relationships (Mark 10:46-52) Unencumbered Closeness

(Mark 10:46-52)

46 Then they came to Jericho. And later, as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a beggar who was blind named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they called the man who was blind, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And replying to him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the man who was blind said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:

All too many times, we worry about the optics for ourselves or maybe for someone we might follow and respect.  Obviously, we are to respect others, and unless life-threatening, it would be rude to interrupt or create a disturbance during a royal procession.  Afterall, there is to be decorum and crowd management, for safety reasons, as well as for all the other people to have the ability to fully enjoy the pomp and circumstance.  But here is a blind man, at the mercy and charity of others.  And there goes Jesus, making His way out of the city.  That was most likely this man's last opportunity, and he was going to do whatever he could to get Jesus' attention.

Now, this man was already a believer.  We can know this, because he referred to Jesus as the Son of David, and Rabboni, which translates to master- chief- prince- Lord- CHRIST!!!  Although blind and unable to read any scriptures, he had certainly been listening!  And this man knew that Jesus was their promised Messiah (Christ).

Now, also notice that Jesus doesn't go to the man- who is blind!  He calls him over.  I'm quite sure that this man, who KNEW the Lord as his personal Savior, could sense exactly where Jesus was standing!  And not only could he find his way to Jesus, he threw off his cloak, which was a very valuable article of clothing, which would also serve as one's blanket at night, and in the day, a collection bag of sorts.  The man wanted to be unencumbered by such "frivolous" things, so that he could hurry to Jesus' side!

Jesus had no stern warnings for this man.  Jesus didn't even speak to him about not sinning anymore.  Jesus simply asked what the man wanted, and then told him that his faith had made him well.  And then the man physically followed Jesus!

I'm struck here with a thought.  A few chapters back, we were told that Jesus left His hometown, unable to do many miracles there because of the lack of faith.  Here we see that because of the man's faith, his "prayer" request was answered and he was physically healed.  From other scripture, we know that sin impedes our prayers and that praying in God's will, with faith, will result in answered prayers... Therefore, we need to realize that lacking faith, belief and trust in God- is- a sin- which we should not only confess, but we can ask the Lord to help us in having more faith, belief and trust.  Just like the one man said, "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!"  Brilliant!!!  And this is a prayer request that God will definitely answer!

In a personal relationship with the Lord, we will know that He is God!  With God all things are possible... including and especially His work on the cross!  If and when we stray away- it is IF-AND-WHEN we decide to look for His light, we will see Him, so that we can run back to Him!  If and when circumstances bring struggles into our lives, it is IF-AND-WHEN we continue to get to know Jesus better, that we can sense His presence, so that we stay close to Him!  So, do we know Him enough to recognize His light and sense His presence?  In our needs and in our excitement, do we enthusiastically toss aside everything that encumbers us from being by Jesus' side and following Him?