Jesus Son of David

As we come to God's Word this morning, we will be in the book of Mark, chapter 10, verse 46.

Mark 10:46

Mark, chapter 10, verse 46.

Mark 10:46

We've just finished a series on the Psalms through the summer,

looking at individual ones, different ones each Sunday.

And starting next Sunday, Lord willing, we'll be beginning our journey through the pastoral epistles,

looking at 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus,

and learning what they have, what God has to say through those letters to us.

But this morning, we're looking at a small moment, seemingly, in the story of Jesus.

So Mark, chapter 10, verse 46.

Mark 10:46

I'm going to read it, and then we'll pray, and then we'll jump in.

Then they came to Jericho.

As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city,

a blind man, Bartimaeus, which means son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside begging.

When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout,

Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more,

Son of David, have mercy on me.

Jesus stopped and said, Call him.

So they called to the blind man,

Cheer up, on your feet, he's calling you.

Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

What do you want me to do for you?

Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, Rabbi, I want to see.

Go, said Jesus.

Your faith has healed you.

Immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Father in heaven, as we look now into your word,

we pray that your spirit would open our hearts to what you have said.

Help us to see what you did, to understand it.

And we pray that our hearts would be changed and touched by it.

We know that you have not just spoken to the people who originally received this back then,

but that your word is for us today.

And so may we see that connection to our own lives and our own story.

We ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Now to many of us, this may sound like a cute little story we hear in Sunday school.

We may struggle to grasp the significance of it, the point.

We've grown up hearing many of these little miracles of Jesus,

these things that he did.

To really grasp this, what it's all about, we need to go back.

We need to understand the full story of Jesus leading up to this point.

It was about three years prior to this that Jesus of Nazareth appeared,

seemingly out of nowhere to the nation, on the bank of the Jordan River.

And John, the baptizing prophet, he began to point his followers to this man, Jesus.

John said that this was the one that they'd all been waiting for,

the one that God had chosen and sent.

And very quickly, the attention of the whole nation all of a sudden shifted

from John, the baptizing prophet, to now Jesus, this man from Nazareth.

And people came from all over the nation to see Jesus, to hear Jesus.

Some for miracles of healing, others just to hear his teaching.

His teachings resonated deeply with many as having divine authority,

God's authority in them, God's wisdom in them.

Not only that, but of course, Jesus began to do miracles.

All kinds of things.

Great signs.

Countless people were healed of all kinds of sicknesses, illnesses, diseases.

Evil spirits were being cast out of people.

On one occasion, the feeding of thousands with a boy's lunch out in the middle of nowhere.

And other spectacular things.

Walking on water.

Even on one occasion, raising a little girl from the dead.

Jesus took the spotlight of the nation.

And the question that was rolling around in people's minds,

who is this man?

Is he a prophet sent by God?

Is he the Messiah, the long-awaited Messiah?

Or is he just a yokel, local, from the north, that's hoodwinking, gullible people?

These are the discussions that they were having at dinner tables all over the country.

And as time went on, many of you know the story.

Jesus began to be loved by some, but hated by others.

His followers who believed in him loved him.

But the religious leaders and those who followed them, the religious leaders of the Jews,

they didn't believe in him.

And they got madder and madder at Jesus.

And the tensions just kept rising between Jesus and his opponents.

Until this moment, Jesus was on his way for the last time south to Jerusalem.

Where he would be crucified.

And on his way, Mark tells us that they came to the city of Jericho.

Something special happened at the city gate of Jericho that Mark never forgot.

Jesus and his disciples, they were just leaving the city.

And there was a large crowd together with them.

And there by the roadside, sitting on the ground, begging, was a blind man.

A guy named Bartimaeus.

Now we don't know, but somehow, Bartimaeus had heard about Jesus.

He'd heard how Jesus had been curing people of all kinds of sicknesses and illnesses, even disabilities.

And there he sat, Mark tells us, on the roadside, begging.

I want to invite you right now just to close your eyes and imagine for a moment what it would be like to be blind.

Unable to see the light of the sun.

Unable to see the colors of things all around you.

Unable to see the expressions on people's faces.

Unable to judge just how far things are away from you.

Everything's dark.

You're totally dependent on sound and touch.

Can you imagine having to go through your entire life like this?

You can open your eyes now.

We don't know the details of Bartimaeus' life.

What put him to the streets to beg.

But we do know that it was common for people in these days who had disabilities

to be in poverty and to end up on the side of the road as beggars.

Can you imagine that this is the way that you've found to put food in your stomach?

Every day to get up and go to the gate of the city

and call out to people for their spare change.

Imagine that you are Bart, sitting there in the darkness of your condition

and all of a sudden you hear this commotion.

You hear the sounds.

You hear the voices.

You hear the footsteps.

The murmur of a huge crowd approaching

and it's getting louder and louder.

And you wonder, what is this?

What's happening?

Well, somebody made it known to Bart that it was Jesus of Nazareth going by.

And immediately a spark is lit in Bartimaeus

that probably caught everybody around him off guard.

Bartimaeus begins to shout.

He begins to cry out with a loud voice.

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.

This is a good time to notice Mark's precise language.

He began to shout.

Not just that he shouted once,

but he started to shout it

and he continued to shout it repeatedly in this moment.

And Bartimaeus must have been shouting it loudly

and causing quite a commotion

because as Mark tells us in verse 48,

many rebuked him and told him to be quiet.

Apparently, Bartimaeus was getting on people's nerves.

He was dominating the moment.

He was distracting people from what they wanted to be focused on.

They wanted to be focused on Jesus now moving through the streets,

walking through their city gates.

But then this guy here, he's making too much noise.

And notice who is rebuking Bartimaeus.

It says many were rebuking him

and telling him to be quiet.

So just imagine for a moment that you are Bartimaeus.

You're sitting there on the side of the road,

calling out to Jesus.

And everybody around you, it seems,

is turning on you.

They're saying things like,

man, would you shut up?

Be quiet.

I'm trying to hear.

I'm trying to see.

You're making too much noise.

And yet none of this dissuaded Bartimaeus

from continuing on.

It says he shouted all the more,

son of David, have mercy on me.

I love the persistence and the courage of Bartimaeus.

There's probably also some desperation there as well.

All of a sudden, Jesus stops.

Jesus stopped and said, call him.

So they called to the blind man,

cheer up on your feet.

He's calling you.

Suddenly the attitude of the people near Bartimaeus

just changes completely.

Cheer up on your feet.

He's calling you.

Can you imagine how Bartimaeus

must have felt in this moment?

Think of how many times

there on the side of the road

people had passed him by.

And now here is the one person

he wants to see most in the whole world.

And yes, with all the people here,

with the whole crowd here,

he's stopping for me.

He's calling me.

Throwing his cloak aside,

he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

We don't have cloaks like they did

back in their day and place,

but usually in the Bible,

it's that piece of clothing

that hinders your movement.

And so you either tuck it in

or you throw it off.

And that's what Bart does.

He throws it to the side,

he jumps to his feet

and he goes to Jesus.

We see his eagerness.

He's not going to miss this opportunity.

He gets to Jesus.

Jesus asks what he wants.

And he says,

Rabbi,

I want to see.

Beggars usually only ask

for one thing.

I don't know what your experience has been.

Occasionally,

something else maybe.

But usually,

it's one thing.

Money.

Bartimaeus asks for something

far greater.

Something way bigger than money.

He asks for something

that no amount of money

could ever buy.

I want to see,

says Bartimaeus.

That's what I want you to do for me,

Jesus.

And amazingly,

Jesus gives Bartimaeus

exactly what he asks for.

Go, said Jesus.

Your faith has healed you.

Immediately,

he received his sight

and followed Jesus

along the road.

Now,

I hope that our first response

to this story

is awe

and wonder.

Awe and wonder

that Jesus can do this.

He restored sight

to a blind person.

I mean,

this is no easy thing

to really appreciate this.

Some of us might have to

take another visit

to the optometrist.

You know,

nearsightedness,

farsightedness,

astigmatism,

those kinds of things

can be corrected

with a device

that they give you

to put over top

of your nose

or in your eyeballs.

Worst problems,

glaucoma,

cataracts,

and certain types

of retinal detachment

can sometimes

be cleared up

or mended

with surgery.

But here's a man

who had no sight.

He was blind.

And Jesus restores

his sight to him

in a moment

with a word.

This is the power

of God

at work

in this moment.

So I hope

that our first response

is awe

and wonder.

Next,

we've got to ask

the question,

what's the meaning

of this miracle?

What is this all about?

If God is at work

here in this moment,

what's he doing?

What does it mean?

And we're not going

to look at all

the passages

this afternoon.

We've done that

over the last couple years

as we work through

the Gospel of John.

But the clear teaching

of the New Testament

is that Jesus' miracles

served as signs.

They were confirmation

from God

that he really was

who he said he was,

that he really was

the one God had chosen.

And so the miracles

authenticated him

to the people.

Of course, yes,

they were also

acts of mercy

for the benefit

of the people

who received those healings.

No doubt about that.

But God wasn't going

to just call them

to believe

without giving them

evidence

that yes,

he is the one

I'm speaking through.

His words are my words.

And so that's

the general meaning

of the miracles

of Jesus

that the Bible

steers us towards.

And if we're meant

to look at this miracle

in that framework,

through that lens,

as a sign

that points to something

about Jesus,

what are we meant

to see

or conclude

about Jesus

through this?

I think the significance

of this entire passage,

this entire moment,

is found in the title

that Bartimaeus gives

to Jesus.

Let's look again

at verse 47.

Jesus,

son of David,

have mercy

on me.

So Bartimaeus

calls Jesus

the son

of David.

And we don't have time

this morning

to fully unpack that.

We could go back

into the Old Testament

and look through

all those passages.

Hopefully you're

noticing this,

those of you

who are reading

through the Bible.

There's a whole

backstory here.

There's a covenant

that God made

with David

almost a thousand years

before all this.

God sent his prophet

Samuel

to anoint David,

to pour oil

over David's head,

which signified

that he is

my chosen king

for my people,

Israel.

And God would go on

to make that special

covenant with David

and promise

that his kingdom

would endure forever,

from generation

to generation,

forever.

And then from that time

on,

as we keep working

our way through history,

God sent prophets

and he added promises

to that covenant

and that promise.

Prophecies,

many of them

expanding upon

all of that,

that one day

God is going to restore

the kingdom of Israel.

Even after it had been

conquered by foreign empires,

one day he's going

to restore the kingdom

to Israel

and through Israel

establish the greatest

kingdom that this world

has ever known

and it will be

the last kingdom

on earth.

So great,

so big,

that it will fill up

the whole world.

And on the throne

of this kingdom,

ruling over

all of the nations

of the world,

will be the king

of God's choosing,

the anointed one,

a descendant of David,

a son of David.

That was the promise.

That's what the word

Messiah means.

It means anointed one.

Same with the word Christ.

And so there was

great expectation

and great hope

when John,

the baptizing prophet,

appeared

and he started

announcing that

the Messiah was coming.

The people were

eager to see,

is this the time

that God will send

his chosen king

and establish

and renew

this great kingdom

that he has promised

for all these generations?

So this title,

Son of David,

it carries with it

the meaning of Messiah.

that is king

chosen by God

for Israel.

And this is what

Bartimaeus calls Jesus.

Jesus,

son of David,

have mercy on me.

He believed

Jesus

was the Messiah.

And in case

there's any doubt,

we can just look

quickly to a couple

other places.

In Matthew's gospel,

chapter 12,

verse 23,

on another occasion,

all the people

were astonished

when they saw

something of Jesus

and said,

could this be

the son of David?

So that title,

it was loaded.

In their minds,

it meant,

could it be

the promised one,

the Messiah?

That was the big question.

Bartimaeus' answer

to this question

was yes.

He is the son of David.

That's what he called him.

If we look ahead

to Matthew,

Matthew 21:15

chapter 21,

verse 15,

we see that the children

were there

shouting in the temple courts,

Hosanna

to the son of David.

And when the chief priests

and the teachers

of the law

heard this,

they were indignant.

They hated that

the children

would call Jesus that

because they didn't believe

Jesus was the Messiah.

though this is

the bigger story,

the context of this miracle

with Bartimaeus,

it's not just a lesson

of faith,

though it is that,

but it's about

who is this Jesus

and is the faith

of this man

who calls out to him

well-placed.

And the answer of God

through the miracle

that's performed

is yes,

he is the king

of my choosing.

He is the son of David.

He is the one

I've selected

for my people.

And when we see this,

we realize that Bartimaeus,

even though he was

an outcast,

even though he was blind,

he had something

truly remarkable

about him.

His faith was much deeper,

much bigger

than we maybe thought

at first

as we read this.

Not only did he believe

that Jesus could do

something truly wonderful,

giving him sight,

but he believed

that Jesus was

God's Messiah,

the son of David.

Which means,

for Bartimaeus,

it wasn't just about

getting his sight back.

He wanted that.

Notice how the passage ends

in verse 52.

Immediately he received

his sight

and followed Jesus

along the road.

Think about that.

I mean,

he could have got his sight

and then he could have

just gone off

and done whatever

he wanted to do.

But it was about

more than just his sight.

He saw that Jesus

was more

than just a miracle man.

He saw that Jesus

was God's Messiah.

And now what should I do?

Now that God's king

has come,

I will follow him.

There's so much more

that we could look at

and talk about here.

But I want to just

bring this home

and keep it simple

this morning.

Do you,

sitting here today,

believe that Jesus

is God's chosen king?

that one

who will rule

over this coming kingdom

when he returns

as God has told us

through his word.

Do you believe that?

It's much more

than an ancient Israel thing.

The clear message

of the Bible

is that Jesus

is coming back

and he will rule.

He will reign

over all the nations

of the earth.

Sometimes we think

about this

around Christmas time

with Isaiah chapter 9.

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

His kingdom,

his governing

will be characterized

by righteousness,

goodness,

peace,

justice,

and love.

But the clear message

of the scriptures

is that only those

who believe

that he is

the Messiah,

that he is

the son of David

will enter

into this kingdom

and enjoy it

as a citizen

while the rest

will get

what we all deserve

for our sins

against God.

Do you see

what happened here

with Bartimaeus?

God confirmed

with his divine power

to heal

that Bartimaeus'

faith

was well placed.

He confirmed

that yes,

Jesus really

was that king,

the son of David.

Do you believe

that?

Do you believe

that Jesus

is the Messiah?

Will you acknowledge

that

as Bartimaeus did?

Now,

most of you

already know that

and believe that.

and once

we've settled

that,

then we can

go on to learn

from Bartimaeus

as an example

of faith.

What did Jesus

say to him?

He said,

your faith

has healed you.

Now,

we shouldn't

take that

as a guarantee

that if you

believe in Jesus,

you're going to get,

no matter what

kind of sickness

it is,

you'll get it

healed instantly.

we can chat

about that

afterwards.

You can come

talk to me

afterwards about

why not

if that's a

question that

you have.

But

Bartimaeus'

faith is

commended

by Jesus.

Your faith

has healed

you.

Which means

that he's

an example

to us

of what

any one

of us

can do

with the

troubles

that we

face

in our

lives.

Bartimaeus'

trouble

was his

blindness.

What's

yours?

Is there

something in

your life

that's got

you desperate?

something maybe

that you've

been struggling

with,

maybe even

for years.

Maybe it's

something that

you've tried

to fix,

but that

you've realized

money can't

fix it.

Or this

thing that I

tried to do,

it didn't

work.

I've tried.

It seems

like it just

can't be

fixed.

Let me

ask you,

have you

cried out

to Jesus

in faith

for help

with this

trouble?

Some of

you have,

and I don't

want to say

that if it

hasn't changed

yet that it's

because you

haven't,

but some

of us maybe

we just

realize,

I haven't

even asked

God for

help with

this.

Have you

cried out

to Jesus

in faith

for help

with whatever

you're going

through?

For mercy?

For grace?

For wisdom?

For strength?

Whatever it is

that you need.

Have you

asked him?

Maybe you

have asked

him?

Maybe you

have asked

him, but

you simply

quit asking.

But Bartimaeus

is an example,

isn't he?

Of how

persistent

real faith

is.

When we

are in

trouble

and in

need of

what only

God can

provide,

Bartimaeus

shows us

how to

do it.

Again

and again

and again

he shouted,

Jesus,

son of

David,

have mercy.

And the

good news

is that

we see

from this

passage,

Jesus is

merciful.

He does

hear.

He is a

God of

compassion.

Are you

calling out

to Jesus

about the

trouble in

your life

unashamedly

and repeatedly

and with

all the

faith in

your heart.

Let me

remind you of

something Jesus

said on

another occasion.

He said,

ask and it

will be

given to

you.

Seek and

you will

find.

Knock and

the door

will be

opened to

you.

For

everyone who

asks

receives.

The one

who seeks

finds.

And to

the one

who knocks

the door

will be

opened.

God is

not stingy.

He wants

to answer.

He wants

to meet

your need.

Are you

calling out

to him?

Now we

can't

manipulate

God.

We can't

twist his

arm.

We can't

force his

hand.

But we

can do

like this

poor beggar

did.

We can

be

persistent

and we

can humbly

beg and

ask for

mercy in

whatever

trial,

whatever

trouble we

are faced

with.

We can

call out

to him

again and

again and

again.

And he

hears us.

And so I

want to

urge you to

do that.

With

whatever

troubles

you're

going

through,

big or

small,

bring them

to Jesus.

Ask for

his help.

if Jesus

cares for

the blind

Bart on

the roadside,

we better be

sure he cares

for every one

of us.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

we do this

now.

We ask

for your

grace.

We ask

for your

help.

for your

strength,

for your

wisdom,

for your

love,

for your

touch,

for your

healing.

You know

the trouble

in each

one of our

lives.

We bring

those things

to you.

We ask

for your

help.

And we

trust that

in your

time,

you will

answer,

you will

stop,

you will

look upon

us,

and you

will give

love.

Your word

is promised

that you

are a

compassionate

and gracious

God,

slow to

anger,

rich in

love,

abounding

in love.

Help us

to look

to you,

to wait

on you.

And we

pray for

your power

to be at

work in

us and in

our lives.

we ask

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

We are

going to

now move

into the

Lord's

table.

And we're

going to do

it a little

bit differently

today.

we're going

to do it

through song.

Sometimes we

have a quiet

time of

reflection,

but we're

going to

sing.

Before we

do that,

I just

want to

kind of

explain how

it will

go.

This is

something that

we do

once a

month.

We break

out bread

and grape

juice,

and those

things are

symbols.

We do

this to

remember

Jesus and

his love

for us.

That he

went from

Jericho to

Jerusalem and

was crucified

and died in

order that we

might be

forgiven of

our sins.

The bread

represents his

body, which

was broken,

and the

cup represents

his blood,

which was

shed, so

that our

sins would

be atoned

for.

Jesus said

it represents

a new

covenant, a

new deal, a

new arrangement

with God,

better than

the old one

back in the

days of

Old Testament

Israel.

This is a

new one, and

the deal is

this.

We come to

God, we

come to

Jesus, and

we acknowledge

what we have

done, our

sins.

We acknowledge,

we confess

those things, we

ask for his

forgiveness, and

we believe that

he will take

care of it and

forgive us

completely by

what Jesus did

for us, and

that's it.

We believe

that, and we

receive that as

a gift of

grace.

And that's the

good news of

the gospel, that's

what Jesus has

done, that's what

we celebrate every

time we come to

the Lord's table.

And so if you're

here and you

believe that, and

that's something

that you are

trusting in, what

Jesus did for

you, then please

partake with us when

we come to the

table.

After we sing this

next song, the

elders are going

to come up, and

they'll pass out

the bread and

the cup, and if

you're a believer,

born again, belong

to Jesus, and have

surrendered your

heart to him, then

please join with us

in this.

And I'll ask that

you just hold on to

the bread and the

cup until everybody's

been served, and

then once that's

happened, we'll give

thanks, and we'll

eat and we'll drink

together in

remembrance of

Christ.

Christ.

So I'll invite the

worship team to

come back, and

we'll sing one more

song in preparation

for that.

Thank you.

God bless you.

God bless you.

God bless you.

God bless you.

God bless you.

God bless you.

God bless you.

God bless you.

God bless you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for citizenship, which was purchased for us at the cross.

We love you.

We praise your holy name.

Amen.

Thank you.

You can put your cups in the little holders that are just in the seats in front of you.

If you're looking for a place to set it, I'll invite the worship team to come up and we'll close our service with one final song.

Please stand.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Please stand.