Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

 

 

Mark 10:46-52

 

June 14, 2020

 

 

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.   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!”   And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”   And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”  And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.  And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”   And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

The Blind beggar has a name, this is how Mark describes him: “Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus”.  Not only does he have a name, but he was also someone’s boy, and Timaeus had hopes and dreams for his son, as you do for your child.

It is early on a Sunday morning, and my hope was to be sleeping, but God needed me to deal with this blind man, for my actions and thoughts are often like some in the crowd.  I do not ask his name, I may drop a coin in his lap, but I gave him a name, not the one his dad and mom gave him; he is the blind man by the road.  If only I had engaged him, what might I have learned about faith?

If we stop for a moment and listen to the Bartimaeus’ of our day, they might become someone of great worth.   We just do not have time,  we're leaving our Jericho, let him be another person's problem.   Or is it that, unlike the Lord, whom we claim to be His followers, we do not do as Jesus did?  He stops, calls him, and asks How can I be of help to you, “What do you want me to do for you?” 

We miss not only the blind man’s name, but we also miss his understanding of who Jesus is, for he refers to Jesus as the “Jesus, Son of David”.  That is a messianic designation. When Bartimaeus heard it was Jesus passing by, he was not about to allow a crowd to keep him quiet.  As I read this account, I cannot help but wonder what is wrong with us, why are we so quiet in the crowds of our lives?

When Jesus called, Bartimaeus not only got up, but he threw off his coat and jumped up and came to Jesus.  When Jesus asked him this question, “What do you want me to do for you?” he responded, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”  Did you get that Bartimaeus once had sight?   The Scripture does not give us insight into his mother or dad, but I can only imagine how often they prayed to the Father for this miracle.  As the great newsman stated, now the rest of the story; And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

 

That brings me to this point: it is now 4:11 on this Sunday morning, and I am so glad the Father awoke me very early, for I needed to understand many things that have seemed to escape me in this busy life, things of great importance!

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

 

 

Mark 10: 32-34

 

June 12, 2020

 

 

 

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,  saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.   And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

 

As Paul Harvey would have stated, we need the rest of the story.  It all began with a young man coming to Jesus, who was very wealthy and wanted eternal life.  Jesus, knowing the man’s heart, said Go and give all you have to the poor and come follow me, but he was very rich, and he went away in great sorrow.  Jesus began to teach His disciples how hard it is to give up what your heart treasures to follow him.

He used the example of a rich man, but it could have been a guy whose identity was in his business, or his skill to play ball at a pro-level, or your children, anything you put before Jesus Christ.

 

Returning to the conversation with His disciples,”   And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”   Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”   Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”   Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.   But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

 

You now understand why they were hanging back and fearful; it is the third time Jesus has told them what awaited Him in Jerusalem.  Often we need to be reminded of the price our Savior paid for us, and as man and God, Jesus understood that taking our sins and mine would make Him estranged from His Father.  God the Father and God the Holy Spirit could not have fellowship with sin, and Jesus became sin for you and me.  Jesus, being God, overcame sin, death, and the grave and on the third day was restored to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus told them three times, and also in the garden, and yet they did not understand; they were like you and me, very slow to grasp the truths of God.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice 

Wealth will keep many from heaven

 

Mark 10:23-31

 

June 10, 2020

 

 

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”   And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God!   It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”   And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”   Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”   Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”   Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.   But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

 

The world is going through a Pandemic, and it has not brought out the best in the human race. In the USA, the lack of leadership at the State and Local governments has exposed the true heart of many governors and mayors. Many have shown their hate for the Christian Church, many have tried to expand power beyond their office, and many have just been outright goofballs. We, the people, need to do a better job of picking leaders.  

 

But the one thing that has shown up in people who say they are Christ-followers is the thing Jesus tells us often do not to fear.  In my opinion, it is not the Church's best hour. People who go by the name Christian have been fearful of losing their wealth, and many have locked themselves in their homes, fearful of dying.  If you have health problems, I am not referring to you in these comments.  

 

I can state before man and God Jan & I have not allowed the amount of money we are losing to be a concern, nor have we been fearful of dying, if I recall to die is gain and to live is to keep on keeping on with being a follower of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and God.  

 

I’ve shared often that my flesh is not good, I like to be noticed, to be chosen, and to stand in the front of the line, but each day I choose to put others first, to be noticed by 
God and not by man, and yet some days I find that old flesh has me wanting you to think more of me than both God and I know to be true, and I wonder do you understand your flesh?  If we were giving a test, are you able to say you have not been fearful of death or loss during this time of the Pandemic? 

 

Now I have not done all that well with those lawless and the greed I’ve seen on the local news, as mom always said, a wrong done does not give you the right to do wrong.  If there was ever a time to humble ourselves and pray, it is now. We need the Church to awaken in the authority of Jesus Christ.

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice

 

The Rich Young Man

                                                                    Mark 10: 17-22

 

June 9, 2020

 

 

The Rich Young Man

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”   And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.   You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”   And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”   And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”   Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”   And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God!   It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”   And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”   Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”  Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”  Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.   But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

The greatest question ever asked: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”   And when a question of that magnitude is asked, it must have a reply of equal value.  “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.   You know the commandments, and Jesus gives the list.  Now, allow me to ask you a question: Do you think of yourself as a good person? According to God, your Creator, it is not possible without the Spirit of God living in you.  And even then, do we not have thoughts that prove we are not good?  Jesus is also asking a question of this young man.  Are you acknowledging me as God?  He is asking you that same question.

What is getting in your way of your being a follower of Christ? In his case, Jesus told him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”   The young man was very wealthy, and that‘s what kept him from following Jesus. What is keeping you from doing so?

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

 

 

Teaching About Divorce

  

Mark 10:1-12

 

June 7, 2020

 

Teaching About Divorce

“And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.

And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”   He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”   They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.”   And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment.   But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’  ‘Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,​ and the two shall become one flesh.’ So, they are no longer two but one flesh.  What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

And in the house, the disciples asked him again about this matter.   And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Two of the men God used to bring me to the understanding of my lack of a relationship with Jesus Christ were Jim Seed and Johnny Anderson.  Both of these men had wives who left them because they put Christ first in their lives.  Both men were men of integrity and servants to others, and both hated the stigma of having been divorced.

I understand that often people have no understanding of what love is and marry an image, in that the man is handsome or the woman is good looking, one may be wealthy, or they may be clever, only to find out they are not what you thought you were getting.  Most of the time, it is the woman who believes she can change the man, but people do not change because you want them to.

One of the biggest reasons for divorce in the Christian Church is that one is a follower of Christ and the other is not.  But the main reason is what Jesus told the Pharisees: “Because of your hardness of heart, he wrote you this commandment. Jesus is referring to Moses and the question He asks about the Law.  I cannot explain how blessed I am to be married to a lady like Jan; she is the love of my life, and it's all because of Jesus Christ.  It was years before I learned to love her. I was often harsh with her, yet I believe I was in the right.  But Jesus and God the Father have shown me what love is, and today I would do anything for my bride of almost 60 years as of August 27, 2025.  

I’m aware that the reason Jesus is hated by many in the USA and all who are His followers is that He has made clear what marriage is, and it is only between a man and a woman.   He also tells us that divorce is wrong: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Now, both of the men I talked about remarried, and they did not bring adultery into the marriage, for their wives divorced them.  One is dead, the other is very much alive and married to a godly lady.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Os, hit a home run on this one.

 Os, hit a home run on this one.

 

It's Time for a Funeral

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman

01-16-2009

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20).

"There's nothing wrong with you that a good funeral won't solve," I said to the woman. "I'll even send you flowers!" She smiled in response. I was speaking figuratively to the woman who was stressing out about an issue in her life.

Her problem was the same problem most of us have - too much of "us" and not enough of Jesus and the cross. Many of the daily problems in life can be solved by coming to the end of ourselves so Jesus can take over. I believe this is what the psalmist meant when he said: "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints" (Ps 116:15).

The apostle Paul recognized the need for a funeral, too, when he penned these words: "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Rom 6:1-4).

Whenever we stress over a matter, get angry over a daily circumstance, or seek to have our own way, it is a sign that there is still life in the grave. We need to fill it with dirt and smother the life of our flesh so that Christ may live freely, unhindered by the "old" man. Send yourself some flowers today. Have a good funeral.

Temptations to Sin

  

 

 

 

Mark 9:42-50

 

June 6, 2020

 

 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.   And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.   And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.   And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’  For everyone will be salted with fire.   Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Let us begin with this insight from my Holman Study Bible, page 1701, regarding verses 43-48: The body parts and admonitions are figures of speech that warn disciples to guard their sight and actions against participation in evil, for recklessness here can lead to spiritual downfall. That seems to make good sense. Scripture tells us that some of the pagan gods required the cutting of the flesh.

When I was in my thirties, I was very young in the faith, though I had been raised in the church, I only came to know Christ at the age of 27.  I wanted to do whatever the leadership of the church wanted, and they wanted Jan and me to work with the youth; there was no youth pastor.  We needed to be in a class under a teacher of the Scripture, and I needed to be under a mentor.  That did not happen in the Church; it happened in the workplace, by a man in the oil business named Jack Archer, who was also a new follower of Christ.  Jack taught me all that he understood, and that was that I was loved by God.

The Scripture is very clear not to give a novice a role of leadership, in 1 Timothy 3:6, “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.”  Often, the leader of a local church needs so much help that they ignore what God has stated in His Word and take any person with a zeal to be used.  Outside of the church my mentor Jack was the regional director for Lay Witness Mission, Jan and I became part of that also because we saw God was doing great things, it was not long before Jack ask me to be a leader and I took a team to a church and led in the weekend's activity.  Then the pastor of my church told me I had received the most votes to be a deacon, and guess what, I got so full of myself that I was an easy target for the evil one.  I can only say I am so thankful that God is a forgiving Father and does not give us what we deserve.

 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice