Ask The Blind Man… He Saw It All
What can Bartimaeus teach us about how we ought to approach Christ?
“Throwing aside his (Bartimaeus) cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus.” Mark 10:50
Just recently, I was recalling an event that happened to me in 1988 when I was four years old. My dad had taken me for a bicycle ride one evening, and I got lost. All I remember was, I was a four-year-old lad, lost in a neighbourhood I knew very little about, far away from home, with a bicycle twice my size to drag along with me. I remember tugging this red bicycle almost half a mile, taking the lift to the eleventh floor, walking along the building corridor then taking another two flights of stairs up to the twelfth. By then, I was worn out, my shirt was drenched in sweat and tears. I was scared. But nonetheless, I was sure glad to be home in the safety and comfort of my loving parents.
I have over the last thirty years, on occasions thought about this event, but only recently did I realise something — I actually had a choice. All throughout my journey home I had a choice, when realising I was lost, to leave my bicycle there, and walk home. Nobody forced me to drag that stupid bicycle with me, it was a choice I personally made and till today, own.
Now let’s have a look at the above passage (Mark 10:46–52) that speaks about a man called Bartimaeus. So, here’s Bartimaeus, a blind man, calling out to Jesus as He walks pass saying, “Son of David, have mercy on me”. When Christ responds and calls him to come, he immediately throws aside his cloak, jumps up and goes to Him. Jesus then asked him, “what do you want me to do for you”. Bartimaeus says to Jesus, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” Jesus then heals the man saying to him “Go; your faith has made you well”. Bartimaeus immediately regains his sight and follows Jesus on the road.
This article will seek to answer 4 questions:
1) How should we approach Christ when He calls?
2) What really makes us choose one action over the other?
3) What are ‘cloaks’ and how do we identify them?
4) What is the best way to throw your ‘cloaks’ away and never look back?
How should we approach Christ when He Calls?
Knowledge
Bartimaeus’ had a knowledge of Jesus’ divinity. Scripture is silent as to how this blind man who has never met Jesus, knew that he was the Son of David. Nonetheless, he acted based on that knowledge. Would he have acted the way he did if he did not know this? He knew exactly who he was approaching. The Son of David. The Messiah! Who is Christ to you? Who do you believe Him to be?
Faith
Bartimaeus had the faith that this man Jesus possessed the power to heal him. Another way of seeing this was that he already knew that he was going to be healed. He had confidence in Christ! His faith was based on the knowledge he had of Jesus. That was Bartimaeus’ faith. He didn’t approach Christ as loser begging to win. He approached Christ as a victor claiming his prize — the prize to see!
Action
Going to Jesus was one thing, going empty handed, was totally another. Bartimaeus threw everything aside, jumped up, went to Jesus, and then followed Him. These actions were driven by the knowledge he had of God, and the faith that he had already been healed. Here is a blind man who took faith to another level. After getting a revelation of who this man truly was, he responded accordingly, by faith, leaving everything behind. This is an exercising of his free will. No one forced him to do it. Just like no one forced me to drag my bicycle with me. He could have responded differently. Most of us in such a situation would, and many of us… already do.
What made Bartimaeus choose Christ over his cloak?
We could assume that the cloak Bartimaeus threw aside was the only garment he possessed beside maybe his loincloth. Even though this cloak was everything he possessed at the time, he readily dropped it and went to Christ. How did he manage to do that? The answer is found in what he truly valued. The best way I could phrase it is,
Bartimaeus gave up something he loved, for something he loved more.
There was a shift in what he valued. This sudden shift stemmed from what he knew about who Christ was, and in what Christ had already done for him. It was based on Truth! Not what he thought of Christ, but what he knew, with certainty! Do you know who your Christ is with certainty?
The Apostle Paul sums it up almost sixty years later by saying,
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).
Are we, like Bartimaeus and Apostle Paul, willing to forsake all for the sake of Christ? Does your value of Christ outshine all your earthly possessions? You see, if Bartimaeus had messed this up, he would not have acted the way he did. If Apostle Paul messed this up, he would not have been who he was. And if we keep messing this up, we will never be who we ought to be.
Now let’s have a look at some ‘cloaks’ you need to forsake.
What does your ‘cloak’ look like?
Some examples could be:
· Pornography
· Compulsive masturbation
· Women
· Brothels
· Massage parlours.
· Your smartphone to access or facilitate all of the above ‘cloaks’.
My definition of ‘cloak’ in this context is,
anything that is causing you to stumble on your journey to Christ, or hindering you from enjoying His goodness and freedom, to the greatest!
One way to know if something is a ‘cloak’ is to find out the affection you show toward it when called to throw it aside. Are you dependent on it? Do you crave for it? Do you feel yourself wanting more of it when less is supplied?
What’s the best way to let go of your ‘cloaks’ and never look back?
Ok, you’ve decided to quit all your bad habits and everything that is hindering you from becoming like Christ and it wasn’t too bad after all. You feel great. Saintly. All’s going well, until a few weeks later that you realise those temptations and desires slowly beginning to creep back into your life. You’re watching that porn again. You’re back to your old ways of thinking and behaving. Your old and corrupted self has returned and you feel like a loser, and the whole process starts all over. You drop one cloak today and pick up another three the next. Before I give my suggestion, I need to make one thing clear. God’s work is perfect, He did not mess up; you did. The problem lies in you, not God. Ok? Are we clear on that? Good. So, keeping all that in mind, let’s now look at where YOU messed up together with some solutions.
In my experience of bouncing up and down like this, I found one major reason:
I did not know Him for all He’s worth
That statement is a sad story of who I was. I tear up as I write this. I did not know my Saviours worth. I kept on thinking He was forsaking me. He’s left me. But I was wrong. That was what the Satan wanted me to believe. The fault was in me! My theology was weak! My view of God was small! My ideas of God were perverted! My foundations were shaky! Every single fault began with me. Christs’ work was perfect. My response was deeply flawed. I would drop one cloak today only to pick it back up tomorrow.
The problem is, many of us have a ‘Santa Claus’ view of God: a man with a big beard sitting on a golden chair on the clouds (that’s why I hate those Sunday School depictions of God!). You need to get yourself a view of God so big and magnificent it outshines all the other pleasures this world can ever offer that it makes it look like ‘dung’. A view that will make you bow down and worship in awestruck wonder. A small view of God will make us assign a small value to Him. It’s no wonder we chose porn over Christ. Ok lets talk solutions now:
- Understand what the Gospel really means (Greg Gilbert’s What Is The Gospel is a good start. Short but loaded in content).
- Know the Attributes of God. Understand who He really is (A W Tozer’s Attributes of God is my favourite on this topic).
- Know about the beauty of worshiping God and finding pleasure and joy in Him (John Piper’s Expository Exultation is a great resource. Quite a tough read but certainly worth the time)
- All in all, study Scripture! Memorise it. Meditate on it. Saturate your whole mind with God’s word. You can never have enough of Scripture in your head.
In Conclusion
The value you place on the choices that life lay’s before you will influence the decisions you make that lead to outcomes that either draw you towards holiness and the things of God, or away from it. By saying yes to Christ, Bartimaeus had essentially said no, to the entire world. He placed all his value in Christ while removing all value from what he owned. He clearly knew who Jesus was and what he represented on earth. He called out to Jesus in faith. He approached Him enthusiastically, leaving all behind. Do we constantly cry out to the Son of David to have mercy on us but insist on bringing all our cloaks and bicycles shoved into a suitcase along for the ride?
It’s not because you are placing too much or too little value on Christ. It’s because you have placed a value on the things of this world, alongside with Christ.
The only value you ever place must be placed exclusively in the person and finished work of Christ. He is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). You are His prized possession (James 1:18), called by name (Isaiah 43:1), set apart from your mother’s womb (Galatians 1:15). So tell me, after knowing all this, will you run to Christ, forsaking it all? Search deep and ask yourself, where do you truly place your value.
