Corona Chronicles - Crown of Thorns

Welcome to Corona Chronicles, and thanks for joining us again. We are back in Mark chapter 10. And if you were following along the series, then you'll know that we just spent some time in our last session reflecting on Jesus's amazing words in Mark 10 verse 45. For even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So an amazing statement about who Jesus is and why he's come And today, we're moving on to chapter 10 verse 46 and to another amazing miracle.

Then they came to Gerico. As Jesus and his disciples together with a large crowd were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartomeus, which means son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, Jesus, son of David have mercy on me. Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more. Son of David have mercy on me.

Jesus stopped and said, call him. So they called to the blind man. Cheer up on your feet. He's calling you. Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asked him? The blind man said, rabbi, I want to see. Go, said Jesus. Your faith has healed you.

Immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. Great. You've got to love his tenacity this morning haven't you? I know. Yeah.

Perseverance, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. It's not the first time that people have tried to stop someone coming to Jesus either. We have the little children -- Yeah.

-- not long ago. And they were running up to Jesus. And the disciples then were saying -- Yeah. -- what are you doing? You don't wanna hang out with these.

Yeah. You're the lowliest in society. And now we've got another lowly guy in society. A blind beggar -- Yeah. -- who the pharisees would probably have said you've sinned so you deserve this.

I'm absolutely. Yeah. This is your this is your just judgment from God. Yeah. He's in a pitiful state, isn't he?

And we don't know whether he was a beggar because he was blind. Mhmm. In other words, he couldn't see, so he couldn't or what the connection is here. But -- Yeah. -- as you say, there would be, you know, it you know, he's he's in a sorry state and would no doubt be sidded unclean, you know, and irreligious certainly.

Definitely. And and many of the crowd don't think jeez that should -- Mhmm. -- be troubled by -- Exactly. -- these kind of people. There's a large crowd here as well.

So it's like, Jesus, why would you bother with this man? Look at hundreds of people around you. Yeah. You know, why not spend time with them? Yeah.

And it's wonderful the identity he's given, isn't it? So, you know, I think when Jesus name you know, when when when the gospel was named people, you know, a blind man, Bartamaeus, which means son of Tomaeus. He wasn't just known in the end as a blind man. You know, he had a real name. He was a real person.

This is real history. Yep. And presumably his name is here because he you know, he he came to be 1 of the crowd. You know, he was known in the end by Jesus and known by the disciples. He's not just a faceless character, is he?

Yeah. You know, like like we've seen elsewhere in the gospels as well. Gyrus, you know, Jiruses daughter and, you know, all kinds of things. Yeah. So, again, maybe they made up the early church.

That would be great. Isn't it? What testimony this is? Yeah. And when it's When he hears that Jesus, he begins to shout.

So presumably, he's he he knows who Jesus is. Otherwise, he would go. Who's -- Yeah. -- who the heck is Jesus. But he knows He he's heard about Jesus, and he's put the pieces in his mind together of who Jesus is from what he's heard about him.

Because he begins to shout Jesus son of David, which is not a sort of randomly plucked out of the air title. But it's messianic. He's he's saying, from what I've heard about you, you're the messiah. You have to be the messiah. Yeah.

And and and also knowing that that title means mercy, doesn't it? The the son of David is a merciful person. Mhmm. And, you know, he says something to have mercy on me. He knows that he needs help, both in his physical immediate setting as a blind beggar, but probably more spiritually.

You know, he knows he needs the mercy of God in in Christ. To to come to his life. Yeah. And and so then Jesus very graciously says, you know, call him. And this is what he did with the the woman who had been bleeding.

For 12 years as well, you know, who'd come and kind of touched him. Mhmm. And he stops and he says, who does that? Yeah. So he he looked for opportunities to draw people out, doesn't they?

And and then and then and then you've got this, you know, you know, cheer up on your feet, which is like a it's so British that Yeah. I heard Cheah. Come on, Chishya. Cheahold old fellow. Yeah.

Yeah. On your feet? Chad. Yeah. Yeah.

I know. It's funny. Isn't it? I'd love to know what the actual sort of -- Yeah. -- Greek thing is how how closely to cheer up that -- Yeah.

-- it actually is. But so he chucks his cloak aside and, you know, and And that's quite that's quite an amazing thing for him to do. Yeah. Presumably, as a blind man and you're begging, you haven't really got an awful lot of stuff. Yeah.

So your cloak is your life line, I would guess. Mhmm. So him throwing it to 1 side and jumping up and coming to Jesus without placing it down carefully folding it up maybe drawing a little line in the sand behind him so he can go back and find it in case this doesn't work out. He totally just chucks it away. I don't want this anymore.

Like Jesus is is Jesus is going to give me a new life. Mhmm. So why hold on to this old stuff? I think right, isn't it? It's a picture of kind of forsaking his old ways already and preparing to take up the new the new life.

And, you know, the Jesus question is just so interesting, isn't it? What do you want me to do for you? And it's identical to the question he asked the disciples in verse 36. James and John come to him saying teacher we want you to do for us wherever we ask. He says, well, what is it that you want?

And as we saw in the previous sessions, they want worldly glory and authority. Mhmm. In other words, even though they've been with Jesus -- Yeah. They're still wildly confused about what it means to follow him -- Mhmm. -- whereas this guy here who, spiritually -- Yeah.

-- you know, would be way down from them -- Right. -- in 1 sense. He knows that actually, what what is required just it's just a humble it's just a humble thing, isn't it? I want to see. Yeah.

You know, I don't want the glory. I don't want the authority. I don't wanna be a bigwig. I just wanna see you -- Yeah. -- you know, and follow you.

And again, as we've seen in the gospels, the the healing miracles, the sight miracles -- Mhmm. -- are connected to understanding things about Jesus. Yep. The disciples are still not getting it, but those on the outside are are seemingly able to, you know, because of God's grace. And the irony is that the blind man here really is the 1 who sees.

Yeah. The whole crowd see Jesus. Yeah. And none of them are saying son of David. None of them are saying have mercy on me.

No. And they're telling this guy to shut up. But he's ironically the only 1 who actually sees. He knows who Jesus is, and he knows what Jesus Jesus can do for him. And previously, we we've we've seen Jesus is unable to perform miracles where is no faith.

So he he's astonished at the lack of faith in some towns. Mhmm. And so it says he was he was able to perform very little miracles there. Miracles are connected to faith. So, you know, Jesus says that himself here in verse 52, your faith has healed you.

Absolutely. So he he's got it bang on this guy. Mhmm. And because of that, he's asked for the right thing. Mhmm.

Jesus has has honored that. And and it's lovely that he follows him along the road then sort of as a reflection of his heart, I suppose. He he he doesn't just want sight so he could go to the pub and look at pretty women. He wants sight so he can follow these. Absolutely.

Yeah. And I I think that's really helpful, isn't And and and just to lift that question out, you know, briefly, what do you want me to do for you? It's just a really helpful masterful question, isn't it? To assess our motives. Definitely.

You know, if people come and or sometimes like we all do, we're grumbling, and we're upset about something. A good question is, what would you like to use to do for you now? Right. Yeah. You know, what do you actually want him to do?

Sure. And the answer to that may reveal quite a lot. You know, I want him to just prove my life, make me richer, more comfortable, have less problems. Mhmm. You know?

But that's the kind of answer that the disciples would give -- Mhmm. -- whereas actually to see Jesus -- Yeah. -- is always the best answer, isn't it? We should have that above the church door as we come in, church on a Sunday. What do you want Jesus to do?

Jesus do for you. Yeah. That would really get us to to think, wasn't it? To think. Yeah.

Yeah. It's a challenge. Good stuff.