NOTES: Thorns to Throne, Part 11
Sermon: Thorns to Throne 11- Blessed Riddance!
Text: Mark 10:46-52
Date: Sunday July 3, 2022
Mark 10:46–52 (ESV)
46 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. 47 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!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 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.” 52 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.
We’re not well!
46 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.
Matthew 6:22–23 (ESV) 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Other Biblical examples: Job/Paul
Desperation is not the end but is often the means by which we come to God.
49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
51 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.” 52 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.
“While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves—blessed riddance.”
“Faith (is) a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God.” Tozer
Job 42:5 (ESV)
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
2 Corinthians 12:8–10 (ESV)
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Weakness becomes our advantage, toward clear vision, rather than a hinderance.
As we look to Jesus, we see everything we need to see.
In the midst of suffering, reality is not ignored, rather reframed by the deeper reality of his presence and the truth that He IS.
What do you want the Lord to do for you?
Proverbs 9:6 (ESV)
6 Leave your simple (foolish) ways, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”
Consider what all can happen with spiritual insight:
Psalm 27:4–5 (ESV)4 “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”