What Do You Want? (Mark 10:46-52) Part One

He had prestige, he had power, and he had wealth. But he wanted more, so he came to the man that he believed could help him achieve his goal. What was the goal that he was working towards? He wanted to know what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. How very different the rich young ruler was from Bartimaeus!

Bartimaeus was sitting on the side of the road while the large crowd went past him. He had nothing to contribute, nothing to give. He was simply begging. However, when he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by him, a spark of hope lit up his dark world, and he began to cry out in faith that the Son of David, Jesus, would have mercy on him.

He represented nothing more than an irritation to those who had come to see this man they had heard so much about, so they tried to silence his cries. But though Bartimaeus’ physical eyes were blind, he recognized that Jesus was the messiah, and so he would not be silenced but continued to cry out for mercy! The crowd’s attitude changed when Jesus stopped and called for him. Irritation was replaced by anticipation as they told the blind man to have courage and get up because Jesus was calling for him. Now they were hoping to see a performance. Perhaps they would get to see Jesus heal the blind man.

The blind beggar had only one possession, his cloak. He could use this garment as a coat or as a blanket to protect himself from the cold. As a beggar he would use his cloak to catch the coins that might be thrown his way. However, when he heard that Jesus was calling him he threw it off, jumped up with anticipation, and came to Jesus. For a blind man to cast aside his cloak in a crowd is significant.

Both the rich young ruler and the blind beggar wanted something from Jesus. The rich young ruler wanted to know what he needed to do to earn eternal life. The blind man could do nothing but beg for mercy. Jesus invited the rich young ruler to leave his possessions and to come and follow Him. The poor beggar flung away the only thing he had because he was hoping to receive mercy. The rich young ruler went away grieving, but the blind beggar by faith received sight and joyfully followed Jesus.