Blind Bartimaeus. A sermon preached by Matt Drumheller on Mark 10:46-52

Transcription

1 Blind Bartimaeus A sermon preached by Matt Drumheller on Mark 10:46-52 Prayer of Illumination: Lord we ask that you would open our ears to your word, open our eyes to your glory, and open our hearts to your truth. Amen. A blind man sits on the side of the road. He seems weighed down by the years of degradation his life has afforded him. He gazes longingly at the sights and passersby that are invisible to his eyes. His hope vanished as long ago as his sight did, and he desires to walk the paths of those who see. He is a static statue, part of the landscape in which he remains. This particular man is named Bartimaeus, and he sits by the side of the road near Jericho. This is probably his common haunt, a place at which he sits day by day, week by week, month by month, the unseen world passing him by. How like our lives this image can feel! We are often unseeing and unmoving. We often feel isolated in a crowded place, unable to get up and move, not because our legs can t make those motions, but because our wills cannot. As Bartimeaus sits there begging for his coins, a great procession begins to pass him by. While the road is probably well-traveled, this is an occasion that cannot be missed, even by blind eyes. Bartimaeus asks someone near him what the ruckus is, and he discovers the reason for the procession. The one from Nazareth, the one they call Jesus, is walking out of Jericho on his way up to Jerusalem. Even Bartimaeus can understand the scene

2 before him. Amidst the din of noise that must have been generated as Jesus made his way to the holiest city in Israel, Bartimaeus voice rings out above the crowd. But he does not call out to Jesus as the Nazarene, he uses another name for this rabble rouser. He calls out, Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me! Is this poor, blind, beggar s voice one of dismay and hopelessness? One that sounds as though it could give in to silence at any moment? Or is this a loud, demanding voice that cries out for justice in a troubled world? It seems as though this is a voice that demands attention, no matter how loud it sounds. The crowds, and no doubt the disciples, initial response to Bartimaeus cries are harsh words of negativity. The blind man is rebuked by those present to keep quiet. As the small children who sought to be close to Jesus were rebuked and turned away, this blind man is told to stay in his place, keep his mouth shut, and remain as physically unseen to them as they are to him. Why do they rebuke this man? What is it that causes the followers of Jesus to try to silence a distressed voice from crying out to the one whom John called Christ? 1. Perhaps they are too busy to pay attention to this man. Jesus has turned his feet toward Jerusalem, has made his crucifixion predictions, and has tried to prepare his followers for his sacrificial death. Is the procession anticipating Jesus triumphal arrival into Jerusalem so much that their blinders are on, and less important things, such as the woes of one blind man, are necessarily left by the roadside? 2. Perhaps they are upset with this man for presuming he understands more than they do. Does Bartimaeus confessional call to Jesus kingship as, Son of David, Jesus throw into a painful light the things that the disciples themselves are unable to understand?

3 How could this blind man able to see things that they cannot? This man is not part of Jesus in-crowd, how could he understand the Lord s teachings better than the disciples themselves. 3. Perhaps this social parasite, alone and forlorn, draws the discouragement by the disciples because of the awkwardness they feel when he makes his presence known. Rather than accepting his place and collecting his lot in life, he burdens those passing him by with his dirty, dislikeable situation. These questions cannot be asked about the crowd of Bartimaeus time without reflecting upon such crowds today. Are the crowds that we face imbibed with the same feelings of hastiness, contempt, and social high-mindedness? Are the people that seek to keep us by the roadside in our lives so different than those who rebuked Bartimaeus? Are we so different? Do we ever find ourselves agitated with others for their understanding in the midst of our confusion? Are we ever so pressured with what lies ahead, that the people right next to us go unnoticed? Do our social constraints ever prevent us from reaching out and pulling up, rather that reverting in and shouting down? Whatever it is that causes Jesus disciples and the crowd with them to rebuke blind Bartimaeus, his response rings out all the louder, unexpected and unabashed. Son of David, have pity on me! Something happens after the blind man cries out a second time. People in the midst of the crowd begin to bump into those in front of them. The procession slowly grinds to a halt, with people peering over one another s

4 shoulders to find the cause of the disturbance. Why has this seemingly unstoppable force that pulls Jesus up toward the holy city been stopped? It is Jesus himself who has stopped. Jesus, the motivator in the story who pushes on toward his death, has stopped at this prophetic beckoning from the side of the road. Jesus speaks only two words, Summon him. These two words achieve so much. In fact, they change every character in this scene. The people, who had, moments before, been attempting to silence this blind man, know immediately to whom Jesus is calling. They change the tone of their addresses, and begin to summon the man. Though he is seated at the side of the road, a place they might never have ventured in, they beckon him up from his place to come and find Jesus. While they had been too busy, or too contemptible, or too socially ashamed and awkward to allow this man a voice moments before, they now speak encouraging words to him. Be courageous they say. Get up, he calls you. After Jesus stops and calls out to blind Bartimaeus, the crowd turns from relentless rebukers, to impassioned assistants. Because Jesus feels compassion and love for this blind man, his followers are able to approach the man in a new and exciting way. They are his encouragers. He could hardly find his way through a crowded space without his eyesight, but once he is encouraged by these people and told that Jesus has called to him, he jumps up, casts aside his cloak, and comes to Jesus. The very people who were pushing him aside, encourage him. The crowd that passed by him, hoping that he would stay where he is, summon him to Jesus. Jesus change of action, from walking to stopping, from passing through, to calling to, affects a

5 change in the attitude of those around him. Because of Jesus actions, the things in our lives that would keep us from Jesus are turned around. Enemies are turned to allies. Anxiety is turned to courage. Dishonesty is turned to truthfulness. Depression is turned to hope. Lack of understanding is turned to faithfulness. These are the changes that we need in our lives. In a world where people fight each other over land stained red with the blood of their ancestors, we need friendship. In a world where so many are afraid to leave their homes for fear they will board a bus that carries a bomb, we need security. In a world where lies drive the most impressionable people in our society to hurt themselves or cover themselves up in order to look like someone that doesn t exist, we need truth. In a world where so many youth and young adults are killing themselves because they are told that who they are is wrong, we need hope. And in a world where we question how any of these changes could possibly come about, we need faithfulness. Bartimaeus comes to Jesus, and Jesus asks him, in the same way he asked James and John in the same chapter, What do you want me to do? Unlike James and John, who sought to be honored beside Christ, Bartimaeus says, My master, that I might see again. Jesus is no longer the Son of David, on his way to a triumphal entry into a holy city, he is the master, in whom faith is bestowed. He is the one whose actions have already changed this blind man s life by drawing him close. Bartimaeus asks that the force in his life that keeps him down by the side of the road, be changed so that he may have the capacity to follow Jesus. Jesus tells the man that his faith has saved him, and

6 that he should go, not go home, but go. The man is healed, and, with obedience, he follows Jesus on the way. Bartimaeus demonstrates his faith in Jesus as a contrast to the those who seek to silence him. It is this faith, Jesus proclaims, which has saved him. But the action of saving in the story begins when Jesus stops. It is strange that the action by Jesus that changes the whole story, is actually, partly, a halting of action: Jesus stops and summons. But it is fairly appropriate too. The whole world was passing Bartimaeus by, but Jesus stops the crowd, and calls out to the blind man. It is Jesus action, and its nature as a reversal of the status quo, that affects a change in the crowd and in Bartimaeus. Should it not be so for us? Jesus may not be passing by our house, as he was for Bartimaeus. Jesus may not be walking past our office during lunch time, or peaking his head into our classroom as he roams the halls of our schools, but it is Jesus action that affects change in our lives. However the change is manifested; whether our hurts are healed, like Bartimaeus, or our hopes are rekindled, or a faithfulness restored, Jesus is the one who stops and summons us to him. Would that we might know that Jesus is cause of change in our lives. This is true just as much for us today as it was on that road for Bartimaeus. Amen.