Mark 10:46-52  Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging.47 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!”  48 Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.  Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” 50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  51 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”  The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.”  52 Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

This is a very familiar text with so much meat; Jesus heals a blind man, proving that the blind can see.  A beggar named Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was passing by and believed that Jesus could help him see.  This story is multifaceted because it speaks to both non-believers as well as believers, but what is it saying?

For the Non-Believer:  Bartimaeus represents the man/woman that does not yet know Jesus and remains in sin.  He comes to a point in life where he realizes that life as he knows it is not how he wants to live.  Many are living life without Jesus Christ as their Savior and are far from satisfied in life.  They will prayerfully come to the same realization that Bartimaeus did, Jesus can bring light to the darkest of situations.  If you have not accepted the Loving Savior, who died on Calvary’s Cross so that all of your sins could be forgiven, Jesus is your salvation.  He did everything so that all you have to do is believe in His sacrifice for you.

For the Believer:  Bartimaeus was the son of Timaeus, which means “highly prized.”  He was therefore a son of significance, yet still could not see.  There are times in our Christian journey, where we as sons/daughters of the “King of Glory” cannot see Jesus as He is.  Jesus is so much to behold that we will never be able to comprehend Him fully, at least not until He comes back to get us.  Blindness is hindrance to sight and when our sight is hindered, we are unable to fully grasp the truth found in 1 John 4:17, “as He (Jesus) is, so are we (every believer) in this world.”  When we are unable to SEE who Jesus really is, we limit our ability to have a fulfilled life here on earth.  Bartimaeus needed more, his life was limited not just because of his blindness, but because he had not seen all that Jesus had to offer.  How we view Jesus will determine how we view ourselves and how well we live our lives every day.

We recently took the kids down to Disneyland; you know the happiest place on earth.  While there, we had a ball and one of our favorite things to do was to go to their 3-D theater shows.  The interesting thing about these shows is that Disney had to provide us special eye-wear in order for us to fully enjoy the show.  Had we watched the show with our own eyes, we would not be able to see the show the way the producer designed it.  Our vision would be blurry and unable to clearly make out what was on the screen, things would not appear to us as they really were.  Bartimaeus was given his sight, but also allowed to see the most beautiful sight ever known to man, JESUS.  The very first thing Bartimaeus saw when his eyes were opened was the “Alpha & Omega,” he received so much more than just healing.  Jesus always wants to show us more of him, and like Bartimaeus we will not only receive what we ask for but our eyes are opened to see Jesus clearly.  We see His Love, His Power, His Mercy, His Wisdom, His Favor, His Friendship, His Protection, His Omnipresence/Omniscience/Omnipotence, and our Savior.   Enjoy seeing Jesus like never before.