The Time Jesus' Followers Told a Man to Stop Trying to Get the Lord's Attention
They misunderstood Jesus' mission.
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to die on the cross and be raised from the dead (Mark 10:32-34).
Most did not grasp what was about to happen - it seems many thought Jesus was about to take over the throne in Jerusalem, and they wanted in on the revolt against Rome (Mark 10:35-41).
Jesus took His closest followers aside and explained that His kingdom was not going to be a kingdom like they imagined (Mark 10:42-45). His kingdom would be a kingdom of servants.
Blind Bartimaeus
On the way to Jerusalem, they came to Jericho. As they were leaving Jericho, Jesus and the great crowd traveling with Him passed by a blind beggar named Bartimaeus.
When Bartimaeus heard that the reason for this great crowd was Jesus, he began to cry out - and he kept crying out - “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47). By referring to Jesus as the “Son of David" Bartimaeus is saying Jesus is the Messiah. Perhaps he had heard of the things Jesus had done. Perhaps he was also familiar with what the Scriptures said of the Messiah.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” (Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 61:1-2)
Either way, this blind beggar knew what the Messiah could do for him if He chose. So he kept crying out for Jesus over and over again.
Jesus’ Followers
I have always read right over the response of Jesus’ followers without giving it much thought, but this time it stood out to me.
The text says, “And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent” (Mark 10:48). According to Mounce, “rebuke” means “to assess a penalty; to allege as a crimination.” The crowd is telling Bartimaeus that what he’s doing is wrong, and he needs to be quiet.
Perhaps they thought that Bartimaeus would delay - and maybe even jeopardize - the Lord’s efforts to establish His kingdom.
Whatever they thought - they believed Bartimaeus was causing problems for Jesus and His mission by his continual crying out for Jesus.
However, Jesus showed how wrong His followers were by calling Bartimaeus to Himself and healing him (Mark 10:49-52). After Jesus healed him, Bartimaeus followed the Lord.
What About Us?
Because Jesus’ followers misunderstood His mission, they thought Jesus had more important things to do than help the hurting.
Today, many of us devote a tremendous amount of time and resources to teaching and preaching the good news of Jesus to others. The Lord’s church tries to communicate to the world what Jesus had done for them. This is good and right (Matthew 28:18-20). But sometimes, we forget that the Lord’s mission includes helping the hurting.
Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that helping the hurting and proclaiming the gospel go hand-in-hand (Matthew 4:23).
As Christians, how could we help the hurting in our communities and tell them the good news of Jesus?
As congregations of the Lord’s people, how could we reach out to the suffering in our communities with physical help and spiritual help?
Is it possible we have missed the focus of the Lord’s mission?