Mk.10:47,48 – And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Have you ever been ganged up on? Maybe not a physical beating or mugging but overwhelmed just the same. The world can be a nasty place especially if you don’t go along with the accepted narrative. There can be all sorts of versions of this, maybe you have experienced some yourself. What I am talking about is stuff like being made fun of because you don’t drink, or sleep around, or laugh at the off color jokes at work, or even follow the politically correct narrative of the day. Mob mentality can be brutal. Bartimaeus faced something like this when he began to shout with cries of faith and desperation. As far as the mob was concerned this was not acceptable behavior. Thankfully Bartimaeus was desperate enough not to care about the party line, he was going to get to Jesus regardless. Here is how the Christ Centered Exposition describes this.
““Mob mentality” or “herd behavior” is the tendency to act together in unison, sometimes in morally reprehensible and unimaginable ways. Gang rape, gang beatings, even the extermination of an entire people group are tragic examples of a “mob mentality.”
A poor blind beggar named Bartimaeus suffered because of a “mob mentality” during the days of Jesus. Bartimaeus literally means “son of honor.” However, he was the recipient of anything but respect from the crowd that was attracted to Jesus. He was marginalized and sidelined!
Perhaps this was the first time in a long time that anyone even took notice of him. On this occasion they did notice him, but not in love, only in scorn. They were insensitive. In their minds he did not matter. He was a taker and not a contributor. They just did not care. No one cared but Jesus.”
Maybe you have found yourself at odds with the cultural attitude towards New Testament Christianity. The world is fine with your beliefs if you don’t get too loud or extreme in your pursuit of God. Who makes all of these rules anyway? Maybe you feel overlooked and pushed down by other people and their beliefs, maybe its time for you to lift up your voice and cry out to the Lord. Maybe you won’t fit in with the cool crowd but you might just find yourself with Jesus.
1 thought on “MOBBED BY THE WORLD”
Some times the world has tried to silence me when I’ve been loud about my love for Jesus, but it has mostly been the church crowd that has marginalized me and showed me down when I’ve cried out for God. I’ve been told I pray too much, witness to much, minister too much, and that you can be too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. BY THE CHURCH! When I share my passion about my faith, I find the worlds is hungry and looking for someone to be passionate about what they believe. When I share my passion for Christ with the church, they malign me because of the conviction of the Holy Spirit they no longer have an excuse to justify their lack of passion or inaction. All I want to do is pour my oil upon Jesus’s head and wipe His feet with my tears,