July 24, 2024 -- Mark 10:51-52 -- Having been given sight, do you still act blindly?

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.
Mark 10:51-52 ESV

What happens when a man truly encounters Jesus? Like the formerly blind man, Bartimaeus, having been healed by Jesus he follows Jesus. To follow Jesus is to be trained by Him. To follow Jesus is to allow His Word to change your thinking. To follow Jesus is to take His commandments as your rule for life and obey them. Sinclair Ferguson uses this expression, “the grammar of grace”. What he means by it is expressed in the passage before you today. God acts first. Jesus healed Bartimaeus. This man was both blind spiritually and blind physically. He called to Jesus for mercy. And Jesus responded. Having received the grace of Jesus, Bartimaeus then follows Jesus, obeying Him in view of Jesus’ great salvation.

There are many instances where people are healed and then they just leave Jesus’ presence. Think of the Ten Lepers who were healed, Luke 17:11-19. Only one returned to thank Jesus for His healing; and the one who returned was not even a Jewish man, he was a foreigner. Jesus draws the reader-listener’s attention to this fact it is a non-Jewish man who returned to thank Him. He asked, were not all ten cleansed, where are the other nine? Yes, all were healed, but not all turned to Him in obedience, prepared to be trained by Him, obedient to Him.

Scripture warns you, “Do not be envious of evil men nor desire to be with, for their hearts devise violence and their lips talk of trouble” Proverbs 24:1-2. Remember this is in the Bible, it is written to men and women who read the Word and hear it preached. Men and women who are supposed to be followers of Jesus, trained by Him, who instead are prepared to forego His great grace and His tender love because they are tempted by the evil people around them. They see the things they do. They desire to do them. They are then led away from Jesus, acting on the things they constantly see. That is the descent from temptation to sin. To see, then to have an over-riding desire that causes one to abandon what is right, and then to take--these are the steps from temptation to engaging in sin.

Follow Jesus. Get close to Him by prayer. Shun the words and ways of evil doers. Call on the Holy Spirit to teach you the Word so that reading the Bible is not a chore, but a blessing. Trust the grammar of grace, that He Who saved you, has in store for you a life of adventure, challenge and vitality.
 

King Jesus, in You, and only You, can a seeker find wisdom. Following You is the adventure of a life-time. By Your Spirit’s work deep within the heart and mind, make all the things that used to charm to be exposed as circus mirrors and seem sillier than a grown man drinking formula from a baby’s bottle. Jesus, Captain of Salvation, make Your people wise, full of strength, adding to wisdom knowledge which enhances strength and gives victory over temptation and sin. Amen.
     (the concluding sentence of this prayer is adapted from Proverbs 24:5-6).

https://youtu.be/wF1cFxJ2Yhw?si=lwTWZ-OHTe9hgLXF “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee”

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