Teacher, I Want To See (Mark 10:46-52)
God rests (Genesis 2:2-3). The way to enter God's rest is to open one's spiritual eyes. It is to open the eyes of the heart to see, realize, believe, and obey the fact that God is alive and the love of the cross through which He sent His Son. This is truly seeing. Believing is seeing. Through faith, one sees the kingdom of God, and through obedience, one continues to open their spiritual eyes.
In Mark 10:46-52, Jesus caused a blind beggar to see. The compassionate Jesus showed mercy to the blind beggar who was seeking mercy, blessed his faith, and gave him the blessing of opening his eyes to see and follow Christ.
Jesus, Son Of David, Have Mercy On Me!
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 cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:46-47)
Jericho was the first city that Israel, led by Joshua, surrounded for seven days and brought down (Joshua 6). As Jesus came to this earth as the Christ, now facing His final entry into Jerusalem, He walked the path that His ancestors had walked. Entering the promised land means entering the rest that God has covenanted.
However, this is a shadow of God fulfilling His covenant. God promised Abraham that He would give him this land (Genesis 15:18). However, God's promise is perfectly fulfilled through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:8). Jesus' entry into Jerusalem was to receive the baptism of death on behalf of the sins of this world. God looks at the blood of Christ and grants eternal life and rest to everyone who believes (1 Peter 2:24).
Believing Is Seeing
Bartimaeus, who was blind and a beggar, heard that Jesus of Nazareth was coming. Bartimaeus means son of Timaeus. He was an anonymous beggar and a blind man who could not see. He called Jesus of Nazareth, "Jesus, Son of David." And he cried out, "Have mercy on me." The Son of David means God’s Christ (Matthew 1:1). Although he could not see, he believed that Jesus was the Christ sent by God, the Messiah of Israel.
The author, Mark, compares this blind beggar with Jesus’ disciples. Although the disciples saw Jesus with their physical eyes, their spiritual eyes were veiled, and they did not know the Christ of suffering. When Jesus repeatedly told them that He would suffer at the hands of the elders and chief priests, be killed, and rise again, they did not understand and were afraid to ask. Instead, they expected Jesus to receive glory and establish an earthly Messianic kingdom, and their concern was about who was the greatest and who would occupy the seats at His right and left (Mark 9:34, 10:37).
However, the blind beggar pleaded, "Have mercy on me." He acknowledged his own condition of not being able to see and came to the Lord Jesus Christ to beg. He admitted the fact that he could not see without God’s merciful grace. Above all, he believed in and welcomed Jesus of Nazareth from Galilee as God’s Christ. He was blind in the flesh, but he saw the kingdom of God with the eyes of his spirit. He was a person who was poor in spirit.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).
You Cannot See God With The Eyes Of This World
The prophet Isaiah prophesied long ago: They will see but not perceive, and hear but not understand (Isaiah 6:9-10). At this time, Isaiah asked God, "For how long?" The LORD God answered him, "Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged" (Isaiah 6:11-12).
This teaches us that what is in this world cannot save. What is in this world will decay, perish, and disappear (1 Peter 1:4). How can something that will disappear and perish save? What is in this world refers to everything good to look at and worth boasting about, including wealth and high positions. Therefore, what is in this world is not an object of dependence.
Furthermore, this world is a power of sin that does not acknowledge God and opposes Him. The world not only tolerates hating, comparing, envying, slandering, harming, lying, deceiving, and murdering, but also says that those who do such things are righteous (Romans 1:29-32). This world is ruled by the devil, the prince of the power of the air. The devil is a murderer, a liar, and the father of lies (John 8:44). Therefore, the apostle John warned not to love this world.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17).
Believing And Obeying Jesus Is Seeing
However, God left a holy seed as a stump in this land (Isaiah 6:13). The holy seed refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who rely on and love this world will perish, but those who believe in and obey the Lord Jesus Christ will receive eternal life. Jesus Christ gave up His own life to save this world.
Following the example of Jesus, dying to oneself and disappearing is the way to open one's spiritual eyes. Although Jesus is the Creator who is equal to God, He emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, and became nothing by hanging on the cross and dying. Jesus taught that if anyone wants to come after Him, they must deny themselves (Mark 8:34). Here, "self" refers to the old man in Adam who opposes God.
Just as we are redeemed from sin through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross, our old man under sin must die. This is because a person trapped under sin does not submit to God but opposes Him. Fully submitting to God is the way to salvation. At this time, God opens the windows of heaven and pours out spiritual and holy blessings. He pours them out like a spring of water that gushes forth forever.
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
People Rebuke The Blind Man
48 Many rebuked him and asked 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.” (Mark 10:48-49)
People rebuked the blind man because they thought he was a hindrance to Jesus’ schedule. This world treats poor and weak people harshly. This world has a strong tendency to evaluate people by their economic value. However, Jesus said that welcoming one such child is welcoming Christ himself (Mark 9:37). Also, Jesus said that if you give even a cup of water to one of these little ones, there will be a reward in heaven for it (Mark 9:41).
In fact, no one can stand before God, and no one is worthy of receiving grace (Eph. 2:8). Humans have fallen under sin, and every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart is only evil all the time from childhood (Gen. 6:5, 8:21). God called Abraham by unilateral grace and made him the father of the covenant (Gen. 12:2-3). As promised, God saved his descendants from the abuse and oppression of the King of Egypt through Moses and led them to the promised land. However, they eventually wanted to establish a human king. At this time, God spoke through Samuel.
7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.” (1 Sam. 8:7-8).
The circumstances and appearance of Israel represent all people. They experienced the Almighty God who was with them, crossing the Red Sea and the Jordan River like dry land after God’s plagues fell on the land of Egypt, eating manna that fell from heaven for forty years in the wilderness, and providing the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. The walls of Jericho fell, and they drove out the Canaanites and took possession of the land (Josh. 6:20). Nevertheless, Israel forsook God and repeatedly acted rebelliously by following idols (Judg. 2:11).
Call Him
However, the man shouted all the more and begged the Lord Jesus. Jesus heard the man’s plea and answered, “Call him.” God answers anyone who comes to him and asks for mercy. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Matt. 5:4).
God heard the groaning of his people who had been trapped in the bondage of slavery in Egypt for four hundred years (Ex. 2:24). God brings about justice for those who are wronged quickly (Luke 18:8). In this world, it seems that the wicked and arrogant prosper, and that evil rules over good (Ps. 73:3-9). It is not so at all. God is holy and good forever. There is nothing that can deceive God’s flaming eyes. God judges everything with justice and truth (Ps. 73:17-19).
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you (Matt. 7:7).
Your Faith Has Healed 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 (Mark 10:50-52).
The disciples did not know what they truly wanted. However, this blind man knew that what he wanted was to see. This refers not only to opening physical eyes to see this world, but also to opening spiritual eyes. He wanted to escape from the darkness of not being able to see and to see clearly.
Jesus blessed his faith, and he saw clearly and followed the Lord. Although he was a blind beggar, he believed that Jesus, who came as the Son of David, was the Christ. He came before Jesus and begged, “Have mercy on me.” Jesus does not look at the outward appearance, but looks into the heart. He saw the desire in his heart to wait for God’s Messiah. He recognized Jesus Christ, whom God had sent, with the eyes of faith and came before him.
It is not easy for a blind man to find his way. However, the spiritual eyes of faith go beyond physical obstacles. Seeing with the flesh is not everything. Seeing by faith is everything. We come to the Lord Jesus Christ daily by faith and seek mercy. We were bought by Christ with the price of his blood (1 Cor. 6:19-20). The merciful God bestows boundless mercy on those who seek mercy.
Amen!
July 5, 2026
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Scripture quotes are from the NIV.
