Sin’s Sevenfold ‘H’! Mark 10:46-52

Text: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Romans 6:23.

Good morning, sin-cleansed Christian!  Praise God!  Once you were blind, now, through Christ’s precious shed Blood, you can see! Sin was your blinding darkness, therefore, let’s look at seven aspects of such an adversary, and glorify Christ Jesus the giver of sight. 

“The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: The Lord raiseth them that are bowed down: The Lord loveth the righteous.” (Psalm 146:8)

The Home of Sin: (V.46) Jericho in the Scriptures is always a place one goes ‘down’ into; it is synonymous with the home of sin; a wicked place, infamous for its lawlessness and total depravity against God.  It is just like the heart of mankind - inherently black and ready to defile itself.  (Mark 7:14-23)

The Horror of Sin: (V.47) There is no horror in existence like the horror of sin; for the wages of sin is death - physical and Spiritual - and the cry of Bartimaeus for Christ’s mercy is a cry from the very heart.  Double-darkness, at this vital stage in the blind man’s life, encountered the Light of the World.  Hallelujah!  (John 9:1-7)

The Hold of Sin: (V.48) When sin takes hold of the heart it is like a fishing hook piercing the very soul.  Those hooked by it long for freedom, but sin stifles their inner pleas for help.  Only the Holy Spirit can cause the sin-sick soul to cry out for God’s Salvation and cleansing.  Bartimaeus persevered and cried out again.  The Lord loves one who perseveres.

The Hindrance of Sin: (V.48) When our souls cry out for Christ’s Salvation, many shall charge us to hold our peace.  Why?  Because there is a sense of safety, no matter how false, in numbers - and the world, the flesh, and the Devil desire to retain us in sin’s chains and in sin’s blindness.  Thus, the crowd sought to hinder the blind man from seeking Christ’s help.  (Luke 11:52) (Galatians 5:6-7)

The Healer of Sin: (V.48) Amidst the surging noise of the throng Christ, the only healer from sin’s bondage, heard the sinner’s cry.  Sincere repentance is what God’s ears are listening for constantly. Cry out, then, elect of God!  The Lord shall hear your sincere prayer.  (Psalm 66:16-20)

The Halter of Sin: (V.50) The robes of Bartimaeus’ sins were hung around his heart like a halter.  Once Christ called him to repentance and Salvation, he cast sin’s garments away and was immediately robed in Christ’s spotless Righteousness.  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour!  (Isaiah 61:10) (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The Hammer of Sin: (V.52) What was it that hammered the sins of Bartimaeus, down in Jericho that wondrous day?  Why, it was the very same great hammer which God used upon your sins and mine!  The Word of God is the hammer which breaks the hard rock of our sins.  The Word brings God’s gift of faith - and it is that faith which brings us deliverance from our sins.

“The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? Saith the Lord. Is not My Word like as a fire? Saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock (of unbelief) in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:28-29)

J.C. Ryle Comments:

“In the first place, we have here an example of strong faith. We are told that as Jesus went out of Jericho, a blind man named Bartimæus “sat by the wayside begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”

“Bartimæus was blind in body, but not in soul. The eyes of his understanding were open. He saw things which Annas and Caiaphas, and hosts of letter-learned Scribes and Pharisees, never saw at all. He saw that Jesus of Nazareth, as our Lord was contemptuously called, —Jesus, who had lived for thirty years in an obscure Galilean village, this very Jesus was the Son of David, — the Messiah of whom prophets had prophesied long ago. He had witnessed none of our Lord’s mighty miracles. He had not had the opportunity of beholding dead people raised with a word, and lepers healed by a touch. Of all these privileges, his blindness totally de­prived him. But he had heard the report of our Lord’s mighty works, and hearing, had believed. He was satis­fied from mere hear-say, that He of whom such wonderful things were reported, must be the promised Saviour, and must be able to heal him. And so, when our Lord drew near, he cried, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”

“Let us strive and pray that we may have like precious faith. We too are not allowed to see Jesus with our bodily eyes. But we have the report of His power, and grace, and willingness to save, in the Gospel. We have exceeding great promises from His own lips, written down for our encouragement. Let us trust those promises implicitly, and commit our souls to Christ unhesitatingly. Let us not be afraid to repose all our confidence on His own gracious words, and to believe that what He has engaged to do for sinners, He will surely perform. What is the beginning of all saving faith, but a soul’s venture on Christ? What is the life of saving faith, when once begun, but a continual leaning on an unseen Saviour’s word? What is the first step of a Christian, but a crying, like Bartimæus, “Jesus have mercy on me?” What is the daily course of a Christian, but keeping up the same spirit of faith?” (J.C. Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Mark.)

Thought: The blind man asked for sight, believing he would receive it, and praise God, he did!  His God-given faith thus made him completely whole, and he followed Jesus.  Therefore, let us mere sinners, saved by God’s grace, remember Bartimaeus - and cry out from our hearts when sin threatens to bind us in its dark chains of unbelief and disobedience.  Praise God for His grace! Amen. (Hebrews 11:1-6)