Bible
Study: Jeremiah 31, 7 to 9. Hebrews 5, 1 to 6. And Mark
10, 46 to 52.
The story
of Blind Bartimaeus at first glance looks like one ordinary episode of healing
by Jesus Christ but then, as with every single miracle performed by Jesus,
there is always more to what simply meets the eye. Today, the church calls us
to place ourselves in the scenario of that powerful healing account that we may
learn certain lessons and grow in our faith.
1. Do You Recognise the Presence of
Jesus?
It is an
irony that while a blind man did not have trouble recognising Jesus as the Son
of David, (the promised Messiah), many of those who could see clearly with both
eyes were having trouble believing that this “son of a carpenter” was really
the “son of God” sent to redeem mankind from sin and death.
Given that
Bartimaeus was blind, he had not seen Jesus work any miracle before, he did not
even know how Jesus looked like, all he heard was that this popular man was
passing by, he wasn’t even sure if the crowd who had told him about Jesus were
telling him the truth, but he believed. He had enough faith to believe that
this Jesus was real. And because he believed, he cried out for Jesus’
attention.
2. Do you think Seeing is Believing?
I guess
you may have heard the saying in the past that “seeing is believing.” Do you
remember the doubting Thomas? One of the twelve disciples was absent when Jesus
appeared after his resurrection and when he was told that Jesus had risen, he
said: “Unless I place my hands in the holes made by the nails and feel his
pierced side, I refuse to believe.” Read it up in John 20, 24 to 28.
The words
of Thomas revealed the extent of his faith. A faith limited to what his
physical eyes could afford. Now, let’s assume that after Thomas said these
words, something entered his eyes and he became blind, would he have ever been
able to believe that Jesus rose from the dead?
Many of us
today are just like Thomas, our faith in God is limited to what we can see and
sadly Christianity today has been reduced to a show with ministers scrambling
here and there organising events and special ceremonies with actors, performers
and stage managers to feed the eyes of people. Their reasoning is that, if
people see wonders happening on stage, then they would believe so it doesn’t
matter if such “wonders” are stage-managed, what they want is to see people
believe.
Is that
supposed to be the case? Are we supposed to see first before we believe? What
about the people who saw Jesus face to face and still didn’t believe? What
about the people who were present live and direct and saw Jesus casting out a
demon from a man who was possessed? Did they believe? Didn’t they start
accusing Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of
demons? Read Luke 11, verse 15 or Matthew 9, verse 34 or Mark 3, 22.
Dear
friends, seeing is not always believing. This is because, even when we see, we
are free to doubt the contents of what our eyes see. Look at the way the Bible
defines faith. Hebrews 11, verse 1. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen.” We do not need to see to believe,
miracles and testimonies do not precede faith instead the reverse is the case.
3. How Often Do You Cry to Jesus?
Like
Bartimaeus, each of us has a particular problem that we are not happy with. If
we were to examine ourselves very well, we would identify the one thing about
us that we are not comfortable with, the one thing that is part of us, yet we
deny it at every instant because we are ashamed of it. Bartimaeus problem was
his physical blindness. What is your problem?
Dear
friends, whatever that problem is, we are reminded today that it is not above
the power and mercy of God. That is why our first reading from the book of
Jeremiah assures us:
For thus
says the Lord: "Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for
the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, `The LORD has saved
his people, the remnant of Israel.' Behold, I will bring them from the north
country, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the
blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who is in travail, together; a
great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with
consolations I will lead them back, I will make them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; Jeremiah 31, 7 to 9.
Jeremiah
says: “With weeping they shall come…” Note that Bartimaeus was not smiling when
he called out for Jesus! Indeed, it is not a bad idea to weep before Jesus in
prayer. What matters is that our weeping is loaded with faith, that we do not
allow our tears lead us into desperation or become a sign of hopelessness. If
we must weep before God, let our weeping be that of children who weep because
they know their parents are around and tend to increase the weeping when they
notice that daddy or mummy has just returned home; this is what I call a
weeping of faith, a weeping that calls for attention. It is different from the
weeping of a child who is being flogged for wrong doing.
4. Do You Believe God Can Solve Your
Problem?
There is
something that must be in us before we ever present our tears before Jesus. If
this is lacking, our tears may simply become tears for others attracting
people’s pity or sympathy. If you don’t believe God can solve your problem,
there is no need telling others about it.
Yes, if you don’t believe God can solve your problem, there is no need
telling others about it. And if you haven’t told God yet, do not mention it to
others.
Why are we
to tell God our problem rather than telling people? One, if you tell people your problem, they
will pity you quite alright and you may feel a sense of relief knowing that you
are being pitied but no problem has ever being solved by pity. Two, if you tell
people your problem, they themselves would also feel a sense of relief to know
that they are not the only ones experiencing difficulty and would be more than
happy to know that you are not better than them. Three, if you tell people your
problem, they may start defining you according to your problem, they may even
forget your name and start calling you nicknames according to your situation
and by so doing, they no longer desire your problem to end. As long as you
live, they would keep addressing you by the nickname they have given to you.
Dear
friends, we must learn how to stop looking up to human beings for solutions to
our problems. It is time for us to start developing our own faith and stop
relying on the faith of others. Bartimaeus did not ask somebody to go and call
Jesus for him, he didn’t need to, he had a mouth that was functional and a
voice that could talk. So he shouted out to Jesus. He called out to Jesus
himself. In the end, he did not have to give credit to any particular person
but only to Jesus. Some of us today believe more in human beings than in God
and it is sad to say this, that some people now attribute miracles to human
beings instead of God. The fact that someone helped you to pray and God did
something for you does not meant that that person is now better than you. Take
note. You have what it takes to also ask God for something yourself.
This is
what is leading to the many abuses that we see in our Christian world today.
Imagine a so-called man of God standing on top of fellow human being in the
name of praying for the person. Even to the extent of jumping on somebody’s
body and commanding people to eat grass. What rubbish? Dear friends, don’t be
deceived oh, I stand at the pulpit today and I must tell you the truth, these
guys are just after your money, all they do is to take advantage of your
problem in the name of providing a desperate solution.
5. Do You Try to Listen to God or to
People?
The case
of Bartimeaus is another classic example of how people can constitute an
obstacle in your path between you and God. He was there calling out to Jesus
and guess what, the people around him were asking him to be silent.
How do
people try to silence us when we try to call out to God? By discouraging us
from praying. It is sad to say today that many people do not believe in prayers
anymore. You hear statements like “na prayer we go chop?” Even fellow
Christians would tell you, “this one no be prayer go solve am oh.” A lot of
persons have lost the zeal for prayers and in so many homes today, family
prayer has died. Anyone who tells you prayers are not good enough is no better
than the people around Bartimaeus who were telling him to be quiet when he was
calling out to Jesus. Never listen to such discouraging voices. Never allow
people around you prevent you from reaching out to God. Silence the voices of
the people around you and make efforts to listen only to God. Believe the Bible
more than the news. Believe what God says about your situation more than what the
world says.
6. Finally, do you know that to believe
is to See?
When you
have faith, it is like acquiring new sets of eyes because faith makes you see
things that others cannot see. And by believing, faith brings into existence
the things that do not exist. Just believe, and by the time you begin to see
the reward of your faith, it will look as if you are dreaming. In the end, you
will realize that the worst form of blindness is not that which affect the eyes
but that which affects the heart. True blindness is inability to believe.
Let us Pray:
Lord
Jesus, you are the high priest of our salvation. Open the eyes of my mind and
deepen my faith, teach me to call out to you and not to people in my moments of
distress and like Bartimeaus, bring me healing. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Sunday.
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