NAMED, BUT UNKNOWN - BARTIMAEUS

He is a favorite Gospel character, but his name appears only once on the pages of Holy Script. He is named, but mostly unknown… “Bartimaeus” (Mark 10:46).

We have only a single snapshot. All that is known of Bartimaeus is revealed during his brief encounter with Jesus on the highway outside Jericho.

He couldn’t see the sun rise, but he could feel the warmth on his face.

He couldn’t see his blind buddy sitting beside him (Matthew 20:30), but he knew his companionship and their shared misery, poverty, and segregation from society.

He couldn’t see the throng of Passover pilgrims, but he could hear the tumult of “a crowd passing by” (Luke 18:36).

As Jesus approached, the desperate cry of the blind man rang out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:47).

What did Bartimaeus know? What could he sense? What did he know about Jesus? What did he see as the Master marched through Jericho?

Bartimaeus could see that Jesus wasn’t ordinary. In fact, Jesus was heir to David’s throne. He was the Promised One, the One whom the Nation had longed to behold. Jesus was the King!

He could see that Jesus was able. He’d heard the reports of miraculous healing and changed lives. The lame walked. The lepers were made clean. The demon-possessed were set free. And the visually impaired were given twenty-twenty vision.

And Blind Bartimaeus could see that Jesus cared, that Jesus wouldn’t reject his request, that Jesus was abounding in mercy.

So, mustering his courage and faith, Bartimaeus spoke up. He shouted. He hollered. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“Moved with compassion” (Matthew 20:34), Jesus reached out to touch him and give him the gift of sight. The first image Bartimaeus saw was the Savior’s smile. Indelibly imprinted, he never forgot that gentle, kind smile.

Do you see what the once-blind man saw? Will you holler… “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).