Go Thy Way

“And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” (Mark 10:49-52)

Blind Bartimaeus is an example of a man who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ in humility, crying out for forgiveness, and seeking sight and life in the Son of God. He cried out to God to have mercy on him; and he asked the Lord Jesus for sight. I think it is interesting to observe how the Lord deals with this humble, penitent, and blind man. The Lord asks Bartimaeus what he wants. Bartimaeus responds by asking for sight. The Lord then grants him his desires, and tells him, “Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.” Bartimaeus immediately received his sight.

Now, whether Bartimaeus was saved on this occasion, or whether he was already saved; still, this event is a good picture of the salvation (spiritual life and sight) that God gives to each of those who are saved. And, lest any would use the Words of God “…thy faith hath made thee whole” to give Bartimaeus (or any of us) credit for our salvation by saying our own faith has saved us; let me remind you, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom 10:17) Also, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Eph 2:8) So, the faith that was referred to in the case of Bartimaeus, must have been a faith that God first granted unto him.

But what I wanted to get to is this: Notice how that the Lord told Bartimaeus to “Go thy way…” It seems that many would take this as an excuse to make a way for ourselves that would be pleasing to the flesh, or that would be the easiest and smoothest route to Heaven that one could imagine. But this isn’t the case with Bartimaeus at all. When the Lord tells Bartimaeus to “Go thy way”, the Scriptures tell us that Bartimaeus immediately “…followed Jesus in the way.” Isn’t this remarkable? A man is told to “Go thy way” and immediately follows Jesus Christ! Well, maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising. After all, as the chosen of God, as the children of God, as the servants of God, as the disciples of Jesus Christ – shouldn’t His Way be our way? When we are granted life, don’t we follow the Giver of Life? When He gives us sight, don’t we see the Way before us, a different way than we followed before? True salvation results in a man or woman who will follow Jesus Christ in the Way of Life.