On the way...

Mark 10:52

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.”

This chapter in the Gospel of Mark is rich in discipleship material…what it means to be a devoted follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ. And interestingly, almost all of the examples of discipleship in this chapter are negative ones, namely the rich young man who cannot follow Jesus because he is too attached to his possessions, and the brothers James and John who arrogantly ask Jesus for seats of honor with Jesus in glory…what amounts to one of the more self-centered prayers ever prayed! But then at the end of the chapter, as Jesus is leaving Jericho and heading towards Jerusalem and heading towards the cross, we come across a blind beggar named Bartimaeus.

Now Bartimaeus is a fascinating guy, and serves as a great case study for what it means to follow Jesus. One, he gets that Jesus is the promised Messiah, and his pleas for mercy indicate he had a greater insight (ironically) into who Jesus was as the Messiah than most people who could see (the majority of the crowd was not looking for mercy and grace but was looking for a conquering king on the road to Jerusalem). Two, he is relentless in his crying out for Jesus; such desperation and need for Jesus stands in stark contrast to the selfish request of James and John in the verses immediately preceding and is a refreshing reminder of our own desperate need for a savior. And three, and perhaps most importantly, once Jesus tells him to go his own way and heals him, Bartimaeus with his new found sight chooses to follow Jesus “along the road,” or “on the way.” And to follow Jesus on the way meant following Jesus on the road from Jericho to Jerusalem. It is not an easy road. It is over twenty miles with an elevation gain of 3,000 feet. But in addition to the physical demands, Jesus is not headed to his coronation. He is headed to the cross. He is headed to his death.

So for us to follow Jesus on the way means that we should not expect a pleasure cruise. We cannot and should not expect the way of faith in Jesus Christ to be easy. We need to understand that there is a difference between blessing and ease. It can be so easy for Christians to equate those terms, and then when life gets difficult we fail to see God’s blessing and we get easily discouraged. So when life gets difficult (and face it, life does get difficult…that is simply reality), we should not be surprised and stop our journey, but we should persevere and keep going (Hebrews 12:1-2). We should follow Jesus’ example and be willing as he calls us to deny ourselves and to take up our cross and follow him (Mark 8:34-35). And we should be willing to pour ourselves out in self-sacrificial love for each other and for the sake of the gospel (1 John 4:10-12).

To be a follower of Jesus Christ means that we realize who Jesus is, recognize our own deep need for him (we cannot save ourselves!), and then when Jesus has lavished his saving grace in our lives, that we get up and follow Jesus wherever he leads us. Following Jesus on the way does lead to the cross. But it also leads to blessing, and ultimately leads to glory. Will you follow Jesus on the way?