Mark 10:46-52 An Impertinent Faith

Mark 10:46   Then they *came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here.” So they *called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” ⁵⁰ Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” ⁵² And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.

I have to confess that I do not understand faith very well. Perhaps this passage can help us. We have a blind man, an impertinent blind man. He is offensive to the crowd. But in spite of their commands to silence him, he persists, calling out loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” He will not be quiet. He is determined to be heard.

“Impertinent” is generally viewed as a negative term, alongside words like “rude,” and “undiplomatic.” The blind man’s loud call to Jesus is embarrassing and irritating to the people around. 

But Jesus’ response is completely at odds with the response of the crowd. Jesus stops and says, “Call him here.” He asks what the man wants, and the mans says, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And then we have this response of Jesus, “Go; your faith has made you well.”

It seems like Jesus says this to everyone at the end of a miracle story. But that’s not true. He only says it when someone busts into the scene, requesting/demanding help. The closest parallel in Mark’s Gospel is from the account of the long-afflicted woman who has the audacity to push through the crowd to touch Jesus’ garment (5:25-34). Unlike the blind man, she wants to stay anonymous. But like the blind man, her desperation drives her to Jesus.

In this paragraph, Jesus does not verbally commend their faith, but He sees the faith of the friends who come bearing the paralytic to Jesus, lowering him through the roof (2:1-12). “And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven’” (verse 5). Jesus responds to their impertinent faith.

So maybe this is a quality of faith that we have missed. We are taught politeness and reserve. And that may be exactly proper among our neighbors. But not so with God. Are we to respect and fear Him? Yes. But are we to “come boldly to the throne of grace”? Are we to be urgent and expressive in our prayers?

I’m afraid that I am more forcible in my preaching than I am in my prayers. Let’s follow Scripture, and call upon the Lord as those who do so out of an active faith.