Have you ever been lost? You know you’re somewhere, but you just can’t quite figure out where that somewhere is. You have a map and very detailed directions, but it does not make sense, in fact you’ve tried them a routine number of times only to wind up right back where you started from. How many of you have been there? Of course, being lost in the daytime is completely different than being lost at night, as it (night that is) adds an element of perplexity and fear, because we cannot see what is before us, or lurks just beyond our view. Being lost is common to each of us, as we have all been there once or twice in our lifetime. However, being lost spiritually has a completely different meaning, one should not linger there for long. It perplexes us, and unless resolved leaves us in the middle of nowhere.
We all have been there when life is much more complicated than we desire, and there is no one who understands precisely what we are going through. There is an urgency, an immediacy, to us, and to those we love as well. It is like being in the forest and screaming as loud as you can, but we are so entrenched that no one hears. Our rescue is suddenly afar off. That is when our hearts melt and it is now necessary to come face to face with God, because we are not sure how our lives will turn. We are no longer in control.
Today’s podcast is titled.
I Need Thee
Mark 10:46-52
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
The Bible does not tell us the entire narrative of Bartimaeus, only that when he encountered Jesus, he was without sight (and had been for some time). The people tried to persuade him (v. 49), that Jesus had far more important things to do, and implored him to be quiet (hold his peace). It is not that he could not, he refused, because his torment was enduring. He met Jesus on the side of the road in Jericho, as a blind beggar, and this lone encounter forever changed the course of his life, as it will ours as well.
It was believed, during this time in history, that illness was a punishment from God, as a result of sin. We commonly believe that to be so even today, by assuming because something has gone wrong in someone’s life, they must have done something wrong. Because of this philosophical flaw, Bartimaeus was constantly hushed and ignored by the crowd, and yet Jesus stops for him. Jesus saw Bartimaeus. He saw his value; He knew his needs. And like we see over and over again in many Biblical accounts Jesus stopped for them as well. He sought them out, instead of waiting for them to come. He found them in the midst of their condition.
