One day while traveling on a Chinese junk, Hudson Taylor was witnessing to a man named Peter who, even though he was under deep conviction, rejected the gospel. Suddenly Peter fell overboard, but no one made any effort to save him. Taylor ran to the mast, let down the sail, and jumped in, hoping to find his friend. But no one on board joined Taylor in his frantic search. Taylor saw a fishing boat nearby and yelled for them to help, but they wouldn't do it without money. Finally, after bartering for every penny that Taylor had, the fishermen stopped their fishing and began to look for Peter. In less than a minute of dragging their net, they found him, but it was too late. Peter had drowned and no one seemed to care…WHY?
One just didn’t want to get involved and the other was too busy fishing to care about saving a drowning man.
This brings me to my third point in this series.
3. Jesus will never be too busy for you:
We can easily condemn those selfish fishermen and those on the boat with Taylor but here’s the problem; by accusing them, we may condemn ourselves.
I wonder if we right here at EBC are too busy with our jobs and other activities to take the time to rescue those who are living and dying without Christ.
Some, in the church, are so focused on the “fishing” that they fail to notice those who are drowning right within their reach.
Verse 40 says Jesus stood still and instructed the people to bring Bart to Him.
By the way, His instructions still hold true today and we are to bring people to Him as well.
At this point, Jesus was heading for Jerusalem to die for the sins of all mankind and in the next few days He would face betrayal, arrest, torture and crucifixion. He was a man on a Mission, yet He paused to answer the cry of one man. Jesus was in a hurry but He paused and gave a blind man hope.
I’m sure there were hundreds of voices in the crowd that day calling out to Jesus, but He was able to distinguish Bartimaeus’ cry for mercy from the crowd and Jesus is listening for your voice among the myriads of those crying out today.
When you call out for Him, He will stop and respond to you.
There was a time when Jesus was on the way to Jairus’ house because his daughter was sick and dying. As they were making their way through a crowd, a single desperate woman reached out and touched the hem of his robe. (I see her crawling under the feet of those standing tall…)
Even though Jesus was being jostled by the crowd, He noticed that single touch of faith. He stopped and said, “Who touched me?” The disciples rolled their eyes and said, “Give us a break, Lord, EVERYBODY is touching you.” Jesus said, “No, I felt goodness go out of me–somebody reached out in faith.” He stopped and spoke to the woman and she knew she was healed.
You may think that you are just one of nearly 7 billion human beings who share this rock and nobody knows you exist. But in spite of this, you are of such importance to God, that when you call out to Him, He pauses to help you!
The mighty God who keeps the entire universe running will stop and answer your cry for help as if He had nothing else to do.
God isn’t distracted by the millions of other voices. He always has time for you.
The Bible says in Psalm 46: 1, “God is our refuge and strength, an EVER-PRESENT help in trouble.”
You don’t have to take a number and wait…
Jesus always meets us at our point of desperation. But it’s not just desperation.
You can be desperate and never call on God for help.
4. if change is going to come you must admit you have a need:
Jesus asked Bartimaeus in verse 41, “What do you want me to do for you?” At first one might say, “What a crazy question. Jesus KNOWS the man is blind!” But then I seem to remember Jesus asked a similar question to the paralyzed man who lay every day at the Pool of Bethesda. Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6)
Bartimaeus had a pretty simple life. He had grown accustomed to sitting beside the road and accepting handouts.
After all, some people like the attention they get from their suffering. It would be like asking someone today who is physically able to work, “Do you really want to get off welfare?”
They say, “Beggars can’t be choosers” but Jesus gave Bart a choice. He asked him because He wanted Bart to admit his point of need, and to confess he believed Jesus could change his life.
After all, when Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus could have said, “Can you give me the name of a good eye doctor?” If he really didn’t believe Jesus could heal him, he could have said something generic like, “Bless me, Lord.”
But in that one short prayer, Bartimaeus expressed his need and demonstrated his faith in the power of Jesus. He cried, “Lord, I want to see!” The best prayers are simple, short, and specific.
Bartimaeus didn’t say, “Lord, I come to thee this warm afternoon, humbly beseeching that thou wouldest if thou couldest help me with my little problem here, it’s not a big problem, Lord...”
Jesus is asking, “What do you want me to do for you?”
You can’t pray specifically until you are willing to admit your point of need. God can’t help you until you say, “Lord, I’m addicted to alcohol! I want to stay sober!” “Lord I’m addicted to pills and I want my life back,” Or “Lord, I’ve got a pornography problem, I want to be pure!” Or “Lord, I’ve got a problem with anger, bitterness, or gossip and I want to be changed!”
Can I tell you a secret? The reason you’re so miserable and sick may, very well, be your refusal to get real with God. Many die in their misery because they refuse to let go and receive…If you’re sick there’s a big difference between praying, “Lord, bless me” and “Lord, I’ve got cancer, and I want to live! Lord I’ve got…and I want…”
Don’t ever be afraid to ask God to do something miraculous.
5. When you see Jesus, you must decide to follow Him anywhere:
Bartimaeus received his sight without any fanfare or touch. Jesus said, “I see your faith, and that’s enough!”
When Bartimaeus opened his eyes, the first thing He saw was the face of Jesus and the last sentence in Chapter 18 says Bart followed Jesus. Remember, Jesus was headed for Jerusalem and a cross–and Bart followed him. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get to heaven and find Bartimaeus was a part of the 120 disciples who were praying in an upper room on the Day of Pentecost.
You may be thinking, “Wait! I thought faith is believing without seeing! And now you say I need to see the face of Jesus? Make up your mind preacher!”
You cannot see Him until you see Him with eyes of faith. When you cry out to Jesus and trust Him to change you, you WILL see Him. His light will shine into the darkness of your heart.
You can sit in pew for 50 years, singing hymns and shouting hallelujah and be as blind as a cave minnow, when it comes to seeing Jesus. Many wonder why they can’t stay steady in their walk and my answer is simply, you’ve not seen Jesus yet.
You don’t need physical eyesight to see Jesus. Fanny Crosby was blind, yet she was one of the most prolific hymn writers in America history. She wrote over 8,500 poems and hymns like, “Blessed Assurance” and “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross.”
Fanny Crosby could see things most of us can’t. She glimpsed the glory and greatness of God, and she looked forward to the time when she would see Jesus.
Too often we want to see Jesus with our eyes when we need to be looking with our hearts.
The title of this series is “Do You have the vision of a Blind Man?” Even before he was healed, Blind Bartimaeus saw at least two important things.
First, he saw his need: do you? Can you see your need? Do you know what you want Jesus to do for you? Do you need to surrender to Him?
Next, he saw HIS opportunity passing in front of him and Bartimaeus was faced with a split-second decision. If he remained still and silent, his opportunity for healing would be gone.
He could’ve thought, “There’s a crowd here today, maybe I’ll catch Jesus the next time He comes through Jericho.” Remember where Jesus is going?
Some of you, in this room today, need to do business with Jesus, and you are hesitating, “oh, there are people I don’t know here in church today. Or I really don’t want so and so to know my business.”
What Bartimaeus didn’t know was that Jesus would never pass through Jericho again. He went straight from Jericho to the cross.
Friends, Jesus is passing by right now, what are you going to do? “I’ll catch Him next time I come to church.” What makes you think there will be a next time?
Today, you have the opportunity to cry out for mercy. Will you do it? Don’t waste this opportunity to cry out. Don’t let the crowd keep you from your appointment with Jesus.
This idea of Jesus “passing by” Bartimaeus may have inspired the words of a beautiful old invitation hymn, also written by Fanny Crosby. The words say: “Pass me not O gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry; While on others you are calling, Do not pass me by.”
Every head bowed, every eye closed… why don’t you make this your prayer; “Lord please don’t pass by without seeing my need, today…” Maybe you need to surrender to Jesus… whatever you need today, Jesus is passing by, right now. You may not have another opportunity like this one. If you’ll call out to Him, upon authority of the God’s Word in Romans 10: 13, I can promise you that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!”
