THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Mark: Jesus, The Perfect Servant Of God

Part II: The Perfect Service Of Jesus, The Perfect Servant Of God, Mark 1:1-10:52

RR. The Ultimate Example Of Following Christ In The Healing Of Blind Bartimaeus

(Mark 10:46-52)

I. Introduction

A. Mark's Gospel was written by a man who was rebounding from having abandoned Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey (Acts 13:13) due to a lapse in failing to keep following the Lord due to some difficulty.

B. The last recorded miracle of Jesus in Mark is the Mark 10:46-53 healing of blind Bartimaeus (B. K. C., N. T., p. 154), and it provides the ultimate example of following Christ wholeheartedly amid key obstacles.

C. We view it that we might use it as an example of wholeheartedly following Jesus amid such obstacles:

II. The Ultimate Example Of Following Christ In The Healing Of Blind Bartimaeus, Mark 10:46-52.

A. When Jesus was in the vicinity of Jericho going with His disciples amid a large crowd on His way up to Jerusalem, a blind man named Bartimaeus sat by the roadside begging for alms, Mark 10:46.

B. Hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was going by, Bartimaeus began to "cry out loudly" (krazo, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 448-449), "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me," Mark 10:47. The beggar had heard of Jesus' fame, and now that Jesus was finally within hearing distance, the beggar was laying aside all personal inhibitions in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be healed and starting repeatedly to cry out loudly in desperation that "Jesus, son of David" might show mercy on him!

C. The racket made by this desperate man annoyed the crowd, as noisy as a large crowd might be, so many were continually (imperf. tense, epetimon, The Analyt. Grk. Lex. (Zondervan), 1972, p. 153) "rebuking" (epitimao, Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 303) him to stop shouting and be "silent" (siopao, Ibid., p. 760), Mark 10:48a.

D. However, the beggar only reacted to this rebuke by crying out loudly (krazo again, Ibid., p. 448-449) much more, saying, "Son of David, have mercy on me," Mark 10:48b. The scene had become a wild racket!

E. Of note, this is the first time the title "Son of David" appears in Mark's Gospel, and it "designated the Messiah as David's Descendant (2 Sam. 7:8-16) and became a recognized title of the Messiah-King," Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 155. This was remarkable insight for a blind man to have: he would only have heard of the term from the instruction given in the synagogue, and he would have merely heard of passages such as Isaiah 35:4-6 that told how the arrival of God's Messenger would be marked among other things by the healing of the blind. The fact that a blind man might glean from just hearing the Word of God and hearing of Jesus' actions in fulfillment of that Word so as to address Jesus as the Messiah with a Scriptural messianic term like "Son of David" shows that the rest of the seeing nation was without excuse for not believing in Jesus as the Messiah!

F. Accordingly, such faith would not go unanswered by the Lord, and Mark 10:49a informs us that Jesus reacted to this man by "stopping and standing still" (stas, aorist participle of histemi, "stop, stand still" in the intransitive, Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 382-383) and commanding, "Call him to Me" (phoneo, Ibid., p. 878).

G. The crowd changed its attitude and treatment of the man, telling him to take heart and get up, for Jesus was calling for him, Mark 10:49b ESV.

H. Bartimaeus had spread his outer cloak out in front of him on the ground to collect alms (Ibid., Bible Know. Com., N. T.), but at news of Jesus' call, he tossed aside that cloak with what money had been collected in it, believing he was about to be healed so that he could earn his own livelihood (Ibid.), and he "jumped up" (anapedao, Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 59) and came to Jesus, Mark 10:50!

I. To clarify for Bartimaeus what was about to occur to him, Jesus asked him what he wanted Jesus to do for him, and the blind man said, "Rabbi, let me 'gain my sight'" (anablepo, Ibid., p. 50), Mark 10:51.

J. Jesus told him to go his way, that his faith had made him well, meaning that he was made well by the Lord in response to Bartimaeus' exercise of faith in Jesus as Messiah Who could and would heal him, Mark 10:52a.

K. Bartimaeus then immediately recovered his sight and began following Jesus on the way, Mark 10:52b!

Lesson: Making a very strong commitment of faith in Jesus as the blind-healing Messiah based only on what he had heard of God's Word and of Jesus' actions, blind Bartimaeus wholeheartedly dedicated himself to call on the Lord for help above concern of what others about him thought or above concern for what alms he had collected.

Application: May we like blind Bartimaeus commit ourselves to follow Jesus based on God's Word above what others think of us and above concerns about what income we have earned or might yet earn.