Cry to Jesus (Mark 10)

There is a lot that could be said about Mark 10. My favorite part of the passage has always been verses 35-45. I appreciate the reminder that true leadership is about service not power. But what struck me as I read today were the closing verses of the chapter: the story of Bartimaeus.

I think Bartimaeus stood out to me because of what we studied in our sermon last Sunday. On Sunday, we looked at the reasons that prayer goes unanswered. We said that one reason that we have unanswered prayer is that we are not persistent in prayer. Well, Bartimaeus is certainly an example of persistence. At the beginning of the story, Bartimaeus is calling out to Jesus over the throngs when he is told to shut up. Why were people annoyed by Bartimaeus' cries? I'm not sure. In the first-cenutry, people with handicaps like blindness were thought to be vile sinners or the children of vile sinners. Perhaps the crowds thought Jesus wouldn't want to have dealings with a man like that. Or, maybe Bartimaeus just had a really loud, really annoying voice. I guess we don't know for sure why the crowds told Bartimaeus to be quiet. All we know is that Bartimaeus did not get discouraged. Being told to stop yelling, he yelled all the louder. And his persistence paid off. Jesus heard him and called him. And ultimately, Bartimaeus was healed of his blindness.

I like Bartimaeus' story because it shows that persistence in prayer is rewarded. I also like Bartimaeus' story because of Bartimaeus' response. Being healed of his blindness, Bartimaeus followed Jesus. Having experienced the mercy of Jesus, Bartimaeus knew that he had to follow. And having experienced the mercy of God, we have the same obligation. We are not free to go our own way. Like Bartimaeus, we have to follow. The mercy of Jesus compels us to do what he did.