Mark-Lesson 15...Continued from page 3

DAY FOUR:  He is Calling for You

Please carefully read Mark 10:46-52 and answer the following questions.

1.  Jesus now traveled to the Jericho area.  Jericho is five miles west of the Jordan River, six miles north of the Dead Sea, and fifteen air miles and twenty-one road miles northeast of Jerusalem. It was considered to be a Judean city. Therefore Jesus had crossed back over the Jordan and was nearing the completion of his journey to Jerusalem. The Jericho of New Testament times was about two miles south of the one of the Old Testament period and before. The former had been built by Herod the Great (37–4 B.C.) as a winter palace.[ix]  Who did Jesus come across on the road, and how did he react when he heard Jesus was nearby (v. 46, 47)?

The Son of David

When Bartimeus called Jesus Lord he used the title Rabboni, “my Master.” The only other person in the Gospels who used it was Mary (John 20:16). The beggar twice called him Son of David, a national messianic title, but Rabboni was an expression of personal faith[x]. The title Son of David designated the Messiah as David’s Descendant (2 Samuel 7:8-16) and became a recognized title of the Messiah.  Bartimeus, despite physical blindness, “saw” and believed Jesus was Israel’s Messiah. Jesus did not silence him, implying He accepted the title.[xi]  In an odd twist to this story, there is an apocryphal book called The Testament of Solomon, in which it was believed as the literal son of David, Solomon could magically prevent problems, was an exorcist, and a healer; some have thought that Bartimeus recognized Jesus as the Messiah because of an association with Solomon, or perhaps thought it was Solomon himself come back again, so he called Him the Son of David.[xii]  More likely, other travelers had told him about Jesus and His healing work, and Bartimeus trusted that Jesus was his Messiah as the Bible predicted.  By faith God honored his request, as we’ll see below.

2.  How did the people actually try to discourage Bartimeus, but how did he persist and find reward for his faith (v. 48-50)?

3.  What did the man ask of Jesus, and what was the result of this all (v. 51, 52)?

4.  When Bartimeus heard the news that Jesus was calling him, the text says he rose, in Greek anastas, but that really means he jumped up, leaped up, sprang up.  This Greek word is the root of the word from which we get resurrection, anastasis.  This man was in route to experiencing his personal resurrection from death in sin to life in Christ, from walking in darkness to walking in the light.  What was it that made the difference for this man?  Kenneth Wuest well stated it:

The words of the crowd, changing quickly from those of rebuke to those of friendliness, are terse, “Courage, rise, He calls you!” no superfluous words, just as a crowd would speak. Expositors say: “Graphic description of the beggar’s eager response?mantle thrown off, jumping to his feet, he comes, runs, to Jesus. Though blind, he needs no guide, led by his ear.” [xiii]

It was the gracious call of Jesus that encouraged him to take this step of faith.  Often we speak of how we found God, or us receiving Christ, etc., but what a blessing to know that He called us, found us and received us as His own, though we were lost in the darkness of sin.  What are some things that these passages tell us about this?

Acts 2:38, 39

Romans 5:6-8; 8:28-30

1 Corinthians 1:9, 24

Ephesians 2:4-10; 1 John 4:19

Scripture Memory:  Try to fill in the missing words in the blanks below, by memory if at all possible, and then review the passage several times today.

For _________________ the Son of Man did not _____________ to be ___________________, but to ________________, and to _________________ His _____________ a ____________________ for many.  Mark 10:45 (nkjv)