THE CRY THAT STOPPED GOD
Mk. 10:46-52
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A woman doctor gave birth to a girl, and began to dream of what she might become when she grew up.
2. Three years later, she had driven the girl to her daycare, and accidentally set her stethoscope on the seat next to the girl. To her amazement, her little girl picked it up and put the earbuds in her ears.
3. It was one of those déjà vu moments; she had the strong impression her daughter might follow in her footsteps in the medical profession. She watched, spellbound, to see what other indications of destiny might present themselves.
4. Then the girl held up the bottom “bell” to her mouth and said: "Welcome to McDonald's. May I take your order?"
B. TEXT
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.
PLAY VIDEO (drop address into address bar and click on it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_00PM3bdCME
C. JESUS WAS PASSING BY
1. There comes a time in every life when Jesus passes by, and enters the parameters of our lives.
2. How we respond to Jesus will make an eternity of difference.
3. "What was going on in Jesus’ mind that day?"
a. “It was a hot, dusty day on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem.”
b. Only days before his death (verse 33).
c. Constantly aware of the crowd’s noise.
D. THESIS
1. Approximately 70% of our perception is by sight.
2. Blind people compensate with their other senses.
a. Blind Bart felt the wind blowing;
b. He heard the patter of footsteps and talk of the travelers;
c. He smelled the wagons loaded with dates/olives and the rustic smell of oxen.
3. But this blind man can teach us something: We find in this passage that he uttered "A Cry that Stopped God” Himself!
4. So we’re going to study him and see what was so special about his prayer that it stopped God.
I. THE ODDS WERE AGAINST HIM
This man already had three strikes against him;
A. HIS NAME
1. Bartimaeus = "Son of the Unclean"/defiled. The O.T. designation of “unclean” was used of lepers or those with a bodily issue. The defiled places they went and things they touched and were forbidden many places. His father was evidently a person that long had a defilement.
2. Would you like that on your mailbox? If his father was called "unclean," and the son was blind – if ever God seem to be against someone, it was him!
B. A BEGGAR
1. He was so poor that he just made it from one meal to the next. His clothing was little more than rags.
2. He was exposed to the weather -- heat, cold, rain, clammy, etc.
3. He probably did not have the opportunity to bathe very often. He was a pitiful sight.
C. A “BLIND” BEGGAR
1. But -- He knew he was blind! (That's better than many!)
2. The First Step to change -- is to recognize your need.
3. He knew -- "there is no remedy for my situation except divine intervention."
4. "Bart" must have heard of the Man who healed the blind -- Jesus. Isaiah 35:5 foretold that the Messiah would
do this. There are at least six recorded cases of Jesus healing the blind before this.
5. Bartimaeus heard the crowd; Bartimaeus heard Jesus was passing by -- he realized CRYING OUT WAS HIS ONLY HOPE! Only Jesus could save him; He's also our only hope too.
II. FIRST CRY: PROB. FROM HEAD
A. FIRST FEEBLE EFFORT
1. Sometimes we cry to God from our heads and not our hearts. We prayer many “surface” prayers.
2. When a nine-year-old was asked if his two-year-old brother had started to talk yet, he replied, "Why should he talk? He gets everything he wants by hollering!"
3. There are a lot of "children" in our grown-up society today who seem to get "everything they want by hollering."
B. DISCOURAGEMENT FROM THE CROWD
1. The Living Bible gives the response of the crowd to his yelling (vs. 48); "‘Shut up!’, some of the people yelled at him."
2. When you start really seeking God, radically moving toward God – you can be sure the world will discourage you. They’ll think you’ve --
a. lost your mind,
b. you’re wasting your time,
c. throwing your life away for nothing.
Of course, they don’t see what you see.
3. Sometimes, more troubling, is the response of the religious world, the church when you desperately start seeking the Lord.
a. They say, "take it slow; you’re moving too fast!”
b. Others will say, "You’re getting too excited/ fanatical."
4. Many are afraid to go to the altar because "my friends will think I'm weird."
C. BEWARE OF COMPROMISE
1. Cara Sue Taucher told that before she got married, she & her fiancé David met with the minister to discuss their marriage ceremony.
2. One thing brought up was the lighting the unity candle from two individual candles. Couples usually blow out the two candles as a sign of becoming one. Their minister explained that many people were now leaving their individual candles lit to signify independence and personal freedom.
3. He asked if we wanted to extinguish their candles or leave them burning. After thinking about it, David replied, "How about if we leave mine lit and blow out hers?"
4. Oh yeah; you know that went over like a lead balloon! It doesn’t go over well with God either! Some think they can have God and the world at the same time! God will have no Rivals. He is a jealous God.
5. He wants all of our love, or none of it. [Which of you wives want to share your husband with another woman? It's unthinkable!] "Thou shalt have no gods besides Me."
6. There’s No Neutral Ground -- "For Me or Against Me." If you have one foot on the dock & one on the boat, You won't stay that way long. Ours is NOT religion, but relationship. We're not perfect, but being perfected.
7. But because he cried from his head, Jesus kept on walking. Then Bartimaeus got desperate!
III. SECOND CRY: FROM HIS HEART
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. A man asked a lifeguard, "How can you tell when someone is really in need of help, when there are thousands of people on the beach and in the water making a tremendous amount of noise?
2. He answered, "No matter how great the noise and confusion, there has never been a single time when I could not distinguish the cry of distress above all others. I can always tell it."
3. That’s exactly like God. In the midst of the babble and confusion of life, He never fails to hear the soul that cries out to him in desperation. Jesus heard the desperation in Bartimaeus’ voice!
B. “AND JESUS STOOD STILL”
1. Aren’t you glad that sincere, desperate prayers make Jesus stand still? We sometimes wonder if we can influence God Himself. Here’s an instance where a human cry stopped God in His tracks!
2. If you want to touch God, blind Bartimaeus should be
the person to study to see what about his prayer arrested God’s attention. Here are 5 characteristics of his prayer:
a. he was willing to face human ridicule to touch God.
b. He was desperate.
c. He had no other way out; Jesus was his only answer.
d. The more they told him to shut up, the more determined, the more focused – you might even say, the more “other-worldly” or God-conscious he became.
e. Getting to Jesus became was his all-consuming passion. Then contact came!
3. Next he was ushered into Jesus’ presence. It’s amazing how the people who before were telling him to shut up now began to say (once they saw he had gained Jesus’ undivided attention), “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Jesus saw through their hypocrisy.
C. BARTIMAEUS LEAVES HIS PAST BEHIND
Bartimaeus’ "THROWING ASIDE HIS CLOAK demonstrated:
1. He was Leaving his old life. The cloak defined who Bartimaeus was; that he was poor and blind. It was probably the only possession he owned, if it was not held in pledge.
2. It was Act of Faith, that, with sight, he would never be blind or a beggar again. He would probably have had the cloak positioned over his knees to catch the coins thrown his way as he begged. Throwing off that cloak showed he believed he wasn’t going to need it anymore.
3. We all have to throw off our cloaks (dependencies) that bind us to our circumstances. The cloak of Bartimaeus can also represent our thinking about ourselves. The cloak defines us. We have to throw off the definition of who we think we are. We think “I can’t,” “I will fail,” “I am bad.” We need to take that cloak off and come to Jesus.
4. Isaiah 64:6 says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Start embracing: Isa. 1:18; “Though your sins are like
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
5. WHAT DO YOU WANT JESUS TO DO? “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
a. He was very clear on what he wanted. Sometimes our prayers are all over the place. We want answers to all our problems at once. We want health, deliverance, finances, a job, etc, all at once.
b. Look at Bartimaeus, he just asked for the one thing he knew was most important: his sight. He also had many other problems like us. But he knew if God could touch the one core thing, that deliverance would lead to the others.
c. This morning, ask for that one thing that you really need deliverance for. That is the key for your miracle.
6. WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARD? “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
a. Immediately Bartimaeus followed Jesus. He did not go his own way.
b. God has delivered many of you in the past, given you good jobs, healing etc. But do you follow him today? Do you have time for him today?
CONCLUSION
A. APPLICATION
1. Hey, Bart! (We're all blind spiritually and beggars without Jesus). Do you hear the footsteps of the Master? He's passing by this morning. He’s here!
2. Jesus has the answer to your problem. He's the only answer.
3. Maybe you have only superficially sought the Lord. Maybe you don't feel that you need the Lord that badly.
B. ILLUSTRATION
1. A young man who was brought up in a non-Christian home, who knew nothing about prayer and could care less about God, was on a torpedoed ship, and with the rest of the crew jumped into the water to save his life.
2. He and 11 others were swimming away as a group, when they saw a lake of burning oil floating toward them. It would be impossible to escape.
3. Just then a Lutheran, the only Christian, began to pray aloud. It was a heart cry of dire need to God for mercy; "Oh God, save us!" (3x). At that, every one of the 11 began to cry out to God to save them.
4. Immediately the flaming oil parted, leaving a clear wide path directly in front of them. And what do you think our gracious Lord placed in this path? A raft! The young man
telling the story said, "And no one could persuade those men that God does not hear prayer!"
5. Just like that Lake of flaming oil, there is a Lake of Fire that is coming ever nearer the whole human race -- and Jesus is the only answer!
C. ALTAR CALL
1. Are you willing to come to Jesus this morning?
2. You must leave your old life behind and come as you are. Know that from this day on you'll never be the same.
3. Jesus is asking, "What do you want Me to do for you?"
4. It's the beginning of a relationship. Jesus didn't walk on and leave Bart; he "followed Him in the way" -- he went with Him!
5. This morning God wants to do a miracle for you, but do you have that faith to stop Jesus? He is not too busy for you. Jesus always has time for you.
6. People may ridicule you, but if you call on Jesus today, throw off the cloak of your thinking and your future, and accept that He wants to change you, He will definitely answer you and deliver you!
