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. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace but he cried the more a great deal. Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him. Be of good comfort, rise: he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him. What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him. Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him. Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way."
The events we find taking place in this passage are not the results of chance. Here is a great picture of the providence of God working to bring the sinner where the Lord of Glory is passing by. Where we find the Lord Jesus Christ a great work is always done. We do not worship a God who sits by helplessly wondering what we are going to do next. If He were to ever act this way we would be helpless and hopeless. It would be like taking the sun out of the universe. When the Lord Jesus Christ is present, there is a great change in those around Him. just as the warmth of the sun causes great changes in all that it touches.
Even the most worthless to society is moved to cry out with HOPE when he hears the GOOD NEWS that "Jesus of Nazareth passeth by." For when the Lord Jesus Christ works among us, we will soon see our hearts revived, and raised from the dead.
Wouldn't you like to know when He passes by? Wouldn't you like to feel His holy influence on all this that we call religion" Wouldn't you like to see the spiritually blind eyes opened? Wouldn't you like to know that the spiritually deaf ears could now hear? Wouldn't you like to see the spiritually lame and halt jumping with joy before the Lord of Glory? Wouldn't you like to see the Lord Jesus Christ working effectually to make poor sinners feel their need for Him, and come to Him that they might be saved?
It was the providence of God working to bring all this to pass. Four things were necessary: FIRST. the Lord had to be passing by this place. SECOND. the blind beggar had to be sitting by the road to Jericho begging. THIRD. This blind beggar had to have a need. FOURTH. the Lord Jesus Christ had to be willing and able to provide his need.
All of these things came together to give this poor beggar his sight. He did live in Jericho, he was by the wayside begging, he was blind, the Lord was passing that way and He was willing and able to meet the need of that one who cried out to Him. Today the Lord is passing by one more time. Do you have a need? Are you blind and unable to "see the Kingdom of God"? There is only ONE who can give us our sight. It is Christ alone who came: Luke 1:79 "To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
Look how short this sermon was that this man heard? " He heard that it was Jesus." We tend to think that length has something to do with it. We think a person must become a theologian, and he must learn a lot. But this is all that this beggar heard.
Some of us have heard preaching so long that we could probably give a pretty good imitation of it. We know the letter of the law almost to perfection. But with all of our learning we have not been led to cry out unto the Lord. What we have learned has been only theory if it does not cause us to cry out as this poor blind beggar. These things become unimportant to us. Indifference is the greatest danger to our soul. What we hear in the sermon is soon forgotten.