David Leventhal

A blind beggar in Israel did not have much hope.  An outcast….seen by the religious leaders of the day as being cursed by God.  His blindness a result of his sin or the sin of his parents.  Destined to a life of begging…sitting on the side of the road hoping his daily provision would come through the merciful coins of strangers that passed his way.  Not a very hopeful existence.

In Mark 10:46-52 we find one such man.  Mark goes out of his way to make sure we know this man’s name.  He is “Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus…”  The Greek prefix “Bar” means “son of” (cf. Matthew 16:17 & Acts 13:6).  Mark’s readers would have known that “Bartimaeus” meant that this man was the son of Timaeus.  And yet – Mark repeats it so we would know that this is “Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus.”  Mark wants us to know his name.  Timaeus means “highly prized” or “honor.”  This blind man’s name means “son of honor”…the “highly prized one”- though as he sits on the side of the road begging you might think otherwise.  And yet – one day as he sits begging he hears the low murmur of a crowd headed his direction.  He hears that Jesus was going to pass his way.  He has heard of Jesus – the man of God who works miracles.  Perhaps he has heard about the other blind man who Jesus healed (Mark 8:22-26).  Or how he raised the little girl from the dead, or opened the ears and mouth of a deaf/mute man.  We don’t know how much detail he had on Jesus but we do know that he believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah.  And so he shouts – loud, repeatedly, embarrassingly – “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  When those in the crowd told him to shut up he merely increased his shouts – louder and more annoying.  Though he could not see – his voice was plenty healthy. 

And here we have three words that forever changed Bartimaeus’ life:  “And Jesus stopped…”  Jesus was busy.  He was surrounded by people who were vying for his attention.  He was on his way to Jerusalem to sacrifice his life.  And yet – when He heard the cries of this man asking for mercy from the Messiah He stopped.  In spite of the crowd.  In spite of the journey to Jerusalem. In spite of a lot of things…Jesus stopped & he healed this man.  This “son of honor.”

And thankfully Jesus still stops.  When we find ourselves, for whatever reason, sitting on the side of the road crying out for mercy, it’s good to know that the One who brought sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, peace to those drowning in chaos & life to the dead is still in the business of stopping.  

There’s a lot more we could stew on with respect to this passage – its strategic placement after the James & John ask for the places of “honor”, the Son of David title used by the beggar, etc…  But for now I’m going to just focus on the fact that Jesus still stops for me….for you….and for anyone who cries out for mercy.