Mark 10:46-52, New International Reader's Version

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight

⁴⁶Jesus and his disciples came to Jericho. They were leaving the city. A large crowd was with them. A blind man was sitting by the side of the road begging. His name was Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus means Son of Timaeus. ⁴⁷He heard that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. So he began to shout, “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸Many people commanded him to stop. They told him to be quiet. But he shouted even louder, “Son of David! Have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹Jesus stopped and said, “Call for him.”

So they called out to the blind man, “Cheer up! Get up on your feet! Jesus is calling for you.” ⁵⁰He threw his coat to one side. Then, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

⁵¹“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to be able to see.”

⁵²“Go,” said Jesus. “Your faith has healed you.” Right away he could see. And he followed Jesus along the road.

Children’s Sabbaths Themes:

Mercy and kindness

Object:

Bag of candy. (Make sure you are aware of nut/food allergies when selecting candy.)

Message:

Let’s play a game. Everyone shut your eyes. (Allow children to close their eyes.) Now, just to make sure no one is cheating, take your hand and cover your eyes with your hand. Tell me what you see. (Allow children to respond.) Just to make sure you aren’t peeking, let’s try this. (Hold up fingers on your hand.) How many fingers am I holding up? Don’t look. (Allow children to answer.) I wonder how it feels not to be able to see anything but darkness. How would you feel if you could not see anything but the dark? (Allow children to answer.)

Now, take your hand down and open your eyes. What do you see? (Hold up a different number of fingers than previously.) How many fingers am I holding up? I wonder which you like better, light or darkness. Raise your hand if you like the light better. (Allow children to respond.) Raise your hand if you like the darkness better. (Allow children to respond.)

This Bible passage from Mark’s Gospel tells us of a blind man named Bartimaeus. Because he was blind, Bartimaeus couldn’t see anything but darkness. That was what you saw when your eyes were covered. Your eyes were closed for only a minute or so but imagine living your entire life without being able to see anything. Bartimaeus wanted to see. He knew Jesus could help him, so Bartimaeus went to find Jesus. When he went to meet Jesus, there were so many people around him that Bartimaeus couldn’t get close. People kept crowding in front of him. Because he couldn’t get closer to Jesus, he started shouting for Jesus to have mercy on him.

I wonder what the word mercy means to you. (Allow children to answer.) According to my NIRV Superheroes Bible Dictionary, the definition of mercy is more kindness and forgiveness than people deserve to get. To help you understand what the word mercy means, I will show you with this bag of candy. (Hold up the bag of candy.).Raise your hand if you would like a piece of candy. (Allow children to raise their hands.) I would love to give you a piece of candy, but you can only get one if you have never seen a movie. Raise your hand if you have never seen a movie in your life. Remember, no lying in church. (Give a piece of candy to every child who raises a hand. Most likely, there won’t be any children who raise their hands.) I wonder why you are not raising your hands. Why don’t you yell aloud, “Have mercy on me,” just as Bartimaeus did? Maybe that would change my mind. (Encourage children to call out for “mercy.”) Well, all right, because I care about you. I will give you candy, even though you have seen a movie. (Allow children to have a piece of candy.) Promise you won’t eat the candy until you leave church today. I don’t want to find wrappers littered on the ground. Giving you a piece of candy, even though you didn’t deserve it (and some may have lied to get it) is what it means to show mercy to someone. Mercy means that God forgives us and helps us, not because we earn it by doing good things, but because God loves us.

In our story from the Bible, Bartimaeus shouted for Jesus to help him. Jesus heard and healed him. Bartimaeus could see! In our scripture, did Bartimaeus offer to pay Jesus to heal him? (Allow children to answer.) No, Bartimaeus didn’t pay Jesus with money or gifts. Bartimaeus did nothing to deserve to get his sight back, but because he found Jesus, Jesus knew that Bartimaeus loved him. Jesus showed him mercy. Jesus treats us the same way. Jesus loves us so much that he offers us mercy. When we walk with Jesus, we receive God’s mercy because God loves us. The act of love is great exercise! Love is an action, just like walking. When we walk with Jesus, we are walking with love.

Prayer:

God of mercy, thank you for showing us mercy even though we don’t deserve it. We are thankful that your gifts of mercy and grace cannot be earned by our works and the things we do, but your love, mercy, and grace are offered because you love us. Amen.

Between the Sundays

We have added conversation starters to each children’s message series to help spark conversations within families during the week. We encourage families to use these questions to guide them through conversations and subject matter discussed during the worship service, including the children’s messages on Sundays. These conversations will reinforce learning and nurture faith formation for the entire family.

Jesus said that all people must become like children if they want to enter into God’s What do you think Jesus meant? Are family members’ responses different based on their ages? Are the children’s answers different from the adults?
Complete the sentence: “This week, I grew up but acted childlike when I …”
As a family, list things that seemed impossible for you to do this week. Remember, all things are possible with God. Discuss how God can help make the impossible possible.
In God’s kingdom, the lowliest servant is the greatest. As a family, discuss the concept of our society’s term, G.O.A.T. (Greatest of All Time). What characteristics does the G.O.A.T. possess? Now discuss this quote from Mark’s Gospel; “And anyone who wants to be first must be the slave of everyone. Even the Son of Man did not come to be served. Instead, he came to serve others.” What characteristics does Jesus want the greatest to possess?
According to our definition, mercy is more kindness and forgiveness than people deserve to get. Have family members share examples of how they experienced mercy this week. Did you offer mercy to someone? Did you receive mercy?
Together as a family, watch the YouTube video of Blind Bartimaeus. Lyrics to this song can be found here. What imagery comes to mind as you hear the song or read the lyrics? Describe to the others in your family what you imagine this encounter between Bartimaeus and Jesus looked like. I wonder what the crowd’s response was to hear this man cry out to Jesus, “Have mercy on me!” I wonder what Bartimaeus did immediately after the healing. I wonder how you feel walking with Jesus with love.