Mark 10:32,33, 46-52.
This is one of my favourite Bible stories. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover and to face arrest and death when he stops to help a blind man who has to beg to be able to survive. Jesus isn’t too distracted or busy. He stops for a man who asks for help.
In his book ‘Let’s Study Mark’ (Banner of Truth 1999) Sinclair Ferguson writes, ‘Jesus has not changed, he is still the same. He still stops for those who call on his name, and he listens to our prayers for help.’
To tell the story…
Bible Truth for Toddlers – we can believe in Jesus
Jesus and his friends were in a big crowd of people going to the city of Jerusalem. By now lots of people had heard about Jesus and the amazing things he said and did.
One of those people was Batimaeus. Say hello to Bartimaeus! (Use a puppet or doll to represent Bartimaeus). He wasn’t able to see and couldn’t work so each day he sat with his bowl and begged for money. He had heard about Jesus. He started to call out as loud as he could ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’
There were other people too and they didn’t want to hear Bartimaeus. They said ‘Shush’ Can we all say ‘Shush’?
But Jesus listened. He stopped. He asked to meet Bartimaeus.
‘Get up quick!’ the people said
Bartimaeus threw off his coat and jumped up and came to Jesus.
‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked.
What would Bartimaeus say? Did he want money? No! Did he want a chat? No!
‘I want to be able to see!’ he said.
Could Jesus do that? Yes! Jesus was able to make Bartimaeus see. Bartimaeus believed in Jesus. He believed that Jesus had the power to make him see. We also need to believe in Jesus.
Some craft ideas are here –