeper and stronger than blood relation. For these are bonds that endure for all of eternity, because it is a family that has been made through the blood of your Son, Jesus. So thank you for this gift that we have to come and to have a family reunion every week, and to listen to Your Word, and have it written on our hearts through Your Spirit.
Joel Brooks:And I pray that would happen now. Pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But Lord, may Your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus, amen. So by the time we have reached this section in the gospel of Mark, the disciples have been following Jesus for almost 3 years.
Joel Brooks:But now, Jesus's earthly ministry is coming rapidly to an end. In just 6 days from now, Jesus will be arrested and crucified. Just 6 days. Now we're gonna see over the course of the the next couple of months that a lot is gonna happen in those 6 days, but but his death is imminent. And this is the final stop that Jesus has before he enters into Jerusalem, and not only that, this is his final miracle of healing.
Joel Brooks:And for this final miracle of healing, what Mark decides to record for us is that Jesus gives a blind beggar sight. Now, if you remember, Mark's already told us how Jesus has healed a blind person before. He shared that story with us back in chapter 8. So why does Mark decide to tell us another one? Why why does he decide to once again tell us how Jesus heals a blind person?
Joel Brooks:And not only that, why did he decide to tell us this for the last healing of Jesus? His last miracle is this, something we've already seen before, and yet he presents this as the capstone, the capstone of all of his miracles. Here it is. Jesus at his finest, his last greatest work. Well, I I think he includes this story because as we'll see as we go through it, it's about way more than just a healing.
Joel Brooks:It's way more than a blind person receiving sight. This is actually a story about what it looks like to truly see Jesus. What does seeing Jesus look like, and what does following him look like for us? Now as I look out in this room, I know many of you, most of you I don't know, but I do know this about every person here, and that is that your greatest need in life is to see Jesus. By far, that is your greatest need.
Joel Brooks:It's my greatest need is to see Jesus. More than anything in life, I need to have the eyes of my heart opened up so I can actually see him clearly. And I confess that it's hard to see Jesus at times because it takes faith. Jesus isn't physically with us anymore. He's he's not gonna walk through that door over there, and you're like, hey, Jesus, and we physically see him.
Joel Brooks:It's been 2000 years since he last walked this earth. So it takes faith, and other things are just so easy to see instead. I mean, I confess. I came here this morning, and you know one of the first things I saw when I looked out of the building? Lack of parking.
Joel Brooks:Chaos. What I see in here is just overcrowding. We see so many things. I see a packed calendar. I see endless beautiful vacations as I scroll through social media.
Joel Brooks:There's so many things that are easier to see, but the most beautiful thing that any of us will ever see is Jesus. We need to see Jesus. So how do we do it? Well, that's what Mark's gonna teach us in in this story. Story begins with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem, and he's passing through the city of Jericho, which sits just 18 miles away from the capital city.
Joel Brooks:This is the week before Passover, and with it being that week before Passover and this being one of the main roads leading into Jerusalem, that means these streets would have been absolutely packed with people making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to be there for Passover week. The streets would have been lined up with all these spectators cheering on the pilgrims. Over 20,000 priests lived in Jericho because of its close proximity to the temple. Certainly, the the streets would have been lined up with many of the priests. They are cheering on everybody as they go into the city of Jerusalem to make their sacrifices.
Joel Brooks:It it would have been a a festive time, a loud time. And then, of course, a lot of people were hoping that Jesus would come this way. They've heard of Jesus of Galilee, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Now in the midst of this festive scene here, one would have likely not noticed a simple blind beggar. And it would have not just been hard to see him because of all the chaos around there, but also because there would have been so many beggars during this time.
Joel Brooks:They would have come out of the woodwork for this season. This week was the week of giving. Just like Christmas, the Christmas time is when people feel very generous and they give in our day. The week before Christmas, if you were to go to any Walmart, go to any department store, what are you gonna have outside of those doors? Somebody ringing a bell.
Joel Brooks:There's gonna be a big red bucket, and it's gonna be the time where everybody's supposed to dig in and they drop whatever change they have. That's the week before Passover. That's this week right here. People were supposed to dig in, and they are supposed to be giving to all of the beggars, and so all the beggars would be out during this time. And one of these beggars was a man named Bartimaeus.
Joel Brooks:Now so far in Mark, there's been a lot of healings. We've seen Jesus heal a paralytic, a man with leprosy. He's cast out numerous demons. He's raised up a girl from the dead. He's healed a hemorrhaging woman.
Joel Brooks:He's healed a man from being deaf and mute. He's healed another blind man. But do you know it? In all of those miracles, we are never told their name. As a matter of fact, if if you were to look at all of the miracles of healing in Matthew, in Mark, and in Luke, you are never told anyone's name except for Bartimaeus.
Joel Brooks:He alone his name. For some reason, Mark thinks it's really important that we know who this guy is. Many scholars actually think it's because Bartimaeus was well known during the time that Mark was written. He'd actually gone on to become a leader in the church. And so people would read this and be like, isn't that you, Bartimaeus?
Joel Brooks:Like, yeah, that's me. And so many people think that's why he included the name. But for whatever reason, he at least wanted it to stand out. This is supposed to be a story that stands out from all the rest. This isn't just a healing.
Joel Brooks:We're being taught something here. What I think we are being taught is, how can we see Jesus? What does it look like to follow him? Well, just look at Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus is sitting by the side of the road.
Joel Brooks:He begins to hear the noise of the crowd growing louder and louder. In Luke 18, we read that he heard the commotion, and he asked those around him, hey, what's going on? And they said, it was Jesus of Galilee, he's coming by. And the moment he hears Jesus of Galilee, he's heard about this guy. Wait, this is the miracle worker.
Joel Brooks:This is the guy who's healed people. I think he's even healed blind people. And so as the sounds are getting louder and louder, and he knows Jesus is getting closer and closer, you can imagine that Bartimaeus' heart is about to beat out of his chest. What should he do? And finally, all that commotion is right in front of him, and he has a decision to make in this moment.
Joel Brooks:Is he silent or does he call out to Jesus? I mean, he couldn't catch Jesus's eye. He couldn't climb a tree like Zacchaeus to get his attention. He he couldn't, you know, sneak through the crowd like the hemorrhaging woman did and just kinda touch his robe. Those were not options to Bartimaeus.
Joel Brooks:He had one tool at his disposal, and it was his voice. Does he scream out, make a scene, or is he quiet, fit in with the crowd, and just let the moment pass him by? He cries out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And we read that he began to cry this out, meaning he's saying it over and over. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
Joel Brooks:Have you ever been in a public space where somebody has just screamed out at the top of their lungs? It is unsettling. It's jarring. Confession, and you're gonna so think less of me right now. If ever you thought I was cool, which I doubt, it's gonna be gone in this moment.
Joel Brooks:Many years ago when I was at a Sandy Patty concert, and if you don't know who she is, like, she just likes to sing. She's old Christian artist back in the, like, eighties, early nineties. She liked to sing really high. Every song has 4 key changes. And, and so our youth group went to go hear Sandy Patty at the Omni in Atlanta.
Joel Brooks:That was the old arena before Phillips Arena. I don't know why youth don't go anymore to see her, but, that's what our youth group did. I didn't wanna be there. That was my only saving grace, but, I sat way up in the the the nosebleeds because I didn't wanna be close to it. And and for some reason, I don't know what got over me, I really don't, besides just being so young and a fool, But at some point, things had got really quiet because Sandy was gonna say some things, and I screamed out at the top of my lungs the loudest I could possibly scream.
Joel Brooks:And I just screamed, amen, and like the most sarcastic thing you can ever say. I mean, it just went all out in the arena, and it jarred everyone. I mean, it was just like everybody's like they just braced, and they're all looking. Sandy Patty called me out. I mean, that's that's how jarring it was up there.
Joel Brooks:It's not a normal thing for somebody to to scream in a setting like that. Here's Bartimaeus, and people are just they're being unsettled. What are you what are you doing crying out like this? Now, you you might think that these people might have had a little sympathy for him, but you don't find that at all. Not the he did not gain the slightest sympathy from the crowds as he cried out.
Joel Brooks:Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Thankfully, unlike me, he's at least crying out to the Lord. And what he says is a great prayer. Shows tremendous insight and faith. It's direct, it's to the point.
Joel Brooks:He calls Jesus the son of David. This was a messianic title, so this is a title reserved for the Messiah. Bartimaeus is the only person to use this in the gospel of Mark. And one of the things we're supposed to see here is that Bartimaeus might be blind, but so far Mark, he's the only one who sees. He sees Jesus clearly for who he is.
Joel Brooks:That's the messiah. So he gets that right. The next thing this prayer shows is his expectations for the messiah. The messiah has mercy. You're the Messiah, and would he have mercy on me?
Joel Brooks:In Luke's account of the story, he says, Lord, have mercy. And this might be the most repeated prayer in church history. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. It's not long.
Joel Brooks:It's not eloquent, but it's a desperate prayer. And it communicates the 2 main truths that need to be communicated. You are the Lord, and I am in need of your mercy. I mean, what more needs to be said? He's crying that out, not gaining any sympathy from the crowd though.
Joel Brooks:We actually read that they rebuked him. They told him to be quiet. They're telling him to shut up, probably doing some profanities with it. Just shut up. Now Bartimaeus has another choice.
Joel Brooks:Does he shut up and let Jesus pass by, or does he risk it all and keep making a scene? And it's a risk here because remember, the people telling him to shut up are the people he depends on for a living. Like, he needs these people to be generous to him. He needs these people to think well of him and to be kind to him. And so these are not the people you offend.
Joel Brooks:And so it it really is a risk. Do I risk all of my benefactors here for the sake of maybe getting Jesus to stop? And he says, yes. He goes all in. He cries out all the more.
Joel Brooks:The word for cry next that we read in verse 48 is different than what we find in verse 47. First, Mark uses a very ordinary word when he says that Bartimaeus cried out. But then in verse 48, he uses a much rarer word. It's a stronger word. Elsewhere in scripture, it's used to, to describe the crying of an animal or the cry that a woman makes when she's in labor.
Joel Brooks:In Mark chapter 5, it's used to describe the shrieks that the demons made when they were cast out. It is it is the most desperate, loud cry of pain you could imagine. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. He is just screaming it out. And church, can I just say this?
Joel Brooks:If the world ever asks us to shut up, may it be over our cries for mercy from Jesus? I mean, Christians are told to shut up all the time. Usually, we deserve it. Usually, we deserve it because of our arrogance, because of our self righteousness, and they can see right through whatever we're saying, and they just want us to shut up. The church doesn't be accused of any crying out, can it please be for please and mercy of Jesus?
Joel Brooks:Think how differently our culture would look at us if that's what we cried out. Not you need to change, but I need such forgiveness. And I'm not saying we don't cry out against the evils of this world. We do. But we should cry out by the evils of the world by first pointing at the evils in us and our need for forgiveness.
Joel Brooks:Don't over get over this fact that you need to be forgiven. So let us cry for mercy. And I think if we did did that, I think the world would respond so differently to the church than how they respond now. So Bartimaeus, he's teaching us how to pray. It's desperate.
Joel Brooks:It's relentless. It's undignified. Do you know what this prayer reminds me of? It reminds me of of Jacob in Genesis 32 when he wrestles with the angel of the Lord. And if I don't know if you if you remember that prayer, but he he wrestles and he grabs hold of angel and he says, I'm not letting you go until you bless me.
Joel Brooks:Angel's like, well, what about this? I just dislocate your hip. Bam. Jacob's like, doesn't matter. I will not let you go until you bless me.
Joel Brooks:And Bartimaeus is saying, Jesus, I will not let you pass me by until you have mercy. Whatever it takes, you will not pass me by. I I will scream my head off until you stop. This is a model for prayer for us. And when you cry out for mercy, Jesus hears.
Joel Brooks:We read these glorious words in verse 49. It's just Jesus stopped. He stopped. He said, call Him. Jesus always stops when we call out for mercy.
Joel Brooks:He will never see our cries as an interruption to his busy schedule of running the universe. No. He's drawn to those cries. He's irresistibly drawn towards them. Do not ever think that you are bothering Jesus when you come to him with any need, great or small.
Joel Brooks:We've already seen him stop for the the bleeding woman. He's stopped to pick up children. He's stopped here for this beggar. Jesus will stop for you. After Jesus calls Bartimaeus, it's comical.
Joel Brooks:Notice how the tune of the crowd instantly changes from going, shut the beep up, to like, hey, cheer up, he's calling you, get up. Like, I mean, they just like instantly, they just, they just change. Take heart. Get up. He's calling you.
Joel Brooks:And then we read in verse 50 that he threw off his cloak and he he sprang up and he came to Jesus. Mark makes it a point to tell us that he he leaped up. He sprang up in order to go to Jesus. Do you realize how awkward that would have been? This blind man just just springing up and then stumbling fast towards Jesus, bumping into people in such a crowded street.
Joel Brooks:It would have been so incredibly awkward. There's no dignified way to do this. But, church, you cannot ask Jesus for mercy and try to look respectable. You can't do it. Do you wanna be respected by others or do you want the help of Jesus?
Joel Brooks:Here's Bartimaeus. He goes, I don't care what anybody how they see me. I only care if Jesus sees me. And that's where you have to have that kind of desperateness. It doesn't matter how other people see me, who cares?
Joel Brooks:Does Jesus see me? And he does, he sees us when we cry out for mercy. So he gets up, he calls out, and Jesus sees him, and he stumbles over that way. And in that moment, all of Bartimaeus's poverty is on display. All of it.
Joel Brooks:All of his pain, all of his poverty, all of his desperateness on display for everyone to see, and he couldn't care less. Because all that mattered was Jesus had called him. Can I just say that some of us in here need to get comfortable with falling apart before Jesus? We need to quit just trying to make ourselves look so presentable. Quit acting like we have it all together.
Joel Brooks:You know, Jesus can't love the person you pretend to be. He can only love the person you actually are. So don't pretend. Just just come as you are. Do you know what Jesus wants from you?
Joel Brooks:It's not for you to try to pull yourself all together. There's only one thing that Jesus wants from you, and it's not your money. It's not your influence. It's not your strength. He only wants your need for him.
Joel Brooks:That's it. If you come needy, he responds. That rich young ruler, he didn't walk away sad not following Jesus, because he wouldn't give Jesus his money or his influence or anything like that. No. It's he went away sad because he thought he needed those things more than he needed Jesus.
Joel Brooks:He he couldn't imagine his life apart from those things. But if he had just realized his greatest need was Jesus, he would have had them. That's all Jesus requires of us is do you have need? Would you quit pretending? Just come to me with your mess, and I'll make it a canvas for my glory.
Joel Brooks:Just come to me with your need. And so Bartimaeus comes. We're also given another little detail in here I like. It says he threw away his cloak. Not only does he spring up, he throws away his cloak.
Joel Brooks:It's an important detail. That cloak was likely his only possession. It's what he would have spread out before people to collect the alms. It was like his guitar case, you know, that he'd open up that people throw the money in. He's throwing it away.
Joel Brooks:I mean, he springs up, he's throwing it away, which means money, whatever money collected is going everywhere. When he does this, what he's saying is, I believe in this moment, my old life is over, and a new life awaits me. And he is throwing aside his old life. And now, he's standing before Jesus, and Jesus asked him, what do you want me to do for you? I mean, when you read this, you kinda wanna be like, well, duh.
Joel Brooks:I mean, why do you think I was yelling out to you, Jesus? I mean, it's an unusual question, isn't it? I mean, that this man will make blind man finally gets to Jesus, obviously screaming for mercy, for help, and Jesus asked him, so what exactly do you want me to do for you? It is an unusual request, and I think the reason that Jesus asked this question, is because Jesus is going back to a conversation He had earlier with James and John. James and John had come to Him with a request, and Jesus asked them the exact same question.
Joel Brooks:What is it you want Me to do for you? It's the same question He asked to James and John. Now He asked this question to Bartimaeus. What do you want Me to do for you? They responded by asking for power and glory, and they were denied.
Joel Brooks:Bartimaeus asked for mercy and healing, and he has granted his request. Now there there's a whole lot written out there about why Jesus said yes to Bartimaeus and why he might have said no to James and John. Because we are supposed to compare those stories with each other. And there's a lot written about, you know, well, one of them was made out of pride and denied, and the other was made out of humility and that's why it was granted, or one was all about power and glory, and the other one was actually about a real need. And maybe, I actually take away a different point from both of those stories, and that's just simply this.
Joel Brooks:Mark is teaching us we need to pray to Jesus. Don't spend so much time thinking about your motives. Just pray to him. You will always have mixed motives. Every time you're gonna go to Jesus, and there's gonna be part of it, you're gonna want his glory, and there's gonna be part of it, you want yours.
Joel Brooks:Don't let that stop you from going to Jesus. James and John were not rebuked when they came to Jesus. Not at all. Jesus redirected their prayers. He taught them something through their prayers, but they were not rebuked.
Joel Brooks:Don't spend all this time thinking, oh, I gotta make sure my motives are pure. No. Just pray and let Jesus sort it out. And I think that's one of the things we see here. Like, if you if you think my prayers, they might be full of ambition, pride, glory, faith, pray.
Joel Brooks:Or if you think it's the most genuine request only for the glory of Jesus, pray. Don't wring your hands trying to figure it all out. Let Jesus sort it out for you. Jesus asked Bartimaeus for what he wants. Bartimaeus says, I want to recover my sight.
Joel Brooks:Jesus responds to him by saying, go your way. Your faith has made you well. And here, we see Jesus doing exactly what he taught his disciples, serving. The king serves the beggar. He obeys him.
Joel Brooks:He does exactly what he asked for. Jesus told Bartimaeus that his faith has made him well. And Jesus is not just talking about covering sight. Literally in Greek, it's your faith has saved you. He saw might has has made you whole, has saved you not just physically, but has saved you spiritually.
Joel Brooks:You've not just been given sight. You have been forgiven of your sin. And how cool is it? I mean, I just I've been thinking about this. When Bartimaeus is healed, the first thing he sees is the faith face of Jesus.
Joel Brooks:May how awesome is that? The very first thing he sees is Jesus and his glory and his beauty. This is a beautiful picture of what someday awaits us. You know, we go through life, and we we endure many sicknesses, many pains, and we're always praying, Lord, would you heal us for this? And, you know, the Lord usually does.
Joel Brooks:Sometimes it's, you know, over the course of weeks, we get better. Sometimes it might be instantaneous. We have more miraculous healing. And when those times happen, we should thank Jesus. We should rejoice in that.
Joel Brooks:But for all of us in this room, there's going to be a time where Jesus chooses to heal us a different way, and that's gonna be when He allows us to take our last breath. And when we take our last breath, though, if we have had faith in Jesus, our eyes will miraculously be opened on the other side of death, and we will see Him. What a beautiful picture. Like, someday that is how Jesus will heal us and our eyes will be opened and we will see him. And once Bartimaeus is healed, he's told to go his way.
Joel Brooks:Look at verse 52. Jesus said to him, go your way. Your faith has made you well. Normally, Jesus says, come and follow me, but he doesn't here. He says, I want you to go your way.
Joel Brooks:But then, I want you to notice what happens. And immediately, he recovered his sight, and he followed him on the way. So Bartimaeus is healed, and Jesus says, I want you to go your way. Bartimaeus says, fine, which way are you going? That's discipleship.
Joel Brooks:That's what it looks like to follow Jesus. We we've been healed by Jesus, and when we're told to go our own way, it's like, well, I only have one way, and it's whatever direction you are going. And so that's what that's what Bartimaeus does. I heard a older pastor say it this way. After seeing the beauty of Jesus's face, Bartimaeus thought there would be nothing greater than to spend the rest of his life looking at Jesus's back.
Joel Brooks:And that's what he wanted to do is just follow Jesus. Wherever you go, I will go. And what glorious things Bartimaeus got to see in the next week, the death, the resurrection of Jesus. Later, he would get to see his ascension. He was possibly one of the 120 at Pentecost in the upper room.
Joel Brooks:Boy, what a what a first few months of the Christian life. How different his life is because he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Once again, Mark is presenting Bartimaeus as a picture of what following Jesus looks like. We know who He is. We know who we are, a beggar in need of mercy.
Joel Brooks:We call out to Him, He heals us, and we follow Him all our days. And so I just wanna end with this question here, and it's just simply, what do you want to see in life? I mean, you're spending your whole life trying to see something. What is it? What what do you daydream about?
Joel Brooks:What is what do you endlessly scroll hoping to see? Would you spend all of your energy working so hard towards? What what are you searching for, sacrificing for? What do you hope to see? Whatever it is, can I just say, you will never find anything more beautiful than Jesus?
Joel Brooks:Lord, have mercy. Pray with me. Jesus, would you not pass us by? Oh, Jesus, don't pass us by. Don't let our our need to look respectable, our need to fit in, keep you from stopping.
Joel Brooks:Lord, we come to you with all of our mess, all of our need, and we just cry for mercy. Do not pass us by. We pray this in the sweet name of Jesus. Amen.