Episode Transcript
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Hello, I'm Josh.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: And I'm Gabriel.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: And today on reading the gospel, we are studying the event Bartimaeus. This is found in three of the four gospels. It's found in Matthew 2029 through 34, in Mark 1046 through 52, and in Luke 1835 through 43.
Follow along with us as we read mark ten beginning in verse 46.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: And they came to Jericho. And as Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples in a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.
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.
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: And Jesus stopped and said, call him. And they called the blind man, saying to him, take heart. Get up. He is calling you. And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and 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. 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.
So here we have another miracle story, another person being healed. But this story, to me is different. Here we actually have the name of the person who's being healed. This is Bartimaeus in the name of his father. Yeah.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: He has an identity.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Yeah. So he has this identity, and we'll get into this a little later. What makes this different? But Jesus is leaving Jericho. We talked about this last time, the song of the ascent, heading up from Jericho up to Jerusalem. He's starting this journey. This is coming into the last week before he lays down his life for us. And so he's waiting outside by the road. Jesus comes by.
He uses this title, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. What does the son of David mean? What's he. Because Jesus is not the son of David. Jesus is the son of Joseph. Right.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: He's a descendant of David. And in this regard, he is a son of David. But the son of David is a yemenite title given to the future Messiah.
This is a statement of faith that Jesus Christ is the promised messiah, that he was supposed to come. And this is why he has that miraculous power of healing.
[00:03:28] Speaker A: And the crowd's trying to tell him to be quiet, don't bother Jesus.
But he cries all the louder, keeps going. So Jesus stops, calls him and says, what is it? What do you want me to do for you.
And he tells him, let me recover my sight.
So Jesus says, go your way. Your faith has made you well. Now, this is a formula Jesus uses for so many other miracles, right? Go. You're healed. Take up your bed, go home, rise and walk.
So people would get up and they would go, Bartimaeus didn't do that, did he?
[00:04:11] Speaker B: Yeah, because Jesus says, go your way.
And we read that, in fact, Bartimaeus followed Jesus on his way.
It is a very intersection of our ways, of our plans, of our desires, about vision for life, and we have one, and we meet Jesus Christ.
Our way becomes his way. What I like about him, about this story is this blind man was able to see the face of Jesus Christ.
And based on what he heard, the face that has been building over time, he decided to follow Jesus Christ. That means to be one of his disciples.
And this happens in the 11th hour of Jesus ministry, or eleven hour and 55 minutes just before crucifixion. So Bartimaeus followed Jesus Christ on the way up to Jerusalem, into Jerusalem. Remember that triumphant entrance in Jerusalem all the way to the cross? And that was an amazing story.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: I like how you said that Bartimaeus way became Jesus way. And I think so many times, when we get something new, we want to focus on that new thing and how much more if you get a new ability that you didn't have before. So if you get new eyesight, would you really want to look at one person the whole time?
Or would you want to go and explore the world and see everything? If you got new legs, would you really want to follow and sit down and listen to Jesus? Or would you want to run and be out everywhere?
And here we have Bartimaeus choosing to direct his way to Jesus way.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: Every time we meet Jesus, a change will happen in our lives. It's a change of direction, it's a change of plans. It's a change of desires and intention, and always a change of priorities.
So this time, even if he had his own way, maybe he was dreaming about being healed one day and going back to his village and stopping a beggar, being able to start a family, to build a house or whatever success was envisioned those times.
But Jesus Christ, even if he said, go your way, he didn't.
And this is how, when we are touched by the hand of God, we feel that we have to respond to that love, to that grace, and we respond by giving ourselves to him. And the Lord can send us in different directions.
I like to connect this story with the healing of the demoniac in Gadara the story goes a little bit different.
Jesus Christ had a bit of time to talk to him and to teach him until the news went into the city and the owners of the pigs came back. So it took him an hour or so.
And during this time, Jesus Christ taught this newly healed person something.
And when he wanted to follow Jesus Christ, that is a normal response for anyone who has been touched by God's hand. Jesus said, no, you can do something better than this.
Do something that I not able to do. Go back to your own people and tell them two things, how I had mercy of you and what I've done to you.
[00:08:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:13] Speaker B: So this time, Jesus Christ is very close to the end.
The sowing of the seed had happened. Jesus Christ preached many sermons. He went on many evangelistic or many tours of the country to heal people, to, to present the good news, to show them the character of those who enter into the kingdom of God and their behavior. And now it was about time for Jesus Christ to die. And this Bartimaeus, this former blind man, followed Jesus Christ all the way to the cross. And that is one of the most profound stories in the gospel.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: If we take that thought to the day we live in, we are at the end times.
And it's not Jesus going to the cross, it's Jesus coming again.
And we can look at our lives and ask the question, are we really ready to follow Jesus?
He's given us a gift. He's given us something that we didn't have before, eternal life. And when he gives us eternal life, what do we do with that eternal life? Do we take it and just go back to life as it was? Do we stay where we're at? Or do we make our way, Jesus.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: Way, in our connection with God, after we establish a relationship with God, and that is through studies, through prayers, through meditations, through sharing the word of God.
That eternal life you're mentioning flows to us through all these channels, right? Bible study, prayer, meditation.
And it has to flow back to God through or via other people.
We have to reflect the light that we receive from God towards others. And those people are going to establish their own relationship with goddess and that double way of flow of life from God to us and from us to God.
[00:10:24] Speaker A: Yeah, that's an amazing thought that we can be. Mirrors reflect the light that we get from God and that others can see. Jesus is being partakers. I think of the parable of the workers in the vineyard when Jesus hired them for the same price, no matter what time they came of the day. And here we have Bartimaeus coming at the 11th hour, but he receives the blessing. And his name is Noah, because he doesn't turn around and go back home, because he stays with Jesus. He follows Jesus.
And we want jesus to know our name. Of course he knows how name, but we want that new name that he gives us.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: And his name was written in the gospel. And maybe above all, hopefully, he was faithful until the end. His name was written remain written in the books of heaven.
[00:11:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Before we close, I like to compare this event with the previous event from the last session.
It's on the way to Jerusalem.
And the disciples who are singing beautiful songs from the book of psalms, especially the psalms of ascent, they had that disconnect between the lyrics they were pronouncing and the thoughts of their heart designed to be to the left and to the right of Jesus Christ. The clause is to take the most earthly benefits or advantages. So technically, they didn't realize what was going to happen. They were blind to that spiritual reality.
Here we have another person who is blind, but this blind person believes that Jesus is Messiah.
He calls Jesus twice out loud, the son of God, and he follows Jesus Christ with all his heart. And my question is, who was more blind, the disciples or Bartimaeus?
[00:12:22] Speaker A: Or I guess we could rephrase that question. Which blindness is worse, physical blindness or spiritual blindness? And I would say the disciples are in the more precarious situation, being spiritually blind to what is going on.
Bartimaeus having spiritual sight knows.
I wonder what the singing difference would have been like. I can imagine if you're sitting on the side of the road as this group passes, you could probably pick out Bartimaeus voice as he's singing with more passion or more.
More enthusiasm.
[00:13:02] Speaker B: First love.
[00:13:03] Speaker A: Yeah, that first love. That excitement that Jesus has given him something. Let's pray.
Father God, I pray that we will have spiritual eyesight, whether we're physically blind or not, whatever we can see in the physical realm. Father, may we not be blind spiritually.
May we be aware of what is around us. And as you pour blessings out on us, as you give us gifts, as you work with us every day, I pray that our way is your way.
[00:13:42] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: That when we go our way, we go the way you are going, because we want to be with you. Help us to be like blind Bartimaeus. Help us to be excited and reflect Jesus to those around. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.
