VERSES: Matthew 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43
MEMORY VERSE: Mark 10:52 "...Go your way: thy faith hath made you whole..."
BOOK TO REMEMBER: Esther. Write "Esther" on small slips of paper to hand out at the end of class, so the students can memorize another Old Testament book at home.
PRAYER: Pray that we all will read God Word and thank God that we are able to read with our eyes and understand with our hearts what He wants us to do.
SPECIAL SONG: Read, Read Every Day (see February 2014 - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #1 on this blog).
VISUAL AID: Large Activity (see below)
LESSON POINTS:
- Preparing for our story today about two blind men, it is helpful to gather all the information we can about our subject to gain details of the story. Three inspired New Testament writers wrote about Jesus healing blind men in their gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke (see the scriptures under "Verses" above). Three different men, telling the same story, yet adding different details. When we read these stories in each writer's point of view, we can learn small bits of information that we could not know if we had not read all of the accounts. For example, in this story, we learn from Matthew that there were two blind men, Mark tells us that one of the blind men was named Bartimaeus and that he had some type of garment or clothing he was holding; and Luke tells us that Bartimaeus had to ask what was happening since he could not see Jesus as the crowd passed by. By taking into account all three gospels, it gives the reader more of the story.
- Wherever Jesus went there were always great crowds of people who followed Him. Sometimes the crowds were so great that some of His disciples had to walk a few steps in front of Him to clear the crowd, so that Jesus could walk! That is what happened in today's story. Jesus and His disciples were leaving Jericho and there was a huge crowd following Him. Perhaps, some wanted to see Jesus perform a miracle, some maybe wanted His help, or perhaps most wanted to hear what Jesus had to say. Whatever their reasons for following Jesus, there was a tremendous crowd of people that day.
- Because buses and cars and trains had not been invented yet, Jesus was walking from town to town. As he walked, there were two blind men sitting by the side of the road, begging. The blind men heard a huge amount of people walking by, but they did not know what was happening because they were blind.
- When one of the blind men named Bartimaeus asked what was happening, the people told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. Bartimaeus began to cry out to Jesus, saying, "Jesus, son of David! Have mercy on me!" Many of the people scolded the blind man for bothering Jesus and told him to be quiet, but he was not quiet. Bartimaeus cried out even louder, loud enough that Jesus heard Him above the crowd. Bartimaeus called out, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on me!" When Jesus heard that, He stopped and stood still. He commanded that the blind man be brought to Him. The people called to Bartimaeus, "Be of good comfort. He calls for you."
- Bartimaeus threw down the garment he was holding, got up, and went to Jesus. Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said, "Give me my sight." Matthew tells us that Jesus had compassion not only on Bartimaeus, but also the other blind man. Jesus touched their eyes and said, "Go your way; your faith has made you whole." IMMEDIATELY the blind men could see and both men continued to follow Jesus with the crowd. The men believed that Jesus could heal them and it was that faith in Jesus that made them see.
- Bartimeaus and the other blind man wanted physical sight because they could not see with their eyes. They had heard about Jesus healing people and believed that He could heal them, too. We, too, should seek to 'see' spiritually by reading God's Word, so that we might know by the many stories in the Bible that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God. God's Word gives us light to see (Psalm 119:105).
- With all of Jesus' healings, we notice that the afflicted never had to wait two weeks or two months before their problem was resolved, they were immediately healed! Also, whatever their disability, Jesus healed the blind, the lame, and the mute because they had problems that all the people could see and then were able to wonder at Jesus' healing power and know that He was the Christ.
ACTIVITY: Jesus and the Two Blind Men
Materials needed: 6" x 18" black construction paper, 7" x 8" brown construction paper, 1.5" x 8" yellow construction paper, 1.5" x 8" lime green construction paper, 1.5" x 8" blue construction paper, scraps of tan and yellow paper, stapler, staples, scissors, glue, crayons, tape.
- Hand out black paper.
- Fold black paper in thirds.
- Draw four or five men's heads on folded paper.
- Cut out men's heads. This is the crowd of people.
- Unfold crowd of people.
- Write "Jesus Heals Two Blind Men" and "Mark 10:46-52" across black paper with white crayon.
- Roll crowd of people into a loose circle.
- Staple ends of crowd of people to secure. (See picture at top).
- Hand out brown paper. This is the dirt on the road.
- Tape the crowd of people in the middle of the road to secure.
- Set crowd and road aside.
- Hand out yellow, green, and blue papers.
- Fold up 3" on both sides of papers.
- Write "Jesus" on the yellow paper, "Bartimaeus" on the green paper, and "other blind man" on the blue paper.
- Hand out scraps of yellow and tan paper.
- Draw and cut our three circles out of tan paper. These are the men's and Jesus' heads.
- Color faces of men, making the two blind men's faces blind and Jesus' mouth open.
- Fold yellow paper in a triangle.
- Insert Jesus' head at top of triangle and staple.
- Fold green paper in a triangle.
- Insert Bartimaeus' head in top of triangle and staple.
- Fold blue paper into a triangle.
- Insert the other blind man's head in top of triangle and staple.
- Hand out yellow scrap.
- Cut out the two arms of Jesus out of the yellow paper.
- Cut two tiny circles out of tan scrap. These are Jesus' hands.
- Glue Jesus' hands onto the end of His arms.
- Glue Jesus' arms to his back.
- Fold Jesus' arms to reach out.
- Place Jesus in the middle of the crowd of people.
- Place the two blind men in the middle of the crowd of people, facing Jesus.
- By NOT gluing or taping Jesus and the two blind men to the dirt, the men are movable and are able to go in and out of the crowd of people. The students should like the fact that they can tell the story and move the men.
