Coming to the Saviour
And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus (Mark 10:50).
There is a remarkable contrast between the circumstances surrounding the rich man who came to Jesus and what happened on Jericho’s outskirts at the end of the chapter. The differences between the rich man and blind Bartimaeus were profound. The rich man ran to Jesus, knelt down before Him and had His complete attention. Bartimaeus could not run to the Saviour and kneel in worship. He was not even a face in the vast crowd that surrounded Jesus and His disciples. He could not stand and watch but had to sit where he was. No one was concerned with his plight.
But Bartimaeus was not deaf. He clearly heard that Jesus was passing by. It seems the rich man saw the Lord near Jerusalem, a city of blessing. Blind Bartimaeus begged outside Jericho, the city whose future rebuilder was cursed by Joshua at the end of Joshua 6. The rich man had great possessions; Bartimaeus had nothing. There were no obstacles to the rich man reaching Jesus. But Bartimaeus had to overcome those who would try to stop his cry of faith. He was the son of Timaeus, a name derived from the Greek word timao meaning “to honour”.
When he heard Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, he cried out to the Saviour. The rich man had called Jesus “Good teacher” and later only “teacher”. Bartimaeus knew it was Jesus of Nazareth who was passing by. He was passing by because He was Jesus of Nazareth. From that lowly town (ESV), He emerged as the Saviour of the world. It was a title He was never ashamed of because it spoke of His coming down into the poverty and need of this world. Bartimaeus cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The Lord is spoken of as the Servant of God in Mark’s Gospel. There is no genealogy given. A servant’s genealogy was rarely referred to even if it was known. But Bartimaeus identifies Jesus as the Son of David, great David’s greater son. In Matthew 22:41-46, Jesus confounded the Pharisees by asking them whose son the Christ was. They said, “The Son of David.” The Lord quoted Psalm 110:1:
The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
But the Lord points out, “If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?” (ESV).
Jesus is the Son of God, the King of kings and the Son of Man. The Pharisees knew that Christ was the Son of David by lineage, but did not understand His deity or believe Jesus was the Christ. Bartimaeus’ heart was full of faith and he could not be silenced as he called out to Jesus Christ, the Son of David, for mercy.
In his need, the voice of the blind, poor and helpless beggar gave honour to Jesus as the Christ, the Son of David. In response, Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. The rich man could not give up his great possessions to come to Jesus. Bartimaeus gave up what seemed to be his only possession to go to Jesus: “Throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus” and received his sight. The Lord honoured his faith. He had not seen the face of Jesus looking in love upon him as the rich ruler had. But as his eyes were immediately opened, he saw Jesus. His life was transformed, and he joyfully followed his Saviour. This morning may our hearts be lifted in worship to honour the Saviour and remember the depth of His love which brought Him to where we were so we would come to Him.
