Mark is a Passion narrative with an
extended prologue, and almost everything in Mark points us to the
cross. Some, like last week, are overt and obvious. Some, like
today, are less so. Today that pointing to the cross has more to do
with timing and location than anything else.
If you remember from the last couple of
weeks, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and Holy Week is fast
approaching. To put a time stamp on it, today is the last pre-Holy
Week passage. So a few things about today's passage.
First, taken in isolation this is a
lovely little story about Jesus healing the blind beggar Bartimaeus.
He wasn't born blind, but had lost his sight at a point when he could
remember what it was like to see. This loss of vision crippled him
and he also lost his ability to be productive, relying on the
generosity and handouts of others to survive.
Do you remember the Arch Books? When I
was a little kid living in Beaverton, OR, I attended a neighborhood
bible study thing or something that one of the neighbors held in her
house. To be honest, I don't remember a lot about it. But when we
moved away from there, the woman gave me this Arch Book about Blind
Bart called, “The Beggar's Greatest Wish.” To this day it's one
of my most sentimental valuables. And in isolation, it's a great
story about a blind man who would not be silenced as Jesus passed by
and who was granted his greatest wish to see again.
But if we pull this story out of
isolation and look at it in context, it becomes something much more.
While Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem
and his Passion, he passes through Jericho. Depending on your
interpretation, this is the last miracle he performs before he is
crucified. This is certainly the last time he heals anyone. From
here on out, Jesus is singularly focused on the Passion.
That focus begins to take shape with
this healing story. First, notice that Jesus is addressed as “son
of David.” This is the first time Mark uses that royal title. As
Jesus approaches Jerusalem, as the king comes closer to the holy
city, Mark now feels allowed . . . free . . . safe . . . compelled .
. . to use the imagery of Hebrew scripture in announcing the arrival
of the king.
Second, and tied to the first, is that
Jesus does not stop Bart from telling others about the healing. More
often than not Jesus instructs those healed to not tell anyone about
it. The one exception is when Jesus heals the demoniac in Gentile
territory and explicitly commands him to tell his people about it.
But when in Jewish territory, people are ordered not to tell. That
is, until today when his command for silence goes unsaid.
This story is leading us into the
Passion. There's the recognition that Jesus is the promised
Messianic king in the line of David. There's the lifting of the
command for silence. And there is the large crowd following Jesus
which alludes to the coming Palm Sunday procession that will also
identify him as being of David's line.
In isolation we have a wonderful
healing story and the basis for an Arch Book of sentimental value.
In context we have a story that closes out the ministry of Jesus and
opens up the Passion narrative. But there is another aspect of this
story I want to address, and that is the issue of timing.
As I've said, this story is the bridge
between ministry and Passion. His greatest wish was to see again,
and Jesus grants that wish. But the timing is interesting.
Bart exhibits great faith in Jesus,
even to the point of calling out his name in the midst of a crowd
that tries to keep him quiet. This faith results in the restoration
of vision. This faith compels him to jump up, leave his possessions
behind, and follow Christ.
We never hear about Blind Bart again,
but I would like to believe this encounter changed him both
physically and spiritually. I would like to believe that that change
led to a lifetime of discipleship. And while that's a wonderful
thing, look at when this happened.
Bart's eyes were opened in time to see
the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and witness people proclaiming him
king. Bart's eyes were opened in time to see Jesus betrayed and
arrested. They were opened in time to see him mocked, spit upon, and
beaten. They were opened in time to see him crucified. They were
opened in time to watch him die. I hope they were opened in time to
witness Resurrection.
I think Bartimaeus can be an example to
us of what discipleship entails. First and foremost, we need to have
a faith which believes in the power of Christ to bring new life. We
need to have a faith that compels us to proclaim the name of Jesus
even when others are trying to silence us.
Second, we need to go into this
discipleship thing with eyes wide open. Just because we have faith
doesn't mean all our problems disappear. If we follow Christ, then
we will surely experience pain and suffering and even death. This is
not something we can gloss over, nor is it something we can turn a
blind eye to. But having our eyes opened, we must know that
following Christ is not always a rose-colored window.
Today we are once again reminded of
that as we hard the news of yet another mass shooting, this one at a
Jewish synagogue in Pittsburgh, as well as the disciple of another
stripe mailing pipe bombs to people he dislikes.
I pray that we will finally have our
eyes opened to see the pain and brutality of the world. I pray that
we will witness Resurrection, live over death, love over hate. I
pray that we will, like Blind Bartimaeus, have the courage to
proclaim the message of the Gospel, even when the world tries to
shout us down and keep us silent.
Because if we can't do that, then we
might as well sit blindly by the side of the road.
Amen.
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