And Jesus said unto him, receive thy sight, thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. Luke 18:42,43
Bartimaeus received far more than what he asked for. When the Lord Jesus asked him, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee, he asked to receive his sight. He did receive his sight, but he also received salvation. Why did the Saviour give Bartimaeus so much more than his request? Because Bartimaeus delivered his request in full and trusting faith, and full recognition of the One to Whom he issued his request. We can receive far more than we expect, when we follow the pattern of Bartimaeus.
Bartimaeus not only knew what he needed, but he also knew Who could give it to him. As Jesus approached, Bartimaeus addressed Him as the Son of David. This shows his recognition that Jesus was the fulfillment of prophecy, the Messiah. And when he was speaking directly to Jesus, he addressed Him as Lord. There was no doubt in his mind that his request would be granted because he knew exactly Who Jesus was. And he was in full acceptance of Jesus as Lord. If we read the definition of salvation in Romans 10:9, we will see that Bartimaeus meets the criteria. And so he received salvation as well as his sight. And he still has both.
We are recipients of God’s salvation. This great gift of God is the best thing that ever happened to us in our entire lives. The more we learn the Scriptures and spend time in the presence of our Lord and Saviour, the more we will appreciate the greatness of this gift. This is because with our salvation, we have received far more than we asked, far more than we can grasp. We can begin to enumerate what we have received. The big ones are obvious: forgiveness of sins, release from guilt, rescue from Hell, assurance of Heaven, the fellowship of saints, the relationship as a member of God’s family, and so on. Spiritual blessings have been heaped upon us, as we appreciate them.
Bartimaeus knew what his immediate need was. And the Lord Jesus gave him what he needed. What is our immediate need? Do we have difficulties that need to be navigated? Do we have shortcomings that we need to address? Do we have circumstances that must be overcome? The Lord Who supplied our need of salvation is more than capable of supplying all of our other needs as well. That includes the small things as well as the huge.
Jesus was glad to give Bartimaeus his sight. He will be glad to give us sight today to see all of the blessings that are ours because we belong to Him. – Jim MacIntosh