By Rev. Dr. Brent Russett – Asbury Free Methodist Church
April 03, 2022
Mark 10:46-52
We are deep into the season of Lent. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday – where the crowds shouted, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Friday after that is the Friday we call good because it was the day that Jesus died for us. But it is the darkest day on the calendar year because our Lord was crucified that day. Then comes Resurrection Sunday.
On that week before Palm Sunday, the scripture that you heard read, happened. If we could somehow be transported back to the day of Bartimaeus, you would find it loud and dusty and confusing. It was messy. And where do you find Jesus? He is in the middle of the mess.
Sometimes life gets loud and messy and confusing. This morning I want to talk to you about finding Jesus in the middle of the mess.
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Come with me to Mark chapter 10
Mark 10:46–47 (NIV)
46 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. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Bartimaeus had heard rumours of Jesus. They were Messianic rumours. When the Messiah came, one of the signs, according to the book of Isaiah, was that he would bring healing to the blind. When the Messiah came, he would bring healing with him. But the rumours of Jesus always came from another part of the country.
In Bartimaeus’ day, there was no social safety net. There was no one to take care of him. So, day after day, Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging. Life was hard.
Have you ever been there? Life is hard. You have heard rumours of a powerful God. A God who is able to step into your situation. And yet it seems like he is always somewhere else. You’re in Jericho, and he is in Galilee. Sometimes God and his work seem to be far away.
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Well, it was an ordinary morning like any other morning. Bartimaeus was sitting at the side of the road – at his usual spot – doing his usual thing. But there was a difference in the noise of the crowd today.
So Bartimaeus asks someone, “what is going on?” Jesus of Nazareth is in town today. When he heard this, he didn’t even bother standing – he just started to yell – Jesus, Son of David (that by the way, is a name for the Messiah) Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! He yelled it again, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!
As far as he could tell, there was no response. He was blind. He was yelling into the dark. But he kept on yelling. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me!
His continued yelling didn’t bring on a response from Jesus, but it did bring on a response from the crowd. The bible records in verse 48 that many rebuked him and told him to be quiet. Not just one or two people tried to shush him – many people told him to be quiet.
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Bartimaeus was calling out to Jesus. Do you know what we would call it if you were to call out to Jesus? We would call that prayer. Have you ever called out in prayer, and it just felt like you were calling out into the dark? Have you ever called out in prayer and wondered if you were being heard? Have you ever called out to Jesus, and it felt like you were not getting a response?
More than that, when you pray, you experience opposition. Oh, it may not come in the form of people telling you to shut up. But opposition shows up in forms of a feeling of reluctance, or feelings like I should be doing something else, or I don’t have time, or I am not sure this is working anyways.
That is the enemy of your soul is telling you to shut up. The last thing that Satan and his demons want you doing is praying. The last thing they want is you calling out to God to bring the power of God to bear on your situation.
That is why many of you find it so difficult to get down to the business of prayer. You know you should pray. You may even want to pray. You know you need to pray. But it is so hard just to get there. That is the enemy of your soul telling you, just like the crowd told Bartimeaus – be quiet.
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Bartimaeus had a choice to make. Did he listen to the crowd, or did he keep on calling out? He kept on calling out – Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! ——Without that persistence, this story would not have been recorded in scripture, Jesus would have passed him by, and he would not have been healed.
I don’t know what it is about persistence in prayer. But it is taught all the way through scripture.
Luke 18:1–7 (NIV)
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally, he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
Jesus told this parable to show his disciples to always pray and never give up. Persistence matters. Especially when you feel like you are calling into the dark. It matters especially when the enemy of your soul is trying to shush you.
For Bartimaeus, persistence paid off. In spite of the fact that he didn’t know if he was being heard by Jesus, in spite of the fact that he was getting opposition from the crowd, Bartimaeus continued to yell. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. After all, Jesus was passing by. Jesus was close. He couldn’t see him, but he could sense him. He was close.
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What is your response when God is close and passing by? There will be times when you will be in church, and you experience his presence. There will be times when you are somewhere else, and you will know that he is close. What do you do?
Isaiah 55:6–7 (NIV)
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
There are seasons and times when the only thing to do is to persist in prayer.
Mark 10:49 (NIV)
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”
I have never found prayer or God to be particularly predictable. But I do know there are times when God stops. And in those moments, it seems like we are invited right into the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
I don’t know what to say about this theologically. I know that whenever you pray, God hears you. I know that we are invited to come boldly into the throne room of grace because of what Jesus has done. So that is true all the time.
But I will tell you experientially, I know that sometimes I am praying, and heavens feel like brass – and it feels like my prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. There are other times when I know I have prayed through. It is like I am standing in the presence of the king. Most of the time, when I pray, I know God hears my prayers, and it is like I know by faith that he has heard.
But there are times when there is just a sweet sense of his presence. Bartimaeus enters into the presence of Jesus, and Jesus says, “What do you want me to do for you?”
That may seem to be an odd question. The guy is obviously blind. Isn’t it obvious? But Jesus seems to ask this question of a number of people. I think sometimes when we are in the presence of God, he asks it of us.
If God were to come to you right now and ask you, “What do you want me to do for you?” What would you answer?
I have talked to a number of people who don’t have any problem praying for other people, but they have a whole lot of problems praying for themselves. But Jesus comes and asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” It is right to ask for yourself.
I have heard a lot of prayers that ask God for issues on the periphery but never deal with the core issues. I have heard a lot of prayers about issues of comfort rather than getting to the issues that define us.
I often find myself praying about the inconveniences of life and forgetting about the core of life. The stiff back, the child with the flu, the aunt with arthritis – and don’t get me wrong – God cares deeply about all of your life, including those things. But if all we pray about is those things but never get to issues of the heart, like a wounded spirit, or the character traits we lack but need, our truamas, our doubts, our fears, the labels we place on ourselves – if we never get to the issues that define our life – then we have missed it.
Bartimaeus didn’t do that; he got to the issue that had defined him. His blindness. Now I know that a number of you have chronic stuff going on in your life. Some of you have been defined by traumas in the past. Some of you are defined by what you were a victim too. Some of you are defined by an illness such as cancer. Some of you tell yourself that you’re stupid or a loser or worthless. That kind of self-talk defines you.
Here is what I have found
And sometimes, when you go to God, he takes the issue away. –there are other times when he doesn’t take the issue away – he takes the definition away. You are no longer defined by your past, or defined by your trauma, or defined by how others have seen you or defined by how you have seen yourself.
But to never pray about the issues that define you is a mistake. Bartimaeus says I want to see.
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Jesus said, go your faith has healed you. How did Jesus know he had faith? I think he saw faith in the persistence of the calling. Persistence in prayer matters.
People, here is what I want you to know Even when it feels like God is far away, even when it feels like you are calling out into the dark, even when you experience opposition, persistence in prayer matters.
Keep praying – And pray about those things that define you that don’t need to define you.
Mark Batterson, in his book titled Whispers, talks about the Bravest Prayer. The bravest prayer, he says, is the prayer that you have prayed a 1000 times before – and you have yet to see an answer. It is the prayer that you can barely believe God for because it seems impossible. But you pray it anyways.
His bravest prayer was that God would heal his Asthma. He had had it ever since he was a kid. He never went anywhere without his puffer. When he was a kid, he was hospitalized again because of his Asthma, and a minister came to the hospital and prayed for him.
He woke up the next morning, and he still had his Asthma, but warts on his feet had mysteriously disappeared. He was wondering what is up with that – So he prayed about it, and he felt like God said, “Mark, I just wanted you to know that I am able.”
For thirty years, he continued to battle with his Asthma. He prayed time and time again that God would take it away. He says I don’t understand why God didn’t take my Asthma away. The bravest prayer for him was for healing of his Asthma. He is a pastor in Washington D.C., and he was starting a series on prayer – and again, he prayed. On July 2, 2016 – God answered that prayer. He was healed of Asthma. I listened to him on a podcast – and he told of how he hadn’t had a symptom since.
Persistence matters.
Come with me to verse
Mark 10:52 (NIV)
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Bartimaeus receives an answer to prayer, and he follows Jesus down the road. It is 34 kilometres to Bethany. The scene of that first Palm Sunday. I don’t know if Bartimaeus followed him all the way, but I think he might have. Can you imagine him amongst that first Palm Sunday crowd?
This is the one who had called him over. This is the one who had singled him out. I can just see Bartimaeus joining the throng. You know it is one thing to meet Jesus on a very personal basis. It is another thing to meet with people who have seen what he has done as well. Jesus answered your prayer – well, let me tell you what Jesus did for me. —- Or let me tell you what Jesus did for a friend of mine.
The processional started off near Bethany. That is where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. People there knew Lazarus. People had attended his funeral. He was dead, but now he is alive – because of Jesus. And now Jesus had come back into town. People were celebrating what Jesus had done.
Mark 11:9 (NIV)
9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
And I am sure Bartimaeus would have joined right in. Praise God. Look what God has done. Look who Jesus is.
People, it is an appropriate thing to worship Jesus. When we, as the people of God, get together, it is an appropriate thing to worship the Lord for what he has done.
You may not have experienced a dramatic healing like Bartimaeus, but if you have asked Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sin. If you have chosen to follow him, then a far bigger miracle has taken place. He has healed your heart, he has cleansed your sin, and he has saved your soul, and that is worth celebrating.
I find it interesting that the crowd tried to shut Bartimaeus up when he called out to Jesus. But now, at least in Luke’s account of this story, the Pharisees try to shut the crowd up.
Luke 19:39 (NLT)
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your followers for saying things like that!”
But God’s people know that it is right to worship the Lord as king. Not only should we persist in prayer, but we should persist in worship.
People, when you have experienced the power of God, it is right to join in with the people of God and worship. There is something wonderful that happens in worship. There is something wonderful that happens when we worship together. That is part of why I think church is so vitally important.
Now we know that Jesus went into Jerusalem, and then he came back out again – and he was with his disciples only. Bartimaeus must have gone home. What a fantastic experience. He was healed and then he experienced the Palm Sunday processional.
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I could, of course, stop the story here. Because it is nice and neat. But I am sure that news of the next week would have reached back to Jericho. You know the next week – the week we call holy week. During that week, Jesus would be arrested and beaten, and nailed to a cross.
Now, what is Bartimaeus supposed to think? The one who answered my prayers is further than ever away. The one who I felt so much joy about in the middle of the crowd, has now died. I don’t get this, God. What is going on, God?
Yes, I can see, but the man who gave me sight has now left me on my own.
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I think that one of the most disturbing things about the spiritual journey is the mystery of having been touched by Jesus and having experienced the joy of the Lord, and then, all of a sudden, things seem so dark. You wonder if you experienced what you thought you experienced. You look back on the old days and wonder – God, where have you gone?
That is why we need to walk with Jesus all the way to the cross. There will be those times in your spiritual journey where after having experienced the goodness of the Lord that you will cry out like Jesus did, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
Have you ever been there? I have. The old mystics used to call it the dark night of the soul. The God that you experienced has become remote and unattainable.
Here is what I have learned, the end of the story is not written yet. Sunday is coming.
As we have tracked with Bartimaeus this morning, I can’t help but think that there are some of you who are where he was. There are some of you who have heard rumours of God, but he doesn’t seem close. Keep listening. When there was a stirring in the crowd – and there was the remotest chance that Jesus might hear him, Bartimaeus yelled, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And he kept on yelling. He persisted. People, there are some of you who are at the point where you really need to persist. You need to pray that bravest prayer. God will see that as faith, and he will respond. Persist in spite of your feelings, despite the opposition. Keep praying.
And when Jesus says come here, “what is it that you want me to do?”, deal with the issue that defines you. Let him deal with those core things. When he asks, “what is it that you want me to do for you?” be ready with an answer.
Some of you are at the point where you have followed Jesus on the Mount of Olives, and you are worshipping with the crowd. Keep worshipping. Keep praising. God loves the praises of his people. There will be people who will try to hush you up, don’t listen. Worship.
Some of you are at the point where you have had this experience of God, and you remember the joy, but now God seems remote. It’s Friday. And it is not the TGIF kind of Friday. It is the kind of Friday that shakes you down to your boots. You walk into that dark night of the soul. I want you to remember that the story is not finished. It is not over. It may feel over. But it is not over.
Go back to the beginning and persist in prayer. I want you to know that Sunday will come.
Let’s pray.
Sermon Questions – April 3, 2022
Mark 10:46-52 – The Wisdom of Bartimaeus
Introduction
1. What are you celebrating this week?
2. What are you praying about this week?
Digging in
3. Read Mark 10:46-52. What do we know about the setting of this miracle?
4. How is what Bartimaeus did similar to prayer?
5. Have you ever felt opposition to praying? What does it feel like?
6. Read Luke 18:1-7. Why did Jesus tell this parable? Why do you think persistence in prayer matters? The sermon told the story of Mark Batterson, who said that the bravest prayer was to pray the prayer that you have prayed a thousand times before? What would be your bravest prayer?
7. Read Mark 10:49-51. Why do you think Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” How does this apply to our prayer life?
8. Verse 52 tells us that Bartimaeus followed Jesus down the road. The next thing that happens in Mark is the triumphal entry. (Psalm Sunday) Often you will see in scripture that worship follows the work of God. Why is that important?
9. What do you think that Bartimaeus would have felt when he heard about Jesus being crucified? How can this give us an understanding of parts of our own spiritual journey?
Application
10. Can you see your own prayer life in one of the places in the Bartimaeus story? Which part and why?