1047. His Opportunity

His Opportunity

"And they came to Jericho: and as He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great number of people" (Mar_10:46).

Jesus Christ was coming down the Jericho road, and Bartimaeus was in the line of His travel. Let us see what happened.

1. The blind man's extremity proved God's opportunity. Had Bartimaeus not been blind, had he not been a beggar, he would doubtless have been elsewhere that day. His need had placed him by the roadside, whither the great crowds pressed their way.

It was when Naaman, the leper, found that there was no healing for him in Syria that he turned toward the Prophet who was in Samaria.

It was when the woman, who had an issue, found no healing with the doctors, that she pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of the garment of the Lord.

It was when the prodigal had spent his all and was feeding the loathsome swine, that he said, "I will arise and go to my father."

2. What Bartimaeus heard. As Bartimaeus sat that day by the wayside and caught the tramp of many feet, far more than usually, passing his way, he wondered what it meant. Perhaps he asked some passer-by:

"What means this eager, anxious throng,

Which moves with busy haste along–

These wondrous gath'rings here to-day;

What means this strange commotion, pray?

In accents hushed the throng reply,

'Jesus of Nazareth passeth by.'"

Yes, it was the Lord Jesus Who was to pass that way, and Bartimaeus heard the good news. Some one must have told him that Christ was the cause of the crowd. Perhaps some one reminded Bartimaeus of some of the miracles that the Lord had wrought,–of how He had turned the water into wine; of how He had fed a multitude with a few loaves and fishes; of how He had healed the leper, raised the dead. Surely Bartimaeus became at once awake to the fact that there was One coming down the way Who was able to meet his greatest need.

3. The tin cup thrown away. When Bartimaeus caught the meaning of the approach of Christ, he gave that little cup, which he had held for pennies, a throw. He had come that morning for the purpose of begging for coin, but he had a deeper need. He had had a longing in his soul for many years. It was that he might receive his sight, and so, he must have thrown the cup away.

That is, in substance, what the Apostle Paul did. He says: "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but refuse, that I may win Christ and be found in Him." Why should a man hold on to temporal gain, when eternal matters press hard upon him?

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR