Jesus' Calling

Good morning. This morning we're going to be meditating on Jesus calling. And I assume like myself, many of you can't think of a certain book. when we hear that phrase, Jesus Calling. It's pretty amazing how popular this book is. It's written by Sarah Young, who is a missionary in Australia and Japan, and began the practice of listening to write down what Jesus was saying to her, and that book has sold over 25 million copies. Now, a sermon's not a place to do a book review. It's a plan not a place to Draw swords and and and and and clarify things I do want to just give a as charitable as a warning as I can and that if somebody's writing down words from Jesus for others There should be a pause there we have the Canon God's once and for all handed down truth in in the Bible and But I wanna say there's actually something I find fascinating about the book and really the reception. 25 million copies sold. People are longing to hear from Jesus. People really want to hear a word from their creator, a word from Jesus himself. And the other observation is they're not going to the Bible to hear it. There's a sufficiency of scripture issue here. And here's where I want to challenge us. For hundreds of years, for generations, for about 1,700 years, there's been a canon, a rule, a measure. For 2,000 years, God has given us his word and the words of scripture for us to hear Jesus. So if you're here with us, I want to be very clear. I want to be very direct here. Jesus is still speaking. His Holy Spirit is active. His Holy Spirit takes our blindness, our deafness, our hardness. He opens our eyes. He enlightens the heart. He gives us the opportunity to hear Jesus as He speaks, as He always has spoken, through His Word. And so this morning we're going to study, we're going to look at this passage that, that really clarifies the power and beauty of Jesus' calling. So, so if you're following along our, our thesis and our outline, Jesus hears us. Jesus calls us. Jesus saves us. Jesus hears us, Jesus calls us, Jesus saves us. We have come to the end of the Great Discipleship Discourse. If you look ahead, the very next section is Jesus riding into Jerusalem for the last time on a donkey like a king. He's been teaching the disciples, three times he's predicted his death, his resurrection, three times the disciples have said something really foolish in response to that, and three times he's taught them what discipleship really looks like. He's trying to train up his disciples, and this is how Mark wraps up this section. Now, notice they came to Jericho, and Jericho is a very popular story from the Old Testament. It is not the same Jericho from Joshua. This would be a New Testament Jericho, which is very close to Jerusalem. He's leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd. And notice here the amount of attention to detail Mark gives in this story. We rarely get names. we really get kind of specific details like this. Bartimaeus, we get a guy's name, and then we hear about his father, the son of Timaeus. Now, if you, you know, Hebrew, the word bar means son, and Timaeus is his name, so to call him Bartimaeus and then say he's the son of Timaeus, it's fairly redundant and repetitious. So Mark is giving us a lot of detail, almost why so much focus here. And he describes him, and he's a blind beggar. I believe with the focus, the way the story is functioning, the story, he's drawing our attention here to this man. Now, blindness is a difficult element. There's a key sense of protecting yourself from danger to see. In verse 51, he asked God, he asked Jesus to recover his sight. Maybe he once was seeing, but now he's not seeing. And it's important to understand how society would have looked at someone who was blind at this time. They would have asked, was it his sin or his parents' sin that caused this sin? Like they did in John 9. You know, any kind of physical infirmity, any kind of physical ailment would have been thought to have a spiritual element to it. Just like when they look at a rich person, they would say, wow, God must be blessing that rich person. When they see somebody who's blind, or lame, or deaf, or mute, they would say, there must be something wrong spiritually. And Jesus came and made that very clear that that isn't necessarily the case. But society would have thought there was some kind of spiritual problem. He's an outcast. He sits on the side of the road begging for money. He's humbled. He has to rely upon others in a begging manner. He cannot provide for himself. He has no means to work. Now notice that Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, he's sitting by the roadside. That is introducing the significant character beyond Jesus in the story. He's a desperate man. He's a humbled man. Verse 47. He heard that it was Jesus. Oftentimes when you lose one sense, the other senses are enhanced and strengthened. He hears it's Jesus of Nazareth. And when he hears who's coming by, when he hears, if you think about a blind man sitting by the road, there's a big crowd going by, and with all the noise and all the confusion, he simply hears that it's Jesus. begins to cry out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Now, this declaration needs to be understood a little bit before we get back to the story. This is the first time the title Son of David has been used in the Gospel of Mark. If you read Matthew, he uses it constantly. But Mark, if you go back to chapter one, he mentions this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and then Mark concludes with the centurion saying, surely this was the Son of God. You see Son of God as a key kind of beginning and ending of the Gospel of Mark. But the most significant title in Mark is really Son of Man. That's how Jesus regularly refers to himself, a title of authority, tied to suffering. But here, the Son of David, it's abnormal. Again, I think David, or Mark, is giving us very specific details to highlight the uniqueness of this specific story. What does it mean that Jesus is the son of David? Well, we could go back to Samuel 7. You can turn there in your pew Bible and look at it if you want, but I think I can explain what goes on there. David asked God, let me build you a house, a temple. God says, you can't, your hands are too bloody, but instead I'll build you a house, a dynasty. I will put one of your sons on the throne of Israel, one of your own children, your genealogy will reign as a king forever. I will be like to him a father, he will be like a son to me. You see this great declaration of kingship there in 2 Samuel 7? And so when they say Jesus is son of David, they're saying he's the fulfillment of this very specific promise that God made to David. And it's very clear that he will be a man of righteousness. He'll be a man who executes God's judgment. He'll be a man who brings peace. He will be the king that all people at all times really long for. And there's another promise coming together here. In Genesis 3.15 we can go all the way back to where God spoke to Satan and he promises that Satan will be crushed by a child born of Eve. What we see here, promises coming together that it's not just a, a son of Eve, a son of Abraham, a son of Judah, but then a son of David. A son will reign forever. And this blind beggar finally sees this promise coming to fulfillment. It's incredible. He's physically blind, but the spiritual insight he shows here, that the connections and the clarity that he, that he sees Jesus being, the fulfillment of what God has promised. It's very important again as we, we turn the page. He's going to ride into Jerusalem on the donkey as if the king bringing peace. And he is bringing peace, but he's bringing peace with his own death on the cross. so that we might have peace with God. On the cross, they hang over his head, King of the Jews. Meant to be mockery, but one of those true statements made that day. This blind beggar cries out, Jesus, son of David. The spiritual insight there And hear what he says, have mercy on me. Have pity. See my helpless condition, see my affliction. I can do nothing to help myself. Please help me. Now he's crying out as a crowd of, and the disciples are going by, and notice what happens. They rebuke him. Would you please shut up? You're disrupting our Jesus time. You're being a distraction. He's crying out so loudly and so disruptively, just, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. They can't keep having their own conversation. So the crowds rebuke him. So what does he do? He cries out all the more, even louder. So our story is set up. A man who's been born blind. A man who was humbled. A man who is an outcast in society. A man who sees who Jesus truly is. He asked the right question. Have mercy on me. Our next section, our next point in the sermon, Jesus hears. As the crowd is rebuking him, he keeps crying out, Son of David, have mercy on me. Look at verse 49. Jesus stopped. I would love to just do a whole theology of stopping for the rest of the sermon, but this story's too good. But think about this. Jesus is on a mission. He's been predicting that he's got to go to Jerusalem one more time, and he knows he's going to be mocked, flogged, spat upon, beaten, crucified. His mind's preoccupied. Imagine if you know where you're going in that way. You're marching according to the instruction of God the Father, knowing where you're going and what you're going to have to endure. The disciples are pressing in. And you can hear the frustration. Are they ever going to get it? The first time he laughs, guys. Quit, quit, quit jockeying for position. But here, Jesus, in the midst of this stressful venture right up to his death, going up to Jerusalem one more time, in the midst of this mission, he stops. And he turns his attention to one man nobody else ever looks at. He turns his attention to one man on the side of the road who's crying out. And he says, call him. Jesus stops. I want you to see something. This isn't a healing story. It's a calling story. Jesus calls his people to himself. He never misses one. He will stop, he hears us, he focuses in, and nothing else matters except for his children coming to him. Jesus stops, and he calls. It's very important we understand he resists the proud, but receives the humble. This man has been humbled because of his blindness, but you also see a man humbly crying out, recognizing who Jesus is, and simply saying, have mercy on me. What a picture this is for those who may not feel like they fit in. They're too different. They feel like they're outside. It reminds me of the hymn we sing, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Trusting only in thy merit, would I seek thy face. Heal my wounded, broken spirit. Save me by thy grace. Jesus hears this man in need. He stops. He calls. And interestingly, he tells the crowd who was just rebuking the man to call him. I don't know if this is Jesus just trying to make it clear to them that that's not how you treat people, but he says, you who are rebuking, you call them, and then look at, they call the blind man, they say to him, take heart, be of good courage, get up, he's calling you. Now the man does more than take heart. He gets up. He throws off his cloak, verse 50. He springs up, and he comes to Jesus. Now, as we think about this cloak and why this is mentioned, it appears as if he's so abandoning anything and all things to come to Jesus, the only one he really cares about. It's very likely that this cloak is his most valuable possession. It's what keeps him warm. It's probably his only bedding in the evening and night to sleep on and to find comfort in. And he springs up so quickly with abandoning all. He throws it away to come to Jesus. I think we need to realize the significance that the disciples were just boasting of Jesus, of how much they gave up to follow Him. And Jesus makes it very clear, anyone who abandons family, home, possessions, you'll find your reward a hundredfold in the kingdom of heaven. Here, I think we see a real disciple with real abandonment of any and all things of earthly possession. There's no even contemplation needed. It's just an instinctive insight this blind man has. When Jesus calls, you leave everything behind because he is the one who can help you. And let's just be very clear, it's a wonderful, simple story. He cries out to Jesus. Jesus calls him. He comes to Jesus. He calls out. And when we call to Jesus, He hears us. He receives us. Those who are outside are brought near. Those who are hurt are healed. Those who are sinners are forgiven. Those who are filthy are washed. That's why it's so important we think about what the real calling of Jesus is. It is a calling to a better self, but it's a better self according to Jesus. The removal of sin, denying yourself, carrying on the burdens of gospel ministry, carrying your cross, following Him, learning what it really means to live according to God's will, God's design, and God's way. He's merciful, he hears, and he calls. Throwing off his cloak, he sprang up, he came to Jesus. Our last point, Jesus saves us. Notice what Jesus said to him in verse 51. What do you want me to do for you? Now, if you were here last week, that should sound familiar. Remember James and John? The sons of thunder, sons of Zebedee, they go to Jesus and they say, do for us whatever we ask. And Jesus says these exact words, what would you have me do for you? I believe there's an intentional parallel here that this same response of Jesus is being given. He wants to hear what the man says. Here, instead of two disciples trying to jockey for position and privilege and power, we have a man who just wants to be made whole again. The man responds. The blind man says to Jesus, very clearly, Rabbi, this is a more casual way of speaking to him, the son of David, but addressing him as who he is, the teacher, let me recover my son. I want to be seeing again. Verse 52. Jesus said to him, go your way, your faith has made you well. Your faith has made you well. Mark has used these words on Jesus' lips once before. It was in Mark 32. The context was Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, asked Jesus to come to him to his house so that he would heal his daughter. And on the way, a woman who had ongoing bleeding that no doctor could ever help said to herself, if I just touch his cloak, if I just reach out and touch him, I will be healed. And when she did so, Jesus felt the power go out from him, looked at her and said, daughter, Your faith has made you well. And then Jairus, whose daughter is sick, is in some level naturally getting impatient. We need to get on. My daughter's not well. And Jesus points to the woman. Have faith. see the power that I have, put your faith in me. It's in Jesus' timing, it's in Jesus' way, we see the power of and the importance of faith. Now I want to be very clear here, it's not how much faith we muster up, it's having our faith in the right one. I believe what makes this so effective in terms of this, this man, it's, it's, he's humbled. He has nothing to bring, but yet Jesus calls him to him. Right? Jesus doesn't do that so that he receives something from the man, but he can give him something. It's his faith that says, I see who Jesus is. He's, he's a promised king. The one who has healing in his wings. The one who, who has been promised to bring peace and, and restoration. I want my sight back. This isn't saying if you just believe in something enough, you'll get it. This is us looking to Jesus and saying, have mercy on me, and trusting Him alone. Vartimaeus, the blind beggar, hears this declaration. He hears this affirmation. You are made well. And the word there is sozo. We've seen this over and over again. It can mean healing physically. It can mean salvation spiritually. I believe it's intentionally used throughout the Gospel of Mark to show that there's a full, whole being restoration. And then Mark uses his catch word, immediately. Immediately. It's supposed to draw our attention in. What happens after Jesus says, your faith has made you well, he recovered his sight and he followed Jesus on the way. The man who is now seeing physically, who was already seeing spiritually, he saw, he had the spiritual insight to know who Jesus is, to cry out to him, now he has received what he has requested and he's doing what a disciple does He follows Jesus. Now, it's interesting here, we have he followed him on the way. At one level we could say Mark's just writing about the way as in on the way to Jerusalem, but the early church, even in Acts, referred to Christianity, to the faith, as the way. I believe here he's probably intending to make it clear he is a true disciple following Jesus on the way. It's one of the ways we talk about our religion, Christianity. It's the way. There's not numerous ways. There is the way. walking side by side with and for one another in the way. It is a narrow way. We don't get to be creative and clever on the way. It's a narrow way that follows what Christ says. It's a predetermined path, not create your own story. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is our salvation. We follow him in the way. It captures so much of what Christianity is. It's a mission, a direction, with clear boundaries. Now, this is a fantastic story of the grace of Jesus. He hears us. The power of Jesus, He calls and welcomes, and then He heals, and He saves, and He restores. This man who was sitting by the roadside, begging as a blind man, is now seeing Jesus and following him on the way. What a fantastic story of restoration. But if we actually think about the story in its context, it's even more powerful. As I began, this is the end of the great discipleship discourse. If you look at chapter 10, 45 through 52, our passage, you see a blind man being healed. If we go all the way back to Mark chapter eight, verse 22, Jesus heals a blind man. These are bookends. And in the middle of these bookends is, again, those three predictions, and Jesus teaching what discipleship looks like. And what seems to be happening here with this blind man, who's not been with Jesus, is we see, unlike Jesus' disciples, he gets it. He cries out, he asks for help, and he's healed. Now he's not like Peter, James, and John. Peter, James, and John, they get to go up onto the mountain, they get to see Jesus change into his glory, and immediately after, they show they're still not getting it. They have this incredible spiritual experience, but it did not make them faithful disciples. Because they're not yet humbly asking Jesus to teach them. No, they're jockeying for position. here, as Jesus regularly does. He uses the woman who has a bleeding problem to be an example and a model of faith. Now he's using this blind beggar to be a model of discipleship. If that's the case, discipleship is crying out to Jesus. Discipleship is coming to Jesus. Discipleship is following Him along the way. What should we learn from this story? We should recognize our invitation to cry out to Him, our invitation to come to Him, and our invitation to follow Him. If you're a disciple of Jesus, are you hungry to still know more of Him? Right? There's something about knowing Jesus that's the most satisfying, but yet we should always be longing and hungry and never satisfied that we know Him enough. Is your heart still softened in a way that you cry out to Jesus, help me? Is your life so in order and sin so stopped that you don't have to cry to Jesus anymore? I would say you're very self-deceived if that's the case. No, as Christians, we follow along the way by continuing to be like this blind beggar in this state where he's just crying out, Jesus, right now, help me, and know that Jesus never resists those that cry out to Him. He's eager to call and receive anybody who cries out to Him. Now, are we searching for Him in the Scriptures? One of my favorite quotes or my favorite declarations from Augustine, he's so helpful here. Augustine is one of the most brilliant minds ever born. And he admitted that sometimes it comes to Scripture and he has no idea what Scripture's saying. Isn't that encouraging? And he said that his temptation is to say, what's wrong with the text? What's wrong with what God's saying here? What's wrong with the text in front of me that I'm not getting it? And he says, then there's that spiritual moment. No. What's wrong with me? God's Word is true. It is clear. It is sufficient for us to know anything and all things that God would have us know about Him. And so Augustine doesn't say, what's wrong with the text? Only in his flesh, but then he comes to his senses and he says, no God, what's wrong with me? And he cries out, give me eyes to see. Enlighten my heart. Remove the heartness that keeps me from really understanding and enjoying and delighting what you would have for me in your word. Are we seeking to hear from Jesus in his word? Have you looked at the transfiguration? Peter himself says in 1 Peter, his word is more sure than even the transfiguration of Jesus. If you're not a Christian today, you may be wondering about Jesus and his power to heal a blind man. I would say be more wondering about the spiritual healing that takes place. Be more concerned that a problem that every single human being has outside of Jesus, or even those who believe in Jesus, that we're all just rebels. We're idolaters. We're blind to the truth of God. We're self-deceived of our own lives, of the things we love. It's interesting, if you go back to Genesis 3, Satan tells Adam and Eve, if you just do what God said not to do, you'll, you'll see more. Your eyes will be opened. And he was partially telling the truth. as every good lie does. Their eyes were opened, and they were ashamed that they had denied God, they had rejected God. That is all of our problem. We do not think what God has is good enough. We question Him, we doubt Him. We think we can figure things out better as if we're God. Now there's something wonderful when shame sets in. We avoid shame, we avoid conviction, we avoid that difficult wrestling of the heart. We don't like to hear about sin. And there's something wonderful about shame, because it drives us to cry out, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. It's only in a shameful, humble place. It's only in a place where you see something's really wrong that you'll really cry out, Jesus, have mercy on me. So I pray, if you're not a Christian, you're feeling the weight of God's glory and grace and power and righteousness pressing in. And just cry out, Jesus, have mercy on me. It's a simple truth that he went up to Calvary. He traveled to Jerusalem after this. He died on the cross saying, Father God, why have you forsaken me? He took the wrath of our sin that we can be forgiven. He rose again to give us new life. He did all the work to save us. What we're called to do is cry out to him, have mercy on me. As we conclude, I want us to see just a simple truth. Jesus calls us. Again, that's why He opened every worship service with a call to worship. There's a glorious wonder that Jesus would call us into His own presence to know Him, to be known by Him, to love Him, to be loved by Him, to be able to confess your sins. There's no other pretend God out there. The only other pretend God, they want you to come and pretend to be righteous and fix yourself. No, the one true God, he says, come to me and confess your sins and I will forgive you. That's the call. To come as you are as sinners, to come as we are as sinners, and be forgiven. He calls us to care for another and be welcoming to one another in this way. It is interesting that Jesus makes the crowd go get the man. One of the things I want to challenge you with, church, there's hurting people all around you right now. Maybe you're there thinking, yeah, that's me. Those people that we just are willing to stop and take the time to care for, that is our opportunity to be Jesus to somebody right there in front of us. Jesus calls us to follow him on his way. It is a direction. It is a mission. It requires us to follow Him with the same kind of humility it required for us to call out to Him. Will you pray with me?