Believing is Seeing

January 10, 2025/
The Voice of Hope
The Voice of Hope
Believing is Seeing
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Mark 10:46-52

Sight is one of the fantastic five senses God has given us. Some people consider it to be the greatest of the five. For those who can see, we too often take this blessing for granted.

The process of sight in human development is fascinating. Newborns can only see things within 8 to 12 inches of their face and are typically colorblind. Babies are born with a preference for human faces which aids in early social interaction and bonding.

By around six months, most babies can see more clearly and perceive depth, allowing them to reach for objects more accurately. This period is crucial for the development of hand-eye coordination and motor skills.

Children become more adept at distinguishing colors, shapes, and patterns during the toddler years. Activities like reading books with vibrant illustrations or playing with puzzles can further stimulate their visual development and thinking and reasoning skills.

As children’s physical sight develops, wise parents will also pay attention to the development of spiritual sight. It is a sad commentary on much of today’s parenting that this development is wholly neglected. Every child should hear the regular, daily reading of the Scriptures in their home, especially by the father, if possible. Wholesome books, toys, and games encouraging creativity can aid this process of developing spiritual vision.

As we continue to study Mark’s Gospel, we have arrived at the close of chapter ten. Here, we have the account of Jesus healing a blind man, Bartimaeus, by name. Some interesting contrasts in this story deal with sight and blindness in relation to discipleship. Let’s explore them together. I’ve titled my teaching “Believing is Seeing.”  

Here is the Scripture portion, Mark 10:46-52.

In this text, the PARTICIPANTS of the narrative reveal to us how faith leads to sight, and “believing is seeing.”

The First PARTICIPANT we observe is,

The Calloused Crowd

The crowd demonstrates a particular kind of character, which I’ve called calloused. To be calloused is to be hardened, unfeeling, showing no sympathy toward others. Perhaps you wonder how I reached that conclusion.

Let’s keep the context of this account in mind. At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their calloused attitude toward marriage. They thought a man should be able to divorce his wife for any reason. But Jesus said, “No, God’s intention from creation was one man and one woman for life.”

When they questioned Him about Moses’ provisions for divorce in the law, He told them it was because of the hardness of their hearts. Keep that phrase in mind. The prophet Isaiah wrote about this callousness. “Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.” Their hearts were dull, insensitive, uncaring. Their divorce practices showed their callousness toward women, leaving them in precarious social and economic positions. Their rejection of God’s plan caused harm to families.

After that interaction, the disciples had earned Jesus’ disapproval for their calloused response to children. The mothers wanted Jesus to bless their children, and the Twelve tried to chase them away. The implication was that children are not important, and Jesus doesn’t have time for them. Jesus sharply rebuked the Twelve for their misconception. He sternly warned them not to offend one of these little ones and reminded them of the impossibility of entering His kingdom without childlike faith and humility.

As our text opens, Jesus continues His journey to Jerusalem for the Passover. Traveling with the Twelve and in the company of other pilgrims was a considerable crowd. According to verse 32, Jesus was at the head of the multitude, resolutely leading the way. He was, as we sometimes say, “A man on a mission.”

As the noisy crowd moved up the road, blind Bartimaeus heard the commotion. I imagine him thinking about the possibility of additional contributions to his beggar’s cup. Perhaps today, there would be more than just enough to subsist on. The principal merchant roads of the region converged here, and pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem were known to be more generous than at other times of the year.

As Bartimaeus listens to the confused noise of the crowd, he discerns that Jesus is at the front of this crowd. Once he knows this, he loudly cries, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” File this fact in your mind; this is the first time Jesus is given this title in Mark’s Gospel. Displaying their callous character, the crowd sternly rebukes him and repeatedly tells him to be quiet. “Jesus doesn’t have time for the likes of you; you’re just a beggar. Why do you think He’ll pay attention to you? He’s on His way to Jerusalem and has more important things to do.”

Remember, Bartimaeus would have been considered a sinner, unworthy of Jesus’ notice. In John 9:2, where Jesus healed a different blind man, the disciples asked Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” The crowd saw him as being undeserving of Jesus’ attention. So, they said, “Be quiet! Save your breath! But he refuses to be silent.

The Next PARTICIPANT we observe is,

The Persistent Beggar

Bartimaeus redoubles his efforts in response to the crowd trying to “shush” him. He cries louder than ever, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” His cry tells us that He believed Jesus to be Israel’s long-promised Messiah. Son of David was a Messianic title. Every devout Jew knew that fact. Later, the religious leaders were greatly agitated by the children who used this same title in the Temple in Jerusalem.

So, here you have a man who is physically blind yet is spiritually very perceptive. He is loudly confessing that Jesus is the Messiah! In contrast, you have the Twelve, and the crowd who could see physically yet were spiritually blind. They witnessed Jesus’ miracles firsthand, yet they doubted Him, refused His instructions, and followed Him solely for the physical benefits He provided them. The Twelve rejected His teaching about His sufferings because they were filled with visions of personal grandeur.

Why does Mark introduce this story here in the narrative, and why does he tell us the name of the blind beggar? Bar-Timaeus, son of Timaeus (Mark explains the name for the benefit of his Gentile readers), alerts us that this man was a member of the covenant people, the Jews. Remember, this is in the larger context of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Bartimaeus’ simple, confident faith stands in bold relief to the behavior of the Twelve, rejecting Jesus’ predictions about His death and squabbling about who would be the greatest in His kingdom.

In the Hebrew way of thinking, Bartimaeus was at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. As a beggar, he was likely considered unclean. He had no wealth, rank, influence, or status. Yet here he is, boldly proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah.

This account has an interesting juxtaposition of the words cry and call. If we return to Mark seven, we find the Twelve crying out in faithless terror as Jesus appears to them, walking on the stormy sea. His call, His voice, reassured them that it was Him indeed. But then, the text says, “He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves because their heart was hardened.”

Bartimaeus also cried out, but not in fear – in faith. His heart wasn’t hardened; it was open to Jesus being the promised Messiah. And his confident confession of faith leads us to the next participant.

The Final PARTICIPANT we observe is,

The Compassionate Savior

Remember, Jesus had “set His face like flint” and walked up the road to Jerusalem with purposeful strides. He was determined to drink the cup of suffering that waited for Him. Yet, now, He suddenly stops and tells the crowd, “Find out who it is that’s screaming at Me. Get that man and bring him to Me. I’m not moving another step toward Jerusalem until I see this person.”

Jesus knows what He’s facing in Jerusalem but takes time to serve Bartimaeus. His actions proved what He had told the disciples not long before this. “I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many.”

So, the crowd told Bartimaeus, “Cheer up and get up; Jesus is calling for you!” Bartimaeus had been calling Jesus; now, Jesus is calling him. It’s one thing for us to call upon the Lord. It’s something else when He calls upon us. That’s where our true redemption lies. What does Bartimaeus’ response indicate? It indicates faith, and faith is proven by action. It demonstrates that we have a choice in our response when Christ calls us.

Picture Bartimaeus throwing aside his cloak – outer garment – and leaping to his feet to go to Jesus. He came in haste; there was no delay. He was expecting something from Jesus. Those actions aren’t a picture of someone doubtful. He exemplified genuine faith by acting on what he said. He had confessed Jesus as Messiah with his mouth, and his actions proved that he believed in his heart. According to Romans 10:9, those are the requirements for all disciples of Jesus.

Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Where have we heard that question before? Stay with me; we’ll come back to this. We might be tempted to criticize Jesus, “Like, come on, the guy is blind; why are you asking what he wants from you? But Bartimaeus doesn’t miss a beat.

“All I want, Lord, is to receive my sight again.” That’s not exactly the way he says it. Repeatedly, except on one other occasion in the New Testament, when people speak to Jesus, they address Him by His title as a teacher. He is a rabbi, so they address Him by the title rabbi. But that’s not what Bartimaeus calls Him.

He says, “Rabboni,” the same title Mary gave to Jesus in the Garden of Resurrection. This slight alteration from the title rabbi means far more than the address “professor” or “teacher.” It has an intense personal significance; it is a confession of faith. Bartimaeus says to Jesus in this language, “My Lord and my Master, let me see.”

His response tells us a couple of things. First, he had been able to see at some point. He hadn’t been born blind. And further, he believed Jesus had the power and ability to restore what he had lost.

Did you think about where we heard Jesus’ question to Bartimaeus before? It was to James and John, remember? They said, “Teacher, we want You to do whatever we ask of us.” Then Jesus asked them the same question he asked Bartimaeus. “What do you want me to do for you?” The questions were the same, but the responses were different.

James and John selfishly asked for privileged positions in Jesus’ kingdom. In response, Jesus taught them the necessity of humility and service. In Jesus’ kingdom, serving others is the path to greatness, not putting yourself in an elevated position. Bartimaeus simply requested to recover his sight. Instead of sitting by the road begging, the ability to see would allow him to have an everyday, productive life.

Jesus said, “Go your way; your faith has healed you.” What Jesus meant was, “Your faith has saved you.” Some versions say, “Your faith has made you whole.” I like that because it indicates the completeness of the action and the finished results. He had already placed his faith in Jesus by proclaiming Him as Messiah; his physical sight was restored, too. He was now a whole man in the fullest sense of the word.   

Immediately, Bartimaeus’ sight was restored, and he began following Jesus. Most blind people would want to run through the city and see all the sights. Instead, as soon as Bartimaeus saw anything, he saw Jesus and followed Him on the road to Jerusalem to His death. Mark gives us a portrait of a true disciple who is ragged, poor, and blind but recognizes the Messiah for who He is, and when he calls upon Him, he addresses Him as, “My Lord, my Master.” Jesus has just taught His disciples what it means to be a servant. To be a servant is to serve a master. Where the disciples failed, the blind man succeeded. Now you understand how believing is seeing.

A believer confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of David. Bartimaeus believed that. He believed that before he was healed of his blindness. However, there is spiritual blindness, as it relates to discipleship, that a believer can have. The disciples in Mark had that problem. Bartimaeus does not have that problem. Unlike the blind man at Bethsaida and the disciples themselves, Bartimaeus sees clearly.

So, where do you find yourself in this story? Are you calloused to the needs of the people around you? Do you think that some people are not worthy of Jesus’ attention? You and I can quickly deny that we feel that way, but what do our choices reveal?

Or do you exercise the faith of Bartimaeus? The angel who announced Jesus’ conception to Mary said He would be called Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. Bartimaeus believed that, as well as the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of David. Have you made those confessions, too? Are you one of His disciples?

And what is your level of compassion? While we cannot do everything that Jesus did, we are called to follow His example. He showed mercy to Bartimaeus. He took time to care for a man on society’s margins. Am I willing to do that? Are you?

When you and I genuinely believe in Jesus and follow Him, our faith will result in sight.

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