What do you want?
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· 1 viewGod has placed desires deep within your heart to discover and then delight in.
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Intro
Intro
Whatever your reason for not approaching Jesus is, you need to understand that He is good. He is good. He is good. Perhaps your view of God is a mean, uncaring, cosmic killjoy who wants nothing less than to ruin your life. Because that is what your life has looked like up to this point. On the other hand, maybe on the outset your life looks really comfortable, but you have been silently suffering inside. You put on a good face, a good smile, but inside, you are dying. Jesus is the face of God. He is the exact image of God. Colossians 1:15 says this,
English Standard Version Chapter 1
15 He is the image of the invisible God,
What we read of Him in the Gospels are the true accounts of God in the flesh reacting to hurts, oppression, disease, poverty, you name it.
Sam’s Story. Healed of gender dysphoria and blindness.
Lets read today out of the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10:46-52.
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.
This is the Word of the LORD.
I want us to take a little bit of time with this to see what it says and what it means for us. But then I want us to spend some time in our imagination and let it become a backdrop for prayer. We will end with an exercise of Lectio Divina and imaginative prayer, practices I mentioned to you in October, but we didn’t have time to practice together.
Let’s take a look at this passage:
Son of David
As we read this we see Jesus leaving Jericho with His disciples and this huge crowd. There’s a blind man there, Bartimaeus. He’s a beggar. There he is on the side of the road, sitting. But he hears that Jesus is coming by and he utters a phrase that we haven’t heard in the Gospel yet, “Son of David.”
This title is messianic and carries a lot of weight. Jesus fulfilled so many messianic prophecies and this title is so interestingly given to Jesus by one who physically could not see. In John 9, we read the story of another man born blind whom Jesus healed. The religious leaders, who rejected Jesus, kicked him out of the synagogue. It says in verse 35...
English Standard Version (Chapter 9)
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
These religious leaders were so blinded that they could not see what was right in front of them. In calling Jesus the Son of David, Bartimaeus saw better with two blind eyes than most did with two seeing eyes.
Sometimes, suffering can open us up to a different kind of desperation as well as deep spiritual truths. This outcast utters great truth about Jesus in this title, Son of David.
Have mercy
After this address, he pleads for mercy. He’s asking for help, for pity, for attention. He was used to being ignored. He was a beggar. People sometimes gave, but rarely looked at him, asked him questions, or treated him with dignity and respect. The Messiah was supposed to heal the blind according to Isa 35:5
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
Isaiah 35 (ESV)
1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2 it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4 Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” 5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. 10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Shut up!
The crowds told him to shut up. They rebuked him. “But he cried out all the more...”
The Jesus Prayer. Millions of people pray this prayer, even daily, but add “a sinner.”
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God,
have mercy on me, a sinner.”
After Bartimaeus prayed it, the texts says that when Jesus heard it, He stopped. The Greek is actually stronger and reads that Jesus stood still. This poor and powerless, destitute, desperate man stops Jesus in His tracks.
Desperation still stops Him.
Are you desperate for a touch from Jesus? To hear His voice? To receive His mercy? Will the crowds, the voices of others stop you from this desperation? Will your schedule, your drive, your need to impress others, etc.?
The Question
Vs 51-52, we read that Jesus not only healed him, but spoke with him. He gave him the dignity of his undivided attention when everyone else not only ignored his cries, but even told him to shut up!
His question was , “What do you want me to do for you?”
"Go”
But he doesn’t just leave and go do his own thing. He follows Jesus on the way. It is assumed that one of the reasons his name is mentioned by is that he became one of the disciples. If your salvation and healing does not lead to following Jesus, you have not been truly saved. They go hand in hand. Deliverance should lead to discipleship or apprenticeship. Jesus calls us to more than comfort. He calls us to be conformed into His likeness.
“Your faith has made you well.”
Well is the word for delivered or saved!
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
When a man delights himself in the Lord he is on the path to desiring the things that the Lord wants to do. This isn’t a blank statement. This isn’t an endless credit limit. This isn’t a genie in a bottle. This is communion with the God of all creation who can do anything! Communion with him opens so many possibilities if we are willing to submit our wills to His.
Delighting in him requires time, space, and solitude. Our hearts are so distracted, busy, anxious, and full of shiny images and ideas. We need to cultivate our garden. We need to weed and fertilize and water our hearts and minds so that our delight is truly in the LORD. Can you imagine a garden with weeds and overgrown who’s retaining walls are rotting and broken down? Would you imagine that the gardener delights in his garden? In the same way we must cultivate our own gardens if we are to see our desires become his desires. This is part of the delighting.
We delight ourselves in so many things in our affluent culture. We delight ourselves in entertainment, indulgence, distraction, dizziness, work, position, esteem from others, etc. Oh the shift that would happen in our soul, in our mental states, deep within our hearts, that would transpire if we would only delight ourselves in the Lord.
Practice
I wanted to do this last time with you. When I preached on Deeper Devotion: How to Make a Pickle. Anyone remember that? It takes 6 weeks to make a pickle if you don’t leave the jar. We just aren’t very good at staying in the jar. I want to give you some time to sit with Jesus today. Can we do that?
We are going to use an exercise from Adele Calhoun’s Spiritual Disciplines Handbook.
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us (Spiritual Exercises > Lectio Divina/Devotional Reading)
1. Using Mark 10:46–52
• Silencio. Put yourself in the presence of God. Become quiet and offer yourself to God.
• Lectio. Read Mark 10:42–46 out loud, slowly allowing the words to resonate and settle in your heart. Linger on the word or phrase that catches your attention and lights up for you. Sit with the word or phrase and savor it as a word of God for you.
• Meditatio. Read the passage again and listen to where the word connects with your life right now. Enter into the scene in your imagination. Imagination is a God-given gift. Envision the scene. Carefully watch the people. Listen to how they interact. What do you hear and experience as you watch and listen?
• Oratio. Read the passage one more time, listening attentively. Has God addressed you in this Word and invited you to respond? Allow the Scripture to lead you into a prayer response. Do not censure your thoughts or requests. Let them flow out spontaneously and freely before the Lord who loves you. Hold nothing back. Respond to God’s invitation to you.
• Contemplatio. Deeply receive God’s Word and rest in his presence and love. Give yourself some time to wait and be still before you reenter life as usual. Take God’s Word to you with you throughout the day. Return to it and remember it all day long. Stay with God until you feel prompted to leave.
The greater need of Bartimaeus.
Him using the term “Son of David”.
Those seeking mercy verses demanding. What is your posture towards Jesus?
Mark 10:46 (PNTC Mk): The difference in his position “beside the road” (Gk. para tēn hodon) at the beginning of the story and “on the road” (Gk. en tȩ̄ hodō̧) at the end of the story signifies the difference between being an outsider and an insider, a bystander and a disciple. What Bartimaeus lacks in eyesight he makes up for in insight.
"Bartimaeus, now set free from his blindness, represents all those who have found enlightenment and follow the Master. So as the pilgrim group sets off again up the Jerusalem road, with one additional member, the reader is prepared to witness the coming of the Son of David to ‘his’ city, and challenged to join him on the road." (Gospel of Mark, Frances R.T.)
"That Bartimaeus’s name was remembered and recorded probably means that he did become a disciple. The contrast between his sitting beside the road (v. 46) and his following Jesus on the road (v. 51) serves as a graphic picture of conversion."(NAC, James A. Brooks)
wk: God has put desires in your heart for your true self to discover and to delight in.
wk: If you will find your true self as God created you to be, you will find delight!
wd: Imagine yourself as Blind Bartimaeus responding to Jesus’ question.
wd: Jesus wants you to respond to His invitation.