The Go of the Way

NorthernLife is a well-travelled church.

Have you noticed that?

When I talk to different people, it's like lots of people have been on adventures.

Lots of people have been on holidays that take them to interesting places in the world.

And I'm sorry if you're not one of them.

But there are lots of people who have been on adventures.

My opportunity to travel with a colleague in ministry years ago to Israel, and I know I've mentioned it before, but it was just a life highlight, an adventure, a journey.

We went to just together, private guided tour.

We were in Cairo.

We saw the pyramids.

And thinking about Jesus going to Egypt, and then we followed the path of the people of Israel around the Sinai Peninsula to Mount Sinai, everything that happened there with Moses.

And then going to the Red Sea and thinking of the Red Sea opening up and came up to the top of the Red Sea and then across to Jordan and followed the King's Highway where the people of Israel, after 40 years of wandering, traveled that route and then got to Mount Nebo when Moses died there and then you wind down and cross the Jordan and you come up past Jericho and then we duck down to the Dead Sea and then we came up to Jerusalem.

And it was just an incredible sense of journey.

And then we went to the Mediterranean and back up to the Sea of Galilee and back to Jerusalem.

And then we had such an amazing trip.

We got to fly to Turkey and do the seven churches of the Revelation and then went to Athens and saw parts of acts where it all happened and we went to Corinth.

And so at the end of that trip, it felt like it was a trip of a lifetime and it was an adventure and an incredible journey.

Only three weeks, but what a path we trod.

A road we traveled.

The Greek word for road pathway is hodos.

And Mark uses it frequently.

It's a very important word, hodos.

Road, way, path.

Jesus, of course, said he was the way, the truth and the life.

He said, I am the hodos.

The disciples are on a three year walk on the hodos, the way of the master.

And in Mark 10 46, when they come to Jericho in Mark's gospel, it was getting close to the end of the road of this incredible journey.

And we're coming to the end of our time in Mark.

This is the 39th sermon and Lord Willing, Ben will preach the 40th one tonight.

And it's been a wonderful time to study Mark's gospel.

The theme for this year for our church has been Go.

Go 24 and we've been looking at opportunities as an individual to go as individuals and also as a church.

And when I reflect on this year, I think of so many of us who have stepped out.

Cedric, you know, doing a new ministry with Kairos Prison Ministries.

And so many people just stepping out in the Go of the Hottos, the Go of the Way.

Some things you have to stop, other things you have to start.

And today, that's the theme of this sermon, the title, The Go of the Way.

Verse 46 says, Then they came to Jericho.

They came to Jericho.

I wonder what season you are in, in your Hottos, your journey, your path, that you are walking with the Lord, or maybe you're not with the Lord yet.

We all look at the journey with very different eyes, don't we?

Depending on our life stage and our experience, and as I look around the room, we have all sorts of diverse life stages represented here, in this room.

I couldn't help but think of Jesus coming to Jericho, and the frame, the lens through which he sees the city of Jericho, in his long journey of existence.

Now, he is the eternal Word of God.

I want to go back to Joshua 5, verse 13.

Hopefully, we have the text there.

When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand.

Joshua went up to him and asked, are you for us or for our enemies?

Neither, he replied, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come.

Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence and asked him, what message does my Lord have for his servant?

The commander of the Lord's army replied, take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy and Joshua did so.

Now, there's a really good chance that the commander of the army of the Lord is who?

The pre-incarnate Jesus, the Word of God.

It's not normal for an angel to say, yeah, go for your life, fall prostrate forward before me.

They normally say, no, do not worship me.

We all, angels included, worship the one living God, but not here.

So, there's a really good chance that in some ways, this is what we might call an anthropomorphism, a presenting of the Spirit, Word of God, in a body looking like an angel, in some ways a powerful commander of the army of the Lord.

But I think it's a really good chance, this is the Word of God.

This is the Logos, this is the pre-incarnate Jesus.

So, I would just wonder, could Jesus have memories of Jericho, of the walls falling down, of actually seeing the walls fall down as he passes by this iconic city?

They came to Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples together were there with a large crowd, they were leaving the city.

A blind man, Bartimaeus, which means son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside, begging, bar in Hebrew just means son of, so son of Timaeus.

A blind man is begging there, and the Jews apparently from Galilee, so sort of towards the north east of the country, they would typically not head in a straight line towards Jerusalem, southwest, because they have to go through Samaria, and the Samaritans were often hostile towards these Jews, so the Galilean Jews would head south, down the Jordan, and then straight across past Jericho, up for the feasts in Jerusalem.

So it's a great spot to beg, and that's where we find Bartimaeus.

He's begging as the Galilean Jews are coming past Jericho.

The teaching of Jesus about his arrest, death and resurrection from the dead, happened three times from Chapter 8 to Chapter 10.

I wonder if you noticed back in Chapter 8 that just before all of this significant teaching was unfolding, there was someone else who was blind.

Do you remember where he was from?

The blind man from...

have a guess?

Bethsaida?

Two B's.

Yeah, there was a blind man from Bethsaida.

We don't know his name, but he was healed, and it's a classic Markan way, the way Mark tends to explain his gospel is in sandwiches.

So, there's a bookend of a blind man that gets healed, and then there's all this incredible unveiling of truth.

Who are you?

Peter gets asked.

Who is Jesus?

He says, Messiah.

Jesus talks three times about dying and rising again.

There's the transfiguration, but this incredibly jam-packed, truth-filled time of a couple of chapters representing some weeks in history, book-ended by two blind men who receive sight.

What do you reckon Mark is suggesting?

I think it's pretty obvious.

He's saying understanding what God is up to in Jesus will require divine insight.

Amen?

It will require supernatural sights.

Most people, including the disciples, do not see what God is doing, but a blind man will.

Then he will see physically as well.

Another point not to miss is the blind man is sitting where?

On the hodos.

If you look into the Greek, he's on the hodos.

This constant refrain that the disciples are following the hodos, the way of the master.

And everyone is on a road.

Everyone's on a path.

This path that this blind man, Bartimaeus, had, was a tough path.

To be blind in the first century cannot be easy.

I mean, this is a challenging life.

But again, like, some of us have had really challenging lives.

Or we find ourselves in a very challenging season right now.

But we know, like the blind man, we're always a kairos moment away from God turning up and changing everything.

Amen?

When, verse 47, when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.

This blind man, who we get told his name, Bartimaeus, this blind man is the only person in the Gospel of Mark who acknowledges that Jesus is the son of David.

He's the only one to acknowledge that messianic title.

The king in the line of David is this Jesus.

He's the king that Israel has been waiting for.

That's an interesting insight, isn't it?

A blind man sees the identity of Jesus by spirit anointing to his mind and heart.

Of course, there is such rich irony here.

The disciples have been with him for three years and not seeing as clearly as a blind beggar.

Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem on the fold of a donkey.

And still people aren't quite going to understand, but the blind man sees it first.

Many rebuke this man, Bartimaeus, verse 48.

They tell him, be quiet, but he shouted all the more, son of David, have mercy on me, because Bartimaeus is not going to miss out on his kairos moment.

He will not be shut down.

We began this year talking about a Gospel of New Beginnings.

It's what Mark says at the very beginning, the beginning of the good news.

And the whole Gospel has this sense of freshness, vitality, newness.

It's a Gospel of New Beginnings.

And we started out the year, pretty strongly, I think.

We filled up the baptismal tank, and we said, anyone want to be baptized spontaneously?

And a few people did.

They got baptized, and then we did it again, and I think six or seven more got baptized.

All of a sudden, we had 13 baptized, and then we ended up with, I think, 22 baptisms in the first couple of months of the year.

And it was so exciting to see people stepping out into a new season, a go moment, on their hodos, on their road of following Jesus.

And this idea of kairos comes from Mark 1, 14 to 15, and the text is there.

Let me just remind you, John's been put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

This is the beginning of the good news of the Gospel of Mark.

And he says, the time has come, and that word for time is kairos.

It's not kronos.

It's not just day after day after day.

It's kairos, which means God's appointed season.

Could be a moment.

Could be a 40-year journey.

But kairos is a specific period of time that God has appointed.

The kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe the good news.

Kairos.

When the king of the kingdom is near, anything could happen.

That's the power of kairos.

And this blind man is begging and he has this spirit-given insight, now is my time.

I need to reach out.

I need to receive what God would have for me by His grace.

And it's going to come through this man, Jesus, who is the Davidic King.

They try to suppress him, but the blind man will have none of it.

You know what's another interesting idea here?

This is the last divine healing in the Gospel of Mark.

But think about it.

Are there many healings in the Gospel of Mark that came easily?

Think back.

It's actually fascinating and challenging.

I find it genuinely, personally challenging.

The Syrophoenician woman would not give up hope that Jesus would heal her daughter, even though she wasn't a Jew and Jesus sort of pushed her away.

But she's like, no way, I'm not letting go.

Jairus must ignore the mockery of the mourners that Jesus can do nothing for his dead child to get his child raised from the dead by miraculous power from Jesus.

What did the friends have to do for the guy who was paralysed?

They had to fight their way through the top of the roof.

The leper and the woman with the bleeding problem, it was completely against the rules for them to get close, certainly not to touch Jesus, but they did to find his help.

A desperate father must overcome his doubt that Jesus can do anything to help his tormented son when the disciples have already failed.

Interesting, isn't it?

What is it?

What do you feel when you hear that?

I feel the challenge of asking, of persisting, of knocking on the door, don't you?

Healing comes to those who are persistent and not quickly discouraged by the hurdles that are placed in their way in the Gospel of Mark.

Verse 48, Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.

And the Son of David did have mercy on him.

Jesus stopped and said, call him.

So they called to the blind man, and cheer up, on your feet, he's calling you.

There's three times the Greek word for call is used here, and this is just one sentence.

It's reminiscent of not just a healing, but it's reminiscent of Jesus calling his disciples.

Jesus saying, come, come.

What a poignant insight into the type of man Jesus is.

We talk about the core value, find out, help out.

To find out, you have to have a posture of being a listener, don't you?

You have to have a posture of, I'm not only thinking about me.

Have you discovered that?

That you won't find out much about other people if you never stop thinking about you.

You've got to sort of suppress that for a bit to say, what's going on in your life?

And so, this is what Jesus is so good at, finding out his full throttle, accelerating towards the cross, isn't he?

In this moment, coming past Jericho, he will be loaded up, literally naked on a cross with the entire sin of human history.

He will be abandoned by God in a very short period of time, abandoned by his father, and yet, he hears the cry of a blind man.

Isn't it wonderful?

Picture of someone who is so eager and ready to hear the cry of the needy.

And this is a person who technically in this society is blind and therefore expendable.

This is categorized, a human being who is a nobody, a less than human, but Jesus hears him, sees him and calls him.

And then, there's this incredibly beautiful picture of abandonment, of following.

Verse 50, throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

Do you pick up the imagery of that cloak?

What do you reckon the cloak meant to a blind man?

A beggar.

It's not too much at all to read into that.

To throw his cloak away is to throw away that which keeps him warm at night.

That which keeps him alive, quite literally.

That which he puts out on the road to receive his income.

Isn't that a cool picture?

He throws it.

He throws his cloak and follows.

Such a reminder of the disciples leaving their fishing nets.

Bartimaeus leaves his life behind.

The Go of the Way.

The Go of the Kairos moment that came to him suddenly out of the blue on his Hodos, his road.

Think about it.

Mark will talk about the rich young ruler.

He can't do what he just did.

He can't do it.

The rich young ruler will not abandon all and follow.

Mark will also highlight a poor widow who gives everything in the temple treasury.

There are so many different responses to the call of Jesus to come follow.

What's your response?

because we're all experiencing a call that comes from God, from Jesus, from his spirit on this road we walk.

What do you want me to do for you?

Jesus asked this incredibly important question.

It's a question that we heard last week, isn't it?

What do you want me to do for you?

Do you remember last week, James and John?

Jesus is like, what do you want me to do for you?

And their response was, we want the most prestigious position in the universe.

We want to be at your right and left.

That's what we want.

You asked and we're going to tell you.

We want basically everything.

We want to rule with you.

Herod asked the young woman, the dancer, what do you want me to do for you?

And what did you say back?

I want John the Baptist's head on a platter.

That's what I want.

That's what's in my heart.

Pilate asked a bloodthirsty crowd, what do you want me to do for you?

And they said, crucify him, Jesus, and let Barabbas free.

That's what's in our heart.

Don't we get weird things in our heart?

And then Jesus asked him, what do you want me to do for you?

And he says, Rabbi, I want to see.

I want to see.

And Jesus says, your faith has healed you.

What a holy moment of transformation.

You know, we just hear and go, oh, blind Bartimaeus, he's another guy who's got to see.

What's next?

What's for lunch?

But for 2,000 years, people have stopped and thought like we should today, wow, that guy just saw for the first time.

He just got to see.

What an incredible miracle, a moment of transformation, a moment that is earth-shattering, a holy moment of divine grace and empowering.

A Kairos encounter with the living God for this man Bartimaeus, who Mark chooses to tell us his name.

Jesus says, go.

Go, said Jesus, your faith has healed you.

But Bartimaeus hears what?

Four-letter word.

He hears come.

Jesus says, go.

And Bartimaeus hears come.

And I would put it to you that that's always what happens for a disciple.

The go of faith is so important, but it always means come.

Amen.

because Jesus is the one who seeks and saves the lost.

So if you ever feel like the Lord Jesus is saying go, always remember he's really saying come and join me.

I'm out there.

I'm amongst it.

I'm where I want you to come to.

Go.

Like Abraham, go.

Like Matthew 28, go.

But really what he's saying to us and to Bartimaeus is come.

Come and join me on mission.

Immediately, he received his sight and followed Jesus along the Hodos, the road.

So for Bartimaeus, receiving his sight means becoming a disciple.

He received his sight and follows Jesus along the road.

And as I said, the Greek word for road, here is Hodos.

We follow Jesus along a road, a path, a way.

He is the Hodos, the way, the truth and the life.

Where are you on your journey, the Hodos of life for you?

Today, what's it like for you?

because the Hodos, have you discovered this, the road of following the path of the way of the Master is not static, is it?

It's just, there's just no way in the world.

It is static.

It's dynamic.

The journey is sometimes euphoric and filled with joy, and other times it's so hard, and sometimes the two are happening right at the same time, aren't they?

Amazing things happen in life, and also terribly challenging, tragic things happen in life.

But I think as we reflect on what the challenges are from this story of blind Bartimaeus, seeing first with insight about who Jesus is, and then grabbing hold of the opportunity, and receiving his sight, and then becoming a disciple, what do we take from that?

What do you take?

What do I take from that this morning, in this polaroid moment of our journey with the Lord?

Well, I wonder, are some of us, are you waiting on the side of the road for an invitation to follow?

Maybe you're coming along to church and you do not follow Jesus, but you're like, I love the thought of who he is, like, could I come?

Well, I would pray that you would hear Jesus say to you, come follow me, because the offer is there.

Maybe you're following, but you're not seeing.

Maybe that's how it feels to you, the hot-ass moment that you're in.

You're a Christian, but the worries, excuse me, the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for things.

Remember the parable of the sower?

They're choking out your sight, your hearing, your passion for the kingdom.

Maybe you feel like you're weighed down with a heavy cloak of, literally, of guilt and shame, and it's a heavy cloak that defines your identity, and maybe the Lord is saying to you, hey, throw that off today.

Cast it off and come follow me, like Bartimaeus.

Maybe for you, you have been recently healed, maybe physically, but certainly spiritually, and you're seeing clearly, and you're breathing the fresh air of the Spirit.

Praise God.

Wow, how good is that for you?

because some of us, I know, actually, are living that part of the journey of the road.

And maybe you're waiting for a response from the question, I want to see.

I want to see Lord, the go of the way.

The go of the way is Christianity.

Don't you think?

Just when you think you're comfortable on the journey, something happens.

And if the Bible is anything to do with truth, which clearly it is, often what God does to us is it's like we're on the journey that the Samaritan was on.

because we find someone who is in need on the journey and that person enters into our life and it changes what's going on for us and what God is doing and how he's calling us.

Jesus still asks this question to every one of us and I think it's one of the most profound questions of life.

This is what he asks of you and I.

What do you want me to do for you?

Do you know that?

He still asks the question, what do you want me to do for you?

What's your response?

What do you want me to do for you?

As good Christians, you might go, tell me what the right answer is.

I just want to make sure I say the right answer.

I would say, ask the one that's in your heart first, because he wants to know what's in your heart.

But I will give you what the right answer is.

The right answer is, I want to know you, Lord.

Ephesians 1.

I want the eyes of my heart to be enlightened, to know the truth.

I want to know the living God.

I want to walk with you, and out of the with God life, you will show me what's next.

What do you want me to do for you, Jesus asks the blind man.

And he asks many other people in the New Testament, and he asks us today, what do you want me to do for you?

I love, I just want to finish with this.

I think it's a beautiful picture of the blind man, and the author of Hebrews says it wonderfully, Hebrews 12, one and two.

Let us throw off the cloak.

Let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

The go of the way means following a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, living God, eternal Word, Lord we thank you that your grace is so overwhelming and so sufficient.

And you see all of us in this room, and especially, I know you see those who have stood and they're reaching out to you, and I pray you would give them the Kairos moment they need.

Give them the Kairos answer, the infusion of your power for this season, in the name of Jesus.

Lord, some of us need to see, we feel like we can't, we need clarity.

And so Lord, we ask you like Bartimaeus, would you open our eyes, that we might see you high and lifted up.

We might know you and know your peace, that transcends all understanding.

Lord, some of us are standing, standing because we need a miracle.

And you know what it is.

And so we are asking you for your unchanging almighty power to enter our lives and change us, change the situation.

And in asking Lord, we acknowledge that you are good.

And we do not know, we don't know the best thing to ask.

But we're just knocking.

We want to persistently and reverently, respectfully, worshipfully ask you for help.

Lord Holy Spirit, would you meet us in this worship, please?

And do the ministry that only you can do in Jesus' name.

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