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 10:47-48 

Christ developed a reputation in Israel. In a relatively short period of time, He became known far and wide. Jericho was not His home territory. When He came to Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, He was about to pass a blind man called Bartimaeus who was sitting beside the road begging. As our text relates, ‘when he heard it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Apparently, Christ’s reputation as a healer had preceded Him. The man had heard of Him and had hope that He could do him good. Thus, at the opportune moment, he cried out and continued loudly in spite of attempts to silence him. Christ was his only hope. We also have heard of Christ. Beginning at Moses, and all the prophets we have heard of His words and deeds from ancient days. We have the prophets, the apostles, and the great company of those who have testified of what Christ has done. His reputation has preceded Him. We have heard and believe that He can do us good. We have cried out with expressions of faith that He would have mercy upon us. If He has done good for others, why not us? On the basis of what you have heard, of Christ already, call to Him today to have mercy upon you as well.   

Our Gracious Master and our God, 
we rejoice that You do good to those that call upon You. 
We praise You that everything we have heard of You, 
gives us hope. 

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 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