// Responding to the greatness of God.//
Our church theme for this year is Walking in the greatness of God - had the God appointed opportunity to share this last week. Have a read - be changed!
This sharing is based on the healing of Blind Bartimaeus. Please take the time to read the following. It is is the same event from 3 different perspectives (so we learn different facts from each)
Mark 10:46-52 – link here
Matt 20:29-34 - link here
Luke 18:35-43 - link here
Note: Bit of history you will notice that in Matt and Mark it says that Jesus and the disciples were leaving Jericho while in Luke it says they were approaching Jericho. The Wiersbe Bible Exposition Commentary says that there were actually two Jerichos the old ruined one and the new one built by King Herod. They were about 1 mile apart the beggars sat in front of the new Jericho.
How Bartimaeus responded to Gods greatness:
- Bartimaeus recognised and SEIZED his opportunity to respond and receive from Jesus - Mark 10:4 Even though Bartimaeus is blind he can hear opportunity, how much more those of us who can SEE opportunity. When you go to church, cell group, when you take a step further and serve, when you invite someone for coffee, youth group or to sports night these are all windows of opportunity for you and for a friend to receive something great from our God! Let’s begin to respond to God’s greatness by recognizing opportunity. You may be reading this today and you don’t know about this Jesus guy, or you don’t know if your life is straight with God. RIGHT NOWyou have got an opportunity to get to know Him! Recognize it.
Maybe you have recognized opportunities to receive encouragement or be an encouragement to someone before and have failed to take advantage I know I have and it makes me feel sick to think of the many lost opportunities in my life but I believe God is faithful and I just humble myself and ask for courage and boldness I believe he will give me breakthrough. Or maybe you are waiting for an opportunity for friends and for family – keep praying and believing. Jesus cares he will not leave you hanging! Matt 7:7 says Keep on asking and you will be give what you ask for. Keep on looking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened.
The opportunities from God will come and when they do be ready to respond by recognising and seizing them! - Bartimaeus did not let ‘external’ obstacles stop him from responding to the greatness of God - Mark 10:47-48.
(a) He did not let the crowds shut him up/stop him from shouting! Now I don’t mean you need to walk out onto the street right now and start shouting you might actually get arrested but what the principle here is that you NEVER shut up for Jesus.
EVEN your quiet time is as loud as a shout. When you take the opportunity to spend time with God, in heaven that is a big big shout and when you begin to pray in your room, or sing songs of worship God takes notice. You get his attention. The enemy will try all sorts of outside forces to SHUT US UP. To actually stop any communication to or about Jesus from leaving our lips. It’s not just people and persecution like what these blind men experienced…but these crowds can represent many things in our life, things that you don’t even notice:
- media
- social networking
- being a workaholic
- stresses
- even our studies
I am not saying these are bad but like anything they can be abused so that they take over your time and energy and by the end of it you find that you can’t even utter a word of praise, you have been shut up. There’s no time for one on ones with friends, for church, for the bible - to respond to the greatness of God.
Bartimaeus is awesome. He basically says to the crowd: no you shut up I will shout louder I want to respond to Jesus today, I want to receive my miracle and you are not going to stop me.
(b) Bartimaeus did not let labels define him see title in Mark. Not only did Bartimaeus have the unfortunate name of ‘Bartimaeus’ (not exactly on the top 10 list of Boys or Girls names) he was also known as Blind Bartimaeus. It was his identity. Labels and reputation are very very powerful if you let people define you it creates a stigma a mark on your life you think you will never live down.
Bartimaeus could have said…”ohh that’s my rep im the blind guy, if I get healed who will I be? I won’t have pity anymore!” Or maybe your reputation is the life of the party – so you are expected to become a certain way at parties. Maybe you didn’t grow up with the ideal family so you feel like you have to wear this tough, rough and mean attitude. Many people (including myself for a number of years live in order to maintain how people see them because they think they have no identity elsewhere. Let me tell you Jesus has called you out of blindness to truth, he says you don’t have to be the life of the party make me your life and everyday will be a party!
When people look at me I want them to see Jesus. My past is not my label, it does not define me. Jesus does - I’m going to respond to him.
3. Bartimaeus did not let himself stop himself Mark 10:49-50.
The Message (MSG) Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.”
They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus.
The cloak that Bartimaeus throws away has 2 significant meanings
a) You see the cloak is a heavy dirty thing it represents limitations and restrictions we put on ourselves. The beggar he chose to put this cloak everyday and show he was a blind beggar. Im not saying he chose to be poor or blind but he chose to identify himself as a beggar.
And sometimes we can get like that with our situation. We wear all our restrictions on our back: our financial difficulty, our sickness, our lack of promotion, we wear our sin. But brothers and sisters Jesus wants to free us from this heavy cloak. He wants to give you a garment of praise not a spirit of heaviness! Lets stop wearing a cloak that represents average or unsuccessfulness and believe that we are children of God and that we can experience new wonders and heights! Romans 8:12-15 - So you should not be like cowering fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God’s very own children, adopted into his family…
Let’s throw away our cloak and in faith begin to respond to Jesus!
b) The cloak also symbolizes comfort. It would have kept Bartimaeus warm it would have protected him from the elements, the sun rain, wind. But more than that the cloak was his security and source for survival. The Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary says that the cloak was probably spread on the ground to receive the alms (food, money or donations).
You get the picture Bartimaeus’ cloak would have been vital. But he throws it aside in faith. He won’t need it any more. He is getting something new! Responding to Jesus is costing him something, his only piece of clothing, costing his comfort, costing his living. His throwing of his cloak is an act of surrender. Friends that is how we are to respond to God’s greatness in utter surrender not half heart. Or just today I will go all out but during the week and a bit of next weekend God you will only get 80% of my life. Bartimaeus is expecting that he will no longer need his cloak.
4) Bartimaeus made the choice to respond Mark 10:50. We are not forced, Bart did not wait for Jesus to come over. I mean ..Bart could have said hang on Jesus im blind you come to me. But as soon as he got the invitation from Jesus to come - he responded. No conditions or hesitations.
5) Bartimaeus recognized his need Mark 10:51– Bartimaeus confessed what he wanted, he had to know for himself what he needed. This sounds obvious but as I was thinking about this I realised that Bartimaeus could have decided to stay blind but ask for riches. Or ask for a girlfriend but he knew of utmost importance in his life was sight. See sometimes we ask God for all sorts of things we want but not things we need like…attitude change, forgiveness, selfcontrol, patience.
The blindness here has a deeper meaning. We may not be physically blind but spiritually. And I don’t just mean maybe you cannot perceive that there is a God but we can be spiritually blind or spiritually short sighted/ long sighted even if we are already walking with God! In my life I know that I have been short sighted with things of my attitude. We need to humble ourselves, get off our throne of awesomeness and recognize that we have needs. Not just material but most especially emotional, thoughtful, spiritual (bitterness, pride, lust, jealousy, idolatry,insecurity, failure, regret)
6) Bartimaeus and the other beggar had a personal encounter with Jesus Matt 20:33.
Jesus touched the eyes of the blind men, it was a personal touch in their life. If you read the gospels many of the personal healings of people occurred when Jesus spoke to them or touched them. They receive healing through a personal encounter.
I looked up this word “touch” in the Greek lexicon and in the Greek it is hapto and it appears 39 times all of them in times of personal miracle here are examples of where touch or hapto is used:
- Matth 8:3 when Jesus touches a man with leprosy and he is healed
- Matt 8:15 Jesus touches and heals Peter’s mother in law who had a high fever
- Mark 5:27 when the woman who had been bleeding for years touched Jesus’ cloak
- Mark 7:31 where Jesus touches a man who is deaf and mute and instantly that man can hear perfectly and speak plainly
and do you know what hapto actually means – it is not what you think and is very interesting and when I found this I was like wow thank you God! Hapto (touch) in the Greek means to fasten fire to a thing to, set on fire, to light
Today Jesus wants you to encounter Him – he wants to touch you and set your life on fire! Passionate, free, burning, opened, alive!
This isn’t some airy fairy metaphorical thing. It is tangible and real. If you call out to him today he will change your life, your circumstances, your thoughts. From the inside out.
Jesus is not just interested in healing or meeting our physical/material needs. He desires us to live dynamic praise-filled lives.
In Luke 18:43 we see that not only did Bartimaeus receive healing but he began to follow Jesus and praise God. What a total change in his life.
