In Luke 18, there is a story about a blind man just outside of Jericho. He was sitting by the roadside begging. That was the only thing that he knew to do. That was his only way of making a living. Life had dealt him a hard blow. He could never, never, never, never be like the majority of mankind who could see. He was condemned by circumstances to be a helpless, blind beggar until the day he died.
Does that sound familiar to you? Do you feel that life is passing you by and you will be no better than you are now? Do the circumstances that surround you dictate your constant failure? Possibly you are in an invironment that does not promote healthy, vibrant Christianity. Maybe that invironment is your home. Or, unfortunately, that invironment could be the church you attend. Sadly, the last statement is far too often the truest statement of all. Most churches, not all, but most churches are the main reason that God cannot move.
One day, this blind man heard a commotion. Being blind, he asked what was going on. Someone told him that Jesus was passing his way. The blind man had heard about Jesus. First of all, let me say that what he did next was not the result of the local church. The local and national church of that day despised Jesus just like they do today. He had heard the testimony of people whose lives Jesus had touched and ministered to. Do you remember that he was sitting by the roadside? Notice he was not in church. That was in his favor. That roadside he was begging at was the main road that led to Jerusalem. The temple was at Jerusalem and it was commanded by God that the men show up three times a year to worship there. A lot of people came through Jericho to Jerusalem and then back through Jericho to go home. Out of all the people that were coming and going at that point in time, Jesus happened to be one of them.
As I said before, every man had to come to the temple in Jerusalem at least three times a year. In the past three years since His baptism and empowerment by the Holy Spirit, Jesus made His appearance at least 7 or 8 times. Of course, this was to be His last because He was going to be crucified. As you read the New Testament, every where Jesus went, he blessed and healed people. Crowds followed him all of the time. So, in the past few years, out of all the gossip he heard on the road outside of Jericho, this blind man began to hear something new. That God had sent His Son to the earth. He kept hearing of how this Jesus was more than just a religious man. He carried the message from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that God had come down in the form of a human and was performing miracles.
I can see this man, Bartimaeus Mark 10:46, sitting on this same road for years. Business was great during the days of the feasts. There was more traffic. More traffic meant more money. More traffic meant more gossip. That was how he kept up with the news, by listening to what everybody said. However, these surges in traffic three times a year began to take on a different tone. The news was different. Peoples voices got louder. There was more excitement than there used to be. And it all centered around........Jesus. Not the religious leaders. Not what the church was doing. But what Jesus was doing. God sent His Son to bring deliverance and His Son was getting the job done. All the religious leaders were doing was playing around talking about the good stories of the Bible. The news on the street was what God was doing in the lives of people. There was more excitement about God on the street three times a year than there ever was in the church for hundreds of years.
As Bartimaeus kept hearing of Jesus and His miracles, his faith in God began to grow. He began to experience hope for the first time in his life. The more he heard about miracles, the more hope began to spring up in his life. Finally, this one day, Jesus was passing by and he knew that this might be the only opportunity to receive his healing. He made so much noise trying to get Jesus' attention that the two-faced religious people tried to stop him until Jesus commanded for them to bring him to Him. Do you think that Bartimaeus was louder than anyone else? I don't think so. Besides, the crowds that followed Jesus were pretty big. And a pretty big crowd brings a bunch of noise. Well, was it the fact that he was crying out for Jesus to have mercy? Not exactly. Although that would be a great prayer for the whole world to pray.
It wasn't the words Bartimaeus prayed that got Jesus' attention above all the other words that were being spoken at that time. It was Bartimaeus' heart that Jesus heard, not just his words. Bartimaeus had heard testimony after testimony about how Jesus had changed the lives of hundreds of people. People's voices that he had heard for years had begun to ring with the praises of Almighty God instead of the curses and woes that he normally heard. Instead of gossip, jealousy and anger, there was joy, gladness and praise. It wasn't just fleeting words, he heard a change in people's lifestyle. Grouchers had become glad. Sinners had become saints. Instead of cursing they began praising God and encouraging each other. People had been healed and that was exciting. But the daily change of a life turned over to Jesus was what Bartimaeus noticed the most. That was what Bartimaeus wanted more than anything. Not just a miracle but a whole lifestyle change.
The heart of Bartimaeus cried out for a relationship with the Holy One of Israel. He wasn't interested in the bland diet of the local church. He wanted a vibrant life like the ones he was hearing about every day. Healing of the flesh is great. But the healing of a heart broken by sin is the greatest healing that could ever take place. Bartimaeus wanted a relationship with Jesus that would open up the rest of his life to love, joy, and peace and not just the same old, same old. So, it wasn't what he said that Jesus heard. It was Bartimaeus' heart and he faith that Jesus heard above the crowd. Bartimaeus didn't want just the one-time blessing. He wanted the excitement of a relationship with Jesus.
Jesus is not just a one time God. He is the every day presence that makes life worth the living. It is not how much church you have in you that makes people sit up and take notice. It is how much Jesus you are walking around with. Take some time to know Him today. Give Him space to change whatever He needs to change in your life so that others will see Him more than they know which church you belong to.
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