The Prayer of a Blind Man

When the Lord opens our eyes, then we come to realize what we miss. Possibly if you would ask such a one, “What do you miss?” he would have difficulty answering. He knows he is unhappy. The world and all which before could fill his heart do not mean a thing anymore.

As a “missing” person, there is one thing he knows: I am unconverted. He is as a blind person reaching and crying out in the darkness. One thing you will notice in him is that, with all his missing, he is a seeking person. For when the Lord opens our eyes, we come to know we are blind, and a desire is born that we may see.

We can see this upon the road leading out of Jericho. There is Bartimaeus. For years he sat along the highway begging. What a poor wretch! He was blind; for him it was always night, always dark. Along with this, he was also poor. Through begging and holding out his hand he must make a living. Every day someone from his family would take him to the same place, along the highway going out of Jericho. Everyone could see him. Can you also picture him?

How much misery sin has brought into the world! Take a good look at him. In him we find our image by nature. For are we not all blind, regardless of how well we may see? And that blindness is much worse than the blindness of Bartimaeus. We are blind for God and ourselves, for our sins and misery, for Christ and His salvation. We do not see the danger which threatens us, that each moment we can be plunged into eternal condemnation.

We do not see what we need, what we miss, and what we can expect. We are blind to our own blindness. How terrible is this condition! It is a blindness for which we have no cure.

And just as that beggar sitting there along the way, we are also poor, regardless of how rich we are in this world. For we have no God for our soul, no Mediator for our guilt. We miss all true joy and peace. How empty our life is by nature! But we have no eye for this; we do not notice it; we are rich and increased with goods in the midst of the world.

With blind Bartimaeus it was different. He knew that he was blind and poor. He also knew, by the grace of God, of a spiritual blindness and poverty. It was the Lord who had opened his blind soul’s eyes. He had come to know his misery, his lost condition, and that there was no one who could help him.

Yet a little spark of hope was born in his heart. He heard of Jesus, that He cleansed the lepers and opened the eyes of the blind. Into his heart there came the belief that this Jesus was the Messiah. You can hear that from the crying that came forth from this blind man as he was in the way that leads out of Jericho.

In his heart was the desire, “Oh, if only I could meet Him once!” But how would that be possible? He himself could not go to Him. How would he ever find the way? He was blind. Could it be possible that Jesus would come to him? With longing, he would raise his blind eyes. Would that ever be possible?

So it is with those people who have come to know their misery. What a sorrowful condition! There is no one in the world as unhappy as they are. No one can help them, not even God’s children. Oh, they are jealous of them, but they feel that not even those privileged people are able to take away their emptiness. Yet at times they have a little hope when they hear His name proclaimed as that God-given way. There are times when they say, “Lord, that my feet may also be planted upon that way.” But how will they ever come there? They do not know the way. As the blind, they grope in darkness.

No, they cannot be happy with a rejoicing Christendom who preach that there is a Jesus and that He has come for such poor ones. They need to know Him personally. And that is what Bartimaeus might experience.

Jesus is leaving Jericho. He is upon the way to Jerusalem. What a blessed people who may be placed along the way! True, they are blind, destitute of all light. They have nothing but empty hands. And when they may hear that He is passing by, they have only one desire: that their eyes may be opened.

Bartimaeus hears that something is going on, a multitude of people is passing by. He is blind, but his ears are keen. He hears and inquires. And what is the answer he receives? Hold out your hands, Bartimaeus, this could be a good day for you? No, that is not what the Word of God says. He hears that today the Giver is passing by, Jesus of Nazareth is passing. It is the Jesus who came from Nazareth.

If one of those wise Pharisees would have heard this, he would have shaken his head. One of those self-righteous Jews would have shrugged his shoulders. But for such a blind man, it was a happy message. For so long he had hoped for this. So many times he thought that it would never take place. Now he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.

It does something to this man: the inward need, the emptiness within is voiced outwardly. He must cry. Perhaps he will never have another opportunity. Jesus is passing by on the way to Jerusalem to suffer and to die for the sins of His people.

Listen to His words. He knows so much more than all those seeing people. They see no more than Jesus of Nazareth, a great prophet, one who performs many miracles. But this blind man may see something more. Listen to his crying: “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” It is the cry of a drowning man for just one lifeline. Jesus? He addresses Him as Savior, Deliverer, Son of David. Thou art the one sent from God to preach the gospel unto the poor, to set the prisoners free, to open the blind souls’ eyes. Oh, Thou hast shown mercy unto so many; can it also be possible for me?

There is a people who know that there is a Jesus. They have heard of Him, but do not know Him. They know that He has paid with the price of His blood. But did He pay for me? Along the way there can be such a desire to know that it is also for them. They have seen what God is outside of Jesus, a holy and burning wrath, and they have seen that because of sin they must be cast away forever. They have nothing but empty hands and a crying heart. “Son of David, have mercy on me.”

Oh, it would be right if Jesus would pass on by! But where must Bartimaeus go then? But wonder of mercy! He stopped. Bartimaeus, He stopped; the Son of righteousness stands still. Bartimaeus, the hour of your deliverance has come.

God’s Word says, “And Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.” We would say, why not walk across the road and take that poor wretch by the hand? No, His disciples must do that; they may go to him and say, “Be of good comfort, rise, He calleth for thee.” So to this day the servants of God may go to these poor, blind beggars saying, “He standeth still, the only One who can help you.”

Do you hear, Bartimaeus? He calleth thee. Bartimaeus does something he has never done before. “And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.” He has only one desire, and that is to be covered with that robe which is woven with the blood of Him who has called him. There he stands, a naked sinner, close to his deliverance and yet not delivered, close to Golgotha and yet not made free. You notice he does not cry or pray anymore, but by faith he clings to Him for whom his soul longs. All his hope, all his expectations are fixed upon Jesus alone. There upon the highway leading out of Jericho, all was quiet for a moment.

Oh, how will it be? We read, “And Jesus answered and said unto him.” Yes, when those lost sinners may come to an end, when there is nothing left but an unworthy, lost, hell-worthy sinner, then they may hear out of the mouth of Him who is on the way to Golgotha, “What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?”

Oh, Bartimaeus, now you may speak. He was invited here to lay all his needs, all his misery, at the feet of Jesus. He may say what fills his heart. Just say it, Bartimaeus. Do you need light in your darkness? I am the Light come from Heaven to lighten the darkness of My people. Do you need forgiveness of sin? I am on the way to Golgotha to suffer and die, to pay for the sins of My people. Do you need deliverance? I am the only One who can deliver you. There is nothing that you can want that I cannot give unto you.

Dear reader, there he stands — still blind, hands still empty. He may speak and lay all his heart open. “Lord,” he says, “that I might receive my sight.” What a wonder when a child of God may stand in the presence of Him who is the only One who can help him. From his side all has come to an end. Here that child has only one need, that his eyes may be opened, and that he may see that He is also his Savior.

Bartimaeus needs to know that He who is on the way to Jerusalem to be consumed by the just and holy wrath of God is also his Jesus. Lord, open my eyes that I may see it once. Can you see him? He is still blind, yet there is so much light that in his darkness there is only the desire that his eyes may be opened for Him whom he cannot miss anymore.

That I may know thou art my Mediator, my Salvation, my God. “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.” Oh, is he now at the last minute sent away? No, those Bart- imaeuses are never sent away. The Word says: “He received his sight and followed Jesus in the way.”

You who sit along the highway — for what are you crying? God’s children learn that their eyes must be opened for Him who is on the way to Golgotha.

Children of the Lord, has He spoken, or do you still own a beggar’s garment with which you can cover yourself? Your life knows a beginning, and in order to have the assurance of the beginning, you need a continuance, so that one day there may be an end. That end will be, “Through Thee, through Thee alone, because of Thine eternal good pleasure.”

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