The story of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52) continues to challenge me as I go on with my christian walk. The following discussions were developed from the teachings of Sunday, November 16, 2014 and it was a blessing to me, hence the need for sharing this. Mark 10:46 states And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging (KJV) Here the disciples and the crowd had followed Jesus to Jericho and they continued following Him. It looks impressive on a cursory look that the crowd were following Jesus but note what the bible says in this same verse ... with his disciples and a great number of people.. Two categories of persons are highlighted in this verse: the disciples and the crowd. For me this does not seem to be a mere distinction. The bible qualifies the disciples with the word his a possessive pronoun signalling Christ possession over their lives. I though that the word his should have been used also to qualify the crowd. Just like an artist will usually refer to a large number of person as his fans. Sadly this was not the case for the crowd. Why does Jesus not lay possession over the crowd? You will recall that in John 2:24-25, the crowd came to meet Jesus, but he did not commit himself to them, because He knows all men and needs no testimony of what is in men (paraphrased). The crowd are obviously persons who are only interested in the excitements, glamor and the ephemeral benefits that comes with following Jesus. Who then are his disciples, they are those who continue in His words (John 8:31). The mere fact that we were born into Christian homes and have continued to attend church does not make us Christians following the above verse neither do merely being workers, prayer champions or having sound knowledge of the bible without more make us any better. The bible says it is if we continue in His words, then we are HIS DISCIPLES and this will obviously reflect in our LOVE TOWARDS ONE ANOTHER (John 13:35). We can all claim to be following Jesus, but without continuing in HIS WORD we are not any better than the crowd. We need to ask ourselves what role does HIS word play in our decision making? This calls for a proper and a daily evaluation of our lives. Shalom.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 19:57:25 +0000
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