Jesus Christ came to serve sinners. Sinners deserve to perish, but God wants to give His grace to those who confess they are sinners and trust in His compassion. No matter how much people try to perfect themselves, they cannot draw God’s attention. God wants us to acknowledge our own worthlessness and have a heart which longs for God’s mercy.
It is commonly said that you will gain God’s help if you pray ardently and persistently. For sure, you need to pray like this. But this is not the key factor to drawing God’s attention. If people make schemes to harm the church and gather together to ardently pray for success, will God listen to them? God is looking for faith which is after God’s heart.
As Jesus was heading for Jerusalem to suffer, the disciples became excited. This is because they believed the time had come for the Lord to defeat the Romans and restore the kingdom of Israel. Their main concern was ‘Who will possess greater authority in this kingdom?’ The Lord could not help feeling frustrated. In these circumstances, someone appeared who showed faith which was after the Lord’s own heart.
It was a blind beggar in Jericho called Bartimaeus. He heard the crowd while he was begging on the road. As soon as someone told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by”, he started yelling like he was mad. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” This yelling could have puzzled people. This is because the blind beggar saw Jesus as the Son of David, who is the Messiah sent by God, while many people saw Him as an insignificant person from Nazareth.
Furthermore, this blind beggar did not assert his own merit in the Lord’s presence. He knew he was a worthless creature who had nothing to boast of in God’s presence and that the only way for someone like him to be saved was if the Lord had mercy on him. The very faith he showed is the essence of the Gospel. This blind beggar showed the faith that even the disciples of Jesus did not yet have in the Lord’s presence, much less scholars who study the Bible.
This is true. We cannot receive anything if the Lord does not have mercy. Even if we repent, are baptized, and become one with the Lord, we have not changed into righteous people. Therefore, let’s not lose a contrite spirit. Let’s try to bear fruit worthy of repentance. Let’s understand that the Lord is the last and only hope and entrust ourselves to Him. Let’s love the church, the Lord’s body, with a sincere heart and humbly offer ourselves.
(Lord’s Day Service on October 10, 2021)
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