MODEL DISCIPLE
Opening Prayer
Lord God, thank you for your Word, for speaking to me through it. Please show me more reasons to praise you, to trust you, to be who you have made me to be.
Read MARK 10:46–52
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Can you think of someone who has just started their Christian journey? What can you learn from them? Do they have something that you have lost?For nearly a month we have been following the progress of Jesus’ disciples. They were so slow to appreciate who Jesus was and what it really meant to follow him. So like us! There were flashes of insight quickly followed by statements that showed they hadn’t a clue (notably Mark 8:27–33). The disciples seemed to struggle with spiritual blindness.
We conclude with the story of Bartimaeus who is presented as a model disciple. He responded to Jesus’ call (v. 49, 50); he abandoned his possessions (v. 50), received his sight, and immediately followed Jesus along the road (which we now know led to Jerusalem and the cross). All that Jesus had been trying to teach his disciples for months was modeled in a moment by Bartimaeus.
That’s the way it is for some people: radical conversion, complete change of lifestyle, unhesitating obedience, and no looking back. For many of us, Christian discipleship is rather more complicated, and progress is more inconsistent, as it was for the twelve. But isn’t it refreshing and challenging when we come across a Bartimaeus? Maybe we are guilty of over-complicating the Christian life. Maybe we need to recover that instinctively obedient response to the call of Jesus.
Apply
What about your faith walk? Do you see yourself drawing closer to Jesus, experiencing more of who he is?
Closing prayer
‘And Jesus, I have promised to serve you [thee] to the end; oh, give me grace to follow, my master and my friend’ (‘O Jesus I Have Promised’, John Ernest Bode, 1869).
Book and Author Intros
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