Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
This was the cry of Bartimaeus the blind man who sat outside the city of Jericho and begged people for food.
But when he heard the commotion of a crowd and asked what the noise was about, they answered that Jesus of Nazareth was passing through.
Because he was blind he could not chase after them or even see who Jesus was or where he was going, so he did the only thing that a blind man could do
which was to cry out
“Oh son of David have mercy on me”.
The crowd was not happy with his distraction and causing attention to himself so they told him to be quiet but this caused him to cry out even more and even louder
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”.
When Jesus heard him cry out, he stood still and commanded that Bartimaeus be brought to him, Jesus then asked him “What do you want Me to do for you ?
He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight.
As a young Christian, I often wondered about the small things like why Jesus didn’t just go around and say a few words and heal everyone all at once?
Why did he seem to only pick certain people, and why did he only heal them after they cried out to him or touched him, why did he travel to them?
Why did even the Son of God have to struggle and do things the hard way when it would have been so much easier and more efficient to have everyone come to him and say a prayer or command and heal everyone all at once.
The reason is both complicated and simple because man has chosen a path that is defined and shaped by the act of struggling
Because of sin this world has been filled with trials, tribulation and struggle, even from when Adam and Eve ate from the tree, God punished them with toil and strife by saying the ground will no longer produce for you like It did before you sinned, only through struggle will you eat and live. Jesus did not come to remove that struggle or to remove the ruler of this world who was responsible for it or at least not during his life as a mortal man. So he also abided by the rules of this world and struggled. He worked as a carpenter in order to provide for himself and his family, which is a very labor-intensive job, and when his preaching mission began, he didn’t send people out to do his work for him or have everyone come to him, he put on his sandals and he walked all throughout the land preaching and healing. He stepped up, rolled up his sleeves, and put in the work no matter how hard and how dirty it got.
It is through struggle that we live our lives because of sin, and it is because of struggles that we learn our lessons the hard way about how badly sin affects us and those around us. It is the hardship, effort, struggle, and strife that defines us and makes us who we are because of where we have been and what we have been through. If this is what makes us who we are then it only makes sense that to show to God that we are remorseful and ready to make a change in our life that it would also only be through effort and struggle.
As children, we are innocent and as impressionable as moldable clay. We are meant to be shaped by the loving hands and example of others, but because of struggle and sin people warp and corrupt that clay that was a child and instead of shaping and developing them into a beautiful statue that would represent a perfect picture of that childs potential they shape it into something that looks more like shrapnel from a war. A mangled mess of protruding jagged pieces which can no longer be determined which end is meant to be up and which is down. Though it’s not the childs fault that they became the product of their parents and peers who molded them into a distorted image because of their struggle and strife. The blame does fall on each successive generation when a child grows up and becomes the one repeating the cycle. It only takes one person, one generation, to break the cycle, and it must be done by the same struggle that was used to create it.
Because we live by and are defined by our struggles in life, it takes us struggling within ourselves and understanding and acknowledging that we are the problem and refusing to continue to be part of the problem that allows us to make an actual change. Jesus didn’t go around healing everybody because it would have fixed and solved nothing if they were not seeking a change in their lives with their whole heart because they were tired of the struggle against God because of sin.
Without effort, there could be no change, and without change, their could be no forgiveness of sin.
This is what God and Jesus looked for in those who were worthy to be healed is that they were tired of the struggle and tired of sin and wanted to be healed. Only by acknowledging their sin and seeking out God could they truly cry out with all of their heart Jesus Son of David have mercy on me. And be healed
The Tree To The Cross 