Once upon a time… all the good stories start like that, so I just had to write that. Long ago, in a far away land… I know… Get serious. There was a town called Jericho. Famous Jericho, where the walls came a tumblin’ down. Who doesn’t love that story and the cute kids’ song that goes with it? Joshua won a great victory without firing a shot, rather, shooting an arrow. All God’s people did was SHOUT! What a miracle! The walls of Jericho literally tumbled down! With a LOUD SHOUT from God’s people! Remember that. It’s important in our story.
But that was very, very long ago. It was even long ago for our long ago story of poor blind Bartimaeus. Same town… fast forward a thousand years. (Actually 1400 years).
I wonder what it’s like to live in a city with such a historic history? The miracle-working God worked one of His mightiest miracles right there! I wonder if that elevated the lives of the citizens of Jericho. I wonder if they believed in God working miracles in their lives. That he was still well able to do miracles. It looks like from our story, that maybe they are. I like how the book of Luke records the story…. “Jesus and the disciples entered the city, and when they left there was a crowd with them.” I like that. It was as if Jesus picked up people as he walked through Jericho like a magnet picks up pieces of iron. Before he left the city, he had a throng around him. We are drawn to Jesus like that. We just can’t stay away. Gotta hear his words. Gotta be near him. Like breathing.
We don’t know exactly what Jesus did while He was on that trip to Jericho. It appears that the people gladly received him and his wonders. It appears Jesus left them wanting more, so they never left him! Jericho was Zacchaeus’ town, which is another story, for another chapter. It would be quite a miracle if each citizen of Jericho was transformed by Jesus the way Zacchaeus was! Some towns didn’t want the transformation that Jesus brought, but it looks like Jericho did. Good for Jericho!
But Jesus didn’t stay; he had a big job to do. He had to keep moving. Once city and then another, until he and his helpers went all throughout Israel.
As Jesus was leaving town, there was poor blind Bartimaeus sitting by the road. I call him “Poor Bartimeaus” because I read a children’s book to my daughters so many times that I still have it memorized, all these years later. “Poor Bartimaeus. His eyes were sick. He couldn’t see the town. He couldn’t see the people. He couldn’t see the children. Poor Bartimaeus.” My daughter, Kristen, was only two, but she could turn the pages, and “read” the story word-for-word, from memory, of course! When our friends saw her, they thought she was really reading the book! It was a hoot!
But back to our story about poor Bartimaeus. He certainly was “poor Bartimaeus”. What must it be like to be blind? To live in total darkness? I don’t know if it would be worse to have had sight for a little while, and then to lose it, or to have never seen the light of day. Either way, my heart goes out to anyone who is blind. Let’s thank the Lord for our eyesight right now. As I write this, I am sitting on my back patio enjoying the beautiful spring flowers, and the cardinals that keep returning for birdseed from our feeder, and our cute dachshunds that make me laugh. I am able to enjoy writing this story and reading God’s Word and surfing the net for inspiration. I am able to see my beautiful daughters and look into my wonderful husband’s eyes. And on and on and on.
Thank You, Lord.
But Bartimaeus’ eyes were sick. He couldn’t do any of that. Of course, people who are blind in this day of marvelous technological advances can do much more than Bart could to live meaningful, productive, fulfilling lives. But Bart sat by the road to Jericho, because that was pretty much all he could do. Sit. And beg. Every day. Bart could hear what was going on around him, but not really participate. Every day, he spread a garment out around him and shouted for coins, and then he would listen for coins to land. That way people didn’t have to get near him or risk touching him. Poor Bartimaeus.
One thing Bart had going for him was this: he didn’t mind begging. That might sound a little strange. But, it sure did come in handy when Jesus walked by. That’s really our only stance before God. And it’s a blessing to be willing to beg from God. The religious leaders thought they were too good to beg. The people of Nazareth weren’t about to beg from this whippersnapper they’d known from childhood! The people of Bethsaida didn’t think they needed God for anything. They felt fine on their own. The Gerasenes did beg. They begged Jesus to leave, rather than beg him to stay and do bless them with his words and miracles!
But Bart knew better. He knew he needed a miracle. He needed Jesus. Bart couldn’t read God’s Word for himself… this was way before Braille was invented, or audio Bibles, or the internet! But he had learned enough to know that when the Messiah came, he would work miracles. Bart probably knew Isaiah 35 by heart:
“Say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be
strong, and do not fear,
for your God is
coming to destroy your enemies.
He
is coming to save you.
And when he comes, he will
open the eyes of the blind and
unplug the ears of
the deaf.
The lame will leap
like a deer,
and those
who cannot speak
will sing for joy!“
(Isaiah 35:4-6 NLT)
I just know Bart was one of those fearful hearts who had taken courage by this promise in Isaiah. He knew God worked miracles. He lived in Jericho for Goodness sakes! So when he heard news that Jesus was making the lame to leap and unplugging deaf ears, he knew Jesus could also open the eyes of the blind! His eyes! Bart must have been so excited to hear that the Son of David had come in his lifetime! I imagine Bart asking the Lord not only to send coins flying his way, but to send the Messiah his way too!
Every day, Bart’s hope was, today could be the day! “One of these days, the Messiah will come by me in answer to my prayers. And when he does, here’s what I will do. I will recognize him as the “Son of David”, the promised Messiah. Because the Son of David is the one who can open the eyes of the blind! I’m going to make the biggest scene I’ve EVER made. I will SHOUT as loud as my ancestors did 1400 years ago when they made the walls of Jericho come tumblin’ down!” That’s what I would have done if I had been Bartimaeus! Bart kept that hope alive day after day after day.
So one day, just like any other day, Bart was sitting in his usual spot, and he began to hear a big commotion. You just know Jesus was coming straight through Jericho, right by Bartimaeus, in answer to Bart’s prayers. Passing by Bartimaeus was no coincidence. This was divine appointment. When we pray, the Lord sends answers walking right in front of us! That’s reason enough to pray without ceasing! Look at Jesus, acting all coy, as if he’s just happening along. As if he was passing by Bart and he wasn’t going to stop!
I wonder if Bart hoped against hope that maybe this could be Jesus. Blind people see with their ears, so when Bart heard the crowd, he asked, “What is happening?” He probably had to ask several times before anyone paid him any attention. Folks are blind to the blind… and to beggars. But Bartimaeus kept on asking, “What is happening? Tell me! Tell me, WHAT is happening?!” I can still hear my 2-year old shouting “What is happening?!” as she “read”, and see the wide-open mouth of Bartimaeus in the storybook.
“It’s Jesus! He’s coming this way!” Immediately, Bartimaeus put his plan into action! He didn’t know which way to go, so he just stayed put where he was sitting. He knew better than to find Jesus by wandering aimlessly. But, remember, Bart had another thing going for him. Bart SHOUTED for a living! And he let her rip! “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He usually shouted for coins, but this time Bart took his shouting up a notch or two. He kept shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” over and over and over. Now was no time to be shy! He was not going to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. Bart was going to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” until Jesus, the Son of David, had mercy on him! He didn’t care what anyone thought. He didn’t care if some didn’t believe that Jesus was the promised Son of David. Bartimaeus was blind, but he could see that if Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah, He WAS the Messiah!
The people told Bart, “Be quiet!” Looks like Bartimaeus annoyed the people. Looks like they usually just tried to ignore him. They’d probably heard him begging for years, and they were used to telling him to pipe down. Bart, you don’t matter. You’re just a beggar on the streets. We really just wish you would be quiet and go away. You obviously don’t matter to God either. We don’t need eyes to see that he doesn’t care about you either.
Lord, save us from such cold indifference!
And the Bible says that MANY people yelled at Bart to zip it! “Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet”, it says. You have got to be kidding me! How could they be so cruel to try to stop Bart from getting help from Jesus?! How sad. They might feel differently if they were the ones sitting on the side of the road, blind and begging. How callous the people were to Bart’s suffering!
Lord, help us to open our eyes to people around us and their needs.
Hello?! Bart was not just an annoyance. He was blind! But the people were so blind! Why didn’t they realize this was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to give Bartimaeus his sight? Is it because they had walked right past him for so long, his being anyone but “Blind Bartimaeus” didn’t even cross their minds? Is it because they were so slow to believe that God could do miracles? Is it because it is just so hard to love our neighbors as ourselves? Or all of the above… Ugh!
Lord, help us to believe that you can transform any life. Help us to reach out to each one and give them hope in your ability to rescue! Help us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves!
Bart didn’t pay the people any attention. He SHOUTED all the louder! Just like when the walls came tumblin’ down with a LOUD SHOUT long, long ago! Bartimaeus SHOUTED with all his might!
Somehow, above all the noise of the crowd, Jesus heard Bartimaeus’ cries. Jesus has extra sensitive hearing to the cries of those who need him. Especially those who call him with a humble heart. And especially when they acknowledge him for who he truly is…. the Son of David… the Promised Messiah… Jesus, the Christ. Of course, Jesus had been waiting… longing… to help Bart, so he was straining his ears to hear Bart’s voice calling him. Jesus had heard Bart so many times whispering to him in prayer. Now Jesus was going to answer that prayer. And that is what Jesus just LOVES to do!
The Bible says Jesus stopped. Funny how the people told Bartimaeus to stop shouting, but the one who stopped in his tracks was Jesus! He wasn’t moving one more inch until he took care of Bartimaeus. And Jesus wasn’t leaving until he taught these folks a lesson that Bartimaeus was important to him! He was not a nuisance to Jesus. Bart was his friend. And Jesus loved him.
Jesus told the people to have Bartimaeus come to him. Jesus could have easily walked over to Bart, or even healed him without even stopping. But Jesus was getting the people to reach out to Bartimaeus! “Come on Y’all. Join my team. Yeah, go get that guy. The one that you all think is so unimportant. The one you’re all yelling at to stop shouting. Yeah, him… bring him to me.” I just love Jesus. Well, now the crowd jumped on the Bart bandwagon! “Hey, old pal, Bartimaeus! We’ve got great news! Jesus is calling you!” I imagine how quickly they changed their tune. I picture them now hurrying to help Bart find Jesus. Maybe someone who wanted to appear kind-hearted even escorted Bart to Jesus. Nothing like fickle. Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside… like nausea.
Bart didn’t care about any of that! Jesus was calling him! Little old blind beggar Bartimaeus! Jesus was going to heal him! Any help to get to Jesus was good help, as far as Bart was concerned! He threw aside his garment, sprang up like a rocket, and hurried to Jesus! Coins went flying! Bart didn’t care about the coins either! He was getting to Jesus fast, and that was all that mattered!
In short order, Bartimaeus was standing right in front of Jesus. I bet you could hear a pin drop! And if anybody made a noise, they were probably told to zip it! Jesus looked into Bart’s eyes that were so cold and dead. He asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” Does that seem like a funny question to anybody besides me? Duh. The eyesight thing. Of course, Jesus knew what Bartimaeus wanted. And of course, Jesus could have healed him without Bart saying a word. But Jesus was showing Bartimaeus tremendous respect. Bart, the one no one paid attention to, the one everyone dismissed and discounted, and didn’t even consider worth the time for Jesus to heal. Bart, the one “many rebuked and told to be quiet”. Jesus wanted to hear what Bart had to say. Jesus cared about Bart. Not just his eyes. Bartimaeus was important to Jesus.
Bart couldn’t see Jesus, just like he never could see him when he prayed. But Bart knew this was his Lord. Have you ever noticed that when Bart was face-to-face with Jesus, he didn’t call him, “Son of David”? Bart called Jesus, “Lord”. You are my Lord. You’re Lord of my life. Lord of my eyesight. Lord of my days spent sitting by the roadside. “Lord, I want to receive my sight.” That’s what I want. Well, Jesus didn’t have Bartimaeus wait one second longer. Jesus healed him right on the spot. Jesus said, “Your faith has healed you.” You didn’t let the cruel words stop you from shouting my name. You didn’t harden your heart against me because of your affliction. You believed I am the promised Son of David. You didn’t let anything keep you from me. That is true faith, Bartimaeus.
And remember the precious children’s book? It ends this way…. Bartimaeus could see the town. He could see the people. He could see the children. And Bartimaeus could see….. JESUS!
Imagine that! The first thing Bart saw when his eyes were opened was Jesus! Jesus’ smiling face. The face Bart had been praying to. The face he had been longing to see for so, so long. The face of his best friend, who loved him just as he was. I imagine Bart looking into Jesus’ eyes and both of them knowing that they had been friends for a very long time. I imagine them both smiling, as Jesus put his arm around Bart’s shoulders, and showed him all the people, and then he showed Bart the city of Jericho, and then he showed Bart the roadside where he had been sitting. Looking at these for the very first time with his brand new eyes!
And then Jesus showed Bartimaeus the road he was leaving on. Jesus told Bart to go his way in peace. But Bartimaeus wanted to go with Jesus. And that sounded like a great idea to Jesus too! So that’s what Bart did. Bart had his sight and a new life, far from sitting beside the road as a blind beggar. And he got to see Jesus every day!
Bart was part of Jesus’ entourage that followed him wherever he went. These folks just wouldn’t leave his side. They wanted to listen and learn and just be near him. I wonder if Bart was one of those who followed Jesus all the way to Jerusalem. I wonder if Bart was in the middle of the crowd that yelled to crucify Jesus, and he saw how fickle the crowds were to Jesus. I wonder if Bart saw with his own eyes the horrific sight of Jesus on the cross. Maybe Bart locked eyes with Jesus, and Jesus was encouraged. I wonder if Bart got to see Jesus after he was raised from the dead! Now wouldn’t THAT be a sight?!
If Jesus wrote Bartimaeus a letter, it would probably be something like this one. And Bart could read it for himself!
Bartimaeus, you are the finest example of great eyesight I know! And I’m talking about before I gave you your physical eyesight. Even though you were blind, you saw that I was the Messiah. You saw that I was your Lord. You saw that people’s cruel words didn’t matter a hill of beans. You saw that following me, and helping others see my love was better than staying in Jericho and being a rock star! And I have been using your life to teach those lessons for thousands of years!
I am still praying for the blind to receive their sight. To see spiritual things. So many walk around in blindness. Leading aimless lives. Living only for what they can see with their eyes. Groping around in the darkness of sin and self. And they don’t even know it. If they would only shout out my name, I would open their eyes to a whole new world!
You discovered that not being able to see my kingdom is far, far worse than not seeing the things of this world. I’m so glad you are on my team and you were willing to surrender your life to my higher purpose.
By the way, I loved seeing your eyes open for the very first time! And the look on your face when you saw my face! You knew it was me! That I was your friend who had been beside you through it all. It brings me the same joy each time my children get their spiritual sight! Instead of just hearing about me and my words, they see my love and the new life I have for them, for the very first time. You, my buddy Bart, are the ultimate example of that miracle of sight!
One day you will see people in Heaven, with your very own eyes, as far as the eye can see. These will be the people who began to see my love because of your faith. Your faith healed you, and it has been instrumental in healing countless more! Just you wait and see!
I love you, Bart.
JESUS