SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: It's great to be together.
SPEAKER_00: If we've not met before, my name is Will Trump.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the elders here at Emanuel.
SPEAKER_00: It's my privilege to bring us God's word this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, children, uh, learning sheets will be making their way around the room, so do follow along, fill in uh the sections, and then come down the front at the end and we'll discuss the main things we've learned and see if there's a treat in the sweetie tin.
SPEAKER_00: Today we're continuing in our series in Mark's Gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Let me pray for our time together in God's Word.
SPEAKER_00: Psalm 119 says, The unfolding of your words gives light, it imparts understanding to the simple.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, as we come to your word this morning, help me to unfold your words rightly and faithfully.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, shine from the page into our lives and give light to us and impart understanding to us, simple ones, because we ask it in the powerful name of the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: As I said, we're continuing our series in Mark's Gospel.
SPEAKER_00: We're in Mark chapter 10, and in today's episode, we come across two different segments, two different stories, where in both cases Jesus asks someone the same question.
SPEAKER_00: That's quite intriguing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: In the same question pops up twice across these two episodes, and that question is, what do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus asks that question twice, what do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: And we'll see two very different responses actually.
SPEAKER_00: But that does beg the question, what would our answer be?
SPEAKER_00: Just imagine for a minute, Jesus stood before you with all his power, the power to perform miracles, and he asked you, What do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: What would you ask?
SPEAKER_00: What would you ask, honestly?
SPEAKER_00: Today, as we open the Bible, God has profound lessons for us.
SPEAKER_00: Because as we ask ourselves that question, we see what we would actually come asking for.
SPEAKER_00: We see what that reveals about how we view ourselves, and we see what it reveals about how we view Jesus as well.
SPEAKER_00: So let me read from Mark chapter 10, starting at verse 32.
SPEAKER_00: I think in the Church Bibles, it's page 846.
SPEAKER_00: And as I read, look out for those two instances when Jesus asks that same question.
SPEAKER_00: What do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: Mark chapter 10, from verse 32 to the end of the chapter.
SPEAKER_00: And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them, and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
SPEAKER_00: And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him, and kill him, and after three days he will rise.
SPEAKER_00: And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.
SPEAKER_00: And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: And they said to him, Grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to them, You do not know what you are asking.
SPEAKER_00: Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?
SPEAKER_00: And they said to him, We are able.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said to them, The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.
SPEAKER_00: And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus called them to him and said to them, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you.
SPEAKER_00: But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
SPEAKER_00: For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
SPEAKER_00: But he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus stopped and said, Call him.
SPEAKER_00: And they called the blind man, saying to him, Take heart, get up, he's calling you.
SPEAKER_00: And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said to him, What do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: And the blind man said to him, Rabbi, let me recover my sight.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said to him, Go your way.
SPEAKER_00: Your faith has made you well.
SPEAKER_00: And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
SPEAKER_00: Remarkable stories, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: What a contrast in these two episodes between James and John on the one hand and Bartimaeus on the other.
SPEAKER_00: Two very different ways to live.
SPEAKER_00: The shock of this passage for us this morning is this.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus makes it clear that there are two different ways of living, and that those who follow him have to choose between these two opposing value systems, two different lifestyles, two different ways of living, and that these two ways of living are mutually exclusive.
SPEAKER_00: It's a deeply challenging passage.
SPEAKER_00: Let's jump into it and let's ask the question what are those two different ways of living?
SPEAKER_00: Well, firstly, we see the way of the world blinding self-interest.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first thing we see.
SPEAKER_00: The way of the world that's blinding self-interest.
SPEAKER_00: Look what happens in this story.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 32, they're on the road, they're walking, they're on their way to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 32, we see that Jesus is walking ahead of them.
SPEAKER_00: Then in verse 35, do we see that James and John sidle up to Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: They catch up with him, they want to have a private chat, and they've got a request for him in verse 35.
SPEAKER_00: Even in the way they approach Jesus, and even in the way they phrase the question, we know that something's not quite right.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they even know from the way they ask the question that's not something's not quite right.
SPEAKER_00: Because they say, We want you to do whatever we ask of you.
SPEAKER_00: That's no way to speak to anyone, is it?
SPEAKER_00: Insisting that someone agrees to your request before you've even spelled it out.
SPEAKER_00: No way to speak to anyone, let alone Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But look at the graciousness of Jesus in verse 36.
SPEAKER_00: He could have slammed them down, but instead he asks, What do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: Like a loving parent, Jesus wants to hear them spell out their requests so he can hear what they really care about, what is their underlying motive?
SPEAKER_00: So let's look at what their request is.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 37.
SPEAKER_00: Grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: Sitting at your right hand, at your left hand.
SPEAKER_00: In those days, sitting at your right hand or your right or your left hand, that meant to have the top jobs.
SPEAKER_00: Effectively, if Jesus is the king, then they want the jobs of Prime Minister and Chancellor, the top two jobs going.
SPEAKER_00: So there we have it.
SPEAKER_00: What's their agenda?
SPEAKER_00: What are they looking for?
SPEAKER_00: Self-promotion, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: It's self-promotion.
SPEAKER_00: They want status, the top two jobs.
SPEAKER_00: They want power, because in those jobs they can exercise power and authority.
SPEAKER_00: They want prestige, they want probably the wealth that would come with that as well.
SPEAKER_00: What's interesting is that James and John, they know what they want, and Jesus needs to fit into those plans.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, for James and John, Jesus' job is basically to make their dreams a reality.
SPEAKER_00: Now, before we think to ourselves, gosh, we would never ask for anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: Let's actually see how self-interest works in this passage.
SPEAKER_00: Because as I've thought about this, I've seen that this is really close to home, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Firstly, do you see that this self-interest is secretive?
SPEAKER_00: Do you see that in the passage?
SPEAKER_00: They come up to Jesus, but they don't want the other disciples to know about this.
SPEAKER_00: This is a hidden agenda just between two brothers.
SPEAKER_00: They don't want it out in public.
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, that would be so embarrassing if other people knew just how selfish I am.
SPEAKER_00: Are we any different?
SPEAKER_00: You know, we put on a front, I know I do, very respectable on the outside, but deep down, gosh, I wouldn't want anyone to know just how desperate I am to be successful, make a lot of money, be liked by my friends, be popular, look amazing, whatever it might be.
SPEAKER_00: Our self-interest is secretive, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Our self-interest is also insensitive.
SPEAKER_00: What has Jesus just been telling them?
SPEAKER_00: Look up to verse 33 and 34.
SPEAKER_00: Deeply painful personal sharing from Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: The Son of Man will be mocked, they will spit on him, they will flog him, they will kill him.
SPEAKER_00: And what did James and John say?
SPEAKER_00: Enough about you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Can we get back to us, please?
SPEAKER_00: And our agenda.
SPEAKER_00: Self-interest is like that, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Insensitive to others.
SPEAKER_00: It's all about me.
SPEAKER_00: Self-interest is also competitive and never satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: Pause and think a minute for who James and John are.
SPEAKER_00: They're one of the twelve hand-picked disciples picked by Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's already a pretty elite group, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Twelve disciples chosen by Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Wow, what a privilege.
SPEAKER_00: You're in the 12.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, James and John are actually in the inner group of the top three, if you want to put it that way.
SPEAKER_00: They've seen some pretty remarkable things that only that group of three have seen, and yet it's not enough.
SPEAKER_00: For James and John, top three is not enough.
SPEAKER_00: We need to be top two.
SPEAKER_00: We need to muscle Peter out of the way because he's a threat to us.
SPEAKER_00: We need top two.
SPEAKER_00: Never satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: That's how self-interest works, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: When I'm in the driving seat, when it's my agenda, I'm never satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: What about the other ten?
SPEAKER_00: Are they any better?
SPEAKER_00: Well, when they hear about this, they're indignant.
SPEAKER_00: Not, I think, not a righteous indignation, not like, oh, you should never have asked for that, but rather frustration that they didn't get there first.
SPEAKER_00: They're no different.
SPEAKER_00: They wanted it too.
SPEAKER_00: That's the problem with self-interest.
SPEAKER_00: It's competitive, it's never satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it the same today?
SPEAKER_00: We know this in our own lives, don't we?
SPEAKER_00: When we're focused on our own agenda, other people are competition.
SPEAKER_00: They need to get out of the way, or they need to help me further my agenda.
SPEAKER_00: Most importantly, though, self-interest is deaf and blind.
SPEAKER_00: Again, think about James and John.
SPEAKER_00: They've been with Jesus since the start.
SPEAKER_00: They've recently seen Jesus in all his glory on the mountain.
SPEAKER_00: And they've definitely understood something of Jesus, haven't they?
SPEAKER_00: Because they say, When you come in your glory.
SPEAKER_00: So they know that Jesus is a king.
SPEAKER_00: They know that there's a kingdom coming, but they've then assumed that means that they're on a kind of victory lap.
SPEAKER_00: You know, they're heading to Jerusalem where they guess Jesus will be enthroned.
SPEAKER_00: So now is the time to lobby for the top jobs.
SPEAKER_00: What have they not understood?
SPEAKER_00: They've not understood that Jesus' mission involves suffering and self-denial.
SPEAKER_00: Even though Jesus has told them that multiple times, at least three times.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, they missed that bit.
SPEAKER_00: That's the problem with self-promotion.
SPEAKER_00: Self-promotion never learns, and self-promotion has selective hearing.
SPEAKER_00: I hear what I want to hear.
SPEAKER_00: And so Jesus responds in verse 38, and he corrects him, doesn't he?
SPEAKER_00: You don't know what you're asking for.
SPEAKER_00: Again, a pretty searching diagnosis for us today, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, self-interest is not very good at knowing what's good for you.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, Jesus wants them to see their folly with this obvious question, verse 38.
SPEAKER_00: His mission is going to involve untold suffering, his upcoming baptism, that's a reference to dying on the cross, drinking the cup, that refers to bearing God's punishment for sin upon himself on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Can they do that?
SPEAKER_00: What is their response in verse 39?
SPEAKER_00: We are able.
SPEAKER_00: Self-interest is deluded.
SPEAKER_00: Now, by this point, I think we're shaking our heads at James and John.
SPEAKER_00: But are we actually any different?
SPEAKER_00: If you're not a Christian here today, you wouldn't call yourself a follower of Jesus, then the Bible would say that because you haven't handed over control of your life to Jesus, then by definition, self-interest runs the show.
SPEAKER_00: It's me and my agenda in charge.
SPEAKER_00: Now maybe that's done in a very respectable way.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's with words like I'm looking to achieve my full potential, or I have a duty to myself to be happy.
SPEAKER_00: But do you see any of these hallmarks of the James and John mentality, the way of the world in your life?
SPEAKER_00: It's competitive, it's a secret agenda, it's insensitive to others, and it's never satisfied.
SPEAKER_00: But even as believers, which I guess is most of us in this room, even as followers of Jesus, there is always a risk, isn't there?
SPEAKER_00: That our own agenda wants to take over.
SPEAKER_00: That voice that says, I like Jesus, but it's got to be on my terms.
SPEAKER_00: What would that look like?
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe I can suggest a couple of areas of application.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure there are many more.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe in the area of priorities.
SPEAKER_00: You know, maybe a mentality that says, look, I'm glad to be associated with Jesus, as long as it doesn't get in the way of what I actually want to be doing.
SPEAKER_00: You know, maybe it's uh other things that always want to come first.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's sport or uh children's club, maybe it's seeing family and friends.
SPEAKER_00: Those things, of course, they're far more important than following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Of course, those things are going to come first because it's on my terms.
SPEAKER_00: It's my agenda that comes first.
SPEAKER_00: Or don't expect me to be sacrificial with my time, my money, my resources.
SPEAKER_00: No, but hands off that.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, but on my terms.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it's in the area of sin, fighting sin.
SPEAKER_00: A mentality that says, yes, I identify as a Christian, but I have no intention of fighting sin, you know, giving up that way of living, maybe that sinful habit which I know is wrong, or maybe I have no desire to make progress in that ingrained attitude, that way of living that I have no desire to make progress in.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's, I don't know, areas of gossip or resentment or envy.
SPEAKER_00: I follow Jesus, but it's got to be on my terms.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if that's us, and I know it's all of us, I know it's me, then we need to see the way of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We've seen the way of the world.
SPEAKER_00: That's blinding self-interest.
SPEAKER_00: We need to see the way of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That's radical self-sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: That's our second point this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus gathers all his disciples around him.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 42, it's an opportunity to teach and to correct them.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 42, like any good teacher, he starts with what they already know.
SPEAKER_00: You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
SPEAKER_00: You know what it's like in the world?
SPEAKER_00: You know, people with power lord it over others around them, jockeying for power, authority, status.
SPEAKER_00: Well, of course they know it.
SPEAKER_00: They've just been the living embodiment of it.
SPEAKER_00: The disciples jockeying for power.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, there is another way to live.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says in verse 43, not so with you.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, he offers them a radically different way to live.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 43.
SPEAKER_00: But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.
SPEAKER_00: There is a different way to live, a radically different way to live.
SPEAKER_00: Not self-promotion, but self-sacrifice, self-denial, putting others first.
SPEAKER_00: Now we've all seen this in the, haven't we, in our lives?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's just a glimpse of it in the workplace, someone high up, putting someone low down first, putting their needs first.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's in a family setting, maybe it's in a friendship group.
SPEAKER_00: And it's beautiful, isn't it, when we give up our own interests and we put others first.
SPEAKER_00: Self-sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: James and John, they were willing to throw their friends under a bus to get to the top.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is just the opposite.
SPEAKER_00: He's willing to give his life for his friends.
SPEAKER_00: It's radically different.
SPEAKER_00: It's beautiful.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus, as I said, is no hypocrite here.
SPEAKER_00: He went first and was the ultimate example of this.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 45.
SPEAKER_00: For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: What a contrast.
SPEAKER_00: That is the ultimate sacrifice, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: James and John's self-promotion, Jesus' self-sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice, giving his life for others.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is our ultimate example.
SPEAKER_00: But we also need to see that Jesus is more than just our example.
SPEAKER_00: This is quite relevant for me.
SPEAKER_00: I grew up in Belgium, a Roman Catholic country where most people have no faith.
SPEAKER_00: But if you ask them, they'd probably say, Yeah, Jesus, he's a good man, he's a good example to follow.
SPEAKER_00: And this passage seems to say that Jesus is an example.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he is an example, but he's much more than an example.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 45 again.
SPEAKER_00: For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't say give his life as an example for many.
SPEAKER_00: Give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: It is an example that is much more than just an example going on at the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what does that mean, ransom?
SPEAKER_00: When do you come across the word ransom in your life?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's territory of hostages, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: And prisoners who have to be bought back at a price.
SPEAKER_00: One of my favourite films is Proof of Life, where they have to pay the ransom payment to win back the hostage.
SPEAKER_00: Paying the price to win someone back.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus at this point is on his way to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: He's going to go and die on a cross.
SPEAKER_00: Not as a tragic accident, but as the way to pay that ransom with his life for many.
SPEAKER_00: For many.
SPEAKER_00: That links to prophecies in Isaiah chapter 53, verse 12, where we're told that one would come and bear the sins of many.
SPEAKER_00: Many.
SPEAKER_00: That's you and me, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Many who were prisoners to sin, prisoners to self-obsession, who can now be brought back by Jesus, who need to be brought back by Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So let's ask ourselves: did James and John get what they were looking for?
SPEAKER_00: Did they get what they were asking for?
SPEAKER_00: Well, no, they didn't, did they?
SPEAKER_00: They came to Jesus with their agenda, self-promotion, top jobs.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what they got.
SPEAKER_00: But do we see that what Jesus offers them is actually far greater?
SPEAKER_00: Do we see that what Jesus offers them is far greater?
SPEAKER_00: They want self-promotion.
SPEAKER_00: He gives them salvation.
SPEAKER_00: He gives his life for them.
SPEAKER_00: Now at this point in the story, the disciples aren't getting it.
SPEAKER_00: But later they will understand it.
SPEAKER_00: The penny drops later and it changes everything for them.
SPEAKER_00: But a big question for each of us to ask ourselves deep down have we accepted this from Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: He he offers himself up as the ransom payment.
SPEAKER_00: He gave his life for each of us.
SPEAKER_00: Have we asked Jesus for that?
SPEAKER_00: Have we accepted his offer?
SPEAKER_00: Because in this episode, we see that some people want nothing to do with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We actually see that up in verse 33.
SPEAKER_00: The scribes and the chief priests, they'll want Jesus dead.
SPEAKER_00: We see that today as well.
SPEAKER_00: Some people want Jesus gone, out of the picture.
SPEAKER_00: Others, like James and John, they want Jesus, but on their terms.
SPEAKER_00: But have you gone to Jesus and asked him, Will you give your life as a ransom for me?
SPEAKER_00: That's the question that Jesus wants us to ask him.
SPEAKER_00: And when we ask that question, will you give your life as a ransom for me?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus gladly replies, Yes, I will.
SPEAKER_00: I have ransom paid.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what might it look like to receive that?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I think it's time to meet Bartimaeus.
SPEAKER_00: Time for point three.
SPEAKER_00: The way in and the way on, look to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The next episode here, it's not here by accident.
SPEAKER_00: It's here as a contrast to James and John.
SPEAKER_00: It's here as an example of a model disciple.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 46, they're in Jericho now.
SPEAKER_00: Now they're just 20 miles from Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: And there are huge crowds, aren't there?
SPEAKER_00: You see that in verse 46?
SPEAKER_00: Crowds, surrounded, and yet the focus is on Bartimaeus, a blind beggar in verse 46, a nobody.
SPEAKER_00: He sat by the roadside.
SPEAKER_00: I guess it's just a normal day for him.
SPEAKER_00: Let's see how begging goes today.
SPEAKER_00: But by the end of this day, Bartimaeus will have 20-20 eyesight, and he will be following Jesus along the way.
SPEAKER_00: What do we learn from Bartimaeus, the model disciple?
SPEAKER_00: Again, it's most instructive, and it's a huge contrast to James and John.
SPEAKER_00: Bartimaeus has faith.
SPEAKER_00: What does that look like?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Bartimae's faith, it has a big view of Jesus, and it has a small view of self.
SPEAKER_00: It's just the opposite of James and John.
SPEAKER_00: Bartimaeus, he has a big view of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He hears that Jesus is coming through town, verse 47.
SPEAKER_00: He calls out in verse 48, but he doesn't call out using Jesus' human name, if I can put it that way, Jesus of Nazareth, you know, name and place of origin.
SPEAKER_00: No, he doesn't say Jesus of Nazareth.
SPEAKER_00: He says Jesus, Son of David.
SPEAKER_00: Have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: Now this is the first time in Mark's Gospel that Jesus is called the Son of David.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that quite amazing?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, son of David, Son of David is a messianic term.
SPEAKER_00: It's talking about the coming king that's been long awaited, promised in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Here he is, the Son of David, the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: And it's on the lips of a blind beggar.
SPEAKER_00: How did he figure that out?
SPEAKER_00: That Jesus is the son of David, the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: We don't know.
SPEAKER_00: It's remarkable, isn't it, that someone with no eyesight has remarkable insight.
SPEAKER_00: He knows who Jesus is.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's been hearing stories of other blind people being healed.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that news has been traveling fast, and he's calling to mind those prophecies of Isaiah chapter 35 that when the Messiah comes, the blind will recover their sight.
SPEAKER_00: This is the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: And his words, have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: These are words that are usually associated with speaking to God.
SPEAKER_00: You look at uh Psalm 51, for example, O God, have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: So this blind beggar, he knows he's calling on the Messiah.
SPEAKER_00: He also knows he's calling on the divine, on God Himself.
SPEAKER_00: That's a big view of Jesus, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: And he has a small view of himself.
SPEAKER_00: Unlike James and John.
SPEAKER_00: Bartimez, he has a small view of himself.
SPEAKER_00: He cries out, Have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: Now that's the cry of someone who brings nothing to the party, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00: Have mercy on me.
SPEAKER_00: It's like the cry of a prisoner on death row, I'm begging for mercy.
SPEAKER_00: Someone who acknowledges their status.
SPEAKER_00: They've got nothing to bring.
SPEAKER_00: They're in a position of misery, they're in a position of desperation, but they know they are calling out to someone in a position of authority who can do something about it.
SPEAKER_00: That is the opposite of James and John.
SPEAKER_00: They came with all their credentials, asking for top jobs.
SPEAKER_00: Bartimaeus came with nothing, calling out in desperation.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's see how Jesus responds to that kind of faith.
SPEAKER_00: How does Jesus respond when you come to him with that kind of faith, a big view of Jesus, a small view of self?
SPEAKER_00: Well, firstly, we see that Jesus stopped.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 49.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Jesus stopped and said, Call him.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that remarkable?
SPEAKER_00: In the busyness, the crowd, the noise, Jesus heard that cry of desperation.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus stopped.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus had time for someone as insignificant as Bartimaeus.
SPEAKER_00: And dare I say someone as insignificant as you or me, Jesus hears that cry of desperation when we call out in faith.
SPEAKER_00: He calls him to him and he asks him that very same question in verse 51.
SPEAKER_00: What do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, surely it would have been obvious, right?
SPEAKER_00: A blind beggar, what do you want me to do for you?
SPEAKER_00: Why ask that question?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it was a teaching opportunity for James and John, who were probably stood there sheepishly staring at the ground.
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe it's because it gives the opportunity to Bartimaeus to express his faith.
SPEAKER_00: Because what is Bartimaeus going to do?
SPEAKER_00: He's going to ask for the impossible, let me recover my sight.
SPEAKER_00: But he's going to ask for the impossible from a person that he believes has the power to do the impossible.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, son of David.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Rabbi, let me recover my sight.
SPEAKER_00: Think about Bartimaeus.
SPEAKER_00: His sight will mean everything to him, won't it?
SPEAKER_00: He'll be freed from a life of begging, he will begin a productive life, a social life.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus wonderfully heals him and says in verse 52, Go your way.
SPEAKER_00: Your faith has made you well.
SPEAKER_00: And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that an amazing miracle?
SPEAKER_00: He's been physically healed.
SPEAKER_00: I think that definitely happened.
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, how would he have followed Jesus along the way unless his eyesight was fixed?
SPEAKER_00: He's been physically healed, but more than that, he's been spiritually saved as well.
SPEAKER_00: Now, why do I say that?
SPEAKER_00: The word there for healed in the Greek has a kind of variety of meanings.
SPEAKER_00: It can mean to save, to rescue, to deliver, to heal.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he's clearly been physically healed, but he's also been spiritually saved, which makes much more sense of his response.
SPEAKER_00: He's been saved, he's been called by Jesus, and now he wants to follow.
SPEAKER_00: He followed Jesus on the way.
SPEAKER_00: So the way in and the way on is to look to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't it remarkable to think that the very next thing that will happen as Bartimaeus follows Jesus along the way is they will arrive in Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Most likely Bartimaeus will see Jesus be welcomed as a hero and a king, and then, as he predicted, he will be arrested and then killed on a Roman cross.
SPEAKER_00: And Bartimaeus will witness all of that, and then three days later, he will come back to life.
SPEAKER_00: Bartimaeus will see with his very own eyes, with his new eyes, Bartimaus will see Jesus give his life as a ransom for many.
SPEAKER_00: And Bartimaeus will know that he's one of the many for whom Jesus is giving his life.
SPEAKER_00: What about us?
SPEAKER_00: Do we know that too?
SPEAKER_00: Have we accepted Jesus' gift of paying the ransom for us with his life?
SPEAKER_00: Let me take us back to the opening question I asked this morning.
SPEAKER_00: What do we really want if we're being honest?
SPEAKER_00: What do we come to Jesus with?
SPEAKER_00: Today in the Bible, the Lord Jesus teaches us that there are these two different ways of living, there are these two different lifestyles, these opposing value systems, and those who follow Jesus have to choose between them.
SPEAKER_00: And they're mutually exclusive.
SPEAKER_00: There's no way of reconciling them.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, there's the way of the world, which is all about self-promotion.
SPEAKER_00: Or there's the way of Jesus, self-denial, self-sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: And as we saw last week, left to ourselves, this is impossible.
SPEAKER_00: Because by nature, we're governed, I know I'm governed, by the way of the world, self-interest.
SPEAKER_00: But when we come to Jesus, like Bartimaeus, he opens our blind eyes, our spiritual eyes, to see who he is.
SPEAKER_00: He's our savior, he's our king.
SPEAKER_00: And we then begin to see the way of Jesus, self-sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: We begin to want to walk in those ways.
SPEAKER_00: It does take a miracle from us for us to go from self-serving to self-sacrifice to following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But when Jesus does that miracle in us, we find, don't we, that we begin to rightly respond and follow Jesus along the way, on his terms, not on our terms.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to pray now that that will be the case for each of us, that as we turn to Jesus, that we will make progress in following Jesus wholeheartedly.
SPEAKER_00: I'd like to use a prayer from this book by A.
SPEAKER_00: W.
SPEAKER_00: Tozer, The Pursuit of God.
SPEAKER_00: Highly recommend this book, maybe for some summer reading.
SPEAKER_00: Each chapter ends with a prayer, and I find these prayers are remarkable that he would even include these in a book.
SPEAKER_00: It is so gut wrenching in its honesty as he comes to God.
SPEAKER_00: In prayer, and I think this really fits this passage.
SPEAKER_00: So let me say this prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Please join with me in your hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I want to know you, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys.
SPEAKER_00: I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from you the terror of the parting.
SPEAKER_00: I come trembling, but I do come.
SPEAKER_00: Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that you may enter and dwell there without a rival.
SPEAKER_00: Then will you make the place of your feet glorious.
SPEAKER_00: Then will my heart have no need of the sun to shine for it, for you yourself will be the light of it, and there will be no night there.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.