February 2 Oakhaven Worship Livestream 2025

We return to our survey of the Gospel of Mark today and find ourselves at a key structural point in Mark’s storytelling. Mark’s gospel can be divided into three “acts.” Act I takes place in Galilee, Act III takes place in Jerusalem, and Act is the bridge “on the road” between those two locations. Today’s brief story occurs at the end of Act II, and is the last story before Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem and all the events of Holy Week, to which Mark devotes a huge percentage of his gospel. Blind Bartimaeus is a template for all of us, teaching us to cry out to Jesus when He is near, be transformed by His power, and cast our pasts behind to follow Jesus “on the way.”