Mark 10:46-52 comments; blind Bartimaeus

 

Mark 10:46 ¶  And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. 47  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48  And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 49  And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. 50  And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. 51  And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52  And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

 

46 ¶ And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.

Here is a picture of the sinner getting saved. This is Jesus’ last time in Jericho. This is Bartimaeus’ last chance. Is it yours? He is blind, like we were, sitting by the highway, begging, like us. We want peace, we want healing, we want to have the pain in our soul go away.

47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 48 And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

Many of our friends and family, particularly those who are nominal Christians, will try to dissuade us from receiving Christ, lest we become, in their mind, fanatics.

49 And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.

Thank God, Jesus stood still when you cried out for salvation. Here is the God of the universe stopping what He was doing for some beggar on the side of the road. When someone we think of as great stops to acknowledge our needs or just to acknowledge us we are amazed. Here is our Creator stopping for one blind man.

50 And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.

Here is a picture of salvation as you cast away your dirty rags of self-righteousness for Christ.

Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

You cast things away when you come to Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:8 ¶ But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

51 And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. 52 And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Salvation is not a process. It’s immediate and performed completely by Christ in response to your belief that He can and will save you. This is why you can’t lose it. You did nothing to earn it but to cry out.