Today we have a wonderful oportunity to study a beautiful passage that often recieves brief treatment.  It is the story of how a man came to receive his sight from Jesus.  It is also a beautiful picture of how the unsaved are to come before Jesus and have their eyes openned to see the kingdom of God.  Are you unsure of your salvation?  Learn from this man, as he displays the perserverence and faith that is required for salvation.  And this passage has much to teach mature Christians, as it reminds us to maintain the same beggar spirit we first had, and to overcome the daily obstacles as we did the obstacles at first.

PART 1   A BLIND MAN, BARTIMAEUS

Let’s read verse 46.  Then they came to Jericho.  As Jesus and his disciples together with a large crowd were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd was traveling through Jericho.  Why were they in Jericho?  Where were they going to?  The next chapter is Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  In traveling from the transjordan to Jerusalem, Jericho was on the way.  Jericho is 15 miles northeast of Jerusalem.  As Jesus approached Jerusalem for the final time,  surely the thoughts of his coming crucifixion we foremost in his mind.  It is a marvel to us that, even to the very end, even when his own troubles loomed large before him, Jesus continued to serve others and to heal even this one last blind man.

The crowd following Jesus was quite large.  There had never been such a large crowd following Jesus before.  The ranks of Jesus’ entourage were probably swelled by many others who happened to be going to feast of the passover at the same time.  It was an impressive group.  Jesus followers seamed like an army marching on to Jerusalem with Jesus a victorious general at the head.  The was great astonishment and also fear among the folowers, about what would happen in Jerusalem.  In such an environment, they were eager to follow and anxious to know what would happen.  

But one man was not following Jesus.  Who was he?  He was a blind beggar named only the son of Timaeus.  He could not follow Jesus-- he was blind.  He could not even work-- he was blind.  He could only beg.  What a tragic man!  We can’t imagine what it would be like to go through life blind, unable to see the flowers and the stars at night.  We also can’t imagine what it would be like to live life as a beggar, not knowing what we will eat today.  We all have a steady income, so we feel secure.  Knowing that we have earned our salary, we have a sense of accomplishment and a sense of self esteem.  What it must have been like for this man to be a beggar- and not because he was lazy, only because he had the misfortune to be blind.  What a horrible fate he had!  When we consider this man, we stop complaining about our situation.  People viewed his condition as God’s judgement.  Many scorned him; others pitied him.  Here is this man, helpless, useless, blind.  He cannot see, so he cannot follow Jesus.  The only thing he can do is beg.  He is a picture of the unsaved, who are helpless and useless to God.  They cannot see or follow Jesus.

Whenever the Bible speaks of blindness, it is a picture of the unsaved.  When in the Bible, Jesus says “your faith has healed you,” the Greek word for healing can just as well be translated, “your faith has saved you.”  All of us here have working physical eyes, but some of us cannot see the kingdom of God.  Without seeing the kingdom of God, how can we enter it?  If this is you, take heart from Jesus who has the power to do the impossible—to open the eyes of the blind.  Let’s learn from this blind man how to pray to God for saving faith.  

Bartimaeus knew his problem.  Of course.  But many people who are just as much blind, spiritually, refuse to accept their condition.  They insist that they can see, like the Pharisees who were called blind guides.  They thought they could see the way to help others, but they only led them astray. It is sad to see a blind man who thinks he can see, because, unless he is willing to face his condition, he will never go to the doctor.  They never receive sight from Jesus, because they never ask for it, because they think they feel OK.

But Bartimaeus knew that he was blind.  Bartimaeus knew that he was helpless and couldn’t do anything.  He knew himself to be a beggar.  So he came to Jesus as a beggar comes.

PART 2  THE PRAYER OF THE BEGGAR
Let’s read verse 47.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  He was a beggar.  He had no skills-- except one very important skill-- he was an expert at begging.  So he put his one talent to its best possible use and began to beg from Jesus.  He was a good beggar.  He was loud and insistent.  What did he beg for?  Mercy.  When we appeal to Jesus mercy, we have his attention, because God is a merciful God who does not delight in the judgement of the wicked.

When we pray we come to God as beggars.  There were two men a Pharisee and a tax collector.  The Pharisee had a proud, self righteous prayer.  The tax collector “would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said. ‘God have mercy on me, a sinner.’”  It was the one who humbled himself like a begger pleading for mercy, who was justified before God. (Lk 18:9-14)

Also, Bartimeaus called Jesus the Son of David.  The Son of David is the Messiah.  In 2Sam 7:12-14, God promises David, “I will raise up your offspring to suceed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  I will be his father and he will be my son.”  These verses are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.  Romans 1:3-4 speaks of Jesus, who as to his human acestory was a descendant of David, and who throught the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Son of David, the Messiah, was the hope of Israel.  That Bartimaeus called Jesus the Son of David, shows that he recognized Jesus as the rightful heir to David’s throne.  He accepted the Lordship of Jesus.  He also accepted Jesus as the Messiah.  Many people debated who is Jesus.  But this man, though he was blind, had faith that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of David.  Only the Messiah has the power to open the eyes of the blind.  Jesus later commends his faith in verse 52.  It is his faith in Jesus the Messiah.  Before our eyes are opened, our faith in Jesus is very vague.  But without faith, no healing, and salvation will occur. 

It is a beautiful thing when one sinner begins to cry out to the Son of David for mercy.  But not everyone saw it so beautifully.  Look at verse 48a, Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet.  Why did they react so?  If we can visualize this event in our minds, then we can understand the apparent reasonableness of the crowd.  Jesus was walking along the road and there was a very large crowd all around him.  Probably Jesus was teaching.  Those on the edge could not hear well.  Bartimaeus was also on the edge.  When Bartimaeus began to shout, it was impossible for those around him to hear Jesus.  It was distracting.  It was disturbing.  Bartimaeus was ruining the environment for everyone.  We can imagine if someone were to start yelling at the top of their lungs during this message, we would be troubled.  We would tell the person to be quiet.  We would rebuke them for making a bad environment.  And we would be correct to do so, the church is no place for yelling.

The crowd seems reasonable.  If he is so far away from Jesus that he has to yell to get his attention, maybe this is just not his day to meet Jesus.  Maybe he should wait for another chance on another day, when the crowd around Jesus isn’t so large and he can get closer.  Bartimaeus had perhaps waited years to meet Jesus.  He was blind and could not come to Jesus, but rather Jesus had to come to him.  But when the crowd objected, he could think,   “I will just wait until next time.”  But Jesus is going up to Jerusalem to be crucified-- he will not pass through Jericho ever again.  If Bartimeaus hesitates, his one chance for healing will be lost!  

After his long wait to finally meet Jesus!  But he could not meet Jesus, because the crowd was in the way.  There was a wall of people surrounding Jesus that he could not push through.  He was blind; how can you elbow your way through a crowd when you are blind?  No the only way to reach Jesus was to yell.  But when he cried out to Jesus for mercy, the crowd was in his way again.  They told him to be quiet.  But how could he be quite and miss his chance receive sight from Jesus?

Lets read verse 48.  Many rebuked him and told him to be quite, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  He shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  When Jesus did not answer his humble cry, he did not give up, but shouted all the more.   When the crowd was an obstacle telling him to stop bothering them and Jesus, he shouted all the more.  From this frail frame of a man came a sound so loud that one would not have thought him able to make it.  When they told him to be quite, he drew in his breathe for a terrific, ear-splitting yell.    How rude.  How inconsiderate!  What was the result?  Verse 49: Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

To God, this man’s rude, inconsiderate cry was a beautiful prayer of faith.  There is a great lesson here for all who want to have their prayers heard by God.  Particular for those who are praying to God for saving faith.  Sometimes, when we pray to God, he does not seem to answer.  After praying one time, many gave up.  But this man did not give up, because this man refused to accept a “no” answer from God.  He would get his sight or he would keep crying out until he did.  In this way, Bartimeaus reminds us of the widow in the parable of the widow.  She cried out day and night, “grant me justice against my adversary.” until eventually, she wore the judge down with her coming, and he gave her justice.  You can read about it in Luke 18.  Jesus told them this parable, “To show them that they should always pray and not give up.”

God hears our prayer every time, and Jesus heard Bartimaeus’ first cry.  But Jesus did not answer it.  Notice, Jesus did not answer Bartimeaus’ first cry.  He waited to see if Bartimaeus would perservere in the face of the obstacle.  Always, to come to God there is an obstacle.  Particularly when the unsaved try to come to God, there comes an obstacle to prevent them.  Why do some people quit when there is an obstacle and other people perservere through the obstacle.  It depends on the persons faith and hope.  If this man did not really believe that Jesus was the way to solve his problem, he cannot persevere.  But with his hope in Jesus, he can have a one track mind, get the healing, the crowd is angry at me but get that healing.  Without faith or at least a hope to receive faith, we cannot persevere.

This man’s obstacle was the crowd.  His way of dealing with the crowd may seem inconsiderate.  But we must see it the way Jesus sees it.  It is a beautiful act of faith and determination.  This inconsiderate man is the kind of man that Jesus is looking for.  He is not looking for relaxed people who say, well maybe there will be another chance, next week, to meet Jesus. There is no tomorrow in the Bible.  Jesus says “do not worry about tomorrow”  There is only today.  “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”(Heb 4:7, 13)  

He is looking for persistent people who won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.  Those who once they find a chance to meet Jesus, they are ready to overcome insurmountable obstacles to get to him.  For many, their chance to meet God personally comes in the form of an invitation to study the Word of God.  Jesus said in Mt 11:12, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”   Bartimeaus was a forceful man.  He was not about to let the crowd prevent him getting his healing from Jesus.  The Bible is full of forceful men.  Once Jesus was teaching in a packed house.  Some friends carrying a paralytic came to see Jesus, but there was no way to get to him because of the crowd.  Once again the crowd was the obstacle.  What to do?  They did not give up.  They did not wait for another day.  They forced their way in to see Jesus, by digging a hole in the roof above Jesus.  Their action was difficult to understand.  It was dangerous to themselves and others.  It was destructive of others property.  It was a great disturbance.  Was Jesus upset at their forcefulness?  Mk 2:5 “When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’”  He commended their faith.

God saves those who seek him with all of their heart.  Those who have the desire to force their way in.  Jacob was Isaac’s second son.  He should not receive the blessing of the first born.  But he would not take no for an answer.  Even in the womb he fought for the position, and when he was born, came out tightly grabbing his brother’s heel.  His actions to get the birthright, also seem wrong, hard to understand.  But he received the birthright, because he was forceful.  At that time, he wrestled only with man.  But later, In an amazing act of grace, God came and wrestled with Jacob.  Jacob would not give up, but fought all night.  Then God told him to let go, “but Jacob replied, ‘I will not let go unless you bless me.”  Surely God would strike him down for being so presumptuous as to say no to God and refuse to let go of God.  But God blessed this forceful man, “Your name will no longer be Jacob but Israel.”

Sometimes, we cannot understand forceful people, but God uses them.  My advice to you, if you are not saved, is to force your way in, don’t take no for an answer until you get it.  Even if our character is not forceful, but we must have that persistence in seeking God.  We should not wait until next Sunday’s message.  We should learn the humble prayer of this blind man.  He came to Jesus as a beggar, with nothing to offer only the mercy of God to depend on.  He came earnestly, despite obstacles.  He came tenaciously and would not give up.  And he recieved his sight and became saved.  When we pray earnestly, humbly, faithfully, it is only a matter of time, before God hears us.

 The picture of this man is exactly how we come to be saved.  When I started to study the Bible, I was not perserverent.  It was my Bible teacher who perservered to keep calling me.  It was my Bible teacher who had faith.  It was my Bible teach who prayed, “Son of David have mercy on my student Steve.”  God heard his many prayers.  But it is not through someone else’s faith that we are saved.  As I continued to study the Bible, Missionary Elijah’s zeal and faith were contagious.  I began to pray to the Son of David for mercy because I wanted to see.  But still I could not see.  My obstacle was my many complicated thinkings about God and also about science.  Finally, one day years later Jesus passed near to me.  As I was studying John 11, his words spoke to me and I knew that Jesus had offered me a chance for faith, if I would confess him.  At that time, I thought, what if I hesitate?  Will another chance ever come?  So I did not hesitate but confessed Jesus as the resurection and the life.  Then my eyes began to open to see the Bible in an entirely new light.  I began to wonder how I could have been so blind to what the page clearly says.  In the end I did not come to God with my complicated logic, or my good deeds, but simply received it like a beggar or like a little child.

My obstacle was not people, but for many their obstacle, like Bartimaeus’, was the crowd.  One very sinful man started to go to church.  When his very sinful buddies began to tease him about it, he stopped going to church.  This is not a forceful man.  There was also a young Jewish man from Russia.  His family was so loving and supportive of him, until he began to study the nature of the Messiah.  When they learned that he was reading the new testament, they threatened him not to seek Jesus.  His friends and family became a crowd rebuking him for crying out to God for salvation.  They disowned him and would not respond to his letters.  But he was a sincere man who wanted to see, and he did not allow the crowd to keep him quiet.  After receiving sight from Jesus, he prayed to Jesus for his family and many of them were saved.  The best way for him to help his family was to ignore their advice and listen to the Bible.

Many people here had to overcome their friends or family’s persecution in order to meet Jesus.  We should not allow anyone to interfere with our relationship with Jesus.  Not even your family has the right to tell you to be quiet, when you are seeking God.  When one word of God comes into your heart, grab it with both hands and don’t let it go, regardless of the obstacles.

PART 3  I WANT TO SEE.
Let’s read verses 49-50 “Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’  So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up!  On your feet!  He’s calling you.’  Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus”  The persistence of the blind man paid off.  We can see his joy in the way he jumped to his feet, his faith in the way he cast his cloak aside, as though he would not have further use of it.  This is clearly a man who has every expectation of finally receiving his wish from Jesus.  Even his throwing asside his cloak has deep symbolism of how we come to Jesus for salvation with nothing in our hands.  We have no self righteousness, with which we can come to God, but these are all filthy rags to him.  Rather we come to Jesus very simply and humbly like this man.  This man’s simple cry and simple faith are childlike.  Therefore he is teachable, and Jesus welcomes him.

Look at Jesus words to him and his reply.  Lets read verse 51.  “‘What do you want me to do for you?’  Jesus asked him.  The blind man said, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’”  Jesus asked the man what he wanted done for him.  Jesus’ question shows his willingness to hear the prayer of faith and to grant us whatever we ask for in prayer.  Jesus’ question to this man is identical to his question to James and John in verse 36 from last week.  Jesus in this way compares the 2 requests.  The blind man’s request was much simpler than that of James and John; he said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  This man had a clear prayer topic.  He knew exactly what he wanted from Jesus.  Of course, we think, well if he is blind, what else would he ask for anyway?  But there are many others who are every bit as much spiritually blind, but would never think to ask for spiritual sight.  If God asked them what they wanted, they would say, a Lamborghini or a Playstation II.

But this man wanted to see.  When Jesus healed this man, he did not just heal his eyes, but also his soul.  Look at verse 52, “‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’  Immediately he recieved his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”  This man’s faith had healed him.  Not his persistence but his faith.  His persistent brought him to Jesus, but without faith, their can be no healing.  So how can I make myself to have faith?  Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. (Heb 12:2).  Ask him for faith.

 When Bartimaeus was healed, he quit his begging job and began to follow Jesus.  It can also be translated, that his faith had saved him and he began to follow Jesus in the way.  This is a picture of salvation.  After recieving his sight, his business with Jesus is not finished but only just started.  He now begins to use his new eyesight to follow Jesus along the way.  His dark, blind, begging life is forgotten and left behind as he has new life in Jesus.  Now he can see to read the Bible and to do many useful things which God has planned for his own personal mission.  He was useless and could not come to Jesus, but Jesus called him while he was blind and useless.  Now that Jesus has opened his eyes, he is no longer useless, but a precious child of God.

Lets learn from this blind man how to come to God in prayer.  We are beggars depending only on the mercy of God.  Let’s pour out our hearts in prayer.  When our prayer is not heard, lets pray out all the more, and if necessary, all the louder.  I have some prayer topics that are going nowhere.  I have some sheep that don’t meet my expectation.  What must I do.  Persistent prayer until they change.  But there are obstacles.  I have to study, I have to do many things, so I neglect the prayer battle.  Then there is no change.  Then begin to doubt that anything willever happen.  Unless we have faith that God hears our prayer and will answer it, how can we persist in prayer?  And if we do not persist in prayer, then we know that we do not care much about what we are praying for.  So I also learn much from this blind man’s simple cry.  Might we all cry out all the more for God’s mercy in whatever problems we face, and overcome our obstacles by faith.  
Let’s read the key verse, verse 51:“What do you want me to do for you?”  Jesus asked him.  The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”