Sermon # 24 - God Hears Our Cry Series

We read in Mark 10:51, Jesus asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man answered, "Master, I want to see!" (CEV)

Mark 10 records an encounter between Jesus and a blind man named Bartimaeus, and the above verse is part of that conversation that Jesus had with Bartimaeus. Since Bartimaeus was blind, the only way he could sustain himself was through begging. Those who took pity on him, gave him some form of help for his livelihood, but no one’s help could bring about any sort of permanent change in his life, as human assistance is always limited and temporary. Only the Lord Jesus had the power and ability to transform an impossible situation, to one of liberation and healing.

Have you noticed how, when encountered with an adverse situation, our minds instantaneously goes searching for someone who can assist us through the crisis? For instance, if our problem is a concern related to the law, we pursue the help of an affluent official in the police department or a renowned lawyer who can help get us out of our predicament. We must consciously work on this tendency of ours to constantly seek support from men, rather than looking to the Lord. The important truth is that it is the Lord alone who can bring about permanent solutions to all the hardships we encounter, and therefore He is the one we must turn to when challenged with any difficult circumstance.

That is why the Psalmist said in Psalm 118:8, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in man.” (Brenton)

A blind man cried out to Jesus

When the Lord encountered Bartimaeus, He knew his condition full well, but He still asked him this question, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Some may wonder as to why Jesus asked this question to Bartimaeus, ‘Was Jesus not aware of his condition, and if He did, why did He ask Bartimaeus the obvious?’

The question God asked Adam

We go way back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve disobeyed God, and ate of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that God forbade them to. As Adam and Eve hid in fear and shame from the presence of God, we read in Genesis 3:9, “But the LORD God called out to the man, "Where are you?"(GNT)

It was not that God did not know where Adam was, for He knew that Adam and Eve had disobeyed, and were hiding from Him. It seemed that God had to check with Adam, where they were in their relationship to Him, as God knew that their disobedience had broken the fellowship and intimacy they had with Him. As God called out to Adam, He waited to hear the response He would receive from them, as they hid from His presence.

So also Jesus knew what Bartimaeus needed, but he wanted to hear him confess and acknowledge what he expected from Jesus. When Jesus posed the question to Bartimaeus, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ his immediate response was ‘Master, I want to see!’ To other men who sought to help him, Bartimaeus only asked for assistance for his temporal sustenance, but when he knew it was the Lord Jesus, he asked him for healing from his blindness.

The word ‘Rabboni’ which Bartimaeus used for Jesus in Greek has the meaning of ‘My Great Master’. There were two people in the New Testament who referred to Jesus this way; one was Bartimaeus, and the other was Mary Magdalene, who on meeting the resurrected Lord in the garden near the tomb, called him ‘Rabboni’. It is indeed amazing that blind Bartimaeus, had such a divine revelation of who Jesus was. A blind man who was just a beggar had extraordinary understanding and faith in Jesus that was far greater than even that of the disciples of Jesus.

Though Bartimaeus was blind, his hearing and all other faculties were functioning perfectly. As Bartimaeus heard of the wonderful miracles that Jesus performed, and all that Jesus taught the people, his faith in Jesus also grew. No wonder then that when Jesus asked Bartimaeus what He wanted him to do, he had no hesitation to ask Jesus for the impossible. He had faith to believe that Jesus was definitely able to restore his sight back to him.

Believers in the Lord Jesus should not only speak words of promise and faith when in fellowship with other believers, but must be disciplined to speak those words of faith even when alone and challenged with hard times. To illustrate, if we confess that our God is Jehovah Rapha, (the one who heals us) we must exercise our faith to believe that God is indeed able to heal, when confronted with any sort of sickness.