Three Different Views / Based on Mark 10:46-52 / Delivered on
October 28, 2018 to CCH
Hymns: Open My Eyes That I May See, My Faith Looks Up to
Thee, We Are Called
Mark 10:46-52
10:46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a
large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar,
was sitting by the roadside.
10:47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began
to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
10:48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out
even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
10:49 Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here."
And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is
calling you."
10:50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to
Jesus.
10:51 Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do
for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see
again."
10:52 Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you
well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
Good morning and Happy Sunday to you! My name is Darci Strutt McQuiston and I am
one of the Lay Servants of the United Methodist Church up on the hill from
here. It is my honor to be with you
today.
I’m going to look at the scripture from Mark from three
different views; the crowd, the blind man, and Jesus. I see a little different lesson looking at it
from each of these angles.
The Crowd
The crowd seemed a bit two-faced. First, they were unsupportive.
10:48a Many sternly ordered him to be quiet
But then when Jesus asked them to call him they were
encouraging to the man.
10:49 Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here."
And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is
calling you."
The crowd would have been focused on Jesus, so the noisy begging
blind man would have seemed to be a distraction from that focus. They wanted to hear what Jesus said and the
shouting would make it harder to hear.
The blind man wasn’t important.
The moment was all about them connecting with Jesus.
Then Jesus asked them to call him. I can imagine they expected a miracle to be
coming soon so they were excited. They
loved watching miracles. They still may
not have thought much about the blind man himself but being present during a
miracle would have been something to talk about.
Jesus never rebukes the crowd for shushing the man. He doesn’t address their dialog with him at
all. They have some positive traits we
can emulate as well as some negative to learn from. Their focus on Jesus is a good thing. They were walking with him as he left Jericho. They immediately did what Jesus asked him to
do – call the blind man to him. Their
failing was in not recognizing the blind man, Bartimaeus, as a member of God’s
kingdom and they hadn’t yet understood that to follow Jesus meant to do what he
did. They needed to learn to look beyond
themselves and accept the role of serving others like Jesus.
The Blind Man
Bartimaeus was persistent.
When he was told to keep quiet he didn’t listen.
10:48b but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David,
have mercy on me!"
He responded immediately when Jesus indicated he’d see him. He didn’t let his possessions hold him back.
10:50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to
Jesus.
The cloak may have been the only thing he owned. It’s probably what he put out on the road to
catch the coins people threw to him as he begged. Throwing that off was showing his faith that
it would no longer be needed. He was
ready to leave his old life behind trusting that Jesus would make it new.
I used this scripture as an example in my last sermon on
prayer. We need to be specific about
what we pray for. Bartimaeus knew what
he wanted from Jesus.
10:51 Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do
for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see
again."
Jesus could look inside him and see his faith. We see it when he demonstrated his faith by
his healing.
10:52 Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you
well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.
His faith in Jesus is also shown in his response. He becomes a follower. I’m going to assume that as he followed Jesus
he was able to be more compassionate to others because of his personal
experience as a blind beggar. He knew
what it was like to be on the outside of the circle. He understood suffering.
Jesus
I don’t know if Jesus heard the man or just heard the crowd
grumbling about how noisy he was, but he got the crowd involved in the
situation. It was a teaching moment.
10:49 Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here."
Jesus felt the begging blind man was worth his time. He saw his need as worth attending to. Jesus didn’t guess at what the man wanted. He asked.
10:51 Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do
for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see
again."
Jesus saw the faith within the man. In a healing of a blind man earlier in Mark Jesus
took active steps by putting clay on the man’s eyes twice before he could see
clearly. In this case he knew that wasn’t
needed.
10:52 Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you
well."
This scripture is the last healing miracle before Jesus
travels into Jerusalem and toward the cross.
We’re here in 2018 in the fall of the year approaching Advent and
thinking about Christ’s birth, but this scripture is place right before his crucifixion. Jesus is about to leave his followers and end
his in-the-flesh teaching. These final
lessons would have felt very important.
The crowd demonstrates what spiritual blindness can look
like. The blind man was in the way. He wasn’t important. This view would be an example of behavior
that needs some changes and most likely feels familiar to us.
I can see a lot of that same blindness looking at our world
today. We judge those we meet instead of
loving them. We label them rich or poor
and try to determine their status before we befriend them. We call them Republican or Democrat and either
feel partnered or at war with them. We see
behavior that we feel is sinful and feel they don’t deserve to be called by
Jesus. We forget that each one is also a
child of God and that they are very much loved.
Jesus taught the crowd by having them be part of calling Bartimaeus. He wants them to see where they are falling
short. He wants them to understand that
God doesn’t see the way they do. He
desires them to be part of the work he is doing.
Bartimaeus demonstrates all the things we’ve learned about
praying; be persistent, be clear about what you want, and believe. He called Jesus ‘Son of David’ which would
have indicated belief he was the messiah. He called Jesus “teacher” which would
have indicated he wanted to be a student.
It’s no surprise he followed Jesus after his sight was restored. This view would be an example of behavior to
emulate.
Not only does Jesus accept the Bartimaeus’ cry for mercy,
Jesus gets the crowd involved in calling the man to him. I think that is what Jesus wants of us
today. He wants us to be involved in the
healing of God’s children. We can’t even
see that they are God’s children in most cases, so we have some inner work to
do. Sadder still to me is knowing some
who cry out accept the shushing of the crowd and feel unworthy. They don’t know they themselves are God’s
children.
We can see ourselves as part of the crowd and as a person in
need of healing. As we ponder this
lesson in scripture I hope we can also see ourselves in Jesus. We need to learn to see others as children of
God, loved by God, and respond to them in love ourselves. We need to learn to see their faith instead
of judging their other characteristics.
It isn’t our job to judge them. It
is our job to call them to Jesus. We are
Jesus hands in this world, so it is also our call to love them and serve them
in whatever way we can.
Like Bartimaeus, we need to feel worthy of crying out to
God. We need to be willing to be persistent
and have a strong faith. We also need to
be willing to leave our old tools behind and follow where Jesus leads.
It is a different way
of seeing the world and, when we remember to focus on this view before we
interact with another, we act in a more loving way. Seeing as Jesus sees is to truly leave
blindness behind.
Amen
