River into the promised land. But then they found themselves staring at the gates of Jericho held up by the towering walls that surrounded the city.
The LORD said to Joshua,“ I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors. You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’ s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”— Joshua 6:2 – 5
Scripture says the people remained silent during their daily march around the city— not a single word. But when they heard the blast of the rams’ horns on the seventh day, they shouted as loud as they could. And then,“ Suddenly, the walls of Jericho collapsed, and the Israelites charged straight into the town and captured it”( Joshua 6:20).
Fast-forward more than 140 decades later to where Bartimaeus was sitting outside the same city gates with a wall of people standing between him and his breakthrough. He refused to be silenced. He refused to remain in bondage to blindness. He refused to be denied. So he raised his voice above the crowd and shouted as loud as he could,“ Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!”
When Bartimaeus belted out his desperate plea, not only did it find its way to Jesus, but it stopped Him in His tracks.
Jesus heard him.
Jesus saw him.
Jesus called him.
“ Bring him to me!” Jesus commanded the crowd.
What happened next seems like a story scripted for Hollywood, but this was real life. This was Bartimaeus’ s life. And it was about to change. The same people who told him to be quiet, the same ones who jeered at him, the same crowd that rejected him and demanded that he shut up, the very ones who held him down with their mouths were the ones who helped him up with their hands and handed him over to the Messiah.
Scripture says Bartimaeus threw down his cloak— the filthy and putrid robe he sat on every day like a makeshift blanket. It was clear he’ d never need it again.
Now Bartimaeus was face-to-face with Jesus— staring at Him through hollow eyes while Jesus stared back with compassion in His. Then Jesus spoke and said nine words to Bartimaeus that were about to change the trajectory of his life:
“ What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.“ My Rabbi,” the blind man said,“ I want to see!” And Jesus said to him,“ Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.— Mark 10:51 – 52
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