Another Man Received His Sight

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

January 10, 2020

Another Man Received His Sight

Page 207-208

Matthew 20:29a, 31-34;

Mark 10:46b-52

Most churches in the USA operate in a fairly democratic way with the pastor, whether elected or called by the congregation or appointed by an episcopal leader, working collaboratively with the elected lay leadership. This form of administration is more of a cultural model than it is Biblical. In contrast are the churches in communist, dictator-led countries where the pastor has absolute authority over the congregation. Again, this form of administration is more of a cultural model than it is Biblical. Jesus spent much of his time teaching his disciples that the Kingdom of God operates by principles that are completely opposite of their cultural norms. Jesus used the healing of blind Bartimaeus to help the disciples gain their Kingdom vision.

Just a short time prior to Jesus engaging Bartimaeus, James and John made a request of Jesus, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left” (Mark 10:37). Jesus denied their request and went on to tell them that in the Kingdom of God, “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else” (Mark 10:43-44).

Then Jesus encounters Bartimaeus and asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51). Bartimaeus didn’t ask for fame or fortune, power or prestige: “My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” (Mark 10:51b). Upon being made whole by Jesus, Bartimaeus “followed Jesus on the way” (Mark 10:52).

My Takeaway: How do you think Jesus wants us to respond to his question, “What do you want me to do for you?” As for me, I ask for his renewing grace and power to enable me to live out this prayer each day:

Prayer of Adoration

O Lord, our Lord,

how excellent is Thy name in all the earth;

I worship Thee.

With all angels and saints I adore Thee.

I acknowledge Thee to be by Creator and my God.

I render Thee the homage of my being and my life.

I am not my own,

I am Thine.

By creation and redemption

I am Thine.

I will devote myself to Thy divine service

this day and forever.

O grant me grace for this, dear Lord.

Amen

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.