So, Jesus answered and said to him, What do you want Me to do for you? The blind man said to Him, Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.  Then Jesus said to him, Go your way; your faith has made you well. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. 

Mark 10:51-52 

Christ values faith. When Bartimaeus stood before Him, He asked, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Bartimaeus replied, ‘Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.’ Christ responded, ‘Go your way; your faith has made you well.’ Jesus could have made this about Himself. He could have made much of His power to heal. He could have used the incident to elevate Himself before the great multitude who were gathered around. Instead, Jesus speaks to the man, and ascribes his healing to his faith. Considering what we know about faith and how we receive it, this is fascinating. Faith is a gift of God. He gives it. In this case Christ commends the man for exercising faith which He had given him. ‘Your faith has made you well.’ God is both generous and gracious. He gives us faith; leads us to the exercise of faith; answers the prayer of faith; and then commends our faith. We bless this God of ours who has provided for us all we need regarding faith. The end result of this experience was he received his sight immediately and followed Jesus on the road. If Jesus had done this for him, he must follow Him, because faith made him a disciple. Christ has done wonderous things for us. He has given us faith and loves our expression of it. We have every reason to follow Him in faith. 

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You have given us every reason to have faith in You. 
We praise You that, as we follow You, 
You will increase our faith. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

So, Jesus answered and said to him, What do you want Me to do for you? The blind man said to Him, Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.  Then Jesus said to him, Go your way; your faith has made you well. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. 

Mark 10:51-52 

Christ asks questions to elicit a particular response from us. When Bartimaeus stood before Him, He asked a straight-forward question, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ He was not seeking information. It was manifestly clear he was blind. Christ could have simply addressed his blindness without the question. He gave Bartimaeus the opportunity to articulate his desire. This touches upon our relationship with Christ. He has, in a sense, asked us, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ Being God, He is already more fully aware of what we need than we are. He has the power to meet the need without our asking. Instead, He gives us the opportunity to articulate our desires to Him. This is a blessed privilege. There is a wonderful satisfaction in approaching the Throne of Grace, armed with our petitions and laying them out before Him. He wants us to answer the question, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ This can be an everyday occurrence for us. He has said, ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ We have every reason to come before Him with confidence, because He would not ask us what we want Him to do for us if He did not have the intention of answering us according to our asking. He loves to hear and loves to answer.  

Our Gracious God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You know our needs. 
We praise You that You give us the opportunity to 
set our needs before You, that You may hear and answer prayer. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you. And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. 

Mark 10:49-50 

Bartimaeus allowed nothing to hinder his coming to Jesus. The details of Scripture invite our contemplation. Lately, we have been considering Bartimaeus and the circumstances that brought him into contact with Christ. He had heard of Christ, realized He was passing by, and seized his opportunity, in spite of those who sought to silence him. Our text describes how Christ commanded others to bring Bartimaeus to Him. When he heard the words, ‘Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you,’ he threw aside his cloak and came to Jesus. He threw aside anything that would impede his progress in coming to the One Who could meet his deepest need. This is an apparently small detail, yet the Holy Spirit has seen fit to include it in the Scripture record. As such, it has more value than simply to fill in the portrait. This man shows us the manner in which we also ought to approach Jesus, allowing nothing to slow our approach. We perhaps have cloaked ourselves in many things that we must cast aside in order to get to Christ. They may be things that have served a purpose and are legitimate in and of themselves. Yet, in holding on to them, we slow our progress. Let us take stock of those things and cast them aside that none of them hinder us from coming to Jesus.  

Our Gracious and Loving Savior, 
we rejoice that You have called us to You. 
We pray that You would grant us grace, 
to set aside anything that would hinder us from coming to You. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!  Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me! Jesus stopped and said, Call him. So they called the blind man, Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you, 

Mark 10:47-49 

Christ hears the cry of those who call upon Him. Bartimaeus cried loudly and allowed no one to silence him. He wanted Christ to hear him and have mercy upon him. Christ heard his cry and responded. The people near him said, ‘Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.’ This was the most exciting news Bartimaeus could receive. The one Person Who could resolve his most important issue wanted to see him. He had reason to be of good cheer, to rise, and to go to Jesus. We have the same hope because we are dealing with the same Person. We have huge personal issues we want resolved. We have heard of Jesus. We believe He has done miraculously in the lives of others. We have an invitation from Him. ‘Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ In this sense, He has called us. No one else can do for us what He can do. Therefore, we have reason to be of good cheer, to rise, and to go to Him. It is the opportune moment for us. There is no one else like Him, nor anyone else who understand our deepest needs as He does. What is more wonderful is that instead of putting us off, or holding us at arms-length, He has called for us to come to Him with our needs. 

Our Gracious and Welcoming God, 
we rejoice that You know our needs. 
We praise You that You call us to come unto You, 
in order that You may meet those needs. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to shout, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me! 

Mark 10:46-48 

Bartimaeus was a man who was seizing an opportunity. Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Who knew if He would ever pass this way again? Bartimaeus had heard of Him. He realized this Man could do him good if anyone could. He had apparently some knowledge of Christ’s reputation. Therefore, at the opportune moment he cried out to get Christ’s attention. He called upon Him directly, loudly, and persistently. He was not about to let this opportunity go. As people around him tried to silence him, he responded by crying louder. This was the cry of a desperate soul for the ears of the Great Physician. Bartimaeus ignored the would-be silencers. We believe Christ can do us good. In the face of all the naysayers we cry out to Him to intervene in our life. Our needs are physical, mental, spiritual, and social. We have heard of Christ and believe He can do us good. Perhaps others would counsel us to be less vocal. They may even seek to silence us. We cannot allow them and their opinions to put us off seeking Him. This man had his opportunity and he made the most of it. We have our opportunity. Let us allow no person or opinion to keep us from crying out to the One Who can do us good.  

Our Kind and Gracious Savior, 
we rejoice that You give us every reason to seek You. 
We praise You that as we call unto You, 
You will answer us according to Your will. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning