“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!””

“Be quiet, He can’t hear you”, said a man in the crowd.”There are so many people out here, why do you think He would stop to answer you?”

Through the midst of the insults and rebukes, the blind beggar, Bartimaeus, cried out all the louder. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped, turned and told them to tell Bartimaeus to come to Him.

The same people giving the rebukes now turned to the Bartimaeus, “Cheer up! what’s wrong with you? Didn’t we tell you to keep on calling for Him? Jesus wants to see you! He is answering you! I wish I were in your shoes buddy!”

Throwing off his cloak, Bartimaeus jumped up and clumsily made his way to Jesus!

“What is it that you would have me do for you?” asked Jesus.

“Please give me my sight!” answered the blind beggar.

Then said Jesus, “Go! Your Faith has healed you!”

So You might be thinking to yourself, “Um what? that’s not how the story went.” And maybe it isn’t, but maybe it is. When I read this story of the blind beggar in Mark 10:46-52, many things stick out to me. Here was a man who had no sight and every day woke up to complete darkness. There was not a single ray of light to satisfy the longing of his eyes, just utter darkness. Yet it was in this darkness that he cried out to Jesus. He cried out to Him with all that was within him. He had been in the dark long enough. He was tired of it. He knew he didn’t have the answer, but he made the decision to go to the One who did.

Around him the crowd rebuked him, telling him the same thing the enemy the speaks to us when we we cannot see – “He can’t hear you.  He’s very busy! there are so many more that are worse off than you. What makes you think He’s going to stop everything and help you? You need to just be quiet and give up! Accept what you have and deal with it.”

Doesn’t that sound familiar? We’ve all had those times when we felt so low on faith and we couldn’t see God, but the story of Bartimaeus shows us what we should do in those situations, and that is to cry out all the louder! When those thoughts or nay-sayers start pulling us down, we must cry all the louder, all the while, believing that God’s hand is not too short to save and His ear never too dull to hear.

What happened next to Bartimaeus was incredible. Jesus answered. Remember now, the crowds were huge. It wasn’t all because of the life-giving words that Jesus had to say, but many were there because Jesus was “in”. He was getting popular. He was the latest trending Pastor and everyone wanted to get near Him. The crowd was loud. But through it all, Jesus could hear the cries of Bartimaeus heart. His ears –His heart– was in-tuned to those in need.

God hears the cries of the broken hearted. And Jesus answered.

I believe that some of same people that were throwing the insults and telling him to back off and be quiet, were the ones that now surrounded Him. Probably wishing they could say they had some part in the great Faith of Bartimaeus. But they didn’t. They probably wished they had not of worried what everyone else would say, but they didn’t. They were followers, not of Christ but of the world. It wasn’t the world around Bartimaeus that kept his spiritual eyes set on Jesus, it was all that was within Him. The strength that God intends for me and you to have.

The world can keep you from Christ if you allow it too. It is not the voice of the crowd you need to listen to. You must listen to the voice inside that tells you there is a way, there is a hope. Batrtimaeus listened to that inner voice and it gave him determination and strength to boldly go to the Savior. You and I need too heed that voice and draw from that strength.

A strength that says “Never give up!” When the enemy tells you that  God doesn’t hear you, cry all the louder. Though you might not be able to SEE, just know that He hears you! When you are blind — when you can’t see a way out of the mess you’re in — trust in Jesus with all of Your heart.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
– Proverbs 3:5-6

The next verse in Mark 10:50, shows an significant amount of faith that the blind beggar had. The verse is this: “Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.”

What is so amazing about this verse? How does this show a lot of faith? I mean, all he did was throw down his cloak and ran to Jesus. Well this is why: Back in those days, not just anyone could sit and beg for money.  To be a beggar, you had to have permission by the government officials. They would look at your situation and decide if you were really in position where you could not work and needed some way to make an income. If you qualified, you would be given something called a beggar’s cloak. This was a special piece of clothing that would show everyone that you weren’t someone trying to smooch off of others, but you really needed money.

A beggars cloak was probably worth a lot of money. There were probably people would would love to steal the cloak and have it for their own, or sell it to someone so they could make money without working. So you wouldn’t just leave this laying around. Especially in a large crowd of people. This beggar’s cloak was Bartimaeus only source of income, and he tossed it aside because Jesus called him. When Bartimaeus threw down his cloak, he threw down his old way of living. The way he had known all his life. He threw it down as if he were saying — “I won’t need that anymore! My Jesus is going to heal me!” Now that is faith. and when faith meets Savior, wonderful things happen!

We need to cast off our cloak and run to Jesus knowing that He will take care of everything.

The story of the formerly blind beggar is truly an amazing illustration to remember when we go through pain, troubles, depression, or doubts in life. When we cannot see past the darkness we are in, we need to cry out to the One who can help us see. Cry out with all your heart, for God loves His children. He knows their hearts and He hears their cries.

If you feel like you are blind today, then do this: Have FAITH, even when you don’t, by calling on Jesus! Have FAITH, even when you can’t see, by CALLING ON JESUS! When you do, you will never be the same. Throw off your cloak, leaving everything behind, and run to HIM!

“Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.” – Mark 10:50