Inside Out Living

I was reading in Mark 10 this morning and I came across the story of Jesus healing the blind man Bartimaeus. Jesus' words in verse 52 caused me to think about the interaction of faith and works. In his response to Bartimaeus request to have his vision restored, Jesus says to him, "Your faith has healed you." I have read the passage a few times and no where in the passage do I see that Bartimaeus gives a confession of faith and a rehearsed three part testimony about how his faith in God has changed his life.

All Bartimaeus does is identify who Jesus is with his words and his request. He refers to Jesus as the Son of David, a clear Messianic title from the Hebrew Scriptures. Furthermore his request to be healed by Jesus is based on his faith that Jesus as Messiah is able to heal him. He doesn't have to say the right words or pray a certain prayer to show his faith. His actions in boldly approaching the one who had the power to "save" him from his blindness full demonstrated his faith in who Jesus is. Not only did Bartimaeus boldly approach Jesus, he "threw aside his coat" (v. 50) as he was jumping up to come to Jesus. This was no insignificant act as we will see in a minute.

Earlier in the chapter, Jesus interacted with a rich young man who was seemingly coming to faith in Jesus. Jesus didn't question this man's faith, but merely asked him to give up everything else that he was trusting in to save himself, which for this man was his money and possessions. Unfortunately, for him, his faith in Jesus was not sufficient to trust in Jesus as the only means of salvation and he chose to hold onto his possessions as a "back up" plan of sorts.

Now back to Bartimaeus and the casting aside of the coat. When Bartimaeus was told that he could approach the Messiah, he cast aside his coat in preparation for the meeting. It is quite likely that Bartimaeus' only worldly possession was that coat. The coat is what would keep him protected from the cool nights. It was the only other thing he had in this life and yet he forsake it for the opportunity to come to Jesus. This is the faith that God recognizes and honors. It isn't faith that is mere words, but it is faith that demonstrates that one believes that Jesus is the only one who can save me.

So what are you trusting in to save you? Are you willing to give up anything to follow the one with the power to save you?