Good morning. We are going to be in Mark chapter 10 this morning in verses 46 through 52. We're going to finish Mark chapter 10, and the title of the message this morning is Eyes to See Jesus. Before we get into our text this morning, I'm going to read you a passage from Matthew. kind of as a way of introduction, I wanna read you a passage from Matthew chapter 13, and I'm gonna read verses 10 through 15. It says, and the disciples came and said to him, why do you speak to them in parables? Jesus answered them, to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance. that whoever does not have even what he has shall be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. In their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, you will keep on hearing, but will not understand. You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive. For the heart of this people has become dull. With their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return, and I would heal them. So now let's read our text from Mark chapter 10, verses 46 through 52. Then they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more. Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and said, call him here. So they called the blind man saying to him, take courage, stand up, he is calling for you. Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And answering him, Jesus said, what do you want me to do for you? And the blind man said to him, Rabboni, I want to regain my sight. And Jesus said to him, go, your faith has made you well. Immediately, he regained his sight and began following him on the road. Father, we just thank you so much for this word, and we ask that you be with us as we look into it today. We ask that you open these things up to us, that you help us to see. Lord, we need you. Otherwise, we won't see a thing. And we just pray that you open this text up to us, that you show us Christ, and that you help us to glory in him this morning. And Lord, we just thank you for these things. In Jesus' name, amen. So in our text last week, Jesus and the disciples had crossed the Jordan River and they were on the road heading west toward Jerusalem. Well, the corner's not working today. But anyway, if you see the line going down on the right-hand side of the picture there, that's the line that they came down as they were coming from Capernaum and going down to Judea. And they crossed the Jordan. They went down the east side. And you can see where the line goes across the river. And then there's Jericho. So last week, they were somewhere between the Jordan and Jericho. They're on that road traveling. And that was where we were at in the message last week. And as they were getting closer to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking ahead, and he had this growing sense of urgency and resolve. And his disciples were amazed, and they were fearful. So Jesus took the 12 aside, and once again, he explained to them that once they got to Jerusalem, he's gonna be delivered into the hands of his enemies, into the hands of the religious leaders. And they're going to hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified. And then three days later, he's going to rise again. Of course, the disciples didn't understand that. This is the third time, and this is the most detail he's gone into in the gospel of Mark, that he's explained these things to them, and they just don't understand it. because they were expecting an earthly kingdom. They're expecting a renewed and restored physical kingdom of Israel. As soon as Jesus finished telling them what's gonna happen to him, as soon as he finishes, James and John came to him with a request. They asked that in his glory, in his kingdom, one of them will sit on his right and one of them will sit on his left. See, they're expecting a physical human kingdom with a hierarchy of status and authority. These things that are typical to human organizations. And of course, with Jesus as the king in the top position, and then they're asking that they be given the second and third positions of authority and prominence and prestige in the kingdom. This is not the first time that this scenario has come up. just somebody brought it up to Jesus this time. Back in chapter nine, just the previous chapter in verses 30 through 37, Jesus had explained to the disciples what was gonna happen to him. He had explained that he was gonna be betrayed and rejected and executed, and then three days later, he was gonna rise from the dead. And then, as soon as he gets done explaining that, they're walking down the road, and the disciples got into a discussion among themselves about which one of them was the greatest. And then Jesus, after he asked them what they were talking about and they wouldn't answer, then he explained to them that his kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world. And you know, as I was studying and thinking about this, I had an epiphany. It's not an accident that this same scenario is played out in back-to-back chapters here in the Gospel of Mark. It's here to show us something, to teach us something. Let me read you a verse from 1 Corinthians chapter 10. This verse directs an awful lot of my thinking as far as the Old Testament scriptures are concerned. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 11, Paul's talking, he's just giving this list of, this laundry list of all the things that happened to the children of Israel when they're wandering through the desert for 40 years in rebellion against the Lord. And he says, he says, now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction. And you can talk about the sovereignty of God. This verse just really impresses me with the sovereignty of God. God writes his story in human lives. See, God has written the book of history, not because he just made a prediction. that this is what's gonna happen, and then lo and behold, it happened. That's not it. God is actually creating history. He's the author of history, and he creates human lives. He doesn't just create the overall picture of history and kind of herd everything in the right direction, but he creates every detail of every life along the way and brings it to pass. And he says, now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come. You know what? That's still true. These things that happened to the disciples happened for our benefit, and they were written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the ages have come. So I realized what the disciples' problem was and why they couldn't understand. Whenever Jesus would tell them what was going to happen, I realized why they couldn't understand. Their problem was eschatological. They couldn't understand what Jesus was saying because they didn't understand the nature of the kingdom of God. It sounds simple, but you know what? It's still the same today. We did a little study on Wednesday nights here a while back, and I took you basically through a book that I read a couple of times that is tremendous, and the title of the book is Who is Israel, What is a Jew, and Where is Jerusalem? The premise of the author of that book is exactly what I'm saying. The reason why people fight over eschatology is because they don't understand what the kingdom of God is. They don't understand who the kingdom of God is. And that's what was going on here. The disciples did not understand the kingdom of God. And people today struggle with eschatology because they don't understand the nature of the kingdom in spite of the fact that the scripture shows us over and over again that it isn't like any human kingdom. It's not like human kingdoms. And Jesus even states it point blank in John 18, 36. He says, my kingdom is not of this world. It's not of this world. So then Jesus explains to them, the disciples, that the kingdom of God is exactly upside down from human kingdoms. Yes, Jesus is the king. He is both Lord and Christ. However, Paul says in 1 Timothy 2, 12, that we will, all is implied, also reign with him. That's interesting, isn't it? Jesus is the king, but we will all also reign with him. And then in Revelation 5.10, the apostle John records from the song of the seraphim. The seraphim and the 24 elders are singing to the Lord. They're singing to the Lamb. And this is the song that they're singing. They're singing that Christ is worthy because he purchased for God with his own blood this people, and he says, and you have made them to be a kingdom and priest to our God, and they will reign upon the earth. And the implication is that they will reign now upon the earth. You have purchased them, and they will now reign upon the earth. So how? Can we all reign with Christ? And how are we reigning now? In our mind, the way we think about kingdom, well, we can't all reign, and there's gotta be, somebody's gotta be in charge, somebody's the boss, and then you've got hierarchy and you've got authority. See, this is the way John and James were thinking. You got first in command, second in command, third in command, there's a chain of command. That's just the way things work. How can we all reign with Christ? And how are we reigning now in a world that just seems to be spiraling completely out of control sometimes? Let me tell you something. Jesus reigns over his kingdom, not by authoritarian force, but by humbling himself to the infinite degree, taking on human flesh and serving his people giving his life a ransom for many. And because of that, his people are completely devoted to him, not because of force, but because of love. Did you know that no one obeys Jesus and keeps his commands because he makes them? Because he stands there and forces them to do what they ought to do. Did you know that no one obeys God because he forces them to do what they ought to do? Like a little kid and you stand there with a switch until they do it. You know, I've seen my wife do that with ours. Sometimes she had to stand there and force them to do it. I've done that. That's not the way the kingdom of God works. People obey God because they love God. People obey Jesus because they love Him. How do we reign with Him? He says, whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. Can you imagine a kingdom with zero hierarchy where every citizen strives to outdo each other in service and love? I'm not talking about a kingdom where some people are citizens and some are not. I'm talking about the new covenant. You know, in the Old Testament kingdom of Israel, some people were true Israelites and some were not. It was a mixed kingdom, but everybody was recognized under the same covenant because it's a physical kingdom. But the new covenant kingdom of God is not a physical kingdom. Everybody in the New Covenant is a child of God, born again, bought with the blood of Christ, redeemed, and has the Holy Spirit living in them. Can you imagine a kingdom where every citizen strives to outdo each other in service and love? This is the way Jesus describes His kingdom. And He says that when we do that, we're imitating Him. We're being conformed to His image, and that is how we reign with Him. That is how we reign on the earth, is by imitating Christ. Now I need to add something here before we move on. Because people get confused about this. Jesus isn't saying that if you win the serving and loving competition, then that gives you the right to lord it over the other citizens. He says when he's talking to them, back up in verse 42, he says, you know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them. He says, but it's not that way among you. So this doesn't mean that if you out serve everybody else, then you get to lord it over them. That's not what it means. In Jesus' kingdom, there's only one Lord. In Jesus' kingdom, it is the loving and the serving that is the reigning, and the lording is left to him. So now let's get into our text for today. Let's read verse 46. Then they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples in a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. So at this point, you're probably wondering, What the kingdom of God and the blindness of the disciples as to its nature has to do with a blind beggar named Bartimaeus? And the answer is a lot. As we saw earlier in this chapter, the Holy Spirit teaches us by showing us contrasts. Earlier we had the contrast between the children, who people were bringing children to Jesus in order for him to touch them and bless them. They weren't sick. There was nothing wrong with them. But these people were bringing children to Jesus for him to touch them. And the disciples said, hey, wait, you're wasting the master's time. Don't bring those kids up here. And Jesus rebuked them and said, The kingdom of God belongs to such as these. You can't even get into the kingdom unless you come like one of these, helpless, unable to bring yourself. And then the Holy Spirit shows us a contrast to those children with the rich young ruler who runs up to Jesus of his own accord. And he believes that he's worthy of the kingdom. He just needs to know what one good thing do I need to do so that I may obtain eternal life for myself. There was a contrast. Well, the incident of Jesus' interaction with and healing of Bartimaeus is given here in contrast to the disciples approaching Jesus, asking for status and authority in the interaction that he had with James and John last week. So this is a contrast. This message is a contrast to the one that we saw last week. So picture the scene here. Jesus and the disciples, they're walking up the road towards Jerusalem. They're coming up there, then they go through Jericho, right there, and they're coming out the other side. Now that's a desert area right there. There's a desert between the Jordan River and Jerusalem, and Jericho is an oasis out in the middle of this desert area. An interesting fact about that, archeologists believe that Jericho is one of the two oldest inhabited cities in the world. The other one is Damascus. Archeologists believe that those are the two oldest cities still in existence that people are still living in. And it's an oasis. The reason for it is obvious. It's an oasis in the middle of the desert. If you're going to live in that area, that's where you're going to live. So they come through this city, and as they're leaving the city on the west side, going towards Jerusalem, there's this blind beggar sitting beside the road, and he's begging for alms from the people that are passing by. This is all he does. All day, every day, he sits there. waiting to hear the sound of footsteps. He's in total darkness. He's unable to do anything for himself. He's dressed in rags. He has nothing. And when somebody walks by, when he hears those footsteps, he starts calling out alms for the poor. Alms. Will you help me? Will you have mercy on me? Will you give me something so I can continue to live another day? That's his only means of survival. As far as status goes, he's one of the lowest and most humble people in the whole country. He owns nothing, he's dressed in rags, and his culture believes that he is only in the condition that he's in because he deserves to be there. If you remember from John chapter 9, when Jesus healed the other blind man, that was blind from birth, the disciples called attention to him and asked Jesus, they said, Master, was this man born blind because of his own sin or because of his parents? So see, the prevailing idea is if you've got an affliction like that, it's because you deserve it. And God is punishing you for your own sin. Or your parents. And so that's the way he's viewed. He's despised. And then we're told that he is Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. Jesus healed a lot of people in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This is the only incident of Jesus healing someone in the Synoptic Gospels where the person is named. You can go check. None of the rest of them. Now Lazarus and John is named as being raised from the dead. But in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the only person that Jesus healed that is given a name is Bartimaeus. It's not a coincidence, I'm sure. There's no coincidences in Scripture. It's an interesting name, especially in light of the way that Mark records it. He's called Bar Timaeus, which is literally son of Timaeus. If you remember, Jesus called Peter, Simon, Bar, Jonah, because Bar is son of, and he was Simon, son of John. So the name that he's given is not even really like a first name. He's just known as the son of Timaeus. So he's Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus. Now, this is not just an example of Mark being redundant. It is possible that Mark wrote son of Timaeus for the benefit of the Gentile readers that wouldn't have understood that that was what Bartimaeus meant. However, Matthew Henry says that it was worded that way to indicate that he was the blind son of a blind man. Bar Timaeus, son of Timaeus. Now isn't that a tremendous physical representation of spiritual reality for every child of Adam in this world? Aren't we all blind children, or blind parents, spiritually speaking. Let's look at verses 47 and 48. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. So Bartimaeus is sitting there by the road. He hears a bunch of footsteps. He begins asking for alms. Then he hears people talking about Jesus, the Nazarene. And he realizes that Jesus is passing by. As soon as he does, he begins to cry out specifically to Jesus. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. even though many in the crowd are telling him to be quiet, he just keeps getting louder and yelling more. Now we could speculate on all the reasons why people might have been telling him to be quiet. The truth is there were probably several reasons, not the least of which was probably that most people thought Jesus wouldn't want to take time to mess with this guy. He's headed for Jerusalem. He's got an agenda. He's focused. Why would he want to stop and engage with this blind beggar, this sinner, sitting here by the roadside? But that's not what's interesting about Bartimaeus. What is interesting about him is everything that he knew about Jesus. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. He knew that the Messiah would come from the lineage of David. Listen, I'm gonna read you a couple of scriptures. One from 2 Samuel, verse seven. Or chapter seven, 2 Samuel 7, 12, and 13. The Lord is speaking to David through Nathan the prophet. He says, when your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendants after you who will come forth from you, your descendant. I will raise up your descendant after you who will come forth from you and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. A lot of people say, well, that was Solomon. He built a house, he built, but that's not the house that the Lord is talking about. He's not talking about Solomon's temple. And he's not talking about Solomon. He didn't establish Solomon's throne forever. The house that he's talking about is the church that Christ is building, and the throne that he has established forever is the throne of Christ. Bartimaeus sees that Jesus is that Messiah from the line of David. And then Isaiah chapter nine, verses six and seven. It says, for a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of his government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom. to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this." Who's David's descendant? Artimaeus knows that it's Jesus, son of David. He also knows that the Messiah would be one greater than David. He would be David's son, his descendant, and yet he would be the Lord. Yet he would be the Lord. Psalm 110 and verse one says, the Lord says to my Lord, set at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. And then in Matthew, Chapter 22, Jesus is gonna apply that to himself. Matthew 22, Jesus applies that to himself in verses 41 through 45. It says, now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked him a question. What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? They said to him, the son of David. He said to them, then how does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, the Lord said to my Lord, set at my right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet. If David then calls him Lord, how is he his son? See, he knew that this descendant of David was also the Lord, and most of all, he knew that the one thing he needed from Jesus was mercy. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. He saw Jesus more clearly with his blind eyes than James and John had with their physical eyes, watching him perform sign after sign for three and a half years up until this time. See, they asked for what they presumed would be the highest positions in the kingdom. And they presumed that they were worthy of them. When Jesus asked him if they were able to drink his cup and undergo his baptism, they answered, we're able. Bartimaeus recognized that his condition was one of total dependence. and need. And he realized that anything he received from Jesus would be pure mercy. Look at verse 49. And Jesus stopped and said, call him here. So they call the blind man saying to him, take courage, stand up. He is calling for you. You know, Jesus is purposefully walking ahead of the group. He's resolutely marching to Jerusalem to face his destiny. But when he hears Bartimaeus cry out to him for mercy, he stopped immediately. He stopped right there in his tracks. There's a theological lesson in this. There's really a gospel lesson in this for all of us. We need to remember that. No one has ever cried out to Jesus for mercy who didn't receive it. No one. And no one ever will cry out to Jesus for mercy who will not receive it. John 6, 37, he said, all that the Father gives to me will come to me and the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out. When he heard Bartimaeus crying out for mercy, He stopped. As resolutely as he was marching to Jerusalem, he was now just as resolved to see and talk to the man who's crying out to him. So he commanded, call him here. So they, which is either members of the crowd or the disciples or both, told Bartimaeus, take courage, get up, because Jesus is calling for you. And verse 50 says, throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. He jumped up. Listen to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, verses one and two. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. You want to see that play out visually? Look at Bartimaeus. He's called and he throws that cloak away and he jumped up and he fixed his eyes of faith on Jesus and went straight to Him. Verse 51. And answering Him, Jesus said, What do you want me to do for you? And the blind man said to him, Rabboni, I want to regain my sight. Jesus asked this blind man a question. Now, you just listen to me read it. Let me ask you this, does that question sound familiar? What do you want me to do for you? Listen, it should sound very familiar. to James and John. Listen to chapter 10, verses 35 and 36. James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Jesus saying, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? Same question. What do you want me to do for you? Of course, James and John ask for status. They ask for power, authority, prominence in the kingdom. What does Bartimaeus do? He says, rabona. Rabona and rabbi aren't the same word. Rabbi means teacher or master. So does rabona, except rabona means more. Rabboni means the highest teacher, the highest spiritual religious authority in Israel. There's only one person that applies to him. We see him called that twice in scripture. Mary Magdalene called Jesus Rabboni when she first recognized him after the resurrection. Rabboni. Bartimaeus calls him Rabboni here. And you couple that with son of David, have mercy on me. This is a confession of faith from Bartimaeus. He's calling Jesus his Lord and master. And he says that I may receive, the New American Standard says regain my sight. I love my New American Standard Bible, but sometimes it's just not a good translation, and in this case, it's not. The word is anablepsa, that is translated regain. It's received in the King James, the New King James. It's received in the ESV. I think there was, Charlie found one translation that said recover, but it's all the same word, and the word is anablepsa. and it can be translated as receive or regain. Some translations say receive, some say regain. The problem, of course, is that receive and regain aren't the same thing, are they? A person who was born seeing and lost their sight can regain it. A person who was born blind and never had sight can only receive it. So the exact same word, anablepsa, that's used here for Bartimaeus is also used in John 9, 11. And in John chapter nine, I just referenced it a while ago, it's where Jesus heals the man born blind. In John 9, one it says, as he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. In verse 11 it says, he answered, the man who is called Jesus made play, anointed my eyes and said to me, go to Solomon and wash. So I went and washed and I received sight. Same word. Same word. There's nothing in the context here in Mark, there's nothing in this text to indicate that Bartimaeus wasn't born blind as well. And if Matthew Henry is correct that his name was written the way it was to indicate that he's the blind son of a blind man and a picture of the spiritual blindness of humanity, then he was definitely born blind. And the word should be translated receive, that I may receive my sight. So at this point, can you see the contrast between the humble beggar and the proud disciples looking for prominent positions in the kingdom? You know, it's pretty much the same contrast that we saw between the helpless children and the rich young ruler. It's the same contrast. Let's look at verse 52. And Jesus said to him, go, your faith has made you well. Immediately he regained his sight and he began following him on the road. So Jesus commends Bartimaeus for his faith. He says, go, your faith has made you well. You know, at this point, from a human perspective, you would think that Bartimaeus would want to run into town and see the sights, literally. He'd be excited. You know, we were talking about this at breakfast a little bit yesterday morning. I can't imagine. I can imagine. Glenn said he knew someone who had gone blind the last couple of years of their life and how horrible that would have been. And yes, it would be horrible. My mother lost most of her sight before she died. But what I really have a hard time imagining is Someone like Helen Keller, who never saw at all. As a matter of fact, with her, she never saw or heard. She was both blind and deaf. It's just a testimony to the image of God that she even actually learned to talk a little bit. I don't even know how you could do that, but she could feel the vibrations whenever she would speak. And so she learned to, she learned to talk a little bit, but she was brilliant. but she never experienced sight. Charlie and I were talking about this yesterday. A person who's never seen wouldn't know what it was to see. You have no pictures in your mind. If you do, where would they come from? The Lord would have to put them there. If you've never seen, you have no physical pictures to look at in your mind. You wouldn't know what it was to see. If you've never heard, you wouldn't know what it was to hear. Can you imagine suddenly being flooded with all of this stimuli if you've never seen? And suddenly, there's the world. You would think that Bartimaeus would have just been engrossed with the world, wouldn't you? Because now he can see. And he'd want to experience everything that he's missed out on. That's not the case. It's not the case. As soon as his physical eyes are healed, what did he do? He fell in line behind Jesus and began following Him on the road. He fell in line behind Jesus and began following Him in the way. Because that's what people do when they've seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. They fall in line behind Him and they begin to follow Him. Once a person has truly seen Jesus, they will follow Him. And the truth is, Bartimaeus had already seen that glory even before his physical eyes were healed. That's why he cried out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. And that's the way every single person has to come into the kingdom of God. You wanna know how to present the gospel to somebody? Cry out to Jesus. Look to Him. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. That's also the way for us to follow and walk in the way. You wanna know what God's will is for your life? Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. You know who needed to hear that? James and John. Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your grace and we thank you for this truth. Lord, and we just ask that you give us eyes like Bartimaeus. Help us to see the glory of the Lord. Help us to not be caught up with everything that we see in this world around us. But help us to focus on Christ and follow him. Lord, we just thank you for your grace and we thank you for your mercy. And we thank you for your truth. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.