Jesus heals a blind beggar

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. 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!" And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart. Get up; he is calling you." And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight." And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. - Mark 10:46‭-‬52 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Three observations of the blind beggar, Bartimaeus

His awareness

Bartimaeus was blind and so could not see the works of Jesus. But clearly he had heard of the works of Jesus. Blindness in those days meant that people would be resigned to begging for the rest their lives. He had positioned himself at a well traveled road in order to beg. We see this even today. Panhandlers find places where people pass by frequently. But he must've heard about the miracles of Jesus, so he when he heard that Jesus was passing nearby, the beggar cried out to Jesus. 

Note how Bartimaeus called out. He cried for mercy. He knew that he did not deserve anything from God. Not only that, but he called Jesus, "son of David", a Messianic title. Bartimaeus was acknowledging Jesus as God's representative. This beggar saw Jesus clearly and also saw himself clearly. This is in contrast to the disciples. They were asking Jesus for things like he was some sort of cosmic ATM. The disciples acted like God owed them something, as if they deserved something. 

So we can look into our lives. Do we act like God is our cosmic butler, here to serve us? Or is it God's kingdom come and His Will be done?

His boldness

The crowd rebukes Bartimaeus for being so loud. But he kept crying out. He knew that he could only find salvation in Jesus. This was not entitlement. This was a humble yet tenacious outcry. So we should see the same thing in our lives. We should have fervent prayer. Not expecting instant results but rather waiting on the one who can save and restore us. When we are frustrated and feeling stuck/hopeless, we should also plead earnestly and persistently to God.

We should pray with humble tenacity and humble boldness.

His commitment

Bartimaeus was blind and now could see. What a scene! Not only physical healing, but spiritual healing. In all the healings, this is the only one who is named. Why? Because he was around in the early church. He was likely a church leader. Jesus sends Bartimaeus on his way, but Bartimaeus instead follows Jesus. 

Consider that this was the time before Passover. Everyone was heading to Jerusalem. The pilgrims were packing the streets. Maybe even the disciples wanted to keep on their way rather than stop to meet this beggar. So it is with us. Maybe we don't want to welcome a newcomer on the church steps. May it not be so with us. We are all fellow beggars who have found sight & salvation. Let's live like it

Divorce & children

And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" He answered them, "What did Moses command you?"  They said, "Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away." And Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment.  But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.'  'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,  and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."  And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. - Mark 10:1‭-‬10 ESV

Pastor Justin Kim

Jesus addresses

What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?

1st story: Divorce

The Pharisees were trying to test Jesus and possibly trap him. So they asked him about divorce and whether divorce was allowed. Jesus to replies with a question, what did Moses command? Deuteronomy was the only old testament reference about divorce. It was hardly a command. The assumption here was that when Moses addressed divorce, it was already happening. Moses was only trying to minimize the damage from what was already happening. This was a trick question. Moses never made any commands about divorce. Jesus instead refers back to Genesis and the whole law. Marriage was never meant to be broken by man. The Pharisees were being asked about how far they could go. But that's the problem. We should not be asking how far we can go. How far before it becomes sin? But instead we should be asking how to better glorify God. The question is not whether divorce is sinful, but what is most glorifying to God. We should not look to see how far we can go on physical intimacy outside of marriage before it becomes sin.

2nd story: children

Children were not important during that that time and day. Jesus valued children. He wanted no hindrance to them, even though they were not valued. This was a radical idea. The children had inherent value. But not only that, he says that a childlike quality is needed for entry into heaven. We need to receive the kingdom like a child receives a gift. We should receive the gift of eternal life like how children receive good gifts from their parents. The Nigerian prince says you have a large financial inheritance, but instead of a scam, you accept and your bank account shoots up. But the heavenly inheritance is much, much greater. Unimaginable.

Kingdom oriented living is not something we have to do... It is something we get to do. It is the proper response to the great gift given to us by the blood and death of Jesus upon the cross.

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise."  But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, "What were you discussing on the way?"  But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."  And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me."  John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.  For the one who is not against us is for us.  For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.  "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.  And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.  And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell,  'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'  For everyone will be salted with fire.  Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." - Mark 9:30‭-‬43‭, ‬45‭, ‬47‭-‬50 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

The pursuit of greatness

From eating meals to financial decisions, many things were decided in light of what brought more importance. Who was more important was a big driver of how people were treated. The rich and powerful were treated respectfully. The poor and powerless were dismissed and disrespected. This is what the disciples were arguing over.

But Jesus gives a different perspective. He paints a picture of how His kingdom is ordered. It isn't about what others can do for you. It is about serving others. It is not what others can do for us. But it is about serving people around us. And not just that, but serving those who are unlike us. We are called to serve everyone. Jesus brings a child over. Children are not of much value in biblical times. There were the last of these and not of great importance. What can a child do for you? They could not make you more important or grant you any important favors. Jesus calls his disciples to serve them. 

So it is two mindsets contrasted with each other.

Is it me-for-you or is it you-for-me? Does your mindset orient towards our good or their good? Are your friends here for your good or is it for their good? Is your community/neighborhood for you or are you there to serve them? 

Then the disciples start complaining about someone they did not know casting out demons in Jesus name. What's wrong with that? This was not one of the group following Jesus. This was tribal, cliche-ish behavior. They were trying to build barriers rather than build bridges. But this is not what Jesus desires. Jesus wants us to reach out with love and truth to fellow believers. Not with contempt and condemnation. So today, how do we speak of those who are not woke? How do we treat fellow believers on the other side of the political spectrum? If it is with contempt and disgust, then we are not following Jesus. We are all of one body. We cannot mistreat the arm because we are of the leg and do not agree with how they do things. The church will never agree on everything on this side of eternity. But we will find out on the other side, who was right and who was wrong. Till then, we need to treat each other with grace and truth in prayer with God. 

How does God bring more saltiness to his church? He salts his church with fire. What does that mean? Trials and trouble for believers. Maybe covid is here to squeeze us and teach us to give up our preferences? Maybe racism will force us to have difficult conversations to learn to speak truth with love?