Desperate Faith

6 min read

47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
—Mark 10:47-48

It just dawned on me that one of Jesus’s ancestors was from Jericho. Her name was Rahab, and she was a prostitute.

After forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River from the east side under Joshua’s leadership to take possession of the promised land. God split the waters so that they could cross on dry ground, similar to the way they had cross the Red Sea.

The first city they conquered was Jericho. But Rahab had heard about God’s mighty power at work in the Israelites, so she helped the Israelite scouts in exchange for her family’s life. So the Israelites destroyed the entire city, but spared Rahab and her family.

Rahab would go on to become the great, great, grandmother of King David.

Similar to Rahab with the Israelites, Bartimaeus had heard about God’s mighty power in Jesus, and so he cried out to Jesus for mercy. And he cried out for mercy rather than simply for healing because the Jews believed that misfortune is the result of sin.

Of course, that is not true—at least, not in terms of direct correlation. But sin is easy enough to find in our lives, and so it would be easy to draw that conclusion. The more harmful conclusion would be that fortune is the result of a righteous life, which has some correlation at a society level, but certainly not on an individual level.

But what stuck out to me about Bartimaeus is how he was persistent in crying out to Jesus for help. Even when people who are (according to false assumptions) holier than he were telling him to shut up, he was not deterred.

Like Rahab with the Israelites and their God, Bartimaeus knew that he needed Jesus. He knew that Jesus was his only hope for the forgiveness of his sins. He was sure that Jesus would bring him healing.

And I do turn to Jesus and confess my sins pretty much every day. But I also confess that most of the time, I do not pray with the urgency and the dire need that Bartimaeus exhibited: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

And when Jesus asked Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you,” he responded by saying, “Rabbi, I want to see.” I get the sense that what he really meant was, “I want to see You, Jesus! I want to see You!”

I know I need Jesus. But more than that I need to desperately need Jesus.

Father, I confess that day after day, I so easily take Your mercy, my salvation, for granted. Because of Your grace, I know I need Jesus every day. But today, I am reminded to cry out desperately and urgently, “Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me!” Let me know how desperately I need You. And may that be my witness to the world. In Jesus’s name. Amen.