“Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor…Then come, follow me.”
“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.”
The biblical stories of the rich young ruler and blind Bartimaeus are found in Mark 10. In both stories, Jesus gives the command to both men to “go” and neither obeys.
In the story of the rich young ruler, Jesus tells the rich young ruler to “go” sell his possessions for Jesus knows his heart. For even though this man says he has kept all the commandments since he was a boy, his heart is deeply attached to his material possessions. In the end, when Jesus tells the young ruler to sell everything, the young ruler chooses his possessions over Jesus.
Contrast that to blind Bartimaeus who had nothing since he had no way of working due to his blindness. Now, I can hear you saying, “Of course, it was easy for Bartimaeus to follow Jesus because he did not have to give anything up.” Or did he?
Think about it. You have been blind your WHOLE life and now you can see. What are you going to want to do? Go enjoy the life that you have missed out on for years or follow this guy Jesus who you just met?
Remember, Jesus tells Bartimaeus to “go.” How does Bartimaeus respond? He chooses to follow Jesus.
In the eyes of the world, the rich young ruler had everything, and blind Bartimaeus had nothing but at the end of the story only one had Jesus.