Jesus had left Jericho and was steadfastly walking up to Jerusalem and to the cross.
In Mark 10;46-52 we have the story of a blind man sitting with other beggars by the side of the road leading out of Jericho. When he heard the noise of the crowds and was told that Jesus of Nazareth was coming he called out for Jesus to have pity on him and heal him.
People tried to stifle his cry and told him not to call out. To not bother Jesus. That Jesus wasn’t interested in his case. That Jesus was preoccupied with healing others. That healing was not for him.
Blind Bartimaeus ignored their requests to be quiet and was emboldened and shamelessly yelled out even louder above the noisy crowd for Jesus to have pity on him. His spiritual eyes were set firmly on Jesus and he wouldn’t stop. He aggressively petitioned Jesus to heal him.
And did you notice that it wasn’t to Jesus of Nazareth that he appealed? Bartimaeus appealed to Jesus as the Son of David, the Messiah. Here was someone convicted of who Jesus was - His status as the one greater than David demonstrating His long-prophesied authority with the God-attribute of mercy.
And Jesus heard him shouting and called Bartimaeus to Him. Bartimaeus leapt up and threw off his beggar’s coat in his eagerness to get to Jesus.
Clearly Bartimaeus was blind but Jesus asked him what should He do for him?
Bartimaeus replied that he wanted to see and Jesus told him that his faith had made him whole and Bartimaeus was healed in that moment.
Do you see the lesson for us? We are to come to Jesus and be unwavering and expectant in our request for Him to heal us. We are to ignore well-meaning voices that say Jesus doesn’t heal in this day and age, that only some people are healed, that if Jesus doesn’t immediately answer your request for healing, then to give up.
No matter what, we are told to press in to Jesus as the Incarnate Word of God, the Lord our Healer, for our healing, no matter how long it takes.
And when we encounter Jesus calling us, we are to throw off everything that would hold us back from receiving our healing. Here is our God, who for our salvation from sin, and healing from the effects of sin, ‘bare our sins in His own body on the tree,’ and ‘was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him’.
And when we ask— we are to be clear, bold and decisive. No vague generalisations but specific requests. Know your Master and know what He can do for you. There is no ceiling on His mercy and healing but we must be forthright and unwavering in our request.
Jesus will meet our faith when it is firmly and unshakeably fixed only on Him. Jesus is as ready to heal today as He was back in Bartimaeus’s day: just fix your eyes only on Jesus and don’t be distracted by the crowds and voices telling you not to bother.
Ignore the voices of this world and just focus on Jesus and, to silence the voices of the nay-sayers, call out to Him louder and louder. He will reward your faith.
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