Mark 10:49
Oh what a nice little mystery we have here! Jesus stops. Right in the middle of everything. Did he hear Bartimaeus crying out? Or, did he know what these people had been saying to Bartimaeus about being quiet? Well, we can be certain that Jesus knew what had been said. However, it is strange that he wouldn’t go to Bartimaeus, instead of having Bartimaeus brought to him.
A little bit of Investigation on this will reveal why Jesus did what he did, and when. And every account that we have of this story we’re not exactly told if Jesus heard Bartimaeus. But, over in Luke 18 we see that the people who told Bartimaeus to be quiet were those who were at the front of the group with Jesus. In other words, as they were on their way Bartimaeus was out in front on the roadside, and the people who were walking in the front were telling him to be quiet.
So you have to catch the picture. These people in the front of the group are telling Bartimaeus to be quiet. Bartimaeus cries out very loudly as Jesus is heading in his direction. When Jesus hears Bartimaeus, or possibly just before he would have heard him, he tells the people in front of him to go get Bartimaeus.
This accounts for the real change in tune between the folks who told Bartimaeus to be quiet, and those who told him not to worry and to come because Jesus was calling. It was actually the same group of people. So Jesus’s command to go bring Bartimaeus to him was a way to get these very people who told Bartimaeus to be quiet to go and tell Bartimaeus the good news. Bartimaeus understood who Jesus was, but these folks in the multitude still needed some lessons to understand the true nature of the Christ.
Heavenly Father, thank you for listening to us even when others in the crowd would silence us. You understand each of us better than we do ourselves. You know what we are crying out for. You know what’s going on in our lives. Thank you for taking the time to stop when we call for you. Thank you for hearing when we pray. Thank you for asking us to bring our needs before you. You help us understand that you really care about who we are, and what we’re doing. May we always live to serve you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.