GLORIFYING GOD
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE: MARK 10:46 – 52
KEY VERSE
And replying to him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the man who was blind said to him, Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!”.
Mark 10: 51
INTRODUCTION AND STUDY
The world that God created was an extremely beautiful world. It had many trees and plants and flowers and fruits that do not exist anymore because of several factors. But even though much of the world has changed since God created it is still beautiful. We can admire the mountains with snow capped peaks, the rivers, beautiful waterfalls like the Niagara Falls, the beautiful valleys with the beautiful vegetation, and of course we can enjoy the beaches with shimmering white sands.
But while we enjoy all of these beautiful things we must remember that while we can see and enjoy the world there are people that cannot see them. They are blind. Something terrible happened to them before they were born and came into the world but sometimes blindness came during their lifetime. Doctors, medical specialists, medical researchers, charitable foundations and governments are working feverishly to try to restore sight to people. There are schools that have been set up just so teach people who are blind. A special language called Braille was created so that Books and magazines could be written in Braille so that blind people could read them.
In the time when Jesus lived there were limited sources of help for these blind people and so many of them have to sit on the roadside and beg for money and food. It was the way blind and disabled people survived and people at that time would sometimes try to help these blind beggars as much as they could. They called this alms giving and God promised He would bless those who gave alms generously.
God had predicted in the Scriptures that the nation of Israel would one day be blessed because one day God would send Messiah who would be a Saviour. He would among many other things restore sight to the blind, both to those that were physically blind and those that were spiritually blind and so could not understand the truths that God was teaching.
One blind man named Bartimaeus was sitting on the roadside begging when he heard people saying that there was a man called Jesus who had been healing blind people. He kept asking to hear these stories over and over again and the more he heard the more hope built up in him that there was someone that would heal him. He had read the Scriptures about the promise of God that the Messiah would come and restore sight to the blind and since he believed the Scriptures he kept attention to everything people were saying, waiting and praying that Jesus would pass by the roadside where he was begging.
Now we know that Jesus hears prayer. When Jesus was going toward Jerusalem he decided to leave a town called Jericho and walk by the roadside exactly where this blind beggar was. It was very crowded and noisy because a lot of people were going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast.
But when blind Bartimaeus heard that Jesus was on his road walking he began to cry out very loudly calling Jesus the Son of David and asking Jesus for help.
Note this was a special title for the Messiah and Jesus did not use it very often because the religious rulers in Israel did not like that title to be applied to Jesus. But when this blind man used that title for Jesus He knew exactly that this man believed that He was the promised Messiah and promised Saviour that God the Father would send to help the nation.
The people around Bartimaeus tried desperately to get him to stop shouting and disturb everybody but he would not listen to them. He kept shouting asking Jesus the Son of David to have mercy on him. This beggar needed help desperately and he was persistent and kept on shouting. He would not allow anybody to stop him seeking for help. He wished above everything to be able to see and be able to help himself, work for a living, and walk around without someone leading him.
Despite the noise in the crowd Jesus heard his cry and Jesus told the people to stop restraining the blind beggar but to bring him to Him.
When Bartimaeus came before Jesus, Jesus asked him what he wanted Him to do for him. The blind man did not hesitate but told Jesus he wanted his sight to be restored.
Jesus marvelled at the great faith that the man had. This blind man knew the real title for Jesus. He had this name in his heart. This blind man knew in his heart that Jesus was the Messiah God the Father promised to send to help the people. So Jesus promptly healed this man because of his great faith.
This blind beggar that was now healed and now he was extremely happy he glorified God. He decided to follow Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. Later on he became a member of the church that the disciples had formed to tell people about Jesus.
We note therefore that when God does great things for us we are to thank Him and glorify Him. We are to be persistent in trying to talk to Jesus and telling Jesus that we need mercy from him. No matter what people around you are saying even if they are trying to prevent you from calling on Jesus for help you do not have to worry about what they are doing for Jesus really will hear you and will help you. So keep calling on Jesus.
When Jesus does great things for you, you should be like Bartimaeus and follow Jesus, trusting Him and doing His work and telling other people about the great mercy and kindness of Jesus so that they too will glorify God for the great benefits He has brought to them.