Chapter # 10 Paragraph # 6 Study # 4
December 12, 2023
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Jesus establishes His identity as "Son of David" by giving sight to a blind man.
Introduction: In our last study, we focused our attention upon the identity of Jesus as "Son of David", and I tied that identity to
2 Samuel 7 where what is known as the "Davidic Covenant" is recorded. This is a crucial link because it is the heart of the "Kingdom Promise" of God to be realized when the "Son of David" arrives on the historical scene.
This evening we are going to look into Mark's record of Jesus' "proof" of His identity.
- I. Jesus' Description Of The Root Of The Restoration Of Sight To This Blind Man.
- A. The loud persistence of Bartimaeus.
- 1. Bartimaeus was "crying aloud" for Jesus as "Son of David, Jesus" to "have mercy upon me".
- a. This use of "mercy" by Mark is instructive in that the only other context where he uses the word is in respect to the demoniac of chapter five where Jesus sends him into the Decapolis to tell "...what great things the Lord has done for you, and He had mercy on you".
- b. The relationship between this context and that one is out of Mark's pattern of playing the "spiritual power of Jesus" off of the "physical power of Jesus" so that the impact is that Jesus is the powerful coming One (The Ox of God; Servant par excellence): Jesus is God, the Servant of God.
- c. That it is as "Son of David" that Bartimaeus calls for "mercy" from Jesus makes this a very deliberate "Messiah" thesis.
- 2. When many in the crowd were attempting to get him to stop his loud cries (epitimao; a play on words using Bartimaeus' name), he simply increased both volume and repetition.
- a. This response to the nay-sayers was rooted in two factors.
- 1) The deep desire to be able to see.
- a) The word translated "regain my sight" is an emphasized form of "to see", but it is not used by Mark to indicate "regaining", but, rather, "looking up" (6:41; 7:34; and 16:4) in an expectant way.
- b) The word is found in the prior record of a blind man (8:24) who, initially "looked up" (anablepo) but had fuzzy vision, but gained clarity when he "looked intently" (diablepo).
- c) But given John 9:32, it is unlikely that the man had never been able to see; thus, "regain" might well be the idea, though Mark's use tends in the direction of "expectancy" rather than "regaining".
- 2) The strong conviction that "Son of David, Jesus" could enable him to see and that the only thing lacking was the question of whether He would if Bartimaeus could only get His attention (this is completely in harmony with Jesus' answer to John the Baptizer in Matthew 11:4-6).
- B. The initial impact of the blind man's loud persistence.
- 1. Jesus stopped.
- 2. He said, "Call him" (phoneo).
- 3. So they "called him" (phoneo) saying "...He is calling (phoneo) you..."
- C. The follow-up.
- 1. He cast aside his garment and leapt up and came to Jesus.
- 2. Jesus asked him, "What do you wish that I should do for you?"
- 3. The blind man asked for his sight.
- D. Mark's record of Jesus attributing his reception of sight to "your faith".
- 1. This was "faith" in the identity of Jesus.
- 2. This was "faith" that sponsored the persistent and loud crying out.
- 3. This was "faith" in the prophetic words regarding what would happen when Messiah came.
