All the More

“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’"—Mark 10:47-48

Faith won’t rest when confronted by difficult circumstances. And it won’t rest when faced with opposition—it gets louder. Faith in Christ grows when faced with difficulty. Satan will try to thwart it, and this world will try to drown it, but real faith cannot be silenced. It won’t be silenced, it cries out, because it knows the one from whom it came—God Himself.

In our passage for today, we have a blind man by the name of Bartimaeus calling out to Jesus. Undoubtedly he had heard of Jesus—after all, who hadn’t? The stories of a man who could heal the blind, the lame, the mute, the deaf, and raise the dead, couldn’t be hidden, especially from those who suffered from the same infirmities. And to have the one he had heard about so close to him was too good to be true. He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” It was a cry of faith—of possibility, of hope. It was a desperate cry, but one of hopeful desperation. It was not a cry of hopelessness, of resignation, or for pity. It was a cry for intervention—born of resilient, unabashed, and unashamed faith. But when the cry of real faith erupts before a watching world, the world wants to quench such resolve. And here it was no different. Our text for today says, “many rebuked him.” It wasn’t just one person who stood in opposition to Bartimaeus, telling him to be silent, but many. Many voices came against him; many voices wanted him to be quiet—to fade into the background. Many voices didn’t want him to be heard—he was an embarrassment, and Jesus had become a new celebrity who couldn’t be bothered by a blind beggar on the roadside—or so they thought. But, Bartimaeus had more spiritual sight than they did. They could see physically but not spiritually, and He could see spiritually but not physically. Our text says that he cried out “all the more,” which means he was emboldened. He didn’t get quieter—he got louder. He yelled! He roared! His voice pierced the crowd that engulfed Jesus. His voice soared above all the others, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus, the Savior of the world, heard his cry. He always hears our cry. He lives to intercede on our behalf, and His ear is tuned to our cry (Psalm 34:15).

When Jesus heard Bartimaeus cry for help, He commanded that Bartimaeus be brought to Him. Bartimaeus’ cry had been heard! Certainly, the sweetest words to his ears were, “Take heart. Get up; He is calling you.” He threw off his cloak, sprang to his feet and made his way to Jesus where he was greeted by a question: “What do you want Me to do for you?" The Creator was asking the creation what He wanted. Jesus was offering Himself to Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus replied with a prayer request, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight." Jesus responded, “Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he recovered his sight. His cries had been heard and his prayer had been answered.

Bartimaeus is an example of unstoppable faith. His voice couldn’t and wouldn’t be silenced. His faith cried out for intervention, and God answered his request. And He will answer our cries of faith as well. But we must continue to cry out. We cannot give up, we cannot be silenced, we cannot let the world try and conform us to its mold. This world will do everything to silence our faith, but we must not let it. We must realize who it is we are crying out to and continue to cry out louder and louder in faith—knowing that God will hear when we call and will answer us when we pray.

Let’s not give in to the world’s attempts to silence our faith, but let us, like Bartimaeus, cry out all the more, knowing that He will hear and answer us when we call. Amen.