I Once Was Blind, But Now I See

Transcript

Brothers and sisters, a few weeks back I mentioned to you that God has been exceedingly kind to Trinity Church and that he’s given us a lot of men who not only desire to preach but are also gifted at preaching. And so in response to God’s kindness to us, we want to take those gifts that he gives us and invest those. We don’t want to squander those gifts but put them on display for God’s intended purpose. He gives us these gifts to use them to build up the church. And so this morning we have the privilege of hearing from our brother Andre who will come up and preach to us. Andre is a wonderful brother. I’ve gotten to know Andre over the last year and every time we get together I’m just so encouraged by his love for the church, his love for people, but most importantly his love for God.

God. And so this morning would you be so kind as to welcome Andre as he preaches to us for the very first time this morning. Let me pray for you brother. Father we do thank you for Andre. We thank you for his gift. We thank you for his love. We thank you that he serves this church as a faithful member and we pray that this morning you would speak through him, that you would minister to us that we might come to know Jesus in a greater and more magnificent way. So preach through Andre this morning and may you open up our ears to hear and open up our eyes to see the wonderful things that you’ve done for your people. We pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Very, very kind of you brother. Well good morning brothers and sisters. It’s a joy to be with you. Yesterday Thomas scared me a little bit. I sent him

my text earlier in the week and he comes up to me yesterday he’s like, by the way you know that we spent like three years in the hospital of Mark. Yeah thanks, thanks man. Right before I preach. But then I remembered I’ve had worse. I was invited to speak at a college retreat once and I was one of the speakers at a college retreat once and they invited some other pastors to speak and they gave us these topics that we were all preaching on and I kid you not the pastor that went up before me gets up and he opens my text. We didn’t coordinate who was preaching from what text and right before I preach this guy gets up and preaches my text and from a different topic. So somehow I had to get up there and do some gymnastics explaining how I’m gonna preach on an

The Cry for Mercy

entirely different topic but from the same text. So this isn’t that bad. If you have your Bibles I’d love to invite you to open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark chapter 10. The Gospel of Mark chapter 10. We’re going to be looking at verses 46 through 52 and I’d love to read the text with you all and if I could invite you once you get there in your Bibles. Mark chapter 10 verse 46. 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 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’s calling you and throwing off his cloak he sprang up and came to Jesus 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 father would you speak to us this morning and open our eyes to see Jesus in a way that perhaps we’ve never seen him before amen be seated please one of the most prolific songwriters in the history of Christianity was a sister named Fanny Crosby who wrote over 8,000 hymns and Christian songs Crosby was blind in both eyes and she was actually blinded at a

very young age at six weeks old through a medical error however despite her physical blindness she could still visualize the beauty of Christ’s blessing often with more clarity than those who had sight and as a result it’s been noted that in many of her hymns this visually impaired woman quite amazingly spoke about sight in blessed assurance she says things like visions of rapture now burst on my sight or watching and waiting looking above in the song in the cross she says near the cross I will watch and wait hoping trusting ever and in the hymn to God be the glory but pure and higher and greater will be our wonder our transport when Jesus we see what are we to make of a blind man or woman who sees perfectly total precision in total darkness this is what we see with this beautiful story of mercy and kindness shown by Christ

this man Bartimaeus when he exhibited faith and trust in the Lord the broader context in which this all takes place is quite fascinating the people all around Jesus were excited about him there was a constant buzz about him there was talk about his ministry there was talk about his miracles there was talk of what he did how he did it who he ministered to and all the people that were constantly around him the religious leaders hated it the people were fascinated but there was constant noise around this teacher the people all around were consistently excited they knew him they knew about him they heard many stories about him they heard stories of what he does everywhere he showed up there was a crowd waiting for him they heard what he teaches but many of them didn’t really know who he was they didn’t consider what these stories

pointed to they didn’t consider the broader implications of what the scriptures said about this teacher who was coming to minister in this very way the people watching him and listening to him were actually blind to who he really was interesting as that may seem and reading through the Gospels it’s easy for us to be bewildered by the crowds to just be confused as to how you can see all of these miracles as to how you can interact with such amazing things being done before your very eyes and not be changed and we would think that we were better than them that if I was there if I saw it happen if I heard the words coming out of his mouth but the truth is if you and I were there we’d likely be like most of the people in those crowds like those many people

that had their minds set on a religion of their choosing on a god of their own making or like the others that were running into the world pursuing the things of this world pursuing their own pleasures these were often the two reactions that Jesus was greeted with in his earthly ministries many of us would have likely reacted just in this way that’s why the cry of this blind man jumps out of the page of Scripture at us in the way that it does it’s so beautiful his trust his faith in Jesus are so full here is his resolve is unwavering and now the placement of this story in the Gospel of Mark is not incidental it doesn’t just jump out in the middle of other stories that don’t really tie into it because in earlier in chapter 10 there’s a conversation about discipleship that Jesus actually has what it means and what it doesn’t mean

A Beggar’s Bold Faith

and what Jesus explains is it’s not about sitting at the right hand or the left hand but the fact that greatness in the kingdom of God comes by way of being a servant. Jesus’ disciples were busy arguing with one another about their own importance and about their status and here comes this beggar the lowest of the low hopeless in regard to his life and his place in society cast aside by everyone ostracized by the religious people ostracized by everyone in his own community and praying that maybe today is the day that enough pity might be extended to me that a few coins might be tossed my way so that I could have a little bit of food to eat it’s in this state that Bartimaeus hears the commotion of Jesus walking towards the city so let’s look at this story a little bit closer I want to look at it with you all in two parts first a cry for mercy and

second mercy abundantly given a cry for mercy this man Bartimaeus was sitting strategically in a place where people would pass him by and where he could beg for money or for food this was likely his usual spot he’d been blind from birth he’d been used to his lot in life and his status in the broader society and so this is where he would sit because his chances of being given something were higher than maybe other parts of the city but today unlike other days it was Jesus who was passing by with a large crowd hearing all the noise he was likely confused and he wanted to find out what was happening so he most likely would ask somebody what’s going on what’s all the noise about only to hear that the person passing by was this miracle worker this teacher from Nazareth this man who’d done so much for so many people and with

stories about him being told of sight being given to the blind he’d most likely heard of Jesus at some point in his life he’d most likely created some picture in his mind of who this man was and what he was like and when he realized what was happening he knew that this was his one chance and that he couldn’t let him pass by with access to the Messiah with all the commotion with all the noise he cuts right through it and he shouts at the top of his lungs Jesus Son of David have mercy on me in desperation Bartimaeus shouts for mercies cutting through the darkness that described his whole life nobody could stop him from crying out they tried they tried to shush him they tried to get him to stop but he knew who was in front of him and he knew that despite

not having sight that he was in the presence of David’s long-promised son for being just a blind beggar an outcast in Jewish society this man sure knew a lot about theological terminology and about biblical prophecy he had a much better understanding of who this man likely was walking before him than the people that surrounded Jesus later on in the story we’re going to encounter Bartimaeus referring to Jesus with another title calling him rabbi but here first he calls him son of David what’s that all about well during David’s reign as king of Israel God promised him a house God promised him a family that would last forever however there was a time at which it seemed like that kingdom had ended and many in that broader society they grew hopeless and even during this time though there remained a faithful remnant of Jews who continued to believe that one day God would send them a king in Israel these

kings were often referred to as anointed ones and so the question ever present to the faithful Jew that was waiting was who would he be what would he be like the Prophet Isaiah and Isaiah 9 and 11 says that this is one who would reign forever how does that work and this is one with whom would be the spirit of the Lord what does that mean when you look closely at these promises about the coming King about the promised Messiah and consider the fact that God also made a lot of other promises about what this Messiah would be like about the fact that he would give sight to the blind that he would heal the sick that the lame would walk that miracles would be performed you’ll see that Bartimaeus could see something that many people around him could not and he was piecing together a picture that seemed to be out of frame for all the other people

around him so Bartimaeus cries out he gets rejected and he persists nothing is stopping me from getting his attention he thinks to himself he shouts he screams he knows that if God doesn’t respond he’s doomed what do I have to lose if this doesn’t work nothing will and he gets a response he gets Jesus’s attention he gets called over to him and look at his reaction he throws off his cloak and he springs up and he runs over to Jesus do you see the goodness and the mercy and the kindness of Jesus in this moment he set on his journey to the cross he’s not just taking a stroll he’s on mission to give his life as a ransom for his own enemies he’s set to die and on his way to the cross to die in the place of you and I nothing will stop him nothing will divert his plan nothing

will take him off course nothing except for the lowly cry of a blind beggar pleading for mercy and so Jesus stops and he asks the man to be brought to him you know it’s one thing to call on Jesus and it’s another thing entirely for Jesus to call on you that’s how a person is saved unless Jesus calls someone they don’t come to him unless someone’s eyes are opened to who he is they can’t see him and if you’ve ever thought even for a second in your life that you as a Christian chose him friend this story says otherwise as does the rest of the Bible quite frankly and Jesus asks what do you want me to do for you interestingly just prior to this he asked James and John the same question in verse 36 and their answer was just a little different than Bartimaeus’s James

and John wanted something for themselves James and John are thinking about their own future their own place in the kingdom but Bartimaeus was desperate totally at the mercy of Jesus understanding that he brings nothing to the table and he can’t ask for anything beyond the obvious beyond the most immediate of needs and he tells him rabbi let me recover my sight I love how the NIV words it rabbi I want to see Jesus it’s kind of obvious right but I just want to see all I want is to be out of the darkness all I want is to see the world around me all I want is to interact with what you’ve created rabbi please let me see and the original the word here is not just rabbi but rabboni this was really a profession of faith this is an esteemed title for a teacher this isn’t just teacher this is the

Mercy Abundantly Given

emphatic form of rabbi this was much more than a teacher this is very personal so how you can actually read this as my lord I want to see master I want to see and Jesus responds Jesus responds to this humble request and here we see mercy being asked for and mercy abundantly given our second point when our Lord tells Bartimaeus that his faith has made him well he restored his sight but he also did much more in that moment isn’t that how the Lord usually works isn’t that how he usually blesses us we come and we ask for this one thing we have our mindset that this is what I need right now this is what’s gonna make me happy this is what’s gonna fulfill my desires and then God does well above and well beyond what we ask of him he extends his grace abundantly we ask for

the one thing and he just pours blessing down over us I love how David says it in Psalm 23 my cup overflows just gushes over with the blessings of God this phrase made you well it can also be read as saved you your faith has saved you that’s amazing Jesus response shows that Bartimaeus faith extended beyond much more than Jesus ability to physically heal him he knew that this isn’t just a man who can make me better he calls him Rabboni intentionally he calls him son of David intentionally there was faith there was saving faith in the heart of this man and the cry of this man his words were loaded with a knowledge that he was crying out to God’s promised one this showed that he entrusted his whole life not just his sight to Jesus in the midst of his spiritual blindness and his

physical blindness God gave him the gift of faith in Christ and the gift of physical healing by the very word of Christ the word that upholds the whole universe the word that spoke Bartimaeus into existence is the one that gave him sight of the world into which he was created and we think about this poor beggar and we feel pity for him we feel sorry for him but interestingly enough it was the very illness and disability of Bartimaeus that ultimately led him to the point of realizing his need of salvation and we might well say that had blindness not been his lot in life he might have been like one of the others in the crowd just interested in Jesus but it was his blindness that took away everything from this world that showed him I only have the one hope and it set him on Jesus God used this difficult lot in life to create in this blind man

a desperation and a deep need which ultimately resulted in his salvation friend isn’t that true for my life and yours boy how I’d love to be rid of some of my physical ailments boy how I’d love to be rid of some of my shortcomings boy how I’d love to be rid of so many things that plagued my life that make things uncomfortable for me but boy would I be less dependent on God if that were the case if my life hadn’t hit rock bottom and I saw where my sin brings me and where my own decisions lead I would never have seen my need of a gracious kind Savior so friend are you suffering today are you wondering what God is doing and why he’s leading you in this way just know that he knows your pain he’s not indifferent to it he cares and he’s using it to bring about good in

your life he’s too kind and too loving to do otherwise in the lives of those who belong to him he doesn’t just throw things your way to make it interesting he doesn’t just throw things in your way to complicate your life and to make you a little bit more uncomfortable he does things in a way that you depend more on him not because he just wants your attention but because that’s the best way to exist self-sufficiency is an illusion dependency on God is true joy and fulfillment this poor man who had no hope just moments prior now has an eternal destiny all of a sudden he now has a family he has a future he has sight both physical and spiritual sight broken pitiful not bringing anything to the table an outcast an embarrassment to those around him but Jesus called this man to himself and he made him all he’ll ever need to be a follower of Christ and

Following on the Way

a child of God that’s the identity that matters everything else in Bartimaeus his life up to that point didn’t matter anymore because now he’s a son of God Jesus had been trying to teach his disciples that a servant is to serve one’s master to trust in him to follow him and the disciples didn’t get it they keep asking the wrong questions they keep pointing at the wrong things they keep emphasizing the wrong aspects of Jesus’s ministry and their involvement in it but Bartimaeus got it Bartimaeus understood you’re like me you love this story I love this story this is such a beautiful account of a miracle and of grace being extended to a desperate person and I often see myself in this very state just crying out for mercy and I relate to Bartimaeus and I see myself in this story in many ways of pleading for mercy and God graciously

extending it to me we hear this and we’re filled with joy but if you know God you’re not surprised this is how he acts this is how he works God is immeasurably gracious immeasurably kind and he loves to do this very kind of thing friend the physically blind receives sight from God but as you and I know so do the spiritually blind on a regular basis his faith that Bartimaeus had it wasn’t the fact that he willed this miracle out of Christ but rather that he believed in who he was this blind beggar believed in the Messiah and Jesus was merciful to him as a result once he received this mercy it seems that he didn’t want to be anywhere else because the text tells us he followed him on the way he went after Jesus he kept going with him because that’s where he found hope that’s where he found life that’s where he found rest and he didn’t

want to be anywhere else considering our sister Fanny Crosby again she once had the following encounter with a well-intentioned minister the minister said to her I think it’s a great pity that the master when he showered so many gifts upon you did not give you sight miss Crosby replied do you know that if at birth I’d been able to make one petition to my creator that it would have been that I should be born blind remember she only had like six weeks of sight which she didn’t remember but she said I would ask that I would be born blind surprisingly the minute surprise the minister asked why to which she replied because when I get to heaven the first face that shall ever gladden my sight would be that of my Savior that’s exactly what happened to Bartimaeus the first thing he ever saw was Jesus’s face can you imagine a whole life of complete

Come O Sinner

darkness and sight is given to you and it doesn’t say gradually in the text it doesn’t say that he eased into it a lot of stories that we hear about surgeries being done on blind people or sight being restored to people who are previously blind there’s an easing into it there’s shapes and colors and it’s very uncomfortable immediately and as he opens his eyes Jesus is standing right before him we see a kind Savior who saves this man and who makes him physically well our God abounds in mercy our God loves to heal our God loves to save there’s a beautiful song that I love that came to mind when I was working through this sermon it’s called come O sinner come O sinner come and see Christ the Lord upon a tree see the crown of thorns adorn the king who labors to breathe in agony come O sinner come and see what our God became to set

us free come O sinner come and mourn for he calls your sin his own do you feel the weight of justice served he suffers the wrath that you deserve come O sinner come and mourn for he bears the curse for all you’ve done come O sinner come rejoice mercy fills this place of scorn for he dies to save his enemies that all who draw near may know his peace come O sinner come rejoice through the death of Christ death is destroyed and the chorus O the wonder of this awesome scene where our Savior bleeds O the power of the love of God come and stand in awe we can only see we can only mourn and we can only rejoice if God has graciously given a spiritual sight friends Jesus extends mercy far beyond our present circumstances because he deals with our greatest need and that is

that he saves his enemies he saves rebels he saves those that run from him that want nothing to do with him those who stand condemned rightly condemned before a holy God and he doesn’t do this by merely talking our guilt away he doesn’t do this by merely looking past it by forgetting about it but he takes that sin upon himself on the cross he gives his life as a ransom for those whom he will save and then he graciously opens the eyes of those people so that they can see him he gives them the gift of faith so that they can trust him and he calls them to believe in him and to trust in his redemptive work we celebrate this we revel in it and we see that God deserves all praise for his grace for his mercy for his kindness to poor lost sinners like you and like I

and friend if you’re here today and this Jesus is not someone that you know this is not someone that you’ve seen and there’s no place that I’d rather you be this morning God is speaking to you today God loves to save sinners put your trust in him repent of your sins and believe in the one who can open your eyes and who can save you and who can make you his we’d love to talk to you we’d love to pray with you feel free to come up to me I’d love to share what God has done in my life and I’d love to share what he can do in yours but God opens the eyes of the blind and God heals the sin sick souls of those who flee from him because he is a gracious and a merciful King amen man would you pray with me friends our great God we marvel at your grace at your beauty at

your infinite worth not because of what you do but because of who you are Father thank you for showing yourself to us thank you for revealing the God who created us and who sustains us and thank you for showing how we might know you through the sacrifice of your son and by faith in him Lord would you give us joy and gratitude and praise in our hearts to you who deserves all of it you deserve the whole of our lives and you’re worthy of all of our praise we love you Lord we worship you and we thank you for Jesus your son through whom it’s possible to know who you are and through whom it’s possible to spend eternity worshiping you amen