PRAY: Humbly ask God to give you wisdom to understand this portion of the Bible and the faith to live out what He reveals to you.
READ: Mark 10:46–52
“Have courage! Get up; He’s calling for you” (Mark 10:49).
Have you ever been in the presence of what you considered greatness? Maybe it was an autograph signing session of your favorite athlete and you were able to have your turn to get a signature or selfie. Maybe you were in a concert on the front row and got to shake the hand of the musician on stage. Perhaps you were listening to a popular politician and were recognized to ask a question. While a few people have had this experience, most of us can only imagine how important it would make us feel (even as silly as that is).
Now imagine being in the presence of Jesus and the disciples come to you and say, “Have courage! Get up; He’s calling for you” (Mark 10:49). Wow! Jesus wants to see me? Such was the case for the blind beggar in Jericho. Now imagine how many people were begging for Jesus, clamoring for His attention. Yet, Jesus recognized this one man who was crying out for Him. The blind man recognized Jesus as the Messiah (the anointed one who was promised through so many prophecies and would come from the line of David) when he addressed Him as “Son of David.”
Jesus asked the blind beggar what he wanted Him to do for him. Obviously, God in the flesh knew good and well what the beggar wanted before He asked the question but this was Jesus’ way of pressing the man to verbalize his faith. Once the man explained that he wanted to see, Jesus told him that his faith healed him. Immediately, the man began to see clearly.
Jesus often tests our faith. When we pray, He already knows what we need before we even ask (Matt 6:8) yet He has chosen to include us in communion with Him through prayer. We demonstrate our need for Him and communicate with Him through prayer. We are to take our requests before Him (Php 4:6).
Notice what Jesus did not ask. He did not ask what caused the man to be blind or how good of a person he was or how many bad things he had done. He simply called out to the man, spoke with Him face to face, and opened his eyes. While many of us may not be physically blind, we were all spiritually blind until the light of Christ opened our eyes when we truly believed. Just like the blind beggar, we are to immediately follow Jesus after our eyes have been opened (Mark 10:52).
Despite what we have done in the past or how many times we may fall down in the future, we now approach God directly through prayer because Jesus has bridged the gap that once separated us from God. So, we come boldly into His presence (Heb 4:16). It is as if we were sitting with our own blind misery when suddenly we were told, “Have courage! Get up; He’s calling for you.” We will never hear greater news than this.
Reflection Questions:
1. Do you approach God with confidence? Why or why not and what do you base that confidence or lack of confidence on?
2. How does it make you feel that the God of the universe has called you to open your eyes? How are you now following Jesus as a result of your new spiritual sight?
Memorize: Mark 10:49
“Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ So they called the blind man and said to him, ‘Have courage! Get up; He's calling for you’”