Gaylord Diaz's Blog

The exciting conclusion of last week’s blog on Jairus.

Mark 5:25-34,  And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,  (26)  And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,  (27)  When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.  (28)  For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.  (29)  And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.  (30)  And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?  (31)  And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?  (32)  And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.  (33)  But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.  (34)  And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

As they’re walking along, a woman pushes and fights her way through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. With great effort and difficulty, she succeeds and, in an instant of time, her twelve years of suffering were ended. She knew, she felt, that she’d been healed.

Well, Jesus knew that healing power had gone out of Him. So He stops dead in His tracks, looks around, and, above all the din and noise of the crowd, He asks who touched Him. “What do you mean who touched You?,” His disciples asked incredulously. “We’re surrounded by people. We’re crammed like sardines. A lot of people are touching You.”

Jesus doesn’t pay His disciples any mind. He stands still, turns around, and looks for the woman who touched the hem of His garment. The clock’s ticking. The people are asking, and looking for, the person who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.

Caught and discovered, the woman instantly goes into fear and panic mode. She’s shaking like a leaf. Jesus is looking for her. He’s waiting for her to step up. So with trembling footsteps, she makes her way to Jesus and fesses up to what she’d done. She gives Him her story; she’s taking a huge chunk of Jesus’ time.

Now all the while this is happening, Jairus is standing by forlornly, impatiently, perhaps even angrily. “Jesus, we’ve got to hurry. My daughter’s life’s on the line. We ain’t got time to mess with this woman. We’ll look for her another time. I’ll make an announcement in synagogue next Sabbath. I’ll even help you look. But please, don’t just stand there. We’ve got to hurry.”

Things go from bad to worse as Jairus gets the bad news that he’s dreaded. Mark 5:35,  While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?

Brethren, what do you do when bad news come? When you come face to face with your worst nightmare, your biggest fear; what do you do? Give up? Get mad at God? Turn away from God and blame Him for letting the disease go this far?

When you’re in a trial, you need to get alone with God and ask Him what His will is. What you should do. If you ask Him, and wait, and listen; God will speak to you and tell you what He wants you to do next. Look at it with me in Mark 5:36,  As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.

Notice Jesus’ words here because they’re significant. The first thing He does, the first thing He says, is Don’t be afraid. WHEN YOU’VE GOTTEN YOUR BAD NEWS AND YOU’RE AFRAID, JESUS CALMS YOUR FEAR. No matter how bad it looks, God doesn’t want you to be afraid.

Notice, in the second place, Jesus’ words. Only believe. He’s telling Jairus what to do. Even though the girl’s dead, Jesus wants Jairus to continue believing for healing and life.

Brethren, unless God tells you otherwise, unless God shows you that it’s your time to die; the promise of healing is still yours. It’s still God’s will to heal you. And no matter what’s happened, God doesn’t want you to give up what you were praying and believing Him for. He wants you to keep on believing. Stick with what you originally asked God for. Hold fast. Expect God to answer your prayer.

I want you to look carefully at Jesus’ words in the parallel account in Luke 8:50, But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole. While it was God’s will to heal the girl, Jesus wasn’t going to heal her unless Jairus believed. She wasn’t going to get healed without Jairus’ faith.

Do you see what Jesus did here? He laid the burden of responsibility for the child’s welfare squarely on Jairus’ shoulders. Now that’s a pretty heavy responsibility to bear. It makes us nervous and scared to know that the trial’s outcome depends on us.

But I want you to note a couple of things here. First, note what Jesus said: Believe only, and she shall be made whole. Jesus told Jairus how it would end. Death’s not the end. The girl will live again. Do you see what He’s doing here? He’s encouraging Jairus to believe. He’s showing Jairus what could happen if he only believed.

Brethren, WHEN THINGS LOOK BAD, JESUS KNOWS WHAT TO SAY, HE KNOWS WHAT TO DO, TO ENCOURAGE, STRENGTHEN, AND REVIVE YOUR FAITH. That’s why it’s so important for you to get alone with God when you get your bad news. Instead of letting your mind and emotions run wild with fear and despair, you need to look at your God and listen because God knows exactly what to say to you to calm your fear and resurrect your faith.

Note, in the second place, what Jesus did after He spoke these words to Jairus: He kept on walking to Jairus’ house. You see, Jesus wasn’t standing there, waiting for Jairus’ reply. He kept on walking to Jairus’ house! And that, my friends, can only mean it’s still Jesus’ will to heal, He still intends to heal, and death isn’t going to stop Him from healing!

You see, brethren, Jesus placed the burden of responsibility on Jairus’ shoulders. But Jesus helped him believe!  He kept on walking and He gave Jairus reason to keep on believing.

Jesus also gave Jairus reason and hope to keep on believing by stopping to perform this miracle for the lady with the issue of blood. Now that was a time-consuming incident. And if we were in the flesh, when time is of the utmost essence, we haven’t got time to mess around. “We can’t wait any longer! We need a miracle now! God, you’ve got to act now!” We can get mad at God for the obstacles, the hindrances, setbacks, and delays.

Do you wonder sometimes why God takes His time and lets things get worse? He takes His time—not because He wants you to lose your faith, but rather, because He wants to boost and encourage your faith!

Unbeknownst to Jairus at the time, this clock-ticking, time-consuming miracle was Jesus’ encouragement to Jairus to keep on believing.  “Look, Jairus. A woman suffered from an incurable bleeding condition for twelve long years. But when she touched the hem of My garment she was instantly healed!” Jairus, Jesus healed an incurable disease! There’s nothing too hard for Him to heal! There isn’t a sickness He can’t heal! What Jesus did for a hopeless case woman He could do for your hopeless case daughter! Be not afraid. Only believe!

Well, you know how the story ends. Jesus gets to Jairus’ house, He sends everybody out of the room, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. {55} And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat (Mark 5:54-55).  Wow! There really is nothing too hard for God to do!

Brethren, when God comes to you, or speaks to you, and says Only Believe, Keep On Believing; it’s because He’s got a promise to keep. He’s got a prayer to answer. He gave you His Word and He intends to make good on His Word. Why is that? Because He loves you and He wants to help you. He’s not a liar. He’s faithful. And He will not fail.

So when you get your bad news and the outlook doesn’t look very good, go to God and listen. Whatever He tells you is going to be good. You get to either go home and be with Him where you’ll never get sick and hurt again. Or you’ll live and see the day when you get up out of that sick bed and walk again. God knows exactly what to say to you to calm, encourage, and lift up you. May God grant us the courage and faith to only believe.

Many of us face health and physical issues. The trials of life have assailed us and we find ourselves disheartened, fearful, and doubtful about what’s going to happen to us.

Here’s the situation. You’re praying and believing God to heal you. But things have gotten worse. You’ve gotten sicker. The symptoms and circumstances don’t look good. The prognosis is bleak. And you’re faced with the very real possibility of dying. What do you do? Do you quit praying and believing for healing, resign yourself to the disease and get ready to die? Or do you stick to your original prayer and continue believing God for healing and life?

I’d like for you to think about the answer to the question. And I’d like for you to compare your answer with the answer that God gives us in the Scriptures today.

Jesus is in Gadara. He has cast the demons out of the Gadarene demoniacs. About 2,000 pigs perished in the Sea during the exorcism. As a result of Jesus’ fearsome power, and the significant economic loss of the pigs, the Gadarenes asked Jesus to leave their country. Jesus complies with their request. He sails back across the Sea of Galilee with His disciples in tow and He lands in His adopted hometown of Capernaum. We pick the story up in MARK 5:21-24.

And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.  (22)  And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,  (23)  And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.  (24)  And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

Jairus was a synagogue ruler in Capernaum. He was in charge of the building and everything that went on in the building. Some of his duties included appointing a person to read the Scriptures and pray, choosing someone to preach, and making sure that the service was conducted in an orderly fashion without interruption or interference.

Jesus grew up in Nazareth, but He lived in Capernaum during His public ministry. He went to synagogue services in Capernaum. He was invited one time to preach. And it just so happened that during His sermon, He was interrupted by a demon-possessed fellow who was yelling and screaming: Let us alone. Let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art. Thou art the Holy One of God (Mark 1:24).

Well, Jesus promptly rebuked the demon and set the man free. Mark 1:27 tells us, And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

Well, it’s quite likely that Jesus was in Jairus’ synagogue and the only way He could have preached His sermon was because Jairus asked Him to preach. Jairus, I’m saying, isn’t ignorant about Jesus. He’s heard Jesus. He’s seen Him in action. He’s seen firsthand, and heard about, Jesus’ many miracles.

Now Jairus had a daughter. She was about twelve years old. Well, one day, the daughter fell sick. And over the course of the next few days the girl got worse and worse. Just like what’s happened to some of us. Before long, it became painfully obvious that she was dying. Finally, it came to a point where she was only minutes away from dying. This was her last day. In a matter of moments, she’d be dead.

But Jairus refuses to sit there and watch his daughter die! He loves his daughter a whole lot and he’s not willing, or ready, to let her die. He doesn’t give up faith or abandon hope. Suddenly, in a moment of Divine genius or inspiration, Jairus remembers Jesus. You know, the miracle worker. The one with power and authority over sickness and demons. The healer. Jesus can help! Why didn’t he think of it before? Jesus is his last hope!

Can you believe God for healing even in the face of imminent, pending death? Can you believe God to heal you even when the doctors give up on you and give you no hope? Jairus believed. WHEN YOU’VE GOT JESUS YOU’VE GOT HOPE.

Here’s the principle of faith that I go by. Unless God’s showed you that it’s your time to die, it’s still God’s will to heal you. You can believe him for life in a life-and-death situation. God wants you to believe.

Rising from his daughter’s bedside, Jairus runs quickly out of the house in search of Jesus. Jesus is not hard to find. There’s always people around Him. And it just so happened, on this particular day, Jesus was in town. In fact, He just sailed in from Gadara. Talk about Divine timing. JESUS IS THERE WHEN YOU NEED HIM! Hallelujah!

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy getting to Jesus. There are roadblocks, obstacles, and detours that Satan puts in your way to discourage you and get you to turn around, go back home, and die. The roadblocks are called fear. Doubt. Unbelief. Frightful, hopeless circumstances. The doctor’s sad report. The disease’s fearful prognosis.

In Jairus’ case, the trouble was people. Jesus was surrounded by a whole lot of people on Galilee’s shore. Jairus is running. He’s yelling and asking people to make way. People aren’t paying any attention to him. They’ve come to see Jesus. They’ve come to hear Him preach. They’ve come to get their miracle. They ain’t budging. So Jairus pushes and fights his way through the crowd.

Finally, with some difficulty, he stands before Jesus. Jairus promptly falls to the ground in an act of obeisance and worship. “Jesus, my daughter is dying. Who knows, she might even be dead by now. But come with me, lay hands on her, and I know she’ll live. You can heal her. Please come quickly and save her.”

At that very instant, Jesus dropped what He was doing and He followed Jairus. Do you think Jesus doesn’t want to help you? Think He isn’t keen on healing when death’s around the corner? Think again and, this time, let the Scriptures show you what to think.

Jesus follows Jairus. His disciples followed behind Him and, of course, the whole multitude of people tagged along. Here was a miracle in the making and the people weren’t about ready to go home without seeing Jesus perform a mighty miracle.

The only thing about it was, they weren’t all following behind Jesus. Rather, the crowd was all around Jesus. The word thronged in Mark 5:24 means they were all around Him, they were on every side. It was like a huge circle of people with Jesus, Jairus, and the disciples right smack in the middle of this humongous crowd. Naturally, when you’re stuck in the middle of a huge crowd, forward progress is going to be slow and difficult. It’s hard to get anywhere when everybody’s around you.

The trip to Jairus’ house is taking time—exactly what Jairus’ daughter doesn’t have. Jairus is probably crying and pleading with the people, if not angry, to please make way. “We’re in a hurry! My daughter’s dying! Please get out of the way! Move it! Clear out! Out of the way!”

Suddenly and unexpectedly, to Jairus’ dismay, Jesus stops. “What now? What’s happening? God, we’re in a hurry here. Please don’t stop!!!” But Jesus doesn’t listen. He stands still and looks around.

To Be Continued Next Time, Part 2 of this very exciting story. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to have your faith strengthened and encouraged!

TWO OTHER BLIND MEN THAT WE CAN MIMIC

 Matthew 9:27-31,  And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.  (28)  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.  (29)  Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.  (30)  And their eyes were opened; and Jesus  straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.  (31)  But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.

Jesus is in His hometown of Capernaum. He has gone to Jairus’ house and He’s raised Jairus’ dead daughter back to life. Leaving the house, Jesus heads back home with His disciples. As He was en route, two blind men followed Him, crying, Thou Son of David, have mercy of us.

Now the verbs crying and saying in the Greek text of verse 27 are in the present participle tense. It’s the tense of present and continuing action. In other words, these men didn’t just ask Jesus once: they kept on asking and asking. They continued to ask. Do you know why they did that? Because Jesus ignored them and kept right on walking home. I’ll show it to you in just a moment. But for now, Jesus paid them no mind. He acted as if He didn’t hear them. As in Bartimaeus’ case, here was Jesus’ initial refusal to acknowledge or assist them. It was, from all outward appearances, a definite, convincing NO to their prayer and plea for a miracle. And, just as  in  Bartimaeus’ case, the message that these two blind men are getting is, Jesus doesn’t want to heal us.

So what did the blind men do? They kept right on following and crying out, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. It’s called persistence. It’s called refusing to be denied. It’s called refusing to take No for an answer, even if that No is coming from the Lord Himself!

So is Jesus’ initial denial a definite No to your prayer and plea for a miracle? If you were these two blind men, would you have given up on Jesus and gone home? You see, like Bartimaeus and the blind men, you have a choice. You can go home and live the rest of your life blind. Or you can follow on, not give up hope, and get your miracle from God. What’s it going to be?

Perhaps your faith has been shattered by God’s apparent refusal to acknowledge or answer you. Perhaps you’re disillusioned with God, even angry and bitter, because you just can’t understand why God won’t help you. Brethren, could it be that your faith’s been shattered because you’ve quit yelling? Could it be you’re disillusioned with God because, instead of continuing to follow Him and cry out to Him, you’ve turned around and gone home? Could it be you haven’t gotten your miracle or answer because you’ve given up? You say you gave God time. Lots of time. Funny you should say that because God was giving you time too—time to persevere and persist—but you gave up too soon. I mean no disrespect. And I’m not being insensitive about the hurt, anger, and disappointment you might feel towards God. I know what it’s like to hurt and not get an answer to prayer. But someone has to say it and I guess I’ve been chosen by God to say it: you gave up too soon.

You know, now’s not too late to get your miracle. You’ve still got a chance to get it.  But  you’ll  need to apologize to God first if you’ve gotten angry with Him. Then ask Him for your miracle. Then wait for as long as God takes.

People today are so impatient. No one likes waiting. Especially me. I’m about as impatient as they come. But after waiting on God for years to answer a couple of my prayers, I’ve become convinced that GOD TAKES THE LONGEST TIME TO ANSWER THE PRAYERS OF THOSE WHO ARE IMPATIENT WITH HIM. I don’t have any Scriptures to back this up, so I’ll tell you right now that I may be wrong about this. If I am and if I’m charging God falsely I publicly apologize to Him for it. But, as far as my experience goes, God takes the longest time to answer the prayers of those who are impatient with Him. And HE TAKES THE LONGEST TIME BECAUSE HE’S TEACHING THEM TO BE PATIENT. THE SOONER WE LEARN THE LESSON AND BECOME PATIENT, THE SOONER WE GET OUR PRAYERS ANSWERED.

Now I don’t want to mislead you and make you think that God’s going to take years before He answers everyone of your prayers. That’s not the case. Some prayers He answers right away. Some within a reasonably short period of time. And others, after a few months or years. The timing is in God’s hands and we have no control over that.

God knows when you need an answer NOW. He knows when you need a miracle NOW.  Because if you don’t get it NOW, you’ll be dead. If not dead, you’ll come to the end of your endurance and you can’t possibly endure the trial another minute longer. God promised that you won’t be tried longer than what you can endure,1 Cor. 10:13. When you reach the end of your endurance, that’s when the trial ends. That’s when you get your miracle.

Thankfully, God answers you NOW when you really need it NOW. GOD KNOWS WHEN TO GIVE YOU YOUR MIRACLE. AND YOU JUST HAVE TO REST ASSURED THAT YOUR MIRACLE WILL COME AT THE RIGHT TIME. IN GOD’S TIME.

I said that these two blind men cried out to Jesus and Jesus didn’t pay any attention to them. He ignored them and kept right on walking home. Note verse 28 with me, And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus is at home now. There’s a knock on the door. Two guys want to see Jesus. Guess who they were. You got it. It was the two blind men. They set their fears and apprehensions aside, and asked, Is Jesus here? Would you mind if we see Jesus? The blind men, I’m saying, aren’t giving up. They really want to see Jesus and they’re not going to leave Jesus alone. They’re not going to let Jesus rest until He pays attention to them.

Well, you know how the story ended. They asked Jesus to heal them and that’s exactly what Jesus did.

So what’s the lesson that God would have us learn today? It’s this. There are times when answers to prayer come after, and only after, we’ve persisted and persevered in faith. Sometimes—not all the time—but sometimes, He lets us wait. And He even makes it look as if He isn’t paying any attention to us, He isn’t listening, He doesn’t care, He’s at the back of the boat sound asleep. But He does care, brethren. His  initial No is His way of getting us to persist and not give up. Why does He want us to persist? Because it’s through faith and perseverance that we inherit what God’s promised us.

Don’t despair and think, just because you haven’t gotten the answer or the miracle yet, that it isn’t God’s will for you to have it. Listen, brethren. IF GOD MADE YOU A PROMISE, IT’S BECAUSE IT’S HIS WILL FOR YOU TO HAVE THAT PROMISE. IF IT WASN’T GOD’S WILL FOR YOU TO HAVE WHAT HE PROMISED, THEN HE WOULDN’T HAVE MADE  YOU  THE  PROMISE.  But He promised it. You have the promises. They’re written all over your Bible. It’s God’s will for you to have what He promised. You’ve assumed the wrong thing. You thought it wasn’t God’s will to give you what you asked. So you gave up and quit asking. But the fact of the matter is, it is God’s will to give you what you asked. Just not right now, but later.

Brethren, JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T GOTTEN IT YET DOESN’T MEAN YOU WON’T GET IT OR YOU’LL NEVER GET IT. DELAY IS NOT DENIAL. God’s seeming NO at first is really His YES—after you’ve believed and waited. Brethren, God’s teaching you persistence. So hang in there. Don’t throw in the towel! Don’t give up! God bless you and help you persist.

IT TAKES FAITH AND PERSISTENCE TO GET AN ANSWER TO PRAYER

Faith is a requirement for answered prayer. But there’s another aspect of faith that God wants us to have because it’s also a requirement for getting miracles and answers to prayer. This aspect of faith is called perseverance, persistence, or endurance. It’s called not giving up. God wants you to persist and persevere in faith. He wants you to keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, keep on confessing, keep on waiting, keep on enduring, keep on believing.

Why? Because PERSEVERANCE IS A CONDITION OR REQUIREMENT FOR ANSWERED PRAYER. Hebrews 6:11-12 tells us,  And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:  (12)  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Now the word patience literally means ‘endurance’ or longsuffering. It means to patiently suffer, wait, and endure. A lot of Jesus’ miracles in the Gospel accounts were performed immediately. That is, a person asked Him for help and, right then and there, the person got his/her miracle.

But when the Lord tells us here in Hebrew 6 that we inherit the promises by faith and patience, the Lord’s telling us what we already know from experience, namely, that not every prayer is answered right away as far as a manifestation is concerned. Not every miracle is performed instantly right after you’ve asked. Some miracles and answers to prayer take time. That’s just the way it is. We can’t have everything right away. And we can’t tell God what to do or when to do it. God’s the Giver, He’s the Healer, He’s the Miracle-Worker; and He’ll give, heal, and work a miracle, in His own good time and way.

By God’s design, He let us wait. He lets us suffer some more. He lets the storm rage on for just a little bit longer. Why? Because He wants to teach us to wait, persevere, and persist. Why wait? Because He’s decided that THERE ARE TIMES—NOT ALL THE TIME, BUT SOMETIMES—WHEN WE NEED TO BELIEVE AND WAIT BEFORE WE GET AN ANSWER TO PRAYER. In verse 15 of our Scripture text we read that Abraham, after he patiently endured, he obtained the promise. Do you know how long he waited and patiently endured before he got what God promised him? 25 years!

Thankfully, God doesn’t let us suffer and wait for 25 years every time  we pray and ask Him for something. But still, when God decides that He wants us to suffer and wait before we get our miracle, He wants us to know that, EVEN THOUGH HE HASN’T ANSWERED OUR PRAYER YET OR HASN’T GIVEN US OUR MIRACLE; HE NEVERTHELESS STILL WANTS TO GIVE IT TO US. But we’ve got to wait, suffer a little bit more, hang on, and don’t throw in the towel. Brethren, don’t quit believing. Don’t quit asking. Don’t quit expecting. Don’t quit confessing. Don’t quit hoping. Don’t give up!

Now the text of Scripture here in Hebrews 6:12exhorts us to be followers of them who, through faith and persistence, get the promises. The word follow here literally means to mimic or copy; to imitate or be just like someone else. In other words, we’re supposed to be just like those persons in the Bible who got promises, miracles, and answers to prayer because they believed God, and suffered, and waited; they persevered, persisted, and endured; until they got what they asked God for; or got what God promised to give them.

Since we’re supposed to mimic these people who got their miracles, we’ve got to know who they are and see what they did. After all, we can’t copy someone if we don’t know who they are or what they did. So with this in mind, I’d like to spend the rest of our time  looking at a couple of people who got what they wanted because they persevered.

 A BLIND MAN THAT WE CAN MIMIC

Mark 10:46-52  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.  (47)  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.  (48)  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.  (49)  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.  (50)  And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.  (51)  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.  (52) 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.

Jesus and His disciples were traveling through Jericho on their way to Jerusalem. They were going there for the Passover feast. This was one of the yearly feasts where every Jew, thirteen years old and older, was required to attend. So, there’s a lot of people from all over the region, continent, and empire, traveling along with Jesus, going to the Passover in Jerusalem.

As they were leaving Jericho, a blind beggar was sitting by the side of the road. When he heard that Jesus was passing by, blind Bartimaeus cried out and said, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.  Evidently, Bartimaeus had heard enough about Jesus and His miracles to know that Jesus could heal him of his blindness. Just as importantly, as every Jew would know, he knew that one of the things that Messiah would do when He comes is, he would restore sight to the blind (Isaiah 42:7,16). The Messiah, the Son of David, is here! He’s just a few short feet away! Here was Bartimaeus’ golden opportunity to get healed!

So he called out to Jesus. Now Bartimaeus isn’t talking in a conversational tone of voice or volume. There’s a huge crowd around Jesus. There’s a lot of talking going on, a lot of noise, so Bartimaeus has to yell and scream  in order to be heard. So he yells, Jesus, thou Messiah of Israel, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Saying have mercy on me, to a Jew, was the same as saying, heal me, or help me.

So here is blind Bartimaeus. He cries out to Jesus to heal him and do you know what? He doesn’t get a response. Maybe Jesus didn’t hear him. So he yells out a second time. And this time he yells out louder. And do you know what Jesus does? He keeps right on walking past Bartimaeus! So what does Bartimaeus do? He keeps on yelling and shouting, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. He was yelling so loud and persistently that the people who were traveling with Jesus came to Bartimaeus and told him to shut up. Now if these people who told Bartimaeus to shut up heard him yelling, then you can be sure, absolutely sure, that Jesus heard him too. But Jesus doesn’t stop to acknowledge or help him. 

Do you know what Bartimaeus did after he was told to stop yelling? He went right back to yelling. And because Jesus just keeps on walking, now He’s farther away from Bartimaeus. So Bartimaeus yells out even louder. Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Bartimaeus, you see, didn’t give up. He didn’t quit yelling when he was ordered to quit yelling. He didn’t listen to what people were telling him to do.

What’s even more significant, bold, and blatant about Bartimaeus is this. He’s yelled out to Jesus. Jesus doesn’t pay him any mind. He ignores him. He keeps right on walking past Bartimaeus. Jesus hasn’t stopped or skipped a heart beat. He’s continuing to walk towards Jerusalem. And if you and I didn’t know Jesus any better, we would have interpreted Jesus’ actions here to mean, Bartimaeus, Jesus is walking past you. He isn’t stopping. I guess He doesn’t want to heal you. If He wanted to heal you He would have stopped. But He didn’t. I guess it’s not His will  to heal you. You’ll just have to live with it and get over it. Jesus is  in a hurry to get to Jerusalem. He ain’t gonna stop for you.  So shut up and quit yelling for Him.

Do you see what I mean? Jesus has ignored Bartimaeus and the message that Bartimaeus is getting is, Jesus doesn’t want to stop and help me. Bartimaeus ignores the message. He doesn’t let Jesus’ apparent “No” discourage, deter, or stop him from yelling and asking some more. He doesn’t take a No from Jesus! How bold, blatant, and presumptuous can you be? This guy wants to see. And he’s not going to let anyone, including Jesus Himself, stop him from at least asking. Bartimaeus will not be silenced. Bartimaeus will not be denied.

If you were Bartimaeus—if you were told by more than one person on more than one occasion to shut up and quit yelling; if the message you got from Jesus was that He wasn’t interested in healing or helping you; would you have stopped yelling?

Bartimaeus, you see, wanted to be healed bad enough. He was blind. He couldn’t follow Jesus around like the rest of Jesus’ followers. I’m convinced that, if he could, he would have followed Jesus to the ends of the earth until Jesus gave him what he wanted. But, alas, his blindness prevented his mobility. Jesus didn’t come to Jericho every day. But on this particular day, Jesus was here. Who knows when He’ll be by this way again. As it turns out in hindsight, Jesus would not be in Jericho again. He’s on His way to Jerusalem to die. This was the last known time that Jesus would be in Jericho. For Bartimaeus, and unknown to him, there is no second chance. There’s no other opportunity to get ahold of Jesus. Jesus is here right now. And now is all the time, the only chance, that Bartimaeus has to get ahold of Jesus. So Bartimaeus just keeps on persisting and calling out for Jesus. He’s gonna get ahold of Jesus if it’s the last thing he does.

Jesus has left Bartimaeus in the distance. But He stops now and tells His disciples to go back there and fetch this screamer. What do you want, Bartimaeus? And the blind beggar answers, Lord, I want to see. I’d like for you to see just how big, or how strong, Bartimaeus’ faith was. Bartimaeus was blind. And in those days, as even in ours, there was no cure for blindness. Blindness was something that you lived with for the rest of your life. But not Bartimaeus! He wasn’t content to live the rest of his life blind—not as long as Messiah was here. Not as long as the Miracle-worker was here. Bartimaeus believed he could be healed and see. Wow! What faith! And what persistence! If only we all could be like this blind beggar!

Jesus, in response, says, Go your way. Your faith has made you whole! Hallelujah! What a God! What a dramatic scene! What started out as a denial became a later miracle. An initial denial or refusal from Jesus could have been so discouraging, so devastating, so depressing, as to cause Bartimaeus to quit believing, quit hoping for a miracle, quit yelling. But Bartimaeus refused to take a No, even from the Lord! He persisted and kept on asking, kept on believing. He didn’t give up! And as a result, he went home seeing.

God’s initial refusal or no, my friend, does not mean that it’s not His will to answer your prayer or give you your miracle. God’s initial, continuing refusal is simply His way of getting you to yell some more and keep on yelling. Why? Because you need to believe and persist if you want your miracle.

Coming Up On My Next Blog Post, Part 2. The inspirational example of a couple of blind men who would not be denied.