The Story of Bartimaeus
April 7, 2019

The Story of Bartimaeus

Preacher:
Series:
Passage: Mark 10:46-52

 

Pastor Nick demonstrates how we are able to lead others to Christ by replicating His manner of generating lasting momentum.  Following is the text of Nick's message.

Introduction: Momentum is an intriguing concept??? You can have forward momentum and backward momentum. We as Christians especially deal with the ebb and flow of the momentum in our walk with Christ. We can be on fire for the Lord with a zeal to win the lost and other times, it is all we can do not to doubt God. But I don’t want to look so much this morning at our momentum. Rather at how Jesus created a momentum all the way to the cross.

So…How did he do it?  What caused the disciples to leave their families, large crowds to gather around him, and for people all across the land to call his name?

We are moving into the Easter season rapidly as Palm Sunday is precisely one week from today. Our sermon series on ‘momentum’ is concluding, but our momentum to celebrate a risen savior is just beginning!

 

So what was it about Jesus’ life that inspired men and women to carry the good news of His death, burial, and resurrection all the way to us this morning? It is actually quite simple really and I am going to share three aspects of Jesus’ ministry that God laid immovable from my heart this week in sermon preparation.

 

The beauty in today’s message is that we can duplicate these distinct characteristics of Christ in a way that will carry the momentum of his resurrection on for many more years to come.

 

  • Jesus Christ was a teacher, everywhere he went he taught all those willing to listen to him…so Christ taught God’s message
  • Jesus Christ proclaimed a message of repentance…so Christ proclaimed
  • Jesus Christ healed those who had faith in Him…So he healed

 

  • He Taught
  • He Proclaimed
  • He Healed

 

If there were going to be a written test, which there is…please reach under your seat and you will find taped under each one a written exam…No, kidding of course…but if there were, these three things would be on it.

 

These three characteristics of Jesus will be the morsels we extract from our Scripture texts this morning.

 

We are going to work backwards a little bit and start with an example of Christ’s healing.

 

We are about to meet a man named Bartimaeus.

 

I want you all to imagine that you are this man., he is the biblical character in our first text this morning.

  • You’re blind and have spent much of your life unable to see.
  • All your other senses are likely heightened in the absence of sight
  • You have acute hearing, ability to smell, touch etc…you all are Bartimaeus this morning.

 

SETTING: Let me set the stage a little bit for you.   Jesus is approaching Jerusalem and His triumphal entry into the city, also known affectionately as Palm Sunday. This is the last encounter recorded by Mark before Jesus enters the city and eventually is crucified.  His entire ministry has culminated up to this point.

 

Turn with me to Mark 10:46-52

 

What stands out to you…

  1. “Together with a large crowd”…momentum…If you’re Bartimaeus and blind, you hear the roar of the crowd in the distance…you’re asking yourself who could it be?
  2. Bartimaeus’ exclamation, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” How did he know who Jesus was? Christ’s momentum superseded his own presence. Everyone was talking about this man who taught, proclaimed, and healed.
  3. Many rebuked Bartimaeus and told him to be quiet…but he couldn’t…something stirred inside him that caused him to shout for Christ’s Mercy.
  4. Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus (THROW CLOAK???)
  5. Jesus’ answer “What do you want me to do?” Such a straight to the point kind of question? “I want to see” said Bartimaeus…and my favorite part
  6. Jesus’ response: “Go” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you”
  7. Finally, Bartimaeus…after receiving his sight…could have run off and experience all the things his sight now gave him…after all…Jesus told him to go. But he “followed Jesus along the road.”

 

What was it about this Jesus guy that caused people to follow him, and you can’t simply say it was his miracles…Bartimaeus was free to go!  Let’s turn to scripture to find out.

 

Matthew 4:23-25

 

  • He taught
  • He proclaimed
  • He Healed

 

Jesus had to withdraw from the crowds at times, cross the waterways to try to continue in His ministry, but they never stopped pursuing Him.

 

All week I could not shake these three aspects of Christ illuminated by Matthew…He taught, he proclaimed, he healed…he taught, he proclaimed, he healed. Then, my curiosity grew even more as to what was it was that Jesus was teaching?

 

I landed in our next passage found in:

 

Matthew 5:3-12

 

What if we taught the oppressed, the poor, and the meek that they have a reward in heaven awaiting them someday?  While you may have only a few material things in this life…You have everything in the next.

 

Jesus taught of a hope…a hope that rescued people from the decay seen in everyday life.

 

The same decay all around us.  Betrayal, lies, manipulation, pain, sorrow, and tragedy… Powerful people oppressing the poor, the week, and the outcasts.

 

And here is Jesus, exclaiming that you cannot be too lowly for God to love you. Let me show you the way.

 

That is the kind of message that can gain some serious momentum…the kind still going 2,000 years later!

 

Jesus taught, Jesus proclaimed, and Jesus healed

 

If your following along, we have addressed each of these except for what Jesus……………proclaimed

 

Turn with me to Matthew 4:12-17

 

Specifically 4:17 “From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near'

 

He proclaimed a message of repentance. If you followed along from last week…who else preached a message of repentance.

 

Brian [Atwell] taught us that there was a man who came to prepare the way for the one who is to come…Do you remember that John had the Holy Spirit upon him in his mother’s womb.

 

The same Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove when John baptized Jesus, the same spirit that proclaimed the same message of repentance.

 

Now, to get real for a moment, as much as it hurt Brian to so candidly speak of the unspeakable place, that being hell, repentance is a very important proclamation. If you want to spend eternity with God, we had better all repent of our sins…me included.

 

Jesus heals eternally and transforms people’s lives forever when you accept him as your Lord and Savior.

 

Remember that man Jesus healed in the beginning of my message, what was his name again?

 

Well, let’s check in with Bartimaeus and SEE things in a different perspective?

 

Video

 

He is the Messiah!

 

He is the Messiah!

 

What were the three things Jesus did during his ministry?

 

  • He taught
  • He proclaimed
  • He healed

 

The most striking thing to me about Bartimaeus is that Jesus healed Bartimaeus’ spiritually as well as physically because of something Bartimaeus did.   He put his faith in Jesus Christ!

 

There is a generation all around us that needs to here the good news about Jesus.  We are really going to focus on this good news in the coming weeks as we get to celebrate a resurrected Christ!

 

We have established that serving is a very important part of our faith.  It allows us to give back something to God for our salvation.

 

But it, more importantly….opens the door for us to earn the trust of those we serve so we can tell them about Jesus. When that door creeps open…don’t burst through it tell people they need to repent…tell people that there is hope…be like Christ and let’s follow his method.

 

  • We are to teach the gospel to those whom our serving allows us the opportunity.

 

  • We are to proclaim that sin is real, all God asks of us is to repent from our brokenness and place our faith in His Son Jesus.

 

  • And the most beautiful part, while we may not get to physically heal someone, being the avenue that shares Jesus with someone who needs Him heals people eternally to God. Jesus of course gets all this glory, but we have a part in this wonderful healing

 

We go forward into the Easter season by teaching, proclaiming, and offering a way to be healed. That dear brothers and sisters…will create some serious momentum for this body of believers affectionately known as Riverton Christian Church!

 

Alter Call/Closing Prayer