Encounter with a blind man
35 And it came to pass that, as He came near to Jericho, a certain blind man, who sat by the wayside begging, 36 heard the sounds of the multitude passing by and asked what it meant. 37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by 38 and He cried out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” 39 Those who went before rebuked him, telling him to keep quiet, but he cried out even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”
40 Jesus stopped and instructed/commanded that the man be brought to Him. When he was brought to Jesus, He asked him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?”
The man said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight”.
42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.” 43 Immediately, he received his sight and started following Him, glorifying God, and all the people, when they saw what happened, gave praise unto God.
1. You are blind (have a need)
2. Jesus can help … but you have to cry out to Him
3. People, including relatives and friends, will try to prevent you calling on Him
4. Jesus is NOT too busy to hear and help
5. Understand your need
6. Acknowledge Christ as your Healer … and follow Christ
7. Others will follow your lead, as a result
TWO IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS
Too often we want to see Jesus with our eyes when we need to be looking with our hearts.
Even before he was healed, the blind man (Bartimaeus?) saw at least two important things.
First, he saw his need: do you? … Can you see your need? Do you know what you want Jesus to do for you? Do you need to surrender to Him?
Next, he saw HIS opportunity … It was passing in front of him. If he remained still and silent, his opportunity for healing would be gone. He could’ve thought, “There’s a crowd here today, maybe I’ll catch Jesus the next time He comes through Jericho.” Remember where Jesus is going?
Some of you, in this room today, need to do business with Jesus, and you are hesitating, “oh, there are people I don’t know here in church today. Or I really don’t want so and so to know my business.”
What Bartimaeus didn’t know was that Jesus would never pass through Jericho again. He went straight from Jericho to the cross.
Friends, Jesus is passing by right now, what are you going to do? “I’ll catch Him next time I come to church.” What makes you think there will be a next time?
Today, you have the opportunity to cry out for mercy. Will you do it? Don’t waste this opportunity to cry out. Don’t let the crowd keep you from your appointment with Jesus.
This idea of Jesus “passing by” Bartimaeus may have inspired the words of a beautiful old invitation hymn, also written by Fanny Crosby. The words say: “Pass me not O gentle Savior, Hear my humble cry; While on others you are calling, Do not pass me by.”
Every head bowed, every eye closed… why don’t you make this your prayer; “Lord please don’t pass by without seeing my need, today…” Maybe you need to surrender to Jesus… whatever you need today, Jesus is passing by, right now. You may not have another opportunity like this one. If you’ll call out to Him, upon authority of the God’s Word in Romans 10: 13, I can promise you that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!”