Mark 10:46 – 52
The story you just heard from the
Gospel of Mark is also told in Matthew and Luke. There are
differences; in Matthew Jesus comes across two blind men, neither of
whom is named. In Luke, the blind man is encountered on the way to
Jericho. But in all three cases, the next major event is to enter
Jerusalem, where Jesus will be arrested, tried and crucified. But
there are many details in Mark that aren’t in the other accounts.
Only in Mark do we hear the name of the beggar, Bartimeaus. Mark was
writing for a community of Christians living in Rome, suffering
persecution, probably mostly of Jewish ancestry. Remember, when Mark
was writing, there was no formal break between Christians and Jews.
Jewish people in those days spoke Aramaic, which in the Eastern part
of the Roman empire was a common language. In the western part of
the empire Greek was the common language. It took a couple more
centuries for Latin to replace Greek. You have to have this
background to understand the name Bartimeaus. If your ears were
tuned to Greek, it would sound like “Son of the honored one”. If
tuned to Aramaic, it would sound like “Son of the despised one.”
If you were Jewish living in Rome, you might immediately think of the
whole story of the Hebrew people – once part of a rich and
prominent independent kingdom under David and Solomon, now a little
remnant ruled by the Romans, in a way as helpless and dependent as a
blind beggar on the side of the road. So Mark wants the story to
take on a larger dimension than a simple healing.
Bartimaeus may be blind, but he is not
unaware. He hears people talking, and undoubtedly has heard about
Jesus and his miraculous healing powers. And now there is a crowd
passing through on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover,
and he hears Jesus is among them. If you are blind and helpless it’s
best not to be assertive and call attention to yourself; you might
get kicked or spit on, because everyone knew that blindness was a
sign of God’s wrath. But Bartimaeus has a little courage, and
calls out “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” Scholars have
pointed out that this is the first time in Mark’s gospel that Jesus
is called “son of David.” To Jews, that referred to the expected
Messiah. When Bartimaeus gathers his courage to call out to Jesus,
God confirms through his voice that Jesus is the expected one.
That’s an important point, because when we put our faith into
action, we can expect that God will magnify our efforts, and lead us
in directions we didn’t know we were going.
When Jesus hears Bartimaeus, he does
not go to him. He tells his disciples to go get him. We never know
why God does things the way he does. Jesus could have healed him
from a distance. Jesus could have saved us without dying on the
cross; Jesus being God could bring about the kingdom of Heaven here
on earth with a wave of his hand. But here, as in most of God’s
work he works through human beings. And perhaps Jesus is telling you
and I to find Bartimaeus and bring him to Him. Because there are a
lot of blind people in the world, many of whom are your friends and
neighbors. Someone needs to make it their mission to bring them to
Jesus. Because Jesus is the only way to the Father. If we love our
fallen away friends and relatives, shouldn’t we have their
salvation as a high priority?
In a dramatic sign of his faith,
Bartimaeus casts aside his cloak. People didn’t have closets full
of clothes in those days; especially blind beggars, and the cloak may
have been what he sat on when he begged, what he threw around his
shoulders when it got cold, what he covered himself with when he
slept; in other words, it was his major possession. But unlike the
rich young man we heard about two Sunday’s ago, Bartimaeus was able
to give up his possessions to go to Jesus. In the olden days,
Catholics used to fast and abstain at certain times of the year; we
used to fast from midnight on when we wanted to receive Holy
Communion. We were urged to tithe our possessions because in
addition to the obligation to be charitable, all these things
reminded us that we had to cultivate detachment from material goods
if we wanted to make room for Christ in our lives.
And Jesus asks Baritmaeus, “What do
you want me to do for you?” Last Sunday he asked that of James and
John. You remember that he turned down their request to sit at his
right and left hand when he came into his kingdom. They had made a
self-serving request, based on desire for power, or fame. Bartimaeus
prays from his deep need, his desire to be whole: L”Rabbi, that I
may see!” That should be at the root of our prayers as well –
that we may see. That we may see the person who is in need of our
touch; that we may see where we can be most effective in bringing
about God’s kingdom in our lives; that we may see what we need to
do to create space in our souls for the presence of Jesus; and I’m
sure you could think of many other areas where it would be wonderful
if God would give us sight. And Jesus sees Bartimaeus faith and
tells him that it is his faith that healed him.
So, like much of Mark’s gospel,
there are several levels; Bartimeaus is a blind man, the son of
someone named Timeaus, in need of healing. Bartimaeus is Israel,
fallen far from it’s glory under David and Solomon, reduced to
helplessness, in need of a Messiah, and the Messiah indeed comes to
rescue Israel. And Bartimaueus is you and I, persons on the journey,
persons who, if we call out, our Lord will give us the strength,
often from those around us, to come to him; persons who always need
the gift of sight so that we can follow Jesus through his Passion and
death, and Resurrection, as Bartimaeus did.
I started my sermon by telling you one
theory of why Mark names Bartimeaus. I think it’s a good theory
and makes sense. But I have to leave you with another theory. Mark
is not writing for the ages; he is writing for a community of
Christians in a specific place and time. And Bartimaeus is well
known to them. After all, he accompanied Christ, and like many of
those first Christians, went out proclaiming the good news, and it
wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility that he might have
been instrumental in establishing the Christian church in Rome). And
Bartimaeus is living proof that Jesus is who he says he is. And you
and I have been touched by the Saviour as well, and we need to
proclaim that to the world.
