Summary of The Rich Young Ruler vs Bartimaeus: Two Men, Two Kingdoms
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing” (Matthew 11: 12 NIV).
“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come to you” (Luke 11: 20 NIV).
“At that time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses, and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind” (Luke 7: 21 NIV).
As Jesus walked through Galilee, Judea, and Samaria, the Kingdom of God was advancing through Him. As the Kingdom advanced, people were getting healed, demons were being cast out, and the dead were being raised. The power of the rule of God in Christ was destroying the power of Satan. All of Israel was talking about the Kingdom of God and asking the question “Is He the One?” Even John the Baptist wondered. He sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else” (Luke 7: 19 NIV). With hundreds being healed and set free from demons all over the region, pretty much nonstop for several years, the religious leaders had a real problem on their hands. If Jesus was the one, then they were essentially out of a job — a job that came with wealth and power. If He wasn’t the one, then they needed to figure out how to discredit him — he might encourage the people to revolt.
But the Kingdom was advancing and nothing could stop it. Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God (aka the Kingdom of Heaven) as a present reality, although it is a future reality as well. He was not preaching about heaven as we think of it — some far-off (we hope) future reality. The Kingdom of God or salvation was here among them, right now. Everywhere He went, He preached the gospel of the Kingdom of God, He taught parables that began with “The Kingdom of God is like . . . “, He proclaimed Kingdom principles. His mission was summarized in Luke 4 “I must preach the good news (the Gospel) of the Kingdom of God to the other cities and towns also, for I was sent for this purpose” (Luke 4: 43 Amplified).
Jesus was sent to proclaim and release the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God was breaking into the kingdom of the world. Light was breaking into darkness. Life was conquering death. Each person was being called to leave behind their own kingdom of self lived within the kingdom of the world to enter and live within the Kingdom of God where there was healing and wholeness, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and a transformed life. Paul writes of this Kingdom:
“bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the Kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1: 10-14 NIV).
Fruit, knowledge, power, endurance, patience, joy, inheritance, rescue, redemption, forgiveness: these are some of the gifts of the Kingdom of God now, not in the future. Although the Kingdom life is not a perfect life — perfection must wait until Jesus returns — still it is a life ‘in-Christ’, intimacy with the Creator, daily living in His Presence; a life of obedience and power, in partnership with Jesus, pushing back the darkness, taking back the territory; manifested, in part, in spiritual, emotional, and physical healing.
It is against this backdrop of the Kingdom of God breaking into the kingdom of the world that we meet these two men, the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10: 17 – 27; Luke 18 – 27) and Bartimaeus, the blind beggar (Mark 10: 46 – 52 ; Luke 18: 35 – 43). I believe that these two men represent the culmination, the climax, the summation of all that Jesus taught on the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world: two men, two Kingdoms. If we look carefully at these two polar opposites in First Century Jewish society, we can see ourselves and our cultures mirrored in them.
The purpose of this post is not to delve into the lives of these two men, their motives, interactions with Jesus, and their choices. I have done that in four previous posts. Here I want to compare and contrast these two men, to summarize their lives as we know them, and set the stage for a final post that attempts to extract Kingdom principles from their lives that can speak to us today.
Remember that when Jesus met these two guys he was on His way to Jerusalem, to His triumphant entry where he was received as the KIng. “Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel“(John 12: 13 NIV) shouted the crowd on that triumphant entry into the Holy City. A few days later he was on His way to the cross. So, His meeting with the Rich Young Ruler (RYR) and Bartimaeus provided Him the opportunity to teach His final lessons on the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God, and demonstrate Kingdom healing to His disciples and many followers who were accompanying Him to Jersualem for Passover. From this point on, all of His lessons would be mostly private and, at least in Mark, Luke, and John there would be no more healing or deliverance until He rose from the grave. So, we should pay attention to the interactions between these two men and Jesus.
The kingdom of the world vs the Kingdom of God
The young man who met Jesus somewhere on the road near the Jordan River, probably not far from Jericho, was wealthy and powerful. He was at the pinnacle of Jewish society. His life was secure, content, and protected. He was valued, accepted, and maybe feared. In accordance with Jewish custom at the time, he was considered to be a godly, pious man, favored by God.
He walked right up to Jesus, the crowd parting to let him pass. He called Jesus “Good teacher”, a title of honor and respect, meaning doctor, master, teacher, or instructor. He knelt before Jesus. Jesus loved him!
Jesus met Bartimaeus on the road to Jerusalem outside of Jericho. Bartimaeus was a beggar. Even worse, a blind beggar. If the RYR was at the top of the social ladder, Bartimaeus wasn’t even at the bottom, he was below the bottom. He was dirt poor, unclean (physically and spiritually). If the RYR smelled good from all the spices he used, Bartimaeus smelled awful — really, really bad. He was a desperate man. His life was dangerous, insecure, and at times terrifying. He was basically invisible to all who passed by. Jews thought that he must be an egregious sinner to be given such a miserable life by God. But Jesus loved him.
Bartimaeus heard Jesus walking by. Even if he could have seen, no one would have let him approach Jesus. He cried out for Jesus. That was his only hope. Even this was too much for the followers of Jesus. They told him to shut up. But he persisted. This was the cry of a desperate man — no one could stop him. He cried again “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me”. He didn’t call Jesus “teacher”, he called Him Messiah!!! Today, this cry of the blind beggar sitting in the dust by the side of the road, is considered one of the most perfect Christian prayers.
What did the RYR want from Jesus? He wanted to know “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” . . . the Kingdom of God Jesus was always going on about. He had everything else. He was sophisticated, educated, knowledgeable, and self-sufficient. He had kept the commandments, or so he thought. “Just give me a little instruction, I can do it like I have done everything else in my own power”. He didn’t want Jesus, he wanted what Jesus could give him — more knowledge, that is, head-knowledge. He failed to see that Jesus, for three years, had been talking about surrender, repentance, taking up your cross, following Him, and giving up the self-life. Jesus had been pointing to a new reality — the Kingdom life replacing life in the kingdom of the world, the self life. Jesus was talking about a life under His rule and reign.
Bartimaeus also wanted something from Jesus. He wanted transformation. “Have mercy on me” was a cry for an anointing of power, a new spirit, a new heart. He wanted to be a new man, set free from a life of fear, anxiety, self-loathing, shame, and darkness. He wanted to be forgiven. Unlike the RYR, who wanted something from Jesus, but didn’t want Jesus, Bartimaeus wanted Jesus and the things that having Jesus would confer upon him. The RYR saw Jesus as another man, probably smart but not quite his equal; Bartimaeus knew Jesus was the Messiah, The One, the King that all of Israel was waiting for. He knew what Jesus could do for Him! He wanted Jesus and he knew that he was not worthy of receiving the gifts of a King — “have mercy on me”.
Jesus looked at the RYR and loved him. This word ‘look’ in Greek means to peer deeply into his soul. Jesus knew what the young man wanted, but also knew he had a ‘fortified city’ in his heart, blocking his way into the Kingdom of God. So, lovingly but honestly he told the RYR what he must do — sell it all, give it all away. This would require a decision, a choice followed by action. In this way, the walls of the ‘fortified city’ would ‘come tumbling down’ and the way into the Kingdom life would be opened. Jesus called him to turn away from his life of self-sufficiency and turn to the Kingdom of God, the rule and reign of God — Jesus called him to repent, not just of what he had, but of who he was.
Bartimaeus didn’t have much, but what he did have was incredibly precious and important to him. He had a cloak — shelter in the summer, a ‘home’ in the winter. Something he could use to cover up his almost-naked and dirty body and hide his shame. He put the cloak on his lap to catch the occasional coin so that he didn’t have to feel around in the dirt to find the money. His cloak was a matter of life and death.
His desperate shouting was effective. Jesus heard him and called him over. Then the crowd parted. But Bartimaeus did one amazing thing that spoke more than words ever could — he dropped his cloak and walked toward Jesus. In that moment, Bartimaeus made a choice — “I will trust Jesus, the Messiah. He is good, He has demonstrated over and over again what the life in the Kingdom is like. I trust Him for this life, including a life of healing and wholeness. I will receive my sight when I put all of my trust in Him.” Unlike the RYR who trusted in his wealth and power to get what he desired, Bartimaeus was desperate. It was Jesus or death. And so he made a decision, perhaps on the spot, when he heard that Jesus had called him. If it were me, I would have held on to the cloak, just in case. When (if) I received my sight, then I could throw the cloak away.
I suppose Bartimaeus had a ‘fortified city’ in his heart as well. I guess it was a ‘city’ made up of bitterness, resentment, anger, shame, and fear. It might have included unforgiveness and an attitude of victimization. I don’t know, but at least some of this. When he dropped his cloak, he moved out in spite of this emotional baggage. He chose to leave it all behind.
The RYR heard the words of Jesus and his heart sank. What a crazy idea — sell everything he had, all the things that gave him his value and acceptance, gave him standing among men. What? He would lose all of his friends. How would he live? Give up all this security and certainty? No way, Jose. Not even remotely possible. WHAT??? You are completely and certifiably crazy (maybe he didn’t go that far, but I would have, before I followed Jesus). He left Jesus filled with sorrow. He was given a choice. He chose the kingdom of the world or the kingdom of self. We never encounter him again in Scripture but Church tradition says he later came back to Jesus, sold everything and became an apostle. Who knows? That would be a great conclusion to a sad story.
Bartimaeus made his decision, his choice. When he dropped the cloak he turned from his old life toward a new life. In that moment, he demonstrated trust in Jesus and he repented. The old life, the old man was gone. Jesus asked him “what do you want me to do for you?” “Jesus, Messiah, I want to see”. And Jesus said “Go, your faith has healed you.” Bartimaeus, in faith, had stepped into the Kingdom of God and received one of the Kingdom gifts — healing. Jesus demonstrated, for the last time, that the Kingdom of God is a place of healing — not just physical healing, but emotional and spiritual healing as well. Hallelujah!!!
The RYR walked away from Jesus filled with sadness. Not Bartimaeus. “Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road” (Mark 10: 52 NIV). He never walked away from Jesus, not even for a minute. Luke says it this way: “Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God” (Luke 18: 43 NIV). They had a party — the ones who had a few minutes ago told him to “shut up” — and Bartimaeus was at the center of the celebration, his heart filled with joy and gratitude. He was living in the Kingdom of God. He was free.
The RYR had faith. He had faith in his wealth, power, and knowledge. He had faith in self. He trusted these ultimate things for his basic, human need: the need for value and acceptance. Jesus called him to give up these ultimate things. Bartimaeus had faith. He had faith in Jesus. His faith consisted of three parts: knowledge that Jesus was the Messiah (given to him by the Holy Spirit) + trust (undergirded by repentance) + action (he followed Jesus — living a life of surrender, submission, and obedience). He gave up all he had, and decided to follow Jesus.
Jesus makes it clear. If we want Kingdom life we must do what Jesus called the RYR and the crowd at Caesarea Philippi to do (Matthew 16: 24, 25): “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me“. He told the RYR what ‘deny yourself’ looked like; ‘take up your cross’ involves daily repentance and putting to death the ‘fortified cities’ in our hearts; ‘follow me’ is a life of obedience. This is the Kingdom way, this is what if means to follow Jesus on the road. As anyone who has seriously tried to live this life knows, we cannot do it in our own power, in our self-sufficiency, and self-reliance. This life can only be lived in the power of the Holy Spirit — the first and greatest gift of life in the Kingdom of God.
All of this, and probably more, Jesus told us in the story of these two men. I could continue writing, but I’ll save that for the next post on the Kingdom principles.
We, the Church, are called to continue the war against the kingdom of the world, evil, and Satan. No one living in the kingdom of the world, the world of the RYR, no matter how well they try to love, no matter how ‘accepting’ and compassionate they are, no matter how much money they give to ‘good causes’, can push back the darkness. You don’t want to be loved by me. You want to be loved by the love, the power, of Christ that flows through me. It is only by defeating the power of Satan, pushing back the darkness, and taking back the territory for God, that this world can be redeemed and restored. There is no other way. And that way is the way of the Kingdom — the rule and reign of God in Christ in our hearts and lives through the power of the Holy Spirit. We must surrender to a power greater than ourselves, and that is a hard pill to swallow for many 21st Century men and women in the West.
Here is the point — there are only two kingdoms. We are either in one or the other. There is no in-between. Zero or one, like binary computer language; there is no 0.5. So, which one of these two men are you? Or better yet, how much of each one of these two men do you have in your heart? Am I 60% RYR, 40% Bartimaeus? 20% RYR, 80% Bartimaeus?
Whatever the answer is, the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples are words of hope and grace: “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10: 27 NIV). My prayer for me and for you is that each day the % of the RYR goes down and the % of Bartimaeus goes up. I think that is as good a definition of a follower of Christ as any other.