When a person loses one of his five senses, somehow his mind and body find a way to heighten the sensitivity of the remaining physical senses. Certainly this would have been so for the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. For a moment, imagine that you are there beside the road with him. Your increased senses let you know what the people may be eating, if they have any animals with them, and the last time they had a bath! You hear the birds chirping and even their wings beating as they fly by. Even the conversations of the insects are heard by you, and, for that matter, the things that passersby might be saying in secret to one another. Suddenly, there is a greater presence of people along the road, the earth seems to tremble with the force of their feet as they walk by, and the dust they are kicking up is almost enough to choke you on this hot afternoon. All of them seem to be talking excitably about a prophet, a healer called Jesus. Suddenly the beggar calls out to someone passing by, "Excuse me! Excuse me! But can you tell me what all the commotion is about, and who is this Jesus the people are saying wonderful things about...!?"
Look at Mark 10:46-49. "Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus...was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept on crying out all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!' And Jesus stopped and said, 'Call him here.' So they called the blind man saying to him, 'Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.' " In the Amplified Bible, where it says he was told to be quiet, it says, "...but he kept on shouting all the more..."
Are you seeing the pattern here? The woman with the issue of blood, Jairus the temple official, and now blind Bartimaeus all have things in common, but most of all, they boldly do everything they can to get the attention of the Lord. Isn't it wonderful that we always have His attention? Yes, we do! The scripture is clear about that in Hebrews 7:25 when it says, "...He always lives to make intercession for (us) them." We are, you are, always on His mind!
Do you find it amusing, as I do, that when Jesus called for him, the attitude of the people changed from, "Be quiet!" to, "take courage!" Sometimes it is fun just to put yourself in the moment. When Jesus calls for him, suddenly everyone puts on their best Sunday-go-to-meeting-face and their "No, we were not fussing while we were riding on the camel on the way to church" look. Can't you hear them saying, "Yes! Amen! The Loooorrrrd has called for you brootther! Halleleiujah! Glory to God! I knew all along He would heal you, brother" Am I mocking? Yes. Is there truth in it? Do I behave that way sometimes...?
We will continue this visit with blind Bartimaeus in Part 8.
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