On the road. No, I’m not going to sing Willie Nelson. I’m never going to beat Willie. On the road. I love this story. Now I’m going to tell you why. There’s more than one reason. Let’s begin with that concept of road. The Greek word is “hodos,” it’s pronounced HO-dose. And it is a critically important part of the narrative structure from Mark and his Gospel. Jesus and his disciples up to this point in Mark have been on the road, on the hodos. As is often the case when we study the Gospels, that word has at least a double meaning. If you’ll notice, it says that Jesus and his disciples were on the road, and in Mark it’s very specific. On the road to where? Anybody want to guess? To Jerusalem. That’s where it’s all going to happen. There are other things, obviously, that have been happening – ready? – on the road, but the road had a very specific destination, and in fact in Mark this is the last thing that happens before they arrive in Jerusalem. The word is also translated “way.” It’s a way of life. You’ll notice in this passage it says Jesus and his disciples were on the road. Where was Bartimaeus? We’re told very specifically. Where was he? He was off the road. It’s good to be on the road. It’s problematic to be off the road. Bartimaeus had a problem. He couldn’t see. He was off the road. After he’s healed – we’ll talk about healing – after he’s healed, what does the scripture say? It says that they then continued on the way. It’s the same word. It’s good to be on the road. So, Bartimeaus, hodos, on the way.

I have a friend, when I served the church up in Akron years ago. He’s, you know these terms, successful. Successful, what does that mean? Well, it’s a slippery term, a slippery concept, but this guy is a friend of mine, and he definitely, I believe, in the eyes of society can be seen as a success. He’s a very well-known attorney in Akron. He’s known not only as a good attorney, he’s a good man. He’s a really good guy. He tells the story of early in his life when he was a younger man, he was driven very much by ambition. He found himself in his late 30s, he had a stroke, and it was life-threatening. I will tell you at the end of the story, he’s happy, he recovered, he’s great to this day. But he realized that he needed to make some changes in his life. He found himself. In terms of this scripture, he was off the road. He needed to make some changes. He’s the first person that I ever heard say this. He said, “I discovered the three most powerful words in the universe.” Now that’s quite a statement, isn’t it? He said, “I discovered at that point in my life that I found myself” – in my words, off the road. He discovered the three most powerful words in the universe. And those words are, “I need help.” He said to himself and he said to his friends, “I need help. I need somebody to show me the way. I need help.” 

This is Bartimaeus. This is his story. One of the parts of this story that I absolutely love is Bartimaeus is off the road, he realizes he needs help, and he somehow pieces it together and figures out that Jesus of Nazareth is there. So, what does Bartimaeus do? He starts to say, “Hey, I need help. Somebody help me. I need help.” Here’s the part that I really love. The people are offended. He’s making a spectacle of himself. And what do they do? They tell him to be quiet. There’s a much more rude way to say, “be quiet,” and I won’t say it here in the pulpit. You got in trouble in my house growing up if you said these two words. But the people say to him, “Be quiet.” This is the part I love – what does Bartimeaus do? He gets louder. Of all of the things in this story, this is a story of persistence. This is a story of, “I don’t care what everybody thinks. I need help.” He gets louder. He gets Jesus’ attention. Please notice – and you’re going to notice now because I’m going to tell you – we’re told that Jesus stops. He’s still on the road, and he stands still. Bartimaeus, this blind man, figures out a way to come to Jesus on the road. Also please notice, what did the people say to Bartimaeus? Now that the narrative is shifting, Bartimaeus is going to get an audience with the one who can heal him. Now what do the people say to him? “Take heart. He wants you to come to him.” Notice that this is not just a story of persistence, it’s a story of intentionality. Jesus stops, and offers Bartimeaus the opportunity to come, and he comes.

Then there’s this wonderful moment where it’s not only persistence, it’s not only the intentionality, but it’s also awareness. Awareness, because Jesus asks him this odd question. Essentially, he says, “What can I do for you?” Well done, Jesus. Jesus asks him, “What can I do?” I want to make sure you really understand what’s happening here. What can I do for you? Bartimeaus doesn’t say, “I want to see.” Please notice that he says, “I want to see again.” This is good news for you and me. This isn’t just a physical healing. This is a spiritual healing. “I want to see again.” I want to see again. Previously in Mark there have been instances where Jesus has healed people from blindness. In one of those instances, you might remember, he spits in his hands, and he rubs his hands together and he touches eyes. He uses his saliva. This is not the case in the healing of Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus says, “I want to see again.” How does Jesus respond? He says – I’m paraphrasing here – he says, “Done.” Done. I think this is the timing. Bartimaeus is blind. He’s been blind for we don’t know how long, but he’s been blind, and he shouts for help. Oh, take heart. The master wants to see you. He comes to Jesus. Jesus says, “What can I do for you?” And Bartimaeus says, “I want to” – and here’s the timing – “I want to see again.” “Done.” Done. And please know that it was your faith that made you well. It wasn’t mine. Jesus says to him, “It wasn’t my faith, Bartimaeus. It was your faith that made you well.” If Jesus is anything at all, it is clear that he had the power to awaken faith in others. Do you want more faith today? Done. How can it be that easy? It is. It’s nothing short of a miracle. Done.

I’ll finish with this. Appropriately enough, it was a Sunday night, and appropriately enough, my dad and I were driving home from senior high youth group. I was in high school, and every now and then we would meet at people’s homes, different high school kids’ homes. I remember it was Tim Gregory; God rest his soul. Tim left us way too early. We had met at Tim Gregory’s house that night. My dad led the senior high youth group, which he didn’t always do. Tim lived about four or five miles outside of town off of Route 4 in Union County. Rural. Youth group was over, and my dad and I started to drive off. It was dark, and we were on Route 4, heading into Marysville, and that’s when it happened. We were still outside the city, the village at that time. So we were in the country, and we looked over there, and we saw that there was a car. And where was it? It was off the road. It was smoking, and it was pretty clear that we were the first ones that had come up on an accident. There was a guy down there in his car, off the road. Does anybody here know what it’s like? I don’t mean a car accident; I mean to be off the road. We all know what that’s like, and we all know when we need help.

So, my dad and I reacted and my dad pulled off the road. I’ll never forget it. He pulled off the road, and the first thing I thought, because I’m not a saint, the first thing I thought was, “I don’t want to go down there. I don’t know what I’m going to see. I’m afraid. I don’t want to go down there.” But I did. We got out of the car, and we both started walking real fast, and I turned, and I said to Dad, I said, “Dad?” He said, “What?” And I said, “The car is moving.” Our car was moving. He was so excited that he forgot to put it in park. So, he jumped up and turned the car off. So now we go down, and there was a little creek down there and this guy had driven off the road and crashed his car. The driver’s door was open, and he was sitting in the driver’s seat with his legs outside facing out, and he looked very dazed. He had a flashlight. We walked up, we said all the things you’re supposed to say, and the guy handed me the flashlight. He said, “Shine this on my face. I want to see how bad my face is.” I said, “No way,” and I threw the flashlight down. No, I didn’t. I wanted to. I’m being honest with you. I was afraid, I didn’t want to do this. Why did I do it? It’s the right thing to do, right? I overcame my fears. He said, “Shine the light on my face. I want to see how bad it is.” And I did, and there was blood. There was blood on his face, but he was conscious. This was, you know, a hundred years before cell phones and things. So, we put him in our back seat and we drove him to the emergency room. It made quite an impression on me. I remember it very well to this day. And now, I’m quite older, and I’m not alone in that, am I? Is there anybody else here who’s quite a bit older? We’ve seen a few things, haven’t we? I just can’t get over how true it is that sometimes in order to really see, we need to close our eyes. We all know what it’s like to be that guy off the road. We know what it’s like to be Bartimaeus. We all know what it’s like to need help, and when we ask for it from the living spirit of Christ – done. You got it. And it’s a miracle. And you’re back on the road again. Amen? Amen.