Then Jesus said to him, \u201cWhat do you want me to do for you?\u201d The blind man said to him, \u201cMy teacher, let me see again.\u201d Mark10:51 (NRSV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amidst the headlong welter of events in Mark\u2019s Gospel, the healing of Bartimaeus at the end of Jesus\u2019 amazing tour southward through Galilee gets our attention in a startling and refreshing way. This is the second blind man healed by Jesus in as many chapters. Immediately before that, he has unstopped the ears of a deaf man; and, before coming to Jericho, he\u2019s cured an epileptic boy brought before him by his disciples. Jesus has had a full schedule, to say the least. He seems to be moving \u201cstraightaway\u201d from destined moment to destined moment. As Mark\u2019s readers and hearers, our agility and endurance are put to the test. Then comes the redoubled cry of a blind beggar named Bartimaeus: \u201cSon of David, have mercy on me!\u201d The NRSV translation of Mark 10:49 states that \u201cJesus stood still and said, \u201cCall him here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, there has to be something inside of us that\u2019s relieved, finally, to have Jesus stop and allow us to catch up with him, to glimpse a moment of stillness after so much movement and upheaval. Although contrary to the wishes of the crowds (we sense they knew Timaeus\u2019s son as something of a public nuisance, undeserving of their Teacher\u2019s attention), Jesus very deliberately stops. And we stop with him. And we wait for Bartimaeus to stand and deliver, to state his case before this fast-moving rabbi, this Jesus of Nazareth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not just another anonymous, handicapped person who has stopped Jesus dead in his tracks. This man has a name. He is \u201cBartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind beggar.\u201d Unlike the blind man in Mark 8:22 who \u201csome people brought to [Jesus],\u201d Bartimaeus petitions Jesus very directly, even volubly, entirely on his own behalf. \u201cWhat do you want me do for you?\u201d Jesus asks him. Bartimeaus wastes no time replying, \u201cMy teacher, let me see again.\u201d Likewise, there is a \u201cstraightaway\u201d quality to Bartimaeus\u2019s recovery. There\u2019s no pulling him aside, no waiting around, no spitting on those blinded eyes. \u201cImmediately,\u201d the last verse tells us, \u201che regained his sight and followed him on the way.\u201d His sight restored, Bartimeaus follows. He abandons his roadside begging and becomes a disciple. There is nothing cautious about the healing. Jesus doesn\u2019t adjure him to \u201ctell no one.\u201d Bartimeaus simply follows him, heedlessly, one thinks, ecstatically, to Jerusalem. And once again Jesus and the Twelve, their numbers increasing, are \u201con their way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the very next frame, not letting any grass grow under their feet, Jesus and his crowd will be nearing Jerusalem at Bethpage, searching for a tethered colt upon which their Teacher will ride. Jesus has tried to enlighten his followers, telling them that he must first be delivered over to suffering and death. Yet, he can\u2019t seem to remedy their blindness. They, the followers, are riding the wave of this tremendous healing power; they\u2019re caught up in it without caring where it will lead them. There\u2019s really no room in this picture for a simple, suffering soul like Bartimeaus, whose cries for help are an annoyance, a slowdown to all the grand bustle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd Jesus stopped and said, \u2018Call him.’\u201d Jesus can spend some time, especially with the least among us \u2013 the blind, the deaf, the halt. The majority\u2019s agenda can be sidelined. Jesus makes a space where he can encounter the blind (and, in Bartimeaus\u2019s case, one who must beg for a livelihood, one who is encompassed in abject need). He begs, not for a handout this time, not merely for solace but for wholeness, for restoration of his sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the third verse of the Psalm appointed for today, Psalm 13, we join our voices with the Psalmist and cry out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nLook upon me and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death\u00e2\u0080\u00a6<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nWe come together in worship, to stop with Jesus and Bartimeaus along the way. Bartimeaus, Mark\u2019s Gospel tells us, \u201csprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, \u201cWhat do you want me to do for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus, the Son of God, is bound for Jerusalem, there\u2019s really no time to spare in such a full itinerary; but he stops and hears. Hear us, we pray, Lord Jesus. We ask you for wholeness such as we know is possible only in you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nLight up [our] eyes with your presence;
Let [us] feel your love in [our] bones.
Psalm 13:3 (translated by Stephen Mitchell, A Book of Psalms)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nAMEN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Then Jesus said to him, \u201cWhat do you want me to do for you?\u201d The blind man said to him, \u201cMy teacher, let me see again.\u201d Mark10:51 (NRSV) Amidst the headlong welter of events in Mark\u2019s Gospel, the healing of Bartimaeus at the end of Jesus\u2019 amazing tour southward through Galilee gets our attention in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,3],"tags":[358],"class_list":["post-511562","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-25b"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":358,"label":"Proper 25B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3485621,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511562\/revisions\/3485621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}