The Day Jesus Stopped
Mark 10:47-52
1. The book of Mark is a book that is on the move.
a. The words straightway, ran, and immediately, are used a total of thirty seven times.
b. The book has a rapid pace to it all the way through until the arrest and subsequent death of Jesus.
2. The flow of the book is leading somewhere.
a. Jesus was leading his disciple to Jerusalem!
b. They had followed Jesus all the way, and now it seems they only have a short way to go.
Mar 8:31
(31) And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
3. The disciples are having trouble “seeing” the message that Jesus is trying to teach them.
a. The parable of the Sower
Mar 4:10-13
(10) And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
(11) And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
(12) That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
(13) And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
i. Jesus in this passage relays that the disciples have been given a special privilege of knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of God.
ii. The Lord contrasts the discernment of his disciple with the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees.
iii. He begins to warn them about the wickedness of this group by telling them later in chapter 8 to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and the leaven of Herod.”
b. The Miracle of the Bethsaida Blind Man
Mar 8:17-26
(17) And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?
(18) Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?
(19) When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.
(20) And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.
(21) And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?
(22) And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
(23) And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
(24) And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
(25) After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.
(26) And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town.
i. Now, Jesus turns his dissatisfaction toward his disciples because of their disability to discern his words.
ii. They have witnessed the great miracles of the feeding of five thousand, and also the occurrence of the feeding of four thousand, and yet they are confused about his warning to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
iii. A blind man is brought to him and Jesus heals him.
1. This is the only miracle performed by Jesus which is not instantaneous.
2. The man at first can only see vaguely, but with the second touch of the master’s hand, his sight is completely restored.
c. He predicts his death.
Mar 8:27-35
(27) And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?
(28) And they answered, John the Baptist: but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.
(29) And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.
(30) And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
(31) And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
(32) And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
(33) But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
(34) And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
(35) For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
i. With the miracle of the blind man of Bethsaida performed and because of the unfortunate ignorance of the disciples concerning the mission wherein the Messiah must complete, Jesus asks them the paramount Question.
ii. “Whom say ye that I am?”
iii. Peter is rebuked for his answer and Jesus introduces this idea that whoever will truly follow him will “take up his cross” and go with him to Jerusalem
4. In the context of a struggle between his disciples over who would be greatest in the kingdom, there was a man setting by the highway near Jericho that was begging.
I. The Beggars Response to Jesus
a. He Cried (47-48)
i. He begged (46)
1. I think it is interesting to note that this was someone who relied completely on the welfare of others.
2. Unlike the apostles, he, like the little children who were earlier brought before Jesus, was truly a servant of all (Mk 9:35-37).
Mar 9:35-37
(35) And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
(36) And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them,
(37) Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.
3. This beggar was very aware of who Jesus was and when he heard that Jesus was coming his way he cried out.
ii. He begged for mercy (47-48).
1. At first he was begging but then he heard that it was Jesus, and he cried out.
a. Wuest, in his Word Studies in the Greek New Testament. Vol. I. quotes Ramleh and says:
“The ash-heaps are extremely mischievous; on the occurrence of the slightest wind, the air is filled with a fine pungent dust which is very injurious to the eyes. I once walked the streets counting all that were either blind or had defective eyes, and it amounted to about one-half of the male population. The women I could not count for they are rigidly veiled” (213).
b. The words “receive my sight” in verse fifty one, is the Greek anablepo (ἀναβλέπω) which means “to recover sight”, indicating that the blind man had been able to see at one time.
2. He calls out to “Jesus of Nazareth”, the “Son of David”.
a. Wuest continues;
“He calls Him “Son of David” because Jesus was now on Judaean soil. At Jerusalem all the Jews thought of David as their father, and of Messiah as the Son of David in a special sense. The Greek construction indicates that Bartimaeus kept on crying out to Jesus. The imperative is aorist, speaking of the fact that Bartimaeus asked that Jesus heal him at once” (213).
3. He made a simple petition for mercy.
a. Perhaps the better translation would be :
“And having heard that it was Jesus, the Jesus from Nazareth, he began to keep on crying out and saying, Son of David, Jesus, have mercy upon me at once” (213)
b. Mercy is something the church should always be seeking.
i. "Evangelism is just one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread." D. T. Niles http://www.great-quotes.com/cgibin/SearchQuotes.cgi?keyword=beggar&action=search
b. He Cast Off (50)
i. He cast off his coat (50)
1. In verse 48, the people within hearing distance of his cry tried to silence him.
a. It seems that the beggar’s neighbors did not want him to force his misery on the entire crowd, when the attention should be on the great prophet, but he just hollered even louder.
b. Now Jesus calls him and Mark uses the Greek, phoneo, (φωνέω) a word that is used for calling out and can be heard from a great distance.
c. The beggar gladly receives his call.
2. When he hears Jesus calling he cast off his garment.
ii. He cast off every hindrance (50)
1. This blind man was not going to let anything hold him back.
2. He “rose,” a word which means to leap.
iii. He cast off every care (50)
1. “He threw it off, full of joy at the prospect of being healed, and that he might run without impediment to Jesus. This may be used to illustrate - though it had no such original reference - the manner in which a sinner should come to Jesus. He should throw away the garments of his own righteousness - he should rise speedily - should run with joy - should have full faith in the power of Jesus, and cast himself entirely upon his mercy.”(Barnes)
2. He wouldn’t let anything get in his way of getting to Jesus.
a. Christians should be more aware of this biblical principle.
b. It is also interesting to note that there was nothing but a mantle between himself and Jesus.
c. He Came (50-52).
i. When he heard (47).
ii. When he was able (52).
II. Jesus Response to the Beggar
a. He Stops
i. Because it is time to stop.
1. Remember, the book of Mark has this immediate feel to it, and it moves along very rapidly.
2. Up to this point he has been trying to teach his disciples what it really means to be a disciple.
3. He has also been trying to give them a proper vision of what the Messiah-ship truly meant.
ii. Because the beggar demands He stops.
1. The faith of the beggar is so great that he understands the urgency of getting Jesus to stop.
2. He understood that without Jesus nothing could save him.
3. He understood that Jesus may not come that way again.
iii. Because the disciples needed him to stop.
1. Jesus is trying to teach them a truth.
2. This man has no esteemed status in this town.
a. This is seen in the way the townspeople charged him to shut up his cries.
b. He was at the mercy of the townspeople.
c. Just like the little children brought to him earlier
d. Each held no position of authority, and both were servants to everyone around them.
3. While the disciples are arguing over who is the greatest, Jesus is showing the reward of those who are the least of all.
b. He Surveys
i. Jesus question.
1. “What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?”
2. Earlier when James and John were arguing over who would be the greatest in the kingdom Jesus asks: “What would ye that I should do for you” (Mk. 10:36).
3. The Apostles response was: “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory” (Mk. 10:37).
ii. The Beggars response.
1. “Lord, that I might receive my sight” (Mk. 10:51).
a. The word translated “Lord” is the Aramaic “rhabboni rhabbouni” (ῥαββονί, ῥαββουνί) which means my Rabbi.
b. These words for Rabbi are used in different places in the New Testament with Rabbi being the Aramaic meaning “Master”, and the Greek “didaskalos”, meaning “teacher”.
c. You see “Rab”, “Rabbi”, “Rabbouni” as in our text.
i. It is a personal and intimate way of using the term.
ii. My Master, My Lord.
c. He Saves
i. Jesus response.
1. “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole”.
2. Jesus points out this man “childish”, “simple” faith, and it is this faith that has made him whole.
III. The Beggars Response to the Miracle
a. He Received Sight
i. Jesus restored his sight.
I read a story once about a little blind girl who was going to undergo a very delicate procedure to restore her sight. She spent a great deal of time with her physician during the weeks leading up to the procedure. He had told her that she would spend weeks in the hospital recovering and that her eyes would be covered with bandages. She made it through the surgery and spent the following weeks waiting, never being able to see beyond the bandages. The day came for the Nurse to take away the bandages. Before she did, she asked the girl what the first thing she would like to see. Without a hesitation she responded. “I want to see the one who gave me sight.”
b. He Received Direction
i. Jesus say “Go thy way”
c. He Received Purpose
i. He determined to make “his way” the same way Jesus was going.
ii. Jesus earlier told the way he was going.
1. “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
2. Jesus was going to Jerusalem.
3. There was a saying amongst the Jews of the first century “Covered with the dust of the Rabbi.”
1. Jesus expected his disciples to follow him all the way.
2. These apostles had trouble seeing who Jesus really was and what it really meant to be Messiah, and for that matter what it really meant to be a true disciple.
3. Blind Bartimaeus knew the answer to both of those questions.
4. It is interesting to note that the name “Son of God” is only used by one person in the book of Mark.
a. It is used in the first verse by the author as he looks back at Jesus and describes him after the cross.
b. It is used two times by demons.
c. But it is only used by one man in the book.
i. This man was in the only place to really see Jesus for the Son of God that he was.
ii. This man was the Roman Centurion at the foot of the cross (Mk 15:39).
“Truly, this man was the Son of God”
Spurgeon said, "Let me beseech you to go home to your room, and there, kneeling by your bedside, by faith picture the Saviour saying to you, 'What do you want me to do for you?' Fall on your knees, and without hesitation tell him all, tell him you are guilty, and you desire that he would pardon you. Confess your sins; keep none of them back. Say, 'Lord, I implore you pardon my drunkenness, my profanity, or whatever it may be that you have been guilty of,' and then still imagine you hear him saying, 'What do you want me to do for you?' Tell him, 'Lord, I would be kept from all those sins in the future. I shall not be content with being pardoned. I want to be renewed.' Tell him you have a hard heart, and ask him to soften it. Tell him you have blind eyes and that you can't see your interest in Christ. Ask him to open your heart; confess before him you are full of iniquity and prone to wander; ask him to take your heart and wash it, and then set it on things above, and prevent it from being fond of the things of the earth any longer. Tell it out plainly, make a frank and full confession in his presence; and what if it should happen, my dear hearer, that at this very day, while you are in your room, Christ should give thee a touch of grace, put your sins away, save your soul, and give you the joy to know that you are a now a child of God, and now an heir of heaven. Imitate the blind man in the explicitness and straightforwardness of his confession and his request - 'Rabbi, I want to see.'" http://www.alfredplacechurch.org.uk/Sermons/mark59.htm
5. Did the Apostles every see what Jesus wanted them to see?
a. Act 2:36
(36) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
