In this sermon, Pastor Babij examines Mark’s account of Jesus’ healing of the blind beggar Bartimaeus. Pastor Babij explains how this account reveals Jesus’ servant heart and Messiahship and gives a model for how disciples of Jesus should act, both in reaction to Jesus and in reaction to the lowly and hurting of our world.
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all right this morning let’s take our Bibles and turn to the Gospel of Mark chapter 10 and we’re going to be looking this morning at mark chapter 10 verse 46 to 52 and we’ll finish the chapter this chapter out this morning let me read that passage mark chapter 10 verse 46 says then they came to Jericho and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd a blind beggar named Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus Timaeus was sitting by the road when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene he began to cry out and say Jesus son of David have mercy on me many were sternly telling him to be quiet but he kept crying out all the more son of David have mercy on me and Jesus stopped and said call him here so they called the blind man saying to him take courage take up stand up he is calling you throwing aside his cloak he jumped up and came to Jesus and answering him Jesus says what do you want me to do for you and the blind man said to him Robo and I I want you to I want to regain my sight and jesus said to him go your faith has made you well immediately he regained his sight and began following him on the road let’s pray father this morning yes I bring thy word to the people I pray Lord that you would enable us to engage our self in our thinking and putting ourself into the narrative that we can see what is going on and that Lord we can glean some of the truths here about this disciple named Bartimaeus I pray Lord that some of these same characteristics that we see in him would be found in our own lives and I pray ultimately Lord the the bottom-line would be that we not only profess Christ but that we follow him every day till the end I pray that for us bless our time together in your word this morning I pray in your name amen alright so reading that passage let me just say that the Gospel of Mark has been teaching us that true faith involves not only trusting in Jesus death and of course resurrection but also surrendering to Jesus as Lord and submitting to his authority over our life that Christ must be the highest priority in our life a higher priority than pleasing ourselves higher than family higher than other relationships higher than possessions if not according to Jesus we cannot be his followers so now we have arrived at the end of Jesus public ministry as Jesus fixes his eyes on Jerusalem and the terrible things that are going to happen to him there there’s one more thing that the Gospel of Mark wants us to drink in and to have our minds chew upon Jesus and his disciples and a slew of other followers were following him for various reasons and we’re continuing toward Jerusalem and it says in verse 46 then they came to Jericho now Jericho is the oldest city in the world from about 9,000 BC Jericho really was located on the west side of the Jordan River about ten miles northwest of the Dead Sea being in the broad part of the plain of the Jordan it lies nearly 1,000 feet below sea level and about 3,500 feet below Jerusalem so they were ascending finally up to Jerusalem so the hike was pretty steep and it was not an easy one in fact they were to go from Jericho to Jerusalem 17 would be the trek that they would take now the Jericho in the of the New Testament of New Testament times was built by Herod more than a mile to the south was the Old Testament site of Jericho it is possible to sort out the healing of the blind men because there were two blind men and other epistles or other Gospels say there – all right in the episodes of the Gospels but we have to understand that Jesus was passing from the ancient Jericho and approaching the New Testament Herodian Jericho in other words there were two Jericho sites the modern city of Jericho includes both these sites as Jesus passed through Jericho he met an 8 with Zacchaeus the wealthy chief tax collector of the new Roman Jericho but mark does not include the narrative of Zacchaeus however he does retain the narrative of a man named Bartimaeus now if we read the rest of verse number 46 it says this and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd a blind beggar named Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus was sitting by the road now as we look at the rest of this passage of Scripture this morning there are certain characteristics that I want to bring to light some have called Bartimaeus a model disciple or a disciple who was unlike the other disciples because of the way he responded to Jesus and so the first thing that we see about bartemaeus is the condition of his helplessness he was a definitely helpless alright so you can see from our passage we get some information of bartimaeus he was it says a blind beggar and Jesus and His disciples in a large following were on their way to Jerusalem to observe the Passover so for Bartimaeus the Passover pilgrimage was the one time of year a beggar like him could bring a sizable part of their yearly income it was an economic thing for him also the blind of that day had the Old Testament law on their side for the law said you shall not curse a deaf man nor place a stumbling block before the blind you shall Revere your God I am the Lord from Leviticus 19 so that means the generosity of the large crowd heading to Jerusalem should have been sensitive to the needs of others and especially to this blind beggar and a beggar knew this so then a beggar who was blind was totally dependent on other people’s generosity other people’s guidance other people’s protection because a blind beggar could be someone who could be taken advantage of quite easily during these days so the scriptural narrative does not always name people but when it does name someone it’s important bartimaeus is given a name there all right his name actually means worthy of honor all right that means that the Bible is giving this man bartimaeus dignity by naming him now the scripture says that he was some one son right there and again that does connect him to a family right now you sit you have to ask the question why does scriptures stacked up these personal characteristics when referring to this blind beggar well for this reason in order to press upon us who are reading it and to those who were there present that he was a real person not only that but he had a person he was a person who had a genuine need also he was a helpless kind of person now think about that for a minute because this kind of person could be easily taken advantage of this kind of person is the kind of person that is unrecognized by most people this is the kind of person can who can be readily passed by by the crowd this is the kind of person who could be passed over and for most of the population this kind of person is invisible matter of fact where we could be guilty of the same thing today because many times people who have certain needs we don’t stop to have conversation with them we don’t stop to see how we can help them we don’t stop to give them a word of encouragement we usually just pass by them and this is the kind of person he is and that’s so important for our narrative this morning now just thinking of that there’s a young songwriter named Matthew West who wrote a song called my little world and that song is about driving almost everyday past this homeless woman who had one of those cardboard signs asking for any amount of change to help her in her need he said in his world the only population that existed was one me then one day the traffic came to a halt and his car stopped right next to her at first he was hesitant to look over at her then feeling foolish and ashamed he looked and he noticed that she was a real person of course he always knew that but she was always invisible to him someone who was not his responsibility so that particular day he looked I took a good look at her and he said a few words of kindness to her and he gave her some money and he moved on but that was a very pivotal time in his life because he realized on that day that the population of his world had risen to to him and that young woman he finally took notice of someone who he never noticed before and yet drove by her many a time so there is plenty of hurting people in this world the question for us has to be have you noticed them have you said it anything to them you know just a few months ago I was driving in Virginia visiting my son and I came to a light and there was a young man just yet probably maybe just out of out of high school also sitting there on the chair with a crumpled up kind of like sign saying will you give me help me out and give me some money and I I did and then I spoke to him I said a few things to him like where you’re from and stuff like that and he was shocked that I said he he actually looked down and when I spoke to him he looked up shocked that I said anything to him and and of course they didn’t have time he was a light but you know that that’s true sometimes we do not pay take notice of people who have needs and a lot of times we just walk by them a lot of times they’re just invisible so what was Bartimaeus doing in verse number 46 the Bible says that he was doing the only thing he could do he was sitting by the roadside he had his cloak laid out so the people who passed by could throw some change upon it and with every coin thrown on his cloak it would increase his wealth it would increase his income for that particular year so he definitely that was a person who was helpless now he knew about his helplessness and so what he does is that he calls for help now the problem is is that usually when someone calls for help they usually called to the wrong person they call to the person that really cannot help them and then of course if they do that they get very disappointed but barn Emmaus had some information about this man named Jesus and he was hoping maybe he would come this way matter of fact he had to come this way that’s the way you when you went across the Jordan and then you went right to Jericho and then up to Jerusalem everybody passed that way so he was hoping that maybe Jesus would come and pass his way so one of the second things that we see about Bart a Bartimaeus is that he he wanted to call for help that’s what he wanted to do a blind person may not be able to see and when of course this is the case they rely heavily on their other senses like hearing now if you look at verse number 47 Bartimaeus ears were king and he was listening to what was happening notices it says in verse number 47 when he heard that it was jesus the nazarene see he was listening for a particular thing you ever do that when you’re listening for a particular thing for a particular name for something you want to pick out you’re listening keenly intently that’s what he was doing and he heard that jesus the nazarene was coming so obviously barr Nevaeh’s had been hearing stories about this miracle worker from nazareth who name was Jesus and he wanted to meet him but how could he meet him he was kind of chained to his cloak because he had to made make some money but if you notice it says in verse number forty cents seven something else went on here barden varna Emmaus also relied on another thing that God gave him his voice and he raised it to a pitch that reached over the crowd hoping it would reach the right ears specifically the ears of jesus the nazarene now but something very interesting comes out of his mouth out of the mouth of Barnabas now whether he understood what he said fully or was this some prophetic message that was coming from his mouth I believe it could be the latter because look what he says in verse number 47 he says when he heard it was Jesus the Nazarene he cried he began to cry out and say Jesus son of David this is the first time this is used it’s the only place it’s used twice right here in this chapter the only place this is used in all the Gospel of Mark when that happens you have to take notice that you can’t skip over that right here’s Bartimaeus giving Jesus the title the son of David of course appearing only in the Gospel of Mark here Barnabas calls Jesus by his title that links him to the king of David to the Royal line of Kings which refers to Jesus as a king and connects him to his messianic title now it’s amazing that Jesus does not say anything to bar in veis when he calls that no you shouldn’t call me the son of David he lets him do it and so it’s not like before where he already told his disciples when something messianic happened don’t tell anyone yet well he’s at Jerusalem so his messianic secret has become public alright and this man knows who he is in fact I think a passage of scriptures like Ezekiel 37 where it says my servant David will be king over them and they will all be have one shepherd and they will walk in my ordinances and keep my statutes and observe them see it is no mistake that the next section of Scripture is the triumphal entrance and what happens in the triumphal entrance is Jesus comes rightie on writing on a new donkey and hailed by the on lookers as the king if you just glance over to chapter 11 verse 9 and 10 look what the people say about Jesus verse 9 of chapter 11 those who went in front and those who followed were shouting Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord in verse 10 blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David hosanna in the highest Jesus was held in entering into Jerusalem as a king and finally when they nailed the inscription on the cross they nailed on the cross the king of the Jews so see it was in now out it was out who Jesus was it was out in a very public way and when you address a king what would you ask a king if you were born to me bartimaeus what would you ask someone who was a king and don’t forget a king was was a person who was often approached by his subjects for several reasons maybe they needed something from the king but they had to come in the right way or remember that either you come into the presence of the king in the right way or the king takes your life you send you to the guillotine because you came in the wrong way see a king had that kind of power he had had that kind of ability so what would you ask a king well again our hex provides the answer for us in verse 47 it says when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out and say Jesus son of David this is what he asks have mercy on me hmm here’s an imperative and it literally means mercy me I think there’s a group called mercy me right well that’s why they got it from most likely it literally means mercy me and now see in other words is there any mercy for such a helpless side liner like me who nobody notices who’s invisible to the population is there any mercy from the king for me I don’t know if you ever felt like that in this life felt insignificant worthless why would God pay attention to you I have matter of fact I have in more than one occasion I’ve had have that same thought as a Christian because we live in these weak bodies in this this world that’s so against us and Satan who wants to tear us down and ruin our testimony so bartimaeus did not ask Jesus for money he could have thought here’s a king coming if I could get any kind of money I can get it from him and his followers who get all followers throwing on my cloak right fill in my coffers he didn’t ask for money he asked for mercy he asked for God’s compassion for Christ’s compassion now I would say this he asked for the right thing that’s exactly what you asked for to a king who could actually pull it off he can actually give him mercy now keep in mind that Jesus just got done teaching his disciples that those following him are not to lord over people he just got done instead his disciples if they want to be great in the kingdom of God they must be a servant if they want to be first in the kingdom of God they must be slave at all well no one’s acting like this no one’s acting like what Jesus just taught them and you know what the crowd always gets it wrong and look at verse number 48 see how I just want to say this in verse 48 the lesson did not seem to take hold as yet because of the way they treated bar in Emmaus look what it says in verse 48 many were sternly telling him be quiet but I think that if you didn’t notice we resemble them how slow we are to assimilate and practice the truth that the Lord teaches us to be servants and to be slaves for his sake how quickly we can be swayed by the insensitive crowd how thick we are spiritually see the crowd thought this loud blind beggar was a nuisance and did not qualify for the attention of Jesus see the crowd was wrong like they usually are you know bartimaeus is the kind of person who is invisible to most ignored pass by and even despised by people he is for the most part not a candidate for God’s mercy according to the crowd according to the crowd he’s insignificant he should stay on the side of the road he doesn’t deserve anything more than that well he had nothing to offer Jesus or anybody else and I think this I think that the real challenge is to get people who are recognized to recognize people who are not recognized matter of fact God’s people should always be keenly aware to recognize people that other people pass by you know why because these are the ones Jesus will give his life as a ransom passage we just got done with so you know what in other words his people cannot be deaf and blind to people we cannot be embarrassed by them we cannot turn our backs on people with disabilities those who are different those who don’t fit the norm you know I think that we’re gonna be really surprised that the kingdom of God is filled with the misfits of the world with those who have not been picked for the team why why will there they be there in the kingdom of God well simply because they called out lord have mercy on me the Lord stopped everything for this one person and this is what’s so unique about our Lord Jesus Christ don’t ever think that you are insignificant to him you are not you are very significant to him but we ask sometimes the Lord for the wrong things we ought to be asking the Lord for the same thing he asked for Lord have compassion on me in my situation have mercy on me in my situation give attention to me lord please and so what happens well when that happens use these there’s there’s obstacles there’s something that’s going to be thrown in the your a lot to prevent you from pursuing Jesus well that’s exactly what happens here but there’s something very commendable about Bartimaeus is persistence he did not give off – there is a legitimate prayer that he offers up before the Lord according to the will of God bartemaeus is faith really really bleeds through this next particular scripture in fact we see two characteristics that we can recognize that shows us what his faith is like in verse number 48 it says this his faith overcame any obstacle all right it says many were sternly telling him to be quiet this wasn’t just a few matters matter of fact the whole crowds against them the whole crowd is telling them listen be quiet stay over your little blanket and and just leave everybody alone we’ve got something very important going on here see Bartimaeus does not delay though or make excuse but eagerly cast off anything that would hinder him from reaching Jesus his handicap was not going to stop him the crowd was not going to stop him lost profits were not going to stop him and even the loss of his meager possession was not going to stop him what do I mean by that his cloak his cloak was the source of warmth by day you know it was this big piece of material that you wrapped around them yourself to keep you warm by day but for a blind beggar it was the very thing that he cast out there were people throw the collection on the money on so he it was a very important item to him and then of course in verse number 48 his faith was persistent notice what it says but he kept crying out all the more the louder the crowd got the louder he got and what did he cry out the same thing didn’t change anything son of David have mercy on me Lord pay attention to me so he was confident that the Lord would show him compassion so he got louder and more persistent and his theology remained consistent by referring to Jesus with the tie usually apply to a conquering king and then there’s his next characteristic about port Emmaus at verse 49 he had a call that was worth heeding so he was not only listening that Jesus was present he was listening from a word from Jesus that’s what he was listening for and so Jesus stopped everything and said and had Bartimaeus brought to him with an enthusiastic greeting to come and if you notice in verse 49 it says and Jesus stopped and said call him here so they called the blind man saying to him take courage stand up he is calling for you that’s very personal I mean he could have said at that point me Who am I that Jesus is calling for me he did not think at this point he was very very hopeful and who Christ was that Jesus was calling him and you know what this has always been the model of Jesus all along the Gospel of Mark and in the Gospels if you if we look back a leper received his attention in care where no one would go near a leper a woman in that day would be someone at least for a man you would not stand privately and talk with her but Jesus to a woman who had a hemorrhage received his attention and care to the little children who often were were considered to be nuisances and and to get away from them Jesus gathers the children around himself and gives them attention and care and now we have this blind beggar who received his attention and care this insignificant insignificant person that the world at least thought Jesus takes notice and you know we should take notice of the models that Jesus uses here because it’s quite simple and we need to give it some consideration so that it may be something that we practice in our own lives when it comes to people like this what did Jesus do this is how we oughta mimic Jesus we ought to hear secondly we ought to stop like Jesus he had time to stop for one in need thirdly he also listened he listened to his request lord have mercy on me and he waited and then he responded of course the only way that Jesus could respond but he responded so to hear to stop to listen and to respond to someone like born Emmaus so Jesus the Son of David displays his royal authority by working a miracle of healing and showing mercy on a despised outcast so this is how Jesus acts like the servant King Jesus gave born Emmaus his divine detention and so Jesus called and his faith responded quickly notice in verse number 50 it says throwing aside his cloak he jumped up and came to Jesus now again him being the model disciple who now is fixed on Jesus soon as Jesus mentioned calm what does he do he drops everything and the Bible says he jumps up and comes to Jesus now don’t forget he’s blind and he seizes the one and maybe the only chance this golden opportunity to meet Jesus and be healed by him but I was thinking about that for a minute because sadly many people think hearing the call of Jesus to come is it take it or leave it proposition that there’s going to be many times that Jesus made call and there may be and that’s only God’s grace if that’s the case but many people hear the call of Jesus and think I don’t have to respond I will have other opportunities anyway that’s not for me that’s for other people but that’s wrong thinking and I think you see the faith come through Barnabas because instead when the call from Jesus comes we need to do exactly what he did respond quickly because you know what you may not have another opportunity you may not have another opportunity to hear the truth of the gospel that will save yourself soul will come to Jesus it may be the only opportunity even this morning to come if you never come come to Jesus yet to be saved so see that’s good advice again Jesus shows care and compassion on him by what does he do he speaks to him why does he speak to him because he’s blind and he has real good hearing and what does he do Jesus has him verbalize his request by asking him a simple question it’s not that Jesus didn’t know what he wanted but it’s something when we make the request we have to make it much more clearer so it’s clear to ourselves what what do you really want from me right lord I want a new Mercedes no I want a $750,000 home see I want those kind of things that’s sometimes what we ask but see the thing he’s asking for is simply God’s compassion on him in his situation God knows all about it and so if you notice in verse number 51 he asked him the question and answering it says in verse 51 Jesus says what do you want me to do for you alright and of course this is the same question he asked his disciples and what did they ask for Lord I want to be first to the kingdom of God I want to sit on your right in your left right he doesn’t ask for that he asked it for a completely different rate of thing and it says in the blind man sets him Rabbani I want to regain my sight now that was the question of course wouldn’t that be legitimate that a blind man would want to say but see the problem is that we may have is that that’s not all that’s going on here because remember we’re looking smack in the face of Jesus going to Jerusalem and the religious Israel leadership are blind to Jesus they have not heard a thing he said from the beginning of his ministry till now and matter of fact they’re already plotting to kill them and have plotted to kill him when he gets there so see bartimaeus is put up against these intellectual religious elite of jerusalem and it’s a rebuke to them so a clear blessing of mercy is granted to Bartimaeus by jesus and notice what it says in fact his faith in christ brings healing mercy in verse 52 it says and jesus said to him go your faith has made you well and immediately he regained decide to began following him on the road now this is this is little sentence right there verse 52 is very significant the healing is performed without a touch matter of fact Jesus didn’t necessarily say that you know do anything that would indicate that he healed them just simply said if you’re healed you’re well now in your Bibles it may have the word well right the mind it does go your faith has made you well or it could be you’re healed but the word the Greek word is actually the word for saved so though it could mean free from disease that could mean free from demonic possession but it also means to be rescued or saved and to attain salvation now here both meanings are present bartemaeus was a person who believed jesus could meet his need physically and he showed evidence of his faith by calling jesus descent David by calling Jesus rabbi teacher master implying that Jesus bears divine authority reserved only for God and he affirms the objective reality that Jesus is able and willing to heal him so Jesus dismisses the man but by doing so he impresses upon him the fact that his faith his trust his confidence in Jesus the Son of David was the subjective means of rescuing him from blindness and not only physical blindness but spiritual blindness and how do we know that by his response what’s the response of a disciple Logan says until end of verse number 52 and he began following him on the road that’s how you know that he became a disciple a follower of Jesus so the following on the way or the road is contrasted with his former sitting along the wayside or the roadside so Bartimaeus demonstrates faith to trance him transform him from a blind beggar seated beside the roadway to a person who sees and follows Jesus on the way to Jerusalem so jesus heals his physical blindness but there’s more here than meets the eye jesus heals his spiritual blindness Bartimaeus is pictured is a picture of of healing spiritual blindness and of course Jesus cares about the spiritually blind he he came to preach the gospel of the kingdom that leads to the path of eternal life Jesus came to serve by giving his life a ransom for many those who will repent and believe and see and follow Christ his eyes were his spiritual dead eyes were opened he made spiritually alive to not only know who Christ was and know Christ would had done for him but he also received the mercy and compassion of Christ so he could now believe in him and now follow him and so that’s what he does he becomes a committed follower of Christ in fact right to the end and why because Jesus extended undeserved mercy to him the way to express thanks to God was to go to the temple following Jesus to Jerusalem in order would they do one of the blind men have to do in the Old Testament when he was healed he would go offer a sacrifice alright offer of sacrifice the god of thanksgiving also – he would offer a since a burnt offering a sacrifice for sin right and so he comes to Jerusalem in order to sacrifice and he gives of course Thanksgiving for his sight to God in both physically and spiritually so do we often think about the delightful this delightful characteristic of God the mercy of God there’s there’s many scriptures that call upon the Saints to give thanks unto the Lord for this wonderful attribute of God I think of Psalm 136 verse one give thanks to Lord for he is good of course the word mercy is also translated loving-kindness see his loving kindness and mercy is everlasting it doesn’t run out you can’t say well it’s it’s alright for barn Emmaus but it’s not God would never recognize me insignificant me and have enough mercy for me wrong it doesn’t run out there’s no bottom to the barrel you got that his mercy is always available to those who call to him for the right things so when we think upon this divine excellency we cannot do otherwise then God for it I mean we look in Scripture and we find his mercy as great as mercy is abundant his mercy is from everlasting to everlasting to those who fear God see the mercy of God has its spring in the divine goodness of God that God’s mercy denotes the ready indication of God to relieve the misery of fallen creatures yes but I must mention this that is the case yet God does not bestow mercies upon fallen creatures because of their merits nor does he because of the abject miss misery of sinners if God were influenced by these things then he would cleanse and save everyone but he doesn’t cleanse and save everyone no the only purpose only reason for God to show mercy is his pure sovereign grace that alone determines how he exercises divine mercy in fact in a pastoral epistles and Titus it says he saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness but according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the holy spirit see God shows mercy to the truly repentant and to those who have faith in Christ because it is God’s will for sinners to repent and believe but God shows no mercy on the unrepentant and unbelieving it says in Scripture for as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is thy loving-kindness thy mercy toward those who fear Him see so there is a criteria in which God does fulfill his mercy and it is God’s criteria and not our own so that by the healing of bartimaeus Jesus actually fulfills certain requirements for him to enter into Jerusalem to die on the cross the first requirement that he koala or he of the fourth condition that he takes care of this is he fulfill he fulfills prophecy remember the passage in Luke where it says that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me when Jesus read this in the temple when he started his ministry because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and what recovery of sight to the blind he said the same thing to John the Baptist when John the Baptist said to his disciples is he the one he quoted him the same thing this is what Jesus is doing this is his ministry this is what the Prophet said he would do see then the eyes of the blind will be open and the ears of the Deaf will be unstopped it says in Isaiah and I will lead the blind by the way they do not know in the paths they do not know I will guide them I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains these are the things I will do and I will not leave them undone this is all in the prophets 700 years before Christ was even born it tells what the Messiah would do also another thing that Jesus of one of the condition he he completes is that he unveils his messianic concealment up in this this time his the concealment of who he was as the Messiah Jesus never mentioned it his disciples did others did but he didn’t but now it’s open there’s no more concealment the healing of the blind beggar really lifts the concealment of Jesus messianic dignity and then of course one last thing he does he exposes spiritual blindness the healing of this blind beggar is also placed in contrast with the blindness of the leaders of Israel whose eyes remain closed to his person to his plan and to his glory people remain blind their whole life spiritually people who have lived good lives can go all through their life in spiritual blindness and never come to know the truth never asked for the mercy of God and even when it’s presented to them they just blow it off as something they don’t need but believe me you need it I need it we need to see and even as disciples we need to see more and more don’t we as the light of the word of God is given to us we God gives us more and more knowledge and wisdom and understanding about what he’s doing which makes us strong disciples which makes us people that can stand up against all the lies that are being pushed on us from the world that we can overcome our flesh and say no to it that we can resist the devil with truth and expose his schemes in our life and put on the full armor of God just in conclusion the Chicago Sun Times carried a story in 1982 about a 62 year old woman named Anna Mae Penta who had been born blind from birth at age 47 she married a man she met at Braille class for the first he was partially blind not fully blind for the first 15 years he did all the seeing for them until he completely lost his sight Anna had never seen the green of spring or the blue of a summer sky yet she had grown up in a loving supportive family and never felt resentful about her handicap and always exuded a remarkable cheerful spirit then in 1981 dr. Thomas Pettit of the Jule Styne I institution of the University of California at Los Angeles performs surgery to remove the rare congenital cataracts from the lens of Anna’s left eye she saw for the first time ever when asked how was it when you opened your eyes to see she said that she found that everything was so much bigger and brighter than she ever imagined and since then anna has hardly been able to wake to wait to wake up in the morning splash your eyes with water put her on her glasses and enjoy the morning light she says every day it’s a thrill what I’m seeing and learning now how much more delight is it to see spiritually to see that Jesus is the way of salvation and the only way and as the songwriter and of course captain of slave ships John Newton says I was blind but now I see and he was talking about salvation and I believe John Newton at the end of his life lost his sight physically but he did not lost lose his sight spiritually see one Scott opens your eyes and you’re truly a believer you cannot lose your sight you see all the time and you see broader and deeper and wider then as you’re exposed to the Word of God and we’re responsible for that to be his disciples so see Barnabas is a good model and example of really would a disciple is and then the simple prayer of a disciple lord have mercy on me because I’m a sinner and that’s my greatest need I need you to wash my sin away by your blood I need you to ransom me from the slave market of sin I need you to do that you know why Lord you’re the only one who can you know what does the Lord turned away that prayer no he says no I will not turn away that prayer it is God’s will for people to pray that prayer and then they ask Christ to save them and then when they do the rest of their life go back to their always no they leave their cloak they leave their possessions in the sense and they go and follow Jesus and Lord they say Lord whatever you want me to do I want do whatever you want me to learn I want to learn Lord I want to follow you I don’t want to look back anymore I want to keep going forward that’s what I want to do and so the Spirit of God puts that in our heart and what do we do we put one foot in front of the other and we breathe in and out and we get up the next day and know what we do we follow Jesus it’s is it going to be a struggle yes the Bible never promises the rose garden it’s gonna be a struggle but we’re given everything by God to be able to make it to the end of the race right and even if we have to like Felix in the Olympics was stolen the gold medal was stolen from her in us was a seven hundredths of a second because the grill next to her douve at the finish line and one robbed it from her right but the point is that they finished the race they made it at the end what a struggle with effort they made it to the end and so God promises that for us so as we think of that I do want to remind you that we should have eyes to see those who have needs those who need yes they need physical things but they mostly need spiritual things they don’t know that blind people don’t know they need to be spiritually awakened right regenerated made alive and so I don’t ever forget that when you’re walking down the way and you see somebody who everybody else is avoiding it may be you the one go up and talk to them and share the gospel of Christ with them that’s what we ought to be doing right and bring you people into the kingdom let’s pray Lord I do appreciate the simplicity of the word of God it is clear Lord it is convicting it is transforming it jolts us out of our comfort zone it Lord punches us between the eyes it breaks us down but it also builds us up and I thank you Lord for the example that we see here in Scripture I pray Lord that all of us today for disciples of Christ would emulate some of these characteristics that are found in the person of Bartimaeus those who don’t know your Lord I pray they would not think in their mind that they have plenty of time or that there’ll be other times they can hear today may be the last day of their life so I pray Lord you would impress upon their heart that they too would cry out to you for mercy and salvation and they would find that in Christ Jesus and only in Christ Jesus so this morning Lord as we think about what has been written in the Word of God encouraged us with it help us to always think about it and Lord I prayed that you would give us eyes to see those who are both needy physically and needy spiritually and I pray Lord you and make us disciples that speak up and share the gospel with those who don’t yet have not either heard it or don’t know it yet please Lord use us in that way and I prayed this this morning in the precious in the holy name of Jesus Christ amen