For our scripture reading this evening, I would have you turn with me to the gospel of Mark. Continuing our series through this gospel, and we are Mark chapter 10, verse 46, and to the end of the chapter, verse 52. Mark 10, 46 through 52. If you are using the Pew Bible, that can be found on page 894. Mark chapter 10, beginning in verse 46. Hear the word of God. Now they came to Jericho. As he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Then many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. 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. 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. As far our reading of God's holy, inspired, infallible word, and may he add his blessing to the preaching thereof. Well, congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, just looking out on the faces here, I know many of us have glasses and if it's not glasses then it's maybe contact lenses that you have on and especially if you've had these glasses or contacts for a very long time, you know just how much you need to see. how much sight really plays in to your life and even the quality of your life. You don't go anywhere without your glasses. You don't go anywhere without putting your contacts in. Otherwise, without them, you may as well be blind as a bat. If I were to take these off, I wouldn't go driving. I'd probably stumble my way down these stairs. It's something that we need, is to see and to see clearly, to see accurately this world that is around us. If you recall back in chapter 8 of the Gospel of Mark, verse 18, Jesus has asked a question to his disciples. He said, having eyes do you not see? Having ears do you not hear? The question was asked because the disciples had witnessed a host of miracles by the hand of Jesus, which can only be done by the almighty power of God. They also had heard many profound teachings that really stumped the top scholars of the day, the scribes and the Pharisees. And throughout this whole story, so far, we've seen time and again that the answer to Jesus' question, having eyes, do you not see? The answer is no, they can't. Not fully, anyways, not truly. They could not see because by nature, We do not have the sense, the wherewithal to see with clarity especially, but to see even the truth of the world that is around us. And so we read of these instances that demonstrated their own spiritual blindness. They didn't get it. Peter asked Jesus, or Peter made a statement and that rebuked Jesus for saying that he had to go to the cross and the disciples prevented little children coming to him. And James and John, as we had learned the last time, right after Jesus had mentioned about his suffering and his dying, they asked for glory in the kingdom. And so now they come. to this individual named Bartimaeus. And the ironic thing, as it were, is he's the only one who's not blind. Now we will see that and we'll understand what we mean by that as we unfold this, Lord willing, under the theme, under the title, The Light Shines on Blind Bartimaeus. The Light Shines on Blind Bartimaeus. And we have three points. First, we'll be taking a look at the desperate cry. The desperate cry. Secondly, we'll see a hopeful call. And then last, a work of grace. A work of grace. And so first we consider a desperate cry. And we read of a desperate cry from this man named Bartimaeus because he was desperate. He was in a desperate situation. Considering who he was, he indeed was physically blind and is a very unfortunate place to be, especially in those days. But there he was, sitting in a world of darkness, and this means that he couldn't do anything. No job. He had to only sit outside the city of Jericho here and beg day in and day out. And notice also he's begging on the side of the road. And so what that means is he's not among the people. He's kind of out of their way. He's sidelined. He's marginalized because, well, he's a blind beggar. He also didn't even have his own name. I know the text says Bartimaeus, but we have the explanation in verse 48 saying that he is the son of Timaeus. And that's exactly what the name Bartimaeus means. It means the son of Timaeus. And so he doesn't have a name of his own. He had no inclusion in society. He had no status. He had no home. He had no honor. He had no prestige. He was a low, a humble beggar. who couldn't contribute anything to society, to people. All he had was an empty hand with which to beg. He was one that was wholly, totally dependent on the kindness and the mercy of others. Because he had nothing. And so when he had heard that Jesus was passing by, he knew that he of himself could not demand an audience from Christ or get his ear. All that he could do was beg. Beg with an empty hand and be dependent upon even this Jesus, this Christ, being kind, being merciful to him. And that's really the context, the background, the setting really of what his desperate situation. And the reason why this story is here and placed before us is because Jesus is using this as an object lesson to drive home much of what it is that he has been teaching and desiring for his disciples to see. And he will show them. He will have his desire fulfilled because he's the son of God. But he brings them along the way and in so doing brings us along the way to teach us specific things about the nature of faith and of life and of who we are and of who Christ is. And so we have this Bartimaeus, this blind man, and Jesus is saying, here is your model disciple. This one? A model disciple? Well, bear in mind, the previous section of verses that we had considered last time, James and John, They asked for glory. And they asked for glory. They were wanting to sit on the right and the left hand of Jesus, their prominent positions. And they were asking out of an opportunistic sense of pride and of entitlement and selfish ambition. They wanted a name. They wanted place. They wanted honor. But then Jesus, if you remember, he replied back to them saying, you don't know what it is that you are asking. Essentially saying, you know, that they didn't fully understand why the Son of Man has come. who this Jesus really is in the fullest sense and what it is that he must endure before the glory for the Son of Man has come not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Since they didn't see this, since they didn't know this, They didn't see their true need. They were blind to it. That need will inform what it is that they should ask of Jesus. Not glory, not anything of this. And so we come along on this road just outside of Jericho and the disciples and Jesus in this crowd come across this Bartimaeus and it is as though Jesus is saying to them and therefore to us, disciples, look at this Bartimaeus. Here's a picture before you. Who is this man and where is he at and what is he like? Listen to his cry. He knows who he is. He knows his need. He knows that those who are well have no need of a physician. But those who are sick, So Jesus had said just a few chapters before that Jesus is that physician. And so he is our need. And what we need from him before all else is exactly what Bartimaeus cries out. Have mercy on me. Mercy. This is why it's a desperate cry. He needed mercy. What is mercy? What is this that he's asking for? Well, mercy is closely connected to grace. Grace is undeserved favor. It's a way to define it. But out of grace, out of that attitude, if you will, is then action. And mercy really comes in there when it comes to the action. But for a specific understanding of what mercy is, it is to see someone who is in need who is in maybe a state of misery and difficulty and affliction and then in response to that be moved in the depths of heart with pity with compassion for them because of that state that they're in with that is also then the desire to relieve them of that misery And followed through then with acts of mercy, acts of kindness and tender kindness to relieve them of that. That's what mercy is. And that's what we need from Christ. And so by pointing to Bartimaeus, here we have a peak example, as it were, of somebody who is destitute, somebody that's totally impoverished. Just pointing to him and saying, this is you. This is me. This is us by nature. It is condition. It's an analogy, as it were, of our own spiritual condition by nature. We are blind by nature. We don't even know we're blind. That's how blind we are. Unless God were to make us to see it, And until he makes us to see it, we are going to be totally insensible to the desperate reality that we are in by nature. And then when God does open our eyes to come to know this and something of it, when we come to see really then that we of ourselves are those that are destitute, We are poor. We are empty. We are deplorable. And if we see this, we won't cry out for what we think we deserve, what we think we're entitled to, or anything of that, but we will cry out for what we need. It's mercy. It's what we need. True faith sees that, and so true faith cries out for mercy. And so Jesus opens our eyes to see that it is mercy that we need, not just a couple of tips and tricks to live a happy life and a prosperous life, and how to grow your business, and this, that, and the other thing. And it's His mercy that we need. Not the government's mercy, not the shoulder of a friend to cry on or anything, and not that those things are bad. We can go to a friend and have a sympathetic ear, and these things are bad in themselves, but they're not going to satisfy our eternal need. It's His mercy that we need, and we are in desperate need of it. The Son of Man has come. He's the one who could provide that mercy we need. He's come to give His life a ransom, a payment, a liberating payment to deliver, to save. He's given that for many, meaning in the place of someone else. And so faith sees He needs to be that ransom in my place. Have you seen that? Not just a general truth that we subscribe to as a church, but one that is owned personally. One that says, yes, I need that mercy. This faith will see how empty and poor and miserable and wretched we really are, and all we really have is an empty hand, a beggarly hand. That is an empty hand that receives the mercy of Christ. Mercy, this is a truth that we need to mark down well. Mercy responds to misery. Mercy does not respond to entitlement. Otherwise it's not mercy. Mercy responds to misery, not to entitlement. We see also it's desperate because the cry from Bartimaeus is persistent. Something that's not put off by all these obstacles that are put in the way. Because as we read here that Jesus was passing by at Bartimaeus, he laid hold of the opportunity as it were, not in a selfish, opportunistic type of way, but just an urgency type of way. And he began to shout. And then we read of these people that were telling Bartimaeus to sit down and be quiet, pipe down. And the language there is very forceful, is a stern rebuke. And yet this had a way of making him cry out even more. He kept on crying out louder and more frequently. Now, it's true, certainly, that anyone could see their need and be persistent in obtaining it, that they could see that, demonstrates to us that on some level, they've already received that mercy. Otherwise, we would not be able to see that. But it highlights the fact for us that true faith is not something that's put off by opposition, by hindrances, by other people, Preventing us from receiving that mercy from Christ that what we so desperately need. But that seems to be the case far too often of our own sinful natures. That we are put off by any opposition. By anyone telling us to pipe down and to sit down. But Bartimaeus had no other option. He didn't have a backup plan, as so many others do. Many people will try Christianity, so to speak, for a while, and maybe with some interest, maybe with some persistence of their own, but, you know, if it doesn't work out in the way that they had hoped, they'll, I guess, try something else. But Bartimaeus, he didn't have a plan B. This is it. And true faith sees there is no other option because there is no other name that is given under heaven by which we must be saved. And so Jesus was passing by. And he was passing by on that day. If Bartimaeus did not do this, there might not be another chance. So he persisted. And so he was truly desperate, he was truly poor, he was truly the most pitiable among us as far as men go, but it was out of his need and out of his emptiness that he cried and he cried out for mercy, for mercy. And then we read a truly remarkable thing. Bear in mind, there Jesus, he's on his way to Jerusalem. He has his face set like a flint. He's not gonna get thrown off one way or the other either. And he's going at it at a pretty good pace, a good clip. And yet here comes Bartimaeus, a nobody. And Jesus stopped. Mercy responds to misery. And the heart of Jesus is a heart of mercy. And he was then, he is today, he is, was, ever will be, is yesterday, today, and forevermore the same. He still stops, as it were, to have mercy on those who are in misery. So Jesus stopped and commanded him to be called. And that brings us to our second point, a hopeful call, a hopeful call. And so we read of Jesus, he sent some people to this man who is there sitting in darkness and in misery to bring glad tidings to him. They say in verse 49, be of good cheer. which means take heart, be encouraged, take courage, rise. He is calling you. Now this word that's here for a call is not this modern idea you may hear from maybe even some churches and from other places, a call being some kind of broad sweeping invitation to be accepted or rejected by the powers of one's own free will. Here it literally means an authoritative summons. It's a command. It's what verse 49 makes very clear here. It's like when mom and her dad calls out and says that it's time for dinner. Mom and dad call out that and say it's time for dinner. What are you supposed to do? You're supposed to respond to that and by obedience. Go eat dinner. Go to the table. And so to respond to this call is a part of this. And Bartimaeus responds with immediate action. He cast aside his garment. It's probably the only thing that he owned. He just left it there and he went to Jesus. Now don't you think given the desperate situation that he was in that it would be odd or not fitting really if he hesitated? Oh, you mean he's calling me right now? Oh, well, maybe we could do it tomorrow, because there's a lot of people here, you know, I could get a lot of handouts and other things, and besides, my code is back there, I should probably go get it. But what true faith sees, or at least part of what true faith sees, is the need that comes from the limit of time that we have on this earth. Time goes swiftly. Scripture says time and again that our days are but a vapor. It is here today, it is gone tomorrow. Our days are numbered. And so Jesus was passing before Bartimaeus as he was being called personally by Christ. Another chance may never come by. So he responded immediately, and the same must be true for us today. Jesus is passing by you, as it were, this very evening. He passes by us, as it were, continually, Sunday after Sunday, in his word. And through those whom he has sent, to those who are likewise in misery, to bring glad tidings, to bring good news. The good news is the gospel, the gospel of salvation in Christ and in Him crucified. And so we today have that hopeful call, the call, be of good cheer. He's calling you. He's calling me today in his word. And what is it that he calls us to? It is a call to, as he said to the rich young ruler, the treasures in heaven. The riches of salvation in the kingdom of God. That's the ultimate call. But it also includes, as he said also to that rich young ruler, come take up the cross and follow me. And so it is a call to throw off our garments of this world. the rags and the tattered garments of our own self-righteousness and our own self-esteem and to leave that behind and to leave the world behind and to follow after Him. And really what this is, is a call to repent and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. To repent and believe on Him alone for the forgiveness of sin and for eternal life. the kingdom of God. So that's the call to you. It's the call to us. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 3 verse 12 and 13 gives to us this statement, beware brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. And then in that section, verse 15, there of Hebrews 3, quotes Psalm 95, saying, today, if you hear his voice, Do not harden your heart. Today you hear his voice. Do not harden your heart. It's a hopeful call. It's a costly call, but it's a hopeful call, and it's a worthy call. And it's a commanded call. But it's also a call to immediate action. Do not delay. Many people think about them getting serious about faith, about these things when they grow up, and when they get married, when they have kids. Maybe they wait until they have, you know, kids are out of the house, or some kind of right moment. And I mentioned this story before, and maybe in a similar context as this text that we have, but it's worth repeating. Remember when I was in high school, in catechism class, or maybe it was a sermon that the pastor telling us a story, of his brother who felt this way. Religion, Christianity, it's for old people. They'll worry about it when he gets old then and then a week later he was killed in a car wreck. We have plenty of similar examples of that in our own community and in recent memory. People's lives being cut shorter than we expected. They didn't wake up that day thinking, well, hey, maybe today's the day. You never know when your soul will be required of you. The things of the faith. Taking seriously this faith of our fathers is not to be put off for some unspecified point of time in the future, or when you're older and when you're slowing down. It's today. If you hear his voice. Isaiah 55 verse 6 says, Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Literally, while he allows himself to be found, while it is still today, the day of salvation. You are not guaranteed tomorrow. You are not guaranteed the next minute. So today, Jesus is passing you by, and today he's calling you and me to repent and to believe on him for salvation. In this call, there is a question that Jesus asks Bartimaeus. It's in verse 51. What do you want me to do for you? I hope that sounds a bit familiar, not because we had just read it some moments ago, but because it's the same question that Jesus asked James and John in verse 36. James and John gave an answer. They wanted glory. They wanted fame and prestige from their own being with Jesus. And Bartimaeus' answer differed very much He wanted mercy. He wanted sight that he may follow after Jesus. And so we must revisit this question again. What is it that you want Jesus to do for you? The call goes out to take up the cross and follow him. And you ask, well, what's in it for me? Well, what is it that you want Jesus to do for you? What did you want to get out of this church? This church stuff we do week by week, and it's not just stuff, but it is sometimes a way in which we see it. Unfortunately, so. Becomes just life. Becomes commonplace. What do we want out of this? Let me re-ask the question in a different way. Which of these two answers to this question best characterizes or best fits your answer? James and John asked out of their selfish desires. Bartimaeus asked out of his need, out of his humble status, and asked that that need be met in mercy and that need be remedied in mercy. Once again, mercy responds to misery. We need to understand that this is the reality. We live and are born in a miserable state by nature, born in sin, totally depraved. We are not great people. If you think you are a good person, and people are generally good, you need to think again. We're not. And so what we see of ourselves is we'll inform what it is that we hope Jesus will do for us, either to give us stuff and to elevate the self or to have mercy. that we may behold and we may see our Savior for who He is. And who we see Jesus to be also informs what it is that we hope Jesus will do for us, to see Him as an almighty Savior with a heart of mercy. So what do we want Him to do for us, knowing who we are, knowing who He is? To do a work of grace in us. It brings us to our final point here. This work of grace is that which makes us to see Jesus for who he is. And in this way, seeing is believing of a sort here. It's used as an analogy. Giving the sight to Bartimaeus is an analogy for the sight of faith. The sight that is given. And this grace and seeing Jesus for who he is comes by faith. And that faith comes by a work of grace. But we take note of the fact that Bartimaeus saw Jesus even before his sight was restored. He had a greater insight, I mean, by who Jesus really was. Notice how the people walking by were calling Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. And then Bartimaeus, when he cries out, he calls Jesus by a different name. He says, Son of David. This is the only time that this title, Son of David, is spoken by someone other than Jesus in the book of Mark. And it's a significant title because it goes all the way back to 2 Samuel 7, where the covenant promises are given to David. The covenant promise that from David's seed, the Messiah would come. And so this Messiah would be the one that brings healing to the brokenhearted, preach good tidings of the peace, and open the eyes of the blind. Bartimaeus also calls Jesus another title, Rabboni, or Rabboni instead of just Rabbi. It's a more reverent term here. It's one of lowliness. It's one that signifies submission under Jesus as Lord, as the son of David. It's not a desire for exaltation, but a humble recognition of one's own place under this teacher. Out of this recognition, of his belief, and who this was, who he was as a beggar, and who this Jesus was as the son of David. His cry for mercy. Because of this, Jesus says, your faith has made you well. Or literally, it has saved you. Now, to be clear, Jesus is no Arminian here saying Bartimaeus of his own ability believed and therefore then Jesus responded by having this gracious miracle or anything. But that's not what's going on here. The point is to emphasize the importance of faith. It's not the having of faith itself that saved him, but it is an instrument. And even as Ephesians 2 verse 8 makes clear, faith itself is a gift and a work of the grace of God. But essentially what Jesus is saying to Bartimaeus is, Bartimaeus, this wasn't your works. It wasn't your begging. It wasn't your casting aside of your garment. It was faith alone and in Christ alone for his grace alone. It highlights that faith is one of the greatest gifts and the works of God's grace. Because faith is so utterly empty of self. I've mentioned this before, faith is empty. It is that they open the empty hand that receives Christ and all of his benefits and all of his treasures and all of his saving work. It receives Him, it rests in Him alone, it falls upon Christ alone. The object of faith is Christ alone. It is looking away from self. It leans the full weight of your being and of your soul upon Him because of the trust in who He is and what He has done. He's laid his life, given his life, a ransom for many. That's what faith is. Now imagine then, all of a sudden, say you were blind, and then all of a sudden you can see. Take in the world. going to be something that your mind might not even be able to really comprehend what it is you are sensing. What is blue? What is a flower? What is the sky? You've never seen it before. You have no idea. But essentially what it is, is that when the Lord grants the sight of true faith, the way you take in the world is completely changed. The way you see the world is completely changed. This is one of the fruits of And therefore this is followed through even with responding of action as we see. When Bartimaeus was given his sight, he didn't go off to look at all the fun things to look at. Jericho is right there, a beautiful city, historic city. But what he did is he went on the road and followed Jesus. First thing that faith has seen was Jesus. And he keeps on seeing Jesus, looking to him, the author, the finisher of the faith on this road to Calvary. Does that describe your life? One that sees the world in the face of Christ? One that His chief desire is to stay close to the light of the world, the light to your path, and see our Lord every step along the way. So before we read of Bartimaeus, a beggar who sat by the road, now he's on the road as a disciple with them, Faith must lead to discipleship. This road leads to Calvary. It is the road of the cross. This is the path that our Lord has laid out for us and that faith sees the world in a different light. He knows that this road to Calvary, this cross that we bear, the difficulties that we have, is not going to be the end. This isn't just how it will be. There is the glorious promises of what he has done. It comes out of what he has done on the cross. The forgiveness of sin. The resurrection from the dead. Life everlasting. in the kingdom of God. This is what we see, this is what we believe, this is what our lives and our hearts become about. when the light shines and is shed abroad in our hearts. Amen, let us pray. Gracious God and Father, we do thank you for shining the light of the world into us and causing the light of your face to shine upon us, that we may behold these wondrous things in your law. What a wonder it is that we behold the son of righteousness and you are yet merciful in that. You lead us along the way gradually instead of blinding us once again by the awesome majesty of the beauty of your holiness. But we see you in the face of Christ, our mediator. And so we confess with adoration and testify of your wondrous things. And so we pray that you will bless these truths to our hearts and to our lives. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.