Be of good cheer

 

So that we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"  --Hebrews 13:6

If you grew up in Sunday School, like I did, you know that one of the earliest Bible stories children are taught about the healing ministry of Jesus is the story of Blind Bartimaeus.  We know that Jesus healed hundreds, maybe even thousands of people, and among those, dozens of them involved giving sight to the blind.  The Gospels record a few, and John 21:25 says, "Now there are also many other things that Jesus did.  Were every one of them written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."

So why is this one story told so often as representative of all the blind people that Jesus must have healed?  I think it is taught to children in English speaking countries especially because of the alliteration surrounding the man's name and the need that he had: Blind Bartimaeus.  Very few of the folks that Jesus helped and healed had their names recorded in Scripture.  Technically, we don't know this fellow's name, either.  We only know that he was the son of Timaeus, because in Jewish culture there were no surnames, and people were known by their father's name.  The disciple that Jesus called Peter was known as Simon bar Jonah, or son of Jonah.  You may be familiar with the Jewish tradition of the bar mitzvah, where a boy of 13 celebrates becoming a man; the words literally mean "son of the commandments" or "son of blessing".

The name Timaeus means "highly prized."  So in this story, the son of one highly prized was told to be of good cheer,  because Jesus called for him.

And they came to Jericho.  And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  --Mark 10:46-47

I don't want to gloss over the fact that Jesus entered Jericho on His steadfast journey to Jerusalem.  You will recall that when God led His people Israel out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land of Canaan, Jericho was the first city they came to when they crossed the Jordan.  God gave Israel victory over Jericho by knocking down the walls of the city, yet there was one woman, Rahab, who was saved because she recognized the God of Israel and His power over the city.  He heard Rahab's cry for help, and she was saved.  Similarly Jesus, the Son of God, heard the cries of Bartimaeus, and he was saved.  The walls that separated him from God's light were torn down, and Jesus literally called out to him in response to his calls for help from Jesus.  That's how God works: you cry out to Him, and He reaches out to you.

And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.  But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."  And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart.  Get up; He is calling you."  And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.  --Mark 10:47-50.

People can often be a barrier between you and Jesus.  Crowds are not encouraging.  They can be a wall, separating you from the Truth.  Singer/songwriter and blogger Alice Kovska said, "The world wants peace, but rejects the Prince of Peace.  The world wants love, but rejects the author of love.  The world wants life, but rejects the One Who gave His to save theirs.  The world desperately wants Jesus, but they're too busy rejecting Him to realize He's the answer."

This man, the blind beggar known to us only as the son of Timaeus, knew Jesus.  Notice how he called Him, "Son of David".  This was a messianic title, meaning that Bartimaeus knew Jesus was the long-awaited Deliverer, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.  He knew that Jesus was his only hope of regaining his sight, of regaining his worth as a man, of being "highly prized" in this world and the next.  So he did not stop calling out to Jesus, despite the discouragement of the crowd.  When Jesus stopped and called for him to be brought near, the people told him to take heart; be of good cheer, because Jesus called him.  He wasted no time, jumping up and throwing off his cloak.  I think this is what the writer of Hebrews meant when he said, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Let us not forget that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to be crucified.  Three times He had carefully explained to His disciples what would happen, and each time the disciples were blinded to His meaning.  The sons of Zebedee, as I mentioned in my last post, started an argument among the disciples because they had asked Jesus for special positions of power in His kingdom.  They did not see, yet Jesus reached out to them and eventually their eyes were opened to the good news of His glory.  That Jesus took time on His journey to heal a blind beggar should remind us that He wants to give everyone an opportunity to call upon Him before He comes in His righteous judgment.

And Jesus said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  And the blind man said to Him, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight."  And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Him on the way.  --Mark 10:51-52

It always strikes me that Jesus sees an obvious need, but does nothing until asked specifically to meet that need.  Not just in this story, but many times throughout the Gospels, Jesus asks this very question.  This underscores our need to pray.  People often say that Jesus knows what we need, so why should we have to verbalize it?  First, Jesus will not come where He is not welcomed.  We must invite Him to be a part of our lives, and we must ask Him specifically to meet each individual need as we grow in our faith and submit each successive are of our lives.  Second, Jesus will not intervene or engage where He is not recognized.  If He performed miracles without people asking or recognizing that He is the One who meets those needs, then people may give credit to themselves or to another.  Human nature being what it is, they may attribute their divine healing to their own good works, or to a false god.  Third, we need to put our petitions into words so that we can recognize our own need for Him.  Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

He wants us to ask, but be of good cheer, because He will answer.