Sermon Notes
Pastor Jeff Stanfill

Blind Bart, Son of Timaeus
April 2, 2006

BLIND BART, SON OF TIMAEUS
TEXT: MARK 10:46-52
INTRO:
For cities, especially ancient ones, Jericho was as beautiful as they come. Jericho - the name said "place of fragrance" - was nicknamed the City of Palms which were celebrated widely in the way they adorned the valley floor of the area. Mountains were in the near distance making for a panoramic view. It was a wealthy town through which pilgrims and travelers passed. Herod's summer palace was adjacent to it assuring that the city would be a place for vacation.

Not only did the mountains in the distance and the palm trees make Jericho the beautiful little place that it was but also banana trees, balsams, and sycamores flourished there.

But what is a city of beauty to a blind man? Do the mountains in the distance really mean anything to a blind man? Does the verdant luscious fauna mean much to a man that doesn't comprehend the color green? Or the blue of the sky? Or the play of shadows across the valley floor, over the palm-treed courtyards, and against the walls of the city?
I.
When a man's world consist only of what he can smell, hear, touch or taste how big of a world does he have? That is the world of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, Blind Bart as some of the town called him.

Just out of the city gates through which all the travelers passed, where business was transacted and made part of the public record, behind which gates everyone was sealed at night for protection, Blind Bart, son of Timaeus' sat each day.

Without eyes to see, his ears grew sharp from use. He heard all the town's transactions at the city gate. He stayed informed of all the events - public and private. But such knowledge was of little use to him. No one asked him to "witness" any transactions - think of the joke of that! A blind man witnessing a property purchase - ha!

Blind Bart, son of Timaeus' just sat there everyday. Timaeus -the name said it all - perfect, admirable, honorable. Timaeus - a name spoken with respect, deference, dignity. A name that had only one blemish on it, one mark against its character, one skeleton in the closet.

And so you have Blind Bart, son of Timeaus'. No one knew what Timeaus had every done but common belief insisted that if one was blind then God's judgment had been pronounced. Forget the possibility that the sun, the dust, the sand could close a man's eyes. No, justice was being served either against Timeasus or perhaps his son Bart. Who did the deed that brought such judgment was unknown. The deed itself was undiscovered. But since Blind Bart was always spoken of in reference to his father, it must have been Timaeus' one dishonorable, unknown deed, for which Bart became the scapegoat - in the 'eyes' of the townspeople.

Abandoned by a father, allotted only alms as an allowance, Blind Bart sat and listened everyday. His ears heard the complaints against taxes that went up every year; they tuned in to the transfer of titles; they caught the latest craze that had everyone talking; they heard all the gossip.

Those ears heard alright. They heard enough, too. For one day as Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, sat waiting for alms, his ears captured the clamor of a crowd leaving the city. Nothing new there. People came by all the time. A cacophony of the masses was commonplace. But this day Blind Bart, son of Timeaus, heard the throng was tagging along with Jesus of Nazareth.

Blind Bart's eyes had failed him long ago but his ears had never let him down. Especially today for his sharp memory recalled all the gossip he had heard of someone named Jesus from Nazareth. He remembered when his ears had picked up the talk that this Jesus was a miracle worker. He remembered the speculating among the citizens that the promised Son of David had come and that He was Jesus of Nazareth. The Son of David, the one all Israel wished would arrive, that all Hebrews hoped would appear and set the world right again. The Son of David - foretold for centuries, awaited for ages - at last had come. Blind Bart's, son of Timaeus', - his eyes had failed him but never his ears.

He had heard well and he had heard right and he had heard fully. Jesus of Nazareth, Son of David, passing by Bart of Jericho, son of Timaeus. Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, shouted out over the tumult of the throng for mercy from Jesus, Son of David.

How different the two were. One, a flawed mark against his dad's pristine name; the other a full measure of His Father's deity. One, a blind man in darkness; the other the light of the world. One, the needy; the other the need provider. One, a son of shame; the other a son of favor.
II.
Blind Bart, son of Timaeus is scolded by the crowd. To the crowd, he's a distraction from all their accolades.

Listen, to come to Jesus or to go further with Jesus, we must ignore the discouragements of the crowd. Old friends will hold you back. Family ties will trip you up. Even a believer who answers God's call to come further in and further up will have others chastise him or her for their fanaticism, for getting out of balance, for being too extreme, or too intense with this Jesus stuff, the crowd says you need to live in the real world more.

But the crowd's discouragement must be ignored; we must shout our desire for mercy from the Son of David. If you today are considering the cost of following Jesus as Lord and Savior, yet the discouragement from the crowd is very real in your ears, then consider the rest of the story. If you today, hunger more for God, to know Christ as promised in Scripture but the discouragement of the crowds of good "church" people is loud in your ears, then consider the rest of this story. Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, in the hearing of the crowd becomes an encouragement to us for he "shouted all the more."

We receive mercy when we decide that if mercy is to be had, then we will do all we can to have it. That is the mark of one who truly is in pursuit of Jesus Christ. Undaunted by others or what appears to be a lack of response from Jesus, Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, shouts even more to Jesus, Son of David.
III.
Jesus, Son of David, stops and makes His own call to Blind Bart, son of Timaeus.

How fickle the crowd. In one breathe rebuking him, in the next cheer him! If in your pursuit of Jesus you always listen to the crowd, you will always hear conflicting and changing voices. Listen for and to the voice of Jesus!

Just as Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, was not cowed down by the crowd's discouragement, he was not content with the crowd's encouragement. Many things today are offered to comfort us. Many tools are placed into our lives to help us cope with our problems. Sadly, many go to a church for encouragement (of which they will receive the most empowering words); many go to a church for an embrace (of which they will receive the most warm and genuinely loving); many come for equipping (of which they will receive the most powerful). But none of the church's encouragement, embracing, or equipping will transform any one. We can only be transformed, healed, delivered, released when we come to Jesus!

Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, bolts past the crowd with their well-intentioned words. He throws his cloak aside.
IV.
Why did Mark make mention of that? What is so significant of throwing aside a cloak? Because blind men throw nothing aside. Everything is deliberately arranged, placed, set down. Otherwise they will never find it again!

Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, scapegoat of someone's sin, beggar of alms, weakly of society - throws aside anything regardless of how valuable to not become entangled in his answering Jesus' call.

One entangled in bondage may easily and quickly throw aside the drugs, the alcohol, the demonic influences, and the habits of destruction. And they do entangle and trip up people who desire freedom.

But also respectability, fame, fortune, social standing, potential profits, eminence, pleasant companionship can entangle the same as vice and sin. We are warned that one may gain the whole world, but lose their soul! And Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, heard Jesus, Son of David call him. And that cloak meant nothing then but a hindrance. So he threw it aside to come to Jesus.

Some wonder why their walk with Jesus is not what it once was. Or why it is not fulfilling them. They look around thinking it must be something wrong with the church - it's not organized correctly, its lack personality, its hard to belong, there's no life or spirit, the preaching's dull, the teachers are out of touch. Listen, it's that cloak one refuses to throw aside that has one entangled. It's the business of life that keeps us out of fellowship with others; it's the love of other things that dulls our hearts from hearing the Spirit speak through the preacher or the teacher; it's the desire to have Jesus- 'AND' that siphons off our joy in walking with God. Throw our cloaks aside!

How do you rid yourself of it? Like Blind Bart, you throw the thing down! You cast it aside! It doesn't matter that you know where it lands or how it lands or who gets it after it lands. Throw it aside!
V.
Jesus, Son of David, says to Blind Bart, son of Timaeus - son of shame, son of dishonor to the family - "What do you want me to do for you?"

Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, inventories. "Do I want an extra day's alms? Do I want a patron to adopt me? Do I want a bath? Do I want to know where my cloak landed? No, no, I want to see."

And Jesus, Son of David, favored son of glory, says to Blind Bart, son of Timaeus, son of disappointment, son of disfavor - "Go, your faith has healed you." The one of favor, the one anticipated, the one adored transforms the one in disfavor, the one dreaded by his father, the one blind and considered under judgment.

Immediately he received his sight. Blind Bart, son of Timaeus became blessed Bart, born of God.

Darkness was not Bartimaeus' problem. The sun was shining. Sightlessness held him bond to the way of a beggar, chained to the works of a curse, fettered to his fate. Light remedies darkness but sight remedies blindness.

Jesus is the Light of the World. There is light in our world. There is a hope for us all. There is a cure for our condition. We need the sight that only God can give to see it, to hope in it, to be cured by it.

CONCL:
Bartimaeus' story holds out so much for us to consider today.
1. A view of Jesus' character. Jesus heard a cry for mercy above the cries of adoration. He heard a blind man's cry for help amid the calls for silence. In the clamor of a crowd, Jesus hears the one. That's who Jesus is. This morning we gathered to worship and that is what we have done. And you may have come today in need of mercy - Jesus hears your cry. He doesn't have to be buttered up with your praise to act in His power. Just ask Him. There are many who call for Him; but He hears you.

2. Those who recognize their real need find satisfaction in Jesus. Bartimaeus would have been fed if he had asked for a meal; but he would have eventually been disappointed. He would have been provided for if he asked for a patron to deliver money to his cup each day; but he would have one day been disappointed. He would have had a good pet if he had asked for a seeing-eye dog; but he would soon be disappointed. Pity the husband who says, "We went to church for a while when we had problems with our marriage but nothing really changed." Or the Mother who says, "I asked for help with my kids and the people were very nice but my son is in drugs and my daughter sleeps around. Nothing is different." It is not that Jesus does not heal marriages or strengthen families or improve our standard of living. But those are more consequential to meeting the real need we have - forgiveness of our sin, reconciliation with God.

3. You may be in shame, but Jesus sees your faith. You may need mercy, Jesus gives to those who call out.