??You and I know what it's like to get out of bed in the dark night, and try to go across the room without knocking over furniture, or stubbing our toe on something.
??Why do we have to be so careful？Because we can't see!
??The man in our Bible lesson today lived like that all the time. Poor Bartimaeus was blind. When someone cried out, "Look at that beautiful rainbow!" Bartimaeus could only wonder what was so exciting about a rainbow. He never knew what colors were like, never got to look into the eyes of a loving mother. To Bartimaeus the world was always dark as night.
??Almost every morning Bartimaeus would probably pick up his walking stick to help him find his way to the Jericho city gate. As he walked, perhaps he smelled the sweet scent of the many roses that grew in Jericho, and heard the wind swishing through the many palm trees, but how sad that he could never see them. Imagine the ragged little blind beggar carefully sensing his way to his place by the city gate. There he would sit all day, holding out his beggar's cup to any who passed in and out of the city. Do you think Bartimaeus enjoyed begging？No, but in those days there was no special school or program for blind people, and Bartimaeus had no other way to make a living.
??Perhaps most people passed right on by Bartimaeus without a word. He was thankful that at times friendly people would stop and tell him the news. Those people were like his newspaper! One day his friends had some very exciting news to tell."Bartimaeus, have you heard about Jesus of Nazareth and all the miracles He has been doing？"
??Bartimaeus listened with great interest."Everyone is trying to decide who this Jesus really is, " his friends went on."Some think he is a prophet of God, others say He is the Messiah, the Savior God promised to send."
??Then Bartimaeus friends began to tell about the miracles of Jesus.All the people of Judea and Galilee are talking about Jesus, and all the wonderful things He says and does!
??He teaches about God and Heaven, and He fed over 5, 000 people with just a little boy's lunch. Why He even made the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk, and Bartimaeus! Jesus even made a blind man to see!"
??"A blind man to see？" Oh, if only that could have been me!" Bartimaeus probably sighed with longing. If only, if only this Jesus would come to Jericho! No doubt during the days ahead, people talked much about Jesus. And no doubt Bartimaeus spent a lot of time thinking about Him, and how if Jesus were here, He could take care of the biggest problem in Bartimaeus' life.
??But was blindness really the biggest problem in Bartimaeus' life？No, the darkness in Bartimaeus' heart was a bigger problem than the darkness caused by his blindness. You and I, and everyone who has ever been born, have that same problem in our hearts. God says sin is like being in darkness. Sin is anything that does not please God. Have you ever accused someone of doing something they did not do？That is sin.
??And what about the times you have been jealous of others when they made a better grade, or when you acted like you were better than someone whose clothes or house were not as nice as yours？God calls those things sin, and He says we have all sinned. God speaks of sin as being in darkness, and His Word tells us there is an awful, forever punishment for sin. That punishment is being away from God our Creator in a terrible place of eternal darkness called hell. But the wonderful news Bartimaeus did not know was that God loved him so much! No matter that he was a blind beggar, God loved him! And no matter what you are, boys and girls, God loves you too! He is your Creator, perfect in all His ways, and perfect in His love for you! God's love caused Him to send His precious only Son into the world to take care of your biggest problem. Jesus Christ, that precious Son, willingly came to the world, even though He knew wicked men would hate Him, and put Him to death on a cross. Revelation 1：5 is one of my favorite verses. It says, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, "
??After Jesus died, He was buried, but by God's wonderful power, He came alive again in 3 days. Now He is in Heaven, and when you believe in Him, He takes away that darkness of sin. For those who don't believe in the Lord Jesus, there remains a forever punishment for sin in that terrible place of darkness and suffering called hell. Can you see why blindness was not really Bartimaeus' biggest problem？??But Bartimaeus thought it was. How he must have wished that Jesus would one day come to Jericho. The days and weeks passed. Then Bartimaeus realized it was Springtime because it was warmer weather, and because the number of people traveling by him was increasing. Yes, it was time for the Passover feast in Jerusalem, and whole families journeyed together in happy conversation.
??Jesus and His disciples were going to the Passover also, which meant they were traveling right through Jericho! Although he couldn't see, Bartimaeus knew something unusual was happening, for never before had he heard such a big and noisy crowd of people coming through the gates of the city! Confused and excited, he asked, "Please, someone tell me, what's going on here？" Someone called out the incredible news："Jesus of Nazareth is passing by!"
??Oh! The chance of a lifetime, and the desperate little beggar knew he must not miss it! With all his might he cried out, "Jesus, Son of David! Have mercy on me!" Do you know why Bartimaeus called Jesus the Son of David？Bartimaeus believed that Jesus was the One God promised to send, the Messiah, and God said that the Messiah would be the Son of David. Bartimaeus was showing he believed in Jesus with all his heart!
??But some of the people angrily told him to hush, because they didn't believe in Jesus! Oh, yes, they were following Jesus, just out of curiosity to see what marvelous thing He would do or say, but their hearts were still dark with the sin of unbelief. They did not want to hear anyone call Jesus the Son of David, the One God promised to send.
??Even those angry voices telling him to hush could not stop Bartimaeus! The Bible says he cried out even louder, "Son of David! have mercy on me!" The loving ears of our dear Savior heard that pitiful cry. Suddenly the Lord Jesus Himself stopped the parade of people, and commanded that Bartimaeus be brought to Him! Men went to help the ragged beggar up and led him to Jesus. Bartimaeus must have trembled to know that he was standing in the actual presence of this Jesus of Whom he had heard so much.
??"What do you want Me to do for you？" Jesus gently asked."Lord, that I may receive my sight, " Bartimaeus answered. Then Jesus Who is God the Son, and has all power to heal and help us, said, "Receive your sight, your faith has saved you."
??Immediately the darkness was gone! Sunlight, colors, faces, Bartimaeus could see them all!! The most wonderful thing Bartimaeus could see was the loving face of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God! The crowds of people must've reacted with shouts of joy, at least those who loved and believed in the Lord Jesus.
??What a marvelous thing that this dear man could now have his sight! But the most marvelous thing was what happened on the inside of Bartimaeus. Jesus had said, "Your faith has saved you." Jesus knew that Bartimaeus had believed on the Lord Jesus. Because he believed on the Lord Jesus, Bartimaeus was saved from the darkness of sin on the inside! No one could see that, but it was the most important thing that happened. Being saved from sin means we become God's child, and will one day go to be with Jesus in Heaven forever.
??What do you think Bartimaeus did after He could see？Let's find out in Luke 18：43："And Bartimaeus followed Jesus, glorifying God：and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God."
??We all love happy endings, don't we？If you have believed on the Lord Jesus already,
??then you are like Bartimaeus! And the happy ending is that you will get to meet Bartimaeus one day in Heaven! If you have believed on the Lord Jesus, Jesus has saved you from that darkness of sin on the inside, and He wants you to go and tell others that He is the Light of the world! Why not write down the message from ？How to be a Child of God？and share it with someone TODAY？There are many, many people around you who are like Bartimaeus on the inside. Will you love them enough to tell them how they can be saved from the darkness of sin？??If you have never believed on the Lord Jesus, you are still in the darkness of sin. But you don't have to wait, like Bartimaeus, for the Lord Jesus to come your way. Romans 10：13 says, "For whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Will you go right now to ？How to be a Child of God？and see how you can call on the Lord Jesus to save you from that darkness of sin, and make you His child forever？"
??小朋友们, 当我们在漆黑的夜晚, 从床上起来, 摸黑走过房间, 我们会很小心地慢慢走, 省得碰翻了家具, 或者踩到什么东西上摔倒。我们为什么要这么小心呢？因为我们的眼睛在黑暗里看不见。
??我们今天圣经故事里要讲到的这个人, 他一直生活在黑暗里。可怜的巴底买是一个瞎子。如果他听见有人喊叫："看哪!多美丽的彩虹."他也只能在心里想象彩虹到底是什么样子。他从来不知道这世上有各种的颜色, 他也从来没有看见过慈母的眼睛里流露出来的爱。对巴底买来说, 这个世界就象黑夜一样是漆黑一片的。
??几乎每天早上, 巴底买可能都拄著探路的拐杖, 摸索来到耶利哥城门口。在路上, 他闻到耶利哥路旁那些馨香的玫瑰, 听见那些沙沙做响的棕榈树, 很可惜他却从来不能亲眼看到它们。这个破衣烂衫的讨饭瞎子小心翼翼地来到耶利哥城门口。在那里他要坐上一整天, 举著他的讨饭碗向过路的人乞讨。你觉得巴底买喜欢样吗？当然不!可是在那个时候, 没有什么盲人学校, 巴底买只能以讨饭为生。
??也许, 大多数的过路人就匆匆忙忙地经过巴底买, 也没有时间和他说句话。但也有好心人会停下来, 给他讲讲新闻什么的。有这么一天, 他的朋友告诉他一个很让人兴奋的事："巴底买, 你有没有听说过拿撒勒的耶稣, 他行了很多神绩呢!"巴底买很有兴趣地听著。他的朋友接著说："大家都在议论耶稣到底是谁。有人说他是神的一个先知, 有的说他是弥赛亚, 神所应许的救主。"巴底买的朋友又开始讲到耶稣所行的神绩："犹太和加利利的人都在议论耶稣, 还有他说的话, 他行的神绩。他教导关于神, 还有天堂的事。他还通过一个小孩子的一点点食物让五千人吃饱。他甚至让聋子能听见, 瘸腿的能行走。巴底买呀!耶稣还使瞎眼的能看见!" "什么, 什么？他开了瞎子的眼睛!唉!要是能开我的眼睛就好了!"巴底买叹了口气。 如果耶稣能到耶利哥来, 那该有多好啊!在那以后的日子里, 人们纷纷谈论著耶稣。无疑地, 巴底买也在想著耶稣, 如果耶稣在这里, 他一定可以帮助巴底买, 治好他最大的需要- 就是他的眼睛。
??瞎眼是巴底买生命中最大的问题吗？其实不是!巴底买心中的黑暗要比瞎眼带来的黑暗严重得多。所有生在这世上的人, 包括我和你, 在我们的心中都有这个同样的问题。神说罪就象在黑暗中一样。 罪就是任何不讨神喜悦的事。你有没有诬陷过别人？诬陷别人是罪。你有没有因为别人的成绩比你好就嫉妒别人？你有没有因为别人的衣服, 房子没有你的好就沾沾自喜, 看不起别人？这些都是罪。神说人人都犯了罪。有罪的人就象在黑暗里, 神的话语告诉我们对罪有一个可怕的, 永远的惩罚。那个惩罚就是与创造我们的神分离, 到一个永远黑暗的地方, 就是地狱。
??但是, 有一个好消息巴底买却不知道。那就是神非常爱他, 虽然他只是一个讨饭的瞎子。小朋友们, 同样的, 不管你是谁, 神都爱你。他是创造你的神, 他对你的爱是最深, 最完美的。正是因为他的爱, 神让他宝贵的爱子到这个世上来, 解决我们最大的问题 -就是我们的罪。耶稣基督, 神的爱子, 他虽然知道这个世上的人会恨他, 会把他钉死在十字架上, 他还是心甘情愿地来到这个世上。启示录1章5节是我最喜欢经节之一, 那里说："他爱我们用自己的血使我们脱离罪恶。"耶稣死后, 被埋葬, 但因著神的大能, 他在第三天复活了。现在, 他就在天上。当你相信他, 他就赶走罪的黑暗。对于那些不相信主耶稣的人, 就有一个永远的惩罚, 就是去到那永远的黑暗痛苦的地狱。现在, 你明白为什么瞎眼并不是巴底买最大的问题了吗？
??但对巴底买来说, 能看见是他最大的需要。他真希望耶稣有一天能到耶利哥来。日子一天天过去了。春天到了, 巴底买感觉到天气变暖和了, 经过的人也渐渐多了起来。原来, 耶路撒冷的逾越节到了, 很多家庭都来到耶路撒冷过节。
??耶稣和他的门徒也要去耶路撒冷。他们正好要路过耶利哥。虽然巴底买看不见, 但他感觉到今天有点特别, 因为他从来没有听见过这么多嘈杂的声音从耶利哥城门口传出来。他即兴奋, 又奇怪, 就问别人："请问, 这儿发生什么事情了？"有人告诉他一个难以相信的消息："拿撒勒的耶稣正经过这里!"
??噢!这真是难得的机遇!这个可怜的讨饭瞎子知道他一定不能错过。于是, 他用尽力气, 喊著说："大卫的子孙耶稣阿, 可怜我吧!"为什么巴底买称耶稣是大卫的子孙呢？因为巴底买相信耶稣就是神应许的那位救主弥赛亚。神说弥赛亚是大卫的子孙。所以, 巴底买全心地相信耶稣。
??有许多人责备他, 不许他作声, 因为那些人不相信耶稣。是的, 他们之所以跟著耶稣是因为好奇, 想看看耶稣行的神绩, 但他们的心仍然不相信耶稣。他们不想听见任何人管耶稣叫大卫的子孙, 神应许的救主。
??但是那些不许他作声的声音并不能阻止巴底买。圣经上说他却越发大声喊著说："大卫的子孙哪, 可怜我吧。我们的主听到了巴底买的呼求。突然, 主耶稣就站住, 说：'叫他过来。'有人就去搀起他, 把他带到耶稣面前。巴底买一定激动得发抖, 当他知道他站在这位他已经久仰的耶稣面前。耶稣温柔地对他说, 要我为你作什么？巴底买说："主阿!我要能看见。"耶稣, 做为神子, 他有权柄来医治我们, 帮助我们。他对巴底买说："你可以看见, 你的信救了你了。瞎子立刻看见了!巴底买看到了阳光, 各种颜色, 人们的脸, 他看见了一切。但是最亲切的脸就是神的儿子, 主耶稣的脸。旁边的人群发出了欢呼。
??巴底买可以看见了, 这是一件多么奇妙的事!但是更奇妙的是巴底买心里的变化。
??耶稣说："你的信救了你了。"耶稣知道巴底买已经相信了他。因著他的信, 巴底买就被从罪的黑暗中拯救出来。这是内心的变化, 没有人能够看见。但是这又是最最重要的事。被从罪中拯救出来就是说我们已经成为神的孩子, 有一天我们将要与耶稣一起永远在天上。
??好了, 巴底买能看见了, 然后他做什么了呢？路加福音18章节43节告诉我们：巴底买就跟随耶稣, 一路归荣耀与神。众人看见这事, 也赞美神。
??我们都喜欢个结大欢的结局, 对不对？如果你已经相信耶稣, 你就象巴底买一样。而且有一天你将要在天上面对面看见巴底买。 如果你已经相信耶稣, 耶稣已经把你从罪的黑暗中拯救出来, 他愿意你也去告诉别人耶稣就是世界的光。你可以去听"怎样成为神的孩子" , 把你得到的信息写下来, 今天就去与别人分享。在你身边有很多很多的人, 他们的里面也象巴底买一样有一个需要。因著你对他们的爱, 你愿意告诉他们怎样从罪的黑暗中被拯救出来吗？
??如果你还没有相信耶稣, 你仍然在罪的黑暗中。但你不需要象巴底买一样等著主耶稣经过。罗马书10：13说："凡求告主名的, 就必得救。"你可以去听"怎样成为神的孩子" , 那里告诉你怎样求告主耶稣的名, 让他把你从罪的黑暗中拯救出来, 使你永远成为他的孩子。 |