Blind Bartimaeus - The Model Disciple. Mark 10:46-52
Preached by Joshua Taylor at St John’s 24th of October 2021
Artwork - Maria Laughlin
Over the past few weeks we have been exploring Mark chapter 10. The big theme in this section of Mark is discipleship – the call to follow Jesus.
Mark 8:22 through to the end of chapter 10 comprise one big section of thought in which we see Jesus revealing Himself to his disciples.
Up until this point, Jesus has encouraged the disciples to keep everything on the lowdown. Throughout Mark’s gospel there is the constant theme of Jesus not giving away too much of his identity as the Messiah until the chosen time.
Here in Mark chapters 8 through to 10 as Jesus heads toward Jerusalem to the cross, we see him reveal his mission to the disciples. This includes Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ, Jesus’ predictions of his suffering as the Messiah, his transfiguration on the mountain, giving a glimpse of his glory – and a whole lot of questions on the part of the disciples and potential disciples who come to Jesus inquiring of who He is.
This section of Mark has two main concerns – one is about who Jesus is and the other is about how we respond as disciples.
It’s interesting that this whole section of Mark starts with a story about Jesus healing blindness, and it ends with a story of Jesus healing blindness.
The opening story of this part of Mark is where Jesus heals a blind man in Bethsaida.
The closing story of this part of Mark is where Jesus heals Blind Bartimaeus in Jericho.
These stories function as bookends to this part of Mark where the crowds and disciples are invited to see who Jesus really is, and are invited to respond.
Why the stories here of blindness that bookend this section?
These miracles are about more than just the physical healing of these two men – there is a double meaning that points to the bigger questions at the heart of Mark:
-Who is Jesus?
-How will we respond?
We see through this section that the disciples have consistently failed to see the full picture of who Jesus is. We could say that they have been blind to the reality of what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah and Saviour.
As we explored last week, as they journey on the road to Jerusalem, Jesus has been revealing the true nature of his work – what he has come to do.
It involves a path to glory that goes through suffering. It involves death on the cross in order to bring the kingdom.
To the disciples this is incomprehensible, they just can’t see it.
As Paul will later put it to the early church at Corinth:
“For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
(1 Corinthians 1:18)
As we will see as the story of Mark unfolds, the wisdom of God is different from the wisdom of humanity. God chooses to rescue the world through an act of self-giving and sacrificial love.
The saviour will bring salvation and rescue through death on a cross.
At first glimpse this looks like utter madness. Throughout history this message has confronted many as foolish and outrageous. What looks like weakness and failure is the moment of God’s greatest victory.
The irony of Mark is that the disciples of Jesus, who have spent almost every waking hour with him for three years don’t see it, and the blind man Bartimaeus sees it as soon as he hears Jesus coming on the road.
It’s Bartimaeus who is presented to us as the model disciple here in Mark – so let’s dig into the story and see why.
This story is short – and yet it is rich and deep.
The setting is Jericho.
Jericho is only 24km away from Jerusalem and so the destination of Jesus’ journey is getting closer. Jericho functions as a kind of bridge into the next stage in the journey of Jesus.
Jericho is where the pilgrims travelling from Galilee to Jerusalem would cross the Jordan and into Judea. We might wonder about the history of this city in the Bible. The biblical scholar Larry Hurtado muses, saying:
“Jericho was the first town captured by another “Jesus,” Joshua (whose name in Hebrew and Greek is the same as Jesus’), on his way to doing the divinely ordained task of obtaining the land of Palestine for Israel (cf. Josh. 1:1–9; 6:1–27). So here, also, this “Joshua” is on his way in to Jerusalem to obtain redemption for the people whom God will save.”[1]
And so it is here in Jericho that Jesus meets Bartimaeus.
He is described as a blind beggar, sitting by the roadside.
This road is busy with pilgrims going up to Jerusalem, and perhaps Bartimaeus is counting on their goodwill as people go to up Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.
What is clear, is that Bartimaeus is marginalized, quite literally sitting on the sidelines of the action as the crowd pass by. He is on the outside of it all.
And even as he tries to cry out, the crowd will attempt to silence him.
Bartimaeus cries out – “Jesus of Nazareth, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The crowd try to shush him, but he continues – “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Jesus hears the simple cry of this man’s heart.
Here we see something beautiful about Jesus that we shouldn’t miss.
Jesus is on the road. There is a great sense of urgency and clarity about his mission. And yet, he is responsive to this mans cry. Unlike the crowds, he doesn’t silence him, but rather beckons him, and calls him to follow.
This simple cry we could call a prayer, and it is one of the most powerful things we can pray. “Jesus – have mercy!” In this cry is recognition of who Jesus is and the power that Jesus has to save and heal.
The term “Son of David” carries a lot of meaning. It points back to the greatest king of Israel – King David, and to call Jesus the “Son of David” would be understood as designating him as the promised royal descendant who would come to rescue the people – the Messiah.
The blind man, though he doesn’t see Jesus physically, perceives who he really is. I wonder as he has sat on the road if he has heard the stories and the rumours, people sharing news of miracles of healing and the power of Jesus and his ministry.
Whatever the case, Bartimaeus gets it! He sees who Jesus is.
Jesus calls him.
And he responds.
Bartimaeus throws off his cloak!
This is a dramatic moment in the story that is rich in meaning.
The spontaneity and joy of this moment is stirring. This man leaps to attention in anticipation of what Jesus will do.
For Bartimaeus, the cloak was much more than a fashion item. Beggars would lay their cloak out to receive the donations of others for their survival. The cloak was a vital and prized possession. A bedroll, a source of comfort and protection. And Bartimaeus casts it off.
Leaving it behind he comes before Jesus.
If we cast our minds back just a few verses we meet another man whom is a direct contrast with Bartimaeus.
The rich young ruler who comes before Jesus owns many things. His heart is captured by his possessions. Jesus, calls him and beckons him to follow just as he does with Bartimaeus. However, there is one thing lacking. The rich young ruler can’t let go of what is heart is attached to most. He walks away from Jesus disappointed, angry, and bitter.
And yet, Bartimaeus.
He leaves what little he has behind, in joy to come before Jesus – to receive, and to follow.
One commentator, R T France says:
“The last potential recruit we met was an admirable, respectable, and wealthy man, but to the disciples’ consternation he has not been welcomed into Jesus’ entourage. Now we meet a man at quite the other end of the scale of social acceptability, a blind beggar. And it is he, rather than the rich man, who will end up following Jesus, with his sight restored, whereas the rich man has gone away ‘blind’. This man has nothing to lose, nothing to sell, and so his commitment can be immediate and complete. While we hear nothing of his subsequent discipleship, the fact that Mark records his name and his father’s name suggests that he became a familiar character in the disciple group.[2]
As Bartimaeus responds to Jesus, we see a playing out of Jesus’ teachings that the “first will be last, and the last will be first.” We might too think of Jesus’ invitation to the disciples to imitate little children in their humility and receptiveness to the kingdom of God.
So, Bartimaeus comes before Jesus and Jesus asks him a question.
He says: “What do you want me to do for you?”
At first we might be stunned by this question.
Isn’t it obvious, we think, he is blind!
However, this is the same question that Jesus asks James and John in the previous story. And where they give a stupid answer, Bartimaeus gives a much more humble one.
James and John ask Jesus for status, honour, and power in the kingdom, and Bartimaeus simply wants to be made whole – to have his sight restored.
Jesus asks the essential discipleship question of Bartimaeus – “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asks this of each of us.
What happens next?
We hear in verse 52: “Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.”
Bartimaeus receives healing. His sight is restored. But he experiences more than just physical healing – he follows Jesus on the way. Bartimaeus experiences salvation.
As Tom Wright puts it:
“The different dimensions of salvation were not sharply distinguished either by Jesus or by the gospel writers. God’s rescue of people from what we think of as physical ailments on the one hand and spiritual peril on the other were thought of as different aspects of the same event.”[3]
What is clear from this story is that Bartimaeus doesn’t just receive his sight, shake Jesus’ hand, say politely “thank you very much” and then just live his life as if nothing else had happened.
We hear that Bartimaeus follows Jesus “on the way.”
“The way” was an early term for the faith of Christianity, for the people known as Jesus’ followers.
And so as we see this story of healing, we see the simple and beautiful movements of what it means to be a disciple in this story.
It is simply to recognize who Jesus is. To cry out to him in trust, to place ourselves in his hands, and to follow. We see all these elements in the story of Bartimaeus.
The faith of Bartimaeus plays an important role.
Faith for Bartimaeus means understanding who Jesus is, entrusting himself to Jesus, and then walking in the way of Jesus. For us, this is the invitation of faith too.
We don’t see Jesus with our eyes in the same way that the first witnesses did, and in that sense, like Bartimaeus there is a sense in which we are blind, and yet we hear witness of who Jesus is. There is an invitation to faith in this moment, an invitation to trust.
Pastor and writer, Jon Mark Comer in his book names this invitation well saying:
“Jesus is not calling you to live by faith. You’re already doing that. We all live by faith; we all trust someone or something to lead us to the life we ache for, whether our faith is in a politician or professor or scientist or subculture or ideology or just our own inner compass of desire. The question isn’t ‘Do you live by faith?’ but ‘Who or what do you put your faith in? Jesus is calling you to live by faith in him.”[4]
Comer names in a bracing way the reality that we don’t live with a choice between faith and say rationalism on one hand. We are all people of faith in some sense – the question is: What or whom do we place our faith in?
So far, in my life, the only place that I have found fullness to my longings for life and flourishing, for wholeness and hope is Jesus.
As I have placed my trust and faith in Him, like Bartimaeus I have found a deep joy and peace, a love like no other. Countless testimonies across time and space have pointed to this reality – that in Jesus our hearts find their deepest longings and hopes met.
And so the great irony of this story in Mark is that this blind man is the one who truly sees. The one in the story with true clarity.
The invitation for us is to be like Bartimaeus. May God give us eyes to see the goodness of Jesus this morning. May God give us eyes to see his hand beckoning us to follow Him. May God give us the courage to respond with yes, and in doing so, like Bartimaeus may we leap for joy!
Amen.
[1] Larry Hurtado, UBCS: Mark.
[2] R T France, NIGTC: Mark.
[3] Tom Wright, Mark for Everyone.
[4] Jon Mark Comer, Live no Lies.