Our scripture reading this evening is Mark chapter 10, verses 46 through 52. Mark 10, verses 46 through 52. Hear now the word of God. And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 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. And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and said, call him. And they called the blind man, saying to him, Take heart, get up, he's calling you. And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, What do you want me to do for you? And the blind man said to him, Rabbi, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, Go your way, your faith has made you well. And immediately, he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. This ends our reading of God's word. As we think about the many physical afflictions that can make life miserable for us in this present age, for those of us who have eyes that function at least fairly well, becoming blind is probably one of the worst things that we can imagine. We think about all the things, the beautiful things we couldn't see. All the things that we couldn't do. We couldn't drive. You couldn't read in a normal way. Most of you probably couldn't continue to fulfill your ordinary jobs. Think about just how hard it would be to get around day after day. To be blind would be a great trial. And yet as we come here to the end of Mark 10, Jesus tells us, in effect, that if we wish to enter his kingdom, we have to become as a blind man, or perhaps better to say, we must come as one who is blind. Now to understand what's going on in this text and really the power of what Jesus does and says to blind Bartimaeus. I want to give you some context earlier in Mark 10 because this is a story that comes after a series of stories that really tie together in remarkable ways. Now these stories that come previously are probably well known to many of you. I want to begin with a story that is in verses 13 through 16 of Mark 10, a short story in which people are bringing their children to Jesus. They want Jesus to bless their children, and yet the disciples, they see this, and they rebuke these people who are bringing their children. And when Jesus sees this, he is indignant. He's very angry. He tells them not to hinder the children from coming. But the main point of this story is Jesus says, Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. That's the main point of this story, and it's crucial for understanding the stories that come next. You see, the point that Jesus is making is that there is one way for any of us to enter the kingdom, no matter how old we are. And that is as a little child. And what that means is that we come into the kingdom of God as those who have nothing to claim as our own. Who do not come on our own initiative. Who do not come with credentials. Who do not come with a glittering resume. We come as those who are brought by others. That is the only way to enter the kingdom of God. And so how interesting it is that immediately thereafter, in the very next story, beginning in verse 17 of Mark 10, that we find the famous story of the rich young man who comes to Jesus so zealously, falling before him, wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life. And Jesus reminds him of some of the commands of God's law. And he says, well, I've kept all those from my youth. Anything else? And Jesus says, go, sell all you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me. And he goes away, sorrowful, because he loved his earthly possessions. What was the real problem with the rich young man? Where did he really get things wrong? Well, surely he didn't understand the fact that there was only one way to enter the kingdom of God, and that is as a little child. He thought he could enter the kingdom of God on his own credentials, on his own works, impressing Jesus with what he had accomplished. And not only that, but he thought that once entering the kingdom, that he could keep what was his, as if it was at his disposal. Not recognizing that if you enter the kingdom of God as a little child, as one who has nothing, who claims nothing for his own, that surely anything you may come to possess is not yours, but it belongs to God and it is at his disposal. and then shortly thereafter we come to the story of james and john the story that just precedes the one we've read james and john two of jesus disciples two of the inner circle of his disciples and james and john much like the rich young man come to jesus on their own initiative call him teacher and they want jesus to do something for him for them jesus says what what would that be And they say, well, we want to sit at your left and at your right in your glory. Well, that was not a good thing to ask for. But what was the real problem with James and John's request? Well, again, they surely did not understand that if you enter the kingdom of God as a little child, There is no place for seeking glory and honor and status and influence, power over others in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely if we come as those who have nothing, if we come as those who are brought, if we come as those with nothing, no credentials, then who are we to be claiming positions of power over our brothers and sisters? Instead, Jesus had to show them and the other disciples that they were to be servants, just as he came to be a servant, rather than to be those that lorded over others. And that brings us to our text. And you see, what we have thus far in Mark 10 is we have one good example set before us. You enter the kingdom as a little child. And we have two bad examples before us. You do not enter the kingdom as the rich man or as the powerful man. Which is not to say that the rich and powerful cannot enter the kingdom. But they do not enter as the rich or as the powerful. They enter as children. And here at the end of Mark 10, we find another positive example. Because it is not just as a child that we enter the kingdom. But we enter as a blind man, not as the rich, not as the powerful, but as the blind. We look first at verses 46 through 48, the first part of this text, as Jesus comes into the vicinity of this blind man and he calls out to him. Now, we're told at the outset of our text in verse 46 that Jesus was coming to Jericho and passing through this famous city. Now, of course, we all know the city of Jericho from its Old Testament fame as its walls fell down under the leadership of Joshua. But that's not really the significance of the town of Jericho here. Here, the importance of Jericho is that it is only about a day's journey from the city of Jerusalem. Now, one thing that I didn't tell you about earlier in Mark 10, a little story, a little incident that takes place right in between the other stories I mentioned. Verses 32 through 34, Jesus had said to his disciples, we are going to Jerusalem. And there I am going to be delivered over to the chief priests. They will condemn me to death, deliver me to the Gentiles. They'll mock me, spit on me, flog me, and kill me. They're going to Jerusalem so that Jesus can die. And here they are, passing through Jericho. And it says that there is a big crowd with them. Now that may not strike us as important either, because Jesus often ministered before big crowds. But this is probably a big crowd that is going up to Jerusalem for the Passover. For you remember when Jesus went up to Jerusalem to die, it was the time of the Passover. This is probably the feast, the procession of pilgrims coming up to Jerusalem. And so as they come to Jericho, Jesus is just a day away. A day away from entering the city where he will die. This incident takes place perhaps only a week before Jesus is crucified. And so, as Jesus passes through Jericho, there is a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus sitting by the roadside. And he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. And he begins to cry out to Jesus, asking Jesus for mercy. And the crowds, well, the crowds want nothing to do with this blind beggar. They don't want the blind beggar to ruin their festival time. They tell him to be quiet. But blind Bartimaeus just cries out all the more for Jesus to hear him and to have mercy. Now, as we consider even these opening verses, I would like to point out briefly five ways in which Jesus' meeting with Bartimaeus differs from those earlier stories as Jesus was confronted by the rich man and by James and John. The first difference, note this, the rich man and James and John, they enjoyed places of social prestige. places of social advantage i mean the rich man was wealthy he certainly would have had social advantages that most people did not have and james and john they were part of the inner circle of jesus disciples and then there's bartimaeus not only was he blind but he was a beggar There is no one on the social scale that gets lower than blind Bartimaeus. Secondly, in the earlier stories, the rich man and James and John, they approach Jesus of their own initiative. It's their own idea. They have their own agenda. But you notice here that blind Bartimaeus doesn't find his way to Jesus. He doesn't come to him. Jesus comes to Bartimaeus while he's sitting by the side of the road, perhaps where he was day after day after day. And then thirdly, the rich man and James and John, they enjoyed a private audience with Jesus. Perhaps because of their social advantages, they were able to come to him and have private conversations. In fact, James and John, when they were asking for positions of glory, They obviously didn't want other people to hear about this conversation. But then there's blind Bartimaeus. He has to cry out over a multitude, a multitude of pilgrims. And he can just cry out at the top of his voice, hoping that somehow Jesus might take notice of him. And then fourth, did you notice what Bartimaeus calls Jesus? What title he gives him? Well, earlier in Mark 10, the rich man and James and John both called Jesus teacher. Now, when you think about that, there's nothing wrong with that. Jesus was a teacher. It was a title of respect. But it was a common or ordinary title. It's a bit like if you go to the doctor and you call your physician doctor. Or you're in college and you call your teacher professor. Nothing wrong with that, titles of respect, but they're ordinary. There are many doctors in the world, many professors in the world. But what does Bartimaeus call Jesus? He calls him son of David. And that is not an ordinary title. Bartimaeus gives Jesus a royal title. He puts him in the line of David, the true king of Israel. In effect, he acknowledges Jesus as the coming Messiah, the one who would come and finally sit upon David's throne that had been vacant for centuries. Finally, fifth, both the rich man and James and John, When they come before Jesus, they tout their credentials. The rich man, he makes sure Jesus knows that he's kept all the commands of God from his youth. James and John, they say, well, sure, we can be baptized with the baptism you'll be baptized with. We can drink of the cup that you're going to drink. But what about blind Bartimaeus? Does he brag about anything? Any accomplishments he puts before Jesus? All he says to him, son of David, have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon me. He knew his need and he believed that Jesus could meet it. And added to all this picture is, of course, the fact that all the crowd is telling Bartimaeus to be quiet. He's nothing but a blind beggar. He's got everyone ganged up against him, but he keeps crying out. And how remarkable it is. We see even in these three short verses that of all the people we meet in Mark 10, and we meet a number of people, that by far the most spiritually insightful person is blind Bartimaeus. It was not the crowds. It was not the rich man with probably a wonderful education. It was not even James and John, Jesus' disciples, but a blind beggar. He recognized his need. He recognized that he was in need of mercy. And he believed that Jesus could give him the mercy that he needed. And so we come to verses 49 through 52, the second part of this text. And here we find Jesus responding to the blind man's call. Verse 49 tells us that Jesus stopped and said, call him. It's interesting, isn't it? It's almost humorous. Here this crowd was rebuking Bartimaeus, telling him to be quiet. And Jesus doesn't actually call Bartimaeus directly, does he? He tells the crowds that have been rebuking Bartimaeus to call Bartimaeus and give him the news that Jesus wants to speak to him. And so they do. Of course, they act like they're Bartimaeus' good friends now, bringing him this great news. Get up, he's calling you. And Bartimaeus hears this. And verse 50 tells us that he throws off his cloak, springs up, and comes to Jesus. Interesting how it tells us that he throws off his cloak, which may seem like a very incidental detail, but it does provide quite a contrast with the rich man, doesn't it? I mean, there's that rich man with an abundance of possessions, and he would not give them up in order to follow Jesus. and here is this blind man, a blind beggar, and you think about it, that cloak may have been the only thing that he had, the only thing he had to keep him warm at night. And when he hears that Jesus wants to speak to him, that Jesus has responded to his call for mercy, he throws off that cloak and he comes to Jesus without delay. In some ways, the blind man seems like the rich man or even James and John in their zeal to come to Jesus. So the rich man, actually in verse 17 of Mark 10, it tells us that the rich man ran up to Jesus and knelt before him. But you'll notice here again. The rich man came on his own initiative, with his own agenda. The blind man comes in answer to Jesus' call and will come on Jesus' terms. And so, Bartimaeus finally comes before Jesus, and Jesus says to him in verse 51, what do you want me to do for you? It's the same question that Jesus asked James and John. James and John said, we would like positions of glory in your kingdom above everyone else in the entire universe. That was a bad answer. Jesus asked that same question to Bartimaeus, and he says, Lord, I want to see. He knew his need, and he sought help from Jesus. And unlike both the rich man and James and John, who sought something from Jesus and did not receive what they wanted, Bartimaeus receives exactly what he asked for from the Lord. There's a perfect correspondence between his request and the gift that he receives. And when he heals him, Jesus says to him, your faith has made you well. And it confirms our suspicions throughout this whole text that Bartimaeus is a man of faith. He may be poor, he may be blind, but he is a man with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what exactly was Jesus doing? What exactly is the miracle that Jesus works here? Well, on the one hand, we recognize that Jesus healed a man physically. He opened up eyes that were physically blind. And that was a very important thing for Jesus to do. Because if we look at the Old Testament, we look at prophecies of the coming Messiah. One of the things that that Messiah was going to do was to open the eyes that were blind. Jesus is doing what was promised long ago. Let me read one example of such a prophecy. Isaiah 42. I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. This is a prophecy about the coming servant of the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations. To open the eyes that are blind. to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison, those who sit in darkness. Jesus made a blind man to see. And that should be encouragement for everyone here, even if your physical eyes work just fine. Because this is a reminder for us that Jesus cares about us not only spiritually but physically. jesus does not promise to heal us from every injury and illness in this present age we know that but jesus has promised to heal every one of his people on the last day to raise up our mortal bodies with bodies that are immortal and glorious like his own glorified body now there are undoubtedly many of you sitting here who are feeling acutely tonight the effects of sin in your bodies be encouraged that jesus came attentive not only to the weaknesses of our souls but also to the weaknesses of our bodies and yet that is not all that jesus is doing here. Because throughout the scriptures, and this is actually true in several places earlier in the Gospel of Mark, physical blindness is representative and symbolic of a deeper spiritual blindness that is ultimately more serious than physical blindness, as bad as that is. Because only a few people are born into this world physically blind, but every single one of us is born into this world spiritually blind. Only some of us need help with physical sight, but there is not a single person sitting here or anywhere else who does not need help seeing spiritually. Jesus comes to Bartimaeus not only to heal him physically, but to open the eyes of his heart, to give him faith that where he was once blind, he may now see. That where he before did not know where to find help, now he sees it in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we need proof that Bartimaeus is cured spiritually as well as physically, We may note those very last words of our text. Jesus says to Bartimaeus, go your way. Your faith has made you well. And what does Bartimaeus do? Immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Jesus says to Bartimaeus, go your way. And Bartimaeus follows Jesus on his way. The rich young man wouldn't follow Jesus. as he called him. Bartimaeus, Jesus tells Bartimaeus to go his way, and he goes Jesus' way. Bartimaeus now can see, not only physically, but spiritually. Brothers and sisters, I hope you will see what a fitting climax this story is to these whole series of stories in Mark chapter 10. There are many in that day And there are many in our own day who seek to come into the kingdom of God as the rich or as the powerful. Those who think that they can come on their own credentials, by their own obedience, with their own impressive things to present to Jesus as if he needs them for his kingdom and for its welfare. There are many who think that the kingdom of God and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a place for gaining influence, gaining power over others, for attaining status and gaining honors and recognition and self-promotion. That is evident in the earlier stories of Mark chapter 10. But here we find Jesus not welcoming those who come as the rich or as the powerful, but we find Jesus welcoming the ones who come as children, who recognize they have nothing to bring. And we find Jesus receiving the blind man, the man who cannot see and yet cries out to Jesus for mercy. And perhaps the two key characteristics that we see here are that those who come into the kingdom are those who are brought and those who have faith. And how beautifully those two things go together. If you have entered the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, you have entered only because the Lord Jesus Christ has purchased you with his own blood. at high cost, apart from anything that you have contributed. And because Jesus has done everything for you, what is left for you to do but to believe, but to cry out for mercy and to receive in faith the one who provides everything you need spiritually and physically? And so, let us live before Christ in the honesty and the humility that recognizes our child-likeness before him, that recognizes our dependence upon him, that recognizes our spiritual blindness. And like poor, blind Bartimaeus, may we trust in him and follow Jesus on his way, a way to Jerusalem, a way of suffering, a way of service, but also a way that leads to everlasting glory and the resurrection of our bodies. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we come before you this evening and we wish to humble ourselves, to confess our sins, to recognize our dependence, to acknowledge our blindness. O Lord, most of us here tonight can see with our eyes. Many of us are wealthy in the eyes of the world. Some of us may even be powerful in the eyes of the world. But we recognize, O Lord, that no matter how well our physical eyes work or how much wealth you may have given us or positions of authority that we may possess, that we belong to you and are citizens of your kingdom only because you have brought us, not of our own initiative, not of our own strength, but you have brought us through the work of Christ. And, O Lord, if we can see you and call upon you this evening, it is only because you have opened up our hearts and granted us faith to believe. O Lord, may we cast aside our self-confidence. May we cast aside our self-promotion. May we cast aside our ambition to receive the praise and recognition of our fellow man. O Lord, give us that attitude of Bartimaeus that confronted with our own condition and with the beauty of our Savior, that we may call out for mercy and rest in him as the one who heals us, body and soul. Thank you for your grace. We pray all this in the name of our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.