Bartimaeus and Jesus
Bartimaeus and Jesus
“And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.”
Mark 10:52
Bartimaeus was blind. His station and opportunities in life were limited, and his prospects dismal. He positioned himself to be in the path of this Jesus, the healer. As the procession drew near, he began to cry out with all the earnestness he could muster, hoping against hope that Christ would hear and show mercy.
“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Mark 10:47
A desperation arose in him that seemed to increase as he heard the approaching crowd. His need produced a power that welled up from deep within.
“And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Mark 10:48
The compelling nature of faith moving within his heart recognized that the hope of any change in his circumstances rested solely on the mercy of God. The urgency of the moment precluded any attempts of the crowd to silence him. He must draw the attention of this Jesus of Nazareth. The moment was NOW, and the faith rising within could not be denied. “Thou Son of David… have mercy upon me.”
“…and Jesus stood still…”
Mark 10:49
Despite the chaos and commotion of the crowd, Jesus heard Bartimaeus’ call and plea for mercy. More than that, He felt the draw of faith in Bartimaeus, and in that moment, saw the hand of His Father moving toward this lost and desperate man. The heart of the Son was ever in the present moment, living within the Will of His Father. “And Jesus stood still.” If we could only grasp the keenness and undivided heart of Jesus’ attentiveness to His Father, we would aspire to that singleness of heart for ourselves. He who lived for the Father would produce that same sensitivity in us.
“…unto us a son is given”
Isaiah 9:6
The secret is bound in our own interactions with Him who has been given to us. Do we hear His voice, do we feel His pressings and His corrections? It is in the crucible of these hidden interactions that we determine the extent of His Lordship and power in our lives. The salvation offered us in the person of the Son will be as deep and significant as our subservience to His Will. As scripture declares, we are to:
“work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling”
Philippians 2:12
The appeal goes forth for each individual to hear and comprehend that it is our own salvation we are to “work out.” No one else can do that for us. No teacher, prophet, or minister can “work out” what is our responsibility to do. The depth of His Life flowing from each of us will be determined by His Life impacting us personally.
We see this truth vividly demonstrated in Bartimaeus.
“And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.”
Mark 10:52
To Bartimaeus, Jesus declared, “Go thy way” but, upon receiving his sight, he chose to “follow Jesus in the way”!
Something deep and powerful hidden about our God is that He never conscripts an individual’s heart. Our response to Him is based on a free-will offering. He does not compel nor command our will. The call to discipleship is voluntary and one of personal choice.
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Luke 14:25
His Way becoming ours is proportional to the influence of His Love.
Related Article: Taking The Land
“No matter how high the powers of reason, no matter how deep the intellect, no one can discover God’s secret messages without paying the cost of true discipleship.”
– Winkie Pratney
Brian Troxel
Amen 🙏
Hello Curleen – Sorry for the late reply I have been experiencing some difficulties with my WordPress features. Thank you for the encouragement!
As always appreciate the comments!
Blessings
BT
Bartimaeus mercifully and marvelously received His sight by focusing on Jesus instead of on his blindness and the crowd. Many Christians, rather than focusing on Christ, their Creator, and Consecrator, blinded, concentrate on themselves. Focusing on themselves, continually dwelling on the sin and shortcomings of their slothful, stubborn, selfish selves, they haplessly hope that their trying hard enough, long enough will make them more like Jesus.
Existing is a law (a rule of action) of excellence our Creator and Consecrator set in munificent motion. By this divine law or prevailing principle from heaven, we progress or digress. This law is that we become what we behold. Our magnificent Maker created our inmost being like a camera capturing an image. The image we capture is that which our spirit (heart) and soul (mind, will, and emotions) focus on! The image we develop is what we are subliminally conformed to! The picture produced as seen by ourselves and others may or may not be liked. But what exposure to the Light of Christ by beholding HIM was involved in the development? What does HE see of us that conforms to His character?
In the face of Christ, the Author and Perfecter of our faith is found faith increase, functioning by love casting out fear and torment. Do you want to be more loving, more faithful, and true to apprehend that for which Christ has apprehended you? Be still and know that He is God, cease the striving by self, and instead, habitually, steadfastly gaze on the One Beautiful God Who Himself is love, ever and forever faithful and true, to His holy nature, and His never failing, prevailing promises. We are His wondrous workmanship to that perfect Day.
In Romans 7 Paul writes the words I, me, my, and mine 35 times, thus showing Paul’s focus was on himself. He declares I know that in me (that is, in my self-effort,) dwells no good, for to will IS present with me, but HOW to perform that which is good I do not find. Paul looked to himself, and the more he looked and longed, the more cherished consecration to Christ eluded his exhausting effort.
Though by the matchless mercy and generous grace of our fond Father and His compassionate Christ, in the intercessory, revelatory power of the blessed, wondrous Spirit of glory, both brothers Paul and John witnessed and wrote the wondrously wise and transcendent, triplet treasure of triune truth that is:
2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP
And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
Colossians 3:1-2 AMP
Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].
1 John 3:2 AMP
Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory].
Hello Stephen – Sorry for the late reply I have been experiencing some difficulties with my WordPress features.
As always appreciate the comments!
Blessings
BT
Love to you, Brian, esteemed brother for Christ’s sake and fond regards. I pray and trust that you will continue aflame, torching precious lives with the transforming fire of heavenly, holy desire, to the everlasting gladness and gratitude for His grace and glory,
Thank you, my dear brother!
The Blind Leading The Blind
As I was praying a few days ago I saw the following vision.
In the vision I saw a church service going on. I saw both pastor and congregation, none of which was anything strange or out of the ordinary. I saw the pastor reading from the bible and the congregation following along as he read, again, nothing out of the ordinary. Then I got a look at the pastor’s face and saw that he was blind yet the bible he was reading from was not in braille but he read like he both saw and understood the words he was reading. Then my attention was turned towards the congregation to whom the pastor was preaching and I saw that they too were blind yet followed along with bibles open even following along as the pastor read from the pulpit.
In the vision the eyes of both pastor and congregation were white, i.e., no pupils, so in the physical they would not be able to read nor understand. However, this vision is spiritual and the blindness is a result of deception and being deceived. Those there chose to be there and did not object to what was being taught. Deception is very patient. A little lie here, a little lie there and in time the truth is obscured.
In these last days it is imperative that one listens to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Pay close attention to what He says. If you are in a church where a compromised Word is being preached then leave quickly before you become deceived.
Yes, our blessed focus is ever and always to be Jesus Himself, Who alone is the Light, alone giving sight to the blind. With the heavenly, supernatural Light of spiritual sight is the might to hear holy aright Christ, the immutable, eternal, infinitely creative Word, the only real and living Way, our forever first Love and all-magnificent Obsession.
Hebrews 12:2 AMP
[looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, [b]disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].
b. Hebrews 12:2 Sometimes the public shame of the cross is overlooked when one thinks of the pain and agony inflicted by it, but in the Roman Empire crucifixion was a shameful and disgraceful way to die, a form of capital punishment from which Roman citizens were exempt; and in Roman comedy it was used in a curse: “Go to a bad cross!”
Hello Tony – (I apologize for the late reply) I have been trying to respond for sometime but for some reason I have been locked out almost all of the features of WordPress.
I think the vision given is a sad testimony to much of what is going on today within the landscape of what many call the church of our day.
How little the church comprehends the greatness of His Call and the need for our repentance.
Blessings
BT