God is a God of plan, purpose and objectivity. He uses everything
we face in life and turn it into a teaching moment to instruct us. Positive or
negative, good or bad, our Lord uses every one of them to mold Christlikeness
in us. We will see this in the account
of the healing of Bartimaeus. It is amazing that this account of his healing should
abruptly follow the Lord’s discussion with His disciples on seeking honor. The
timing of this event suggests that this was no coincidence. It was engineered for
the Lord to instruct His disciples and us.
We are told that they went to Jericho. Mark then went on straight to
tell us that as the Lord, His disciples and a great multitude were leaving
Jericho, there was a blind beggar, named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sitting
by the roadside. The name Bartimaeus literally means “Son of Timaeus.” So the repetition
of the phrase “Son of Timaeus” would be redundant unless Jesus wanted to
underscore something. Timaeus means honor. The meaning of the beggar’s name literally
means the son of honor.
Recall what James and John asked of the Lord, just prior
to this. Didn’t they ask to be in positions of honor? But here’s a literal son
of honor sitting by the road side and without any honor. Interesting to note is
that Jesus should ask Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?” This was
the exact question He asked James and John in verse 36. From the question, we
can see some similarity between Bartaemus and the disciples. They were both
blind. The disciples were symbolically blind, whereas the beggar was literally blind.
But what was not similar is this: the disciples heard about the Lord’s impending
suffering, death and resurrection, yet could not connect to see the
significance. But here was a blind man who physically could not see, yet could connect
and see Jesus as the coming Messiah.
Although many told Bartaemus literally to shut up yet he
kept on addressing the Messiah. His shouting shows us his intent and it caught
the Lord’s attention. And the Lord’s question to him may seem silly but was needful.
He did it to gauge his faith and desire. He wanted Bartimaeus to declare his faith
and desire. When he had done so, immediately his sight was restored to him. The
Lord told him, “Your faith had made you well.” Mark tells us that immediately following
his healing, he began to follow Jesus on the way.
From this account we know that there’s a need to have
spiritual perception. Don’t be physically well in our sight but spiritually
blind in spirit. We need to ask Him to grant us spiritual sight so that we can recognize
the divine moments in our life, and to be enabled to live a life of honor for
His glory.
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