The Day Jesus Stopped

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.