“Blind Bartimaeus” Sunday School Lesson from Mark 10:46-52

This free Bible lesson is based on Mark 10:46-52 when Jesus first began to heal the sick. It is designed for children’s church or Sunday School. Please modify as best fits your ministry. If your church follows the Revised Common Lectionary, this teaching plan would correspond to Year B – 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Gospel Reading – Mark 10:46-52.

Opening Activity – Let Me See Again – Now You See… Now You Don’t

Supplies – slips of paper, pencil, dry erase board and markers, blindfolds

Before class write each of the following on a slip of paper and place all of the clips in a container for the children to draw from.  Fell free to add some of your own.

Play a game of pictionary with a twist.  Select someone to draw first, have them choose a word, and set a timer for one minute.  The first child to guess it correctly will be the next artist.  If no one guesses correctly within the time limit, choose a child who hasn’t had a turn.

For each child’s first drawing attempt, allow them to draw regularly, but blindfold any returning artists.  Once someone has a blindfold on, they must wear it for the remainder of the game, and any guessing must be done by listening to those around them.

• Adam & Eve
• Angel
• Baptism
• Bible
• Christmas
• Church
• Communion
• Creation
• Cross
• Daniel in the Lion’s Den
• David & Goliath
• Easter
• Five Loaves & Two Fish
• Heaven
• Jesus
• Jonah & the Whale
• Moses & Pharaoh
• Music
• Nativity
• Noah’s Ark
• Pastor
• Prayer
• Sheep
• Ten Commandments
• Three Wisemen/Kings
• Twelve Disciples

Lesson – Let Me See Again

As Jesus and His disciples were traveling one day they came across a man named Bartimaeus.  Bartimaeus was sitting on the side of the road, begging for food since He was blind.  When he heard that it was Jesus walking past, he yelled out, “Jesus, have mercy on me!”.

Some people around Baartimaeus told him to be quiet, but he didn’t stop.  He yelled again, “Jesus, have mercy on me!”

When Jesus heard him He stopped, and He asked Bartimaeus to come to Him.  Bartimaeus was so excited that he jumped up and ran over.

Jesus asked him what it was that he wanted, and Bartimaeus said, “My teacher, let me see again.”

Jesus replied, “Go; your faith has made you well.”  And immediately Bartimaeus could see.

There are a few things I want us to talk about.  First of all, when Bartimaeus says, “My teacher, let me see again,” what stands out to you?  For me, it’s the word “again”.  Do you know what that means?  That means that at one point in his life, Bartimaeus could see.

When we played that game earlier everyone got to draw without the blindfold the first time around, but anyone who got to draw more than once had to draw with the blindfold.  How was it when you had your eyes open?  Was it harder to do with the blindfold on?  How about guessing with the blindfold on?  How are you supposed to be able to guess what someone is drawing when you can’t see it?

This is how life was for Bartimaeus.  Earlier in his life he could see, so he could do anything anyone else could.

 He could see where he was going, what he was doing, and what everyone and everything around him were doing too.  Until one day… he couldn’t.

We don’t know why he stopped being able to see, but we do know it must have been really hard, just like it was really hard for you to play that game with a blindfold.  It was so hard that Bartimaeus had to sit on the side of the road and beg.

The other thing I noticed was what Jesus said to Bartimaeus.  He said, “Go; your faith has made you well.”
Jesus didn’t ask him if he had followed the Ten Commandments.  He did’t make him give everything away.  He didn’t make him promise to help others, or go to church, or tell others about God and Jesus.  Why do you think that is?

Jesus would love it if everyone did all those things.  And he would have loved it if Bartimaeus did those things, but the truth is, he did’t.  I don’t.  No one does.  That’s because we all sin and do things we shouldn’t do.
And even though Bartimaeus didn’t do all of those things, Jesus healed him anyway.  Do you know why?  Because God doesn’t ask us to earn His mercy.  We can’t earn it, but He wants us to have it anyway, so instead of earning it, he just wants us to have faith and ask.

In order to go to heaven, you have to be saved.  But can you earn salvation?  No, you can’t.  Instead, all God asks us to do is have faith and ask.  That’s all we have to do.  We can’t earn it, but He can give it away.
God still wants us to try to be our best.  He still wants us to try to follow the Ten Commandments, and go to church, and tell others about Jesus, but it isn’t going to earn us a place in heaven, just like it wasn’t going to bring Bartimaeus back his eyesight.

We don’t have to worry about trying to earn our way into heaven.  We just need to ask God to save us, believe He will, and try our best at everything else.

Activity A – Let Me See Again – Bible Verse Challenge

Supplies – Bibles
Verse – Mark 10:52

Pass out Bibles to students. Bibles should be closed and sitting on the table face up in front of each child. When you say go, have the kids look up this week’s Bible verse. As each child finds the verse, have them stick one finger on the verse and quietly raise their other hand. The first one to find the verse gets to read it to the rest of the class.

Help younger kids and new kids find the verse by following these steps.
Look in the Table of Contents for the book you are looking for. Make an effort to show them if it is found in the Old Testament or New Testament to help them in the future. Then open the Bible to the page number listed in the Table of Contents.

Show them the large numbers in the text, known as the chapters. Flip through pages until you find the large chapter number you are looking for.
Then scan through the text with them pointing out the smaller verse numbers until the correct number is found.

Activity B – Let Me See Again – Braille Bible

Supplies – braille alphabet, construction paper, cardstock, Elmer’s glue, markers, stapler

Give each child a copy of the braille alphabet, a piece of construction paper, a half sheet of cardstock, glue, and markers.

Fold the cardstock in half, and write BIBLE on the front with their marker.  On the cardstock, have them choose a phrase from the list below to write in braille using the glue.  Have them plot the letters first with their marker, then use the glue to place a small dot on the mark.  When dry, the glue will be raised like braille.

• Jesus loves me.
• Jesus Saves.
• Salvation is a gift.
• Just ask and believe.

Closing Prayer – Let Me See Again

Ask for a volunteer to pray for the class before leaving, and encourage them to thank God for saving us, and not making us earn it.