He sat by the side of the road as he had done for as long as he could remember, wrapped in an old worn cloak to protect him from the heat of the sun or the cold of the wind.
The location was chosen because of the foot traffic, not the scenery; scenery didn’t matter when you were blind.
Today was turning out to be different than any day he could recall. There were so many people!
The crowd that had burst forth from the nearby town were noisily bustling by him. He heard coins being dropped in his worn bag (so many coins!), but that wasn’t the sound that really got the attention of his acute hearing.
In almost every conversation he heard the name:
Jesus.
This name wasn’t unfamiliar to him. He knew that Jesus was the Son of David, and that He would often show mercy to people and heal them. Being able to see would be worth more than all the coins in the world!
He had no idea how he was going to get close to Jesus, so he just began yelling at the top of his lungs, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Apparently, no one in the crowd appreciated his roaring, and many told him to shut up. He didn’t care what they thought; this was likely going to be his only chance. So, he kept yelling.
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
All at once, a stillness settled over the boisterous crowd.
He moved his head back and forth to try and catch any sound that might tell him what was going on.
Then, like an oncoming chariot, a command reached his ears.
“Get up, man. Jesus wants to see you.”
He only needed to be told once. He threw his cloak aside and ran. He had no idea where he was going, but he didn’t seem to care. Fortunately, the crowd directed his steps, cheering and helping him along.
And then, all the voices went silent except one.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
It was Jesus’ voice. It had to be.
He had dreamed of this moment for a long time, had rehearsed speeches that might implore Jesus to help him. But he couldn’t think of any of them.
So, he simply said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
There might have been a hint of laughter in Jesus’ voice when He replied, “Your faith has healed you.”
And then…
LIGHT!
COLOR!
SHAPES!
FACES!
It was almost too much, but he drank it all in, twisting and turning trying to see everything at the same time.
And then his gaze found Jesus!
What a moment that must have been for that man to come face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ (see Mark 10:46-52).
What Bartimaeus saw in Jesus’ eyes that day is the very same thing we, as men, would see in His eyes if we were to come face to face with Him today.
Love. Extravagantly generous love.
Consider the love that Jesus showed to that man.
- He was generous with His time. He stopped whatever He was doing to accommodate the blind man’s request.
- He was generous with His attention. He moved away from the large group to focus on the one. He offered His full consideration to that one beggar.
- He was generous with His help. He did what He could. He gave the man his sight.
Jesus was always giving. He would share His wisdom. He would drive out demons. He would feed masses of hungry people. He would perform miracles.
And if that were all He gave, He would still be considered the most generous person that ever lived.
But His generosity didn’t stop at just giving His resources and His time; He had a much deeper intention for His generosity.
Jesus knew that all these acts of generosity were outside of Himself. He could give like that all day while still preserving Himself.
But His love was greater than anyone could have ever expected.
One time, He said to His disciples,
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NIV)
This would be the greatest form of generosity that anyone could ever show; you couldn’t give more than your own life.
But this was His Master Plan all along.
He hinted at it when He said to His disciples,
“Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24 NIV)
But then He clarified it beyond a doubt when He said,
“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.” (Mark 10:45 NIV)
Jesus gave His life for us. He died for me. He died for you.
He held nothing back.
I try to be generous, I try to think of others and share with them, but I tend to run out pretty quickly. I need “me” time. I need to recharge. I need to refill my tanks.
I want to hold on to my money and possessions too tightly, forgetting that I am only a steward and everything I have comes from God.
I miss many opportunities to be generous. I am too focused on myself and my own needs to think about how I can generously give to others.
Not so with Jesus.
He was always looking for how He could be generous. This was like breath to Him; it was just the way He did everything.
And He is the same today. He pours out His generosity into our lives.
How could we receive such generosity and not seek to be generous men in return?
Are we generous with our money? Will we give to those in need?
Are we generous with our time? Do our wives and children know that we are available to them? What about others around us?
Are we generous with our love? Do we seek to serve others, considering them more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4)?
This is what it means to be a man who follows Jesus. It means being extravagantly generous, just like He was.
May the Lord Jesus continue to transform us into the generous men He wants us to be.
About
