Expository Thoughts On Mark – Mark 10:46-52 - John Charles Ryle

We read in these verses an account of one of our Lord’s miracles. Let us see in it, as we read, a vivid emblem of spiritual things. We are not studying a history which concerns us personally no more than the exploits of Caesar or Alexander. We have before us a picture which ought to be deeply interesting to the soul of every Christian.

In the first place, we have here an example of strong faith. We are told that as Jesus went out of Jericho, a blind man named Bartimaeus “sat by the wayside begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”

Bartimaeus was blind in body, but not in soul. The eyes of his understanding were open. He saw things which Annas and Caiaphas, and hosts of letter-learned Scribes and Pharisees, never saw at all. He saw that Jesus of Nazareth, as our Lord was contemptuously called–Jesus, who had lived for thirty years in an obscure Galilean village–this very Jesus was the Son of David–the Messiah of whom prophets had prophesied long ago. He had witnessed none of our Lord’s mighty miracles. He had not had the opportunity of beholding dead people raised with a word, and lepers healed by a touch. Of all these privileges, his blindness totally deprived him. But he had heard the report of our Lord’s mighty works, and hearing had believed. He was satisfied from mere hear-say, that He of whom such wonderful things were reported, must be the promised Savior, and must be able to heal him. And so when our Lord drew near, he cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”

Let us strive and pray that we may have like precious faith. Like Bartimaeus, we are not allowed to see Jesus with our bodily eyes. But we have the report of His power, and grace, and willingness to save, in the Gospel. We have exceeding great promises from His own lips, written down for our encouragement. Let us trust those promises implicitly, and commit our souls to Christ unhesitatingly. Let us not be afraid to repose all our confidence on His own gracious words, and to believe that what He has engaged to do for sinners, He will surely perform. What is the beginning of all saving faith, but a soul’s venture on Christ? What is the life of saving faith, when once begun, but a continual leaning on an unseen Savior’s word? What is the first step of a Christian, but a crying, like Bartimaeus, “Jesus have mercy on me?” What is the daily course of a Christian, but keeping up the same spirit of faith? “Though now we see Him not, yet believing we rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:8.)

We have, in the second place, in these verses, an example of determined perseverance in the face of difficulties. We are told that when Bartimaeus began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me,” he met with little encouragement from those who were near him. On the contrary, “many charged him that he should hold his peace.” But he was not to be stopped. If others did not know the misery of blindness, he did. If others did not think it worth while to take such trouble, in order to obtain relief, he, at any rate, knew better. He cared not for the rebukes of unfeeling bystanders. He heeded not the ridicule which his importunity probably brought on him. “He cried the more a great deal,” and so crying obtained his heart’s desire, and received his sight.

Let all who wish to be saved, mark well this conduct of Bartimaeus, and walk diligently in his steps. Like him, we must care nothing what others think and say of us, when we seek the healing of our souls. There never will be lacking people who will tell us that it is “too soon,” or “too late” that we are going “too fast,” or “too far” that we need not pray so much, or read our Bibles so much–or be so anxious about salvation. We must give no heed to such people. Like Bartimaeus, we must cry the more, “Jesus have mercy on me.”

What is the reason that men are so half-hearted in seeking Christ? Why are they so soon deterred, and checked, and discouraged in drawing near to God? The answer is short and simple. They do not feel sufficiently their own sins. They are not thoroughly convinced of the plague of their own hearts, and the disease of their own souls. Once let a man see his own guilt, as it really is, and he will never rest until he has found pardon and peace in Christ. It is they who, like Bartimaeus, really know their own deplorable condition, who persevere, like Bartimaeus, and are finally healed.

In the last place, we have, in these verses, an example of the constraining influence which gratitude to Christ ought to have upon our souls. Bartimaeus did not return home as soon as he was restored to sight. He would not leave Him from whom he had received such mercy. At once he devoted the new powers, which his cure gave him, to the Son of David who had worked the cure. His history concludes with the touching expression, he “followed Jesus in the way.

Let us see in these simple words, a lively emblem of the effect that the grace of Christ ought to have on every one who tastes it. It ought to make him a follower of Jesus in his life, and to draw him with mighty power into the way of holiness. Freely pardoned, he ought to give himself freely and willingly to Christ’s service. Bought at so mighty a price as the blood of Christ, he ought to devote himself heartily and thoroughly to Him who redeemed him. Grace really experienced will make a man feel daily, “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits.” It did so for the apostle Paul–he says, “the love of Christ constrains us.” (2 Cor. 5:14.) It will do so for all true Christians at the present day. The man who boasts of having a saving interest in Christ, while he does not follow Christ in his life, is a miserable self-deceiver, and is ruining his own soul. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they,” and they only, “are the sons of God.” (Rom. 8:14.)

Have we had our eyes opened by the Spirit of God? Have we yet been taught to see sin, and Christ, and holiness, and heaven, in their true light? Can we say, One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see? If so, we shall know the things of which we have been reading, by experience. If not, we are yet in the broad way that leads to destruction, and have everything to learn.

John Charles Ryle