10272021 – Mark 10. 46-52
There are a lot of churches in downtown Milwaukee where homeless people will linger in hopes of gaining a few bucks.
Every Sunday, a few of them will drift into churches and sit in the back rows and observe what is going on.
They can come across as being very scary, intimidating people, because many are toothless, dirty, have not bathed, or changed clothes, they may mumble, cuss, or say nothing at all…and usually smell pretty pungent.
One Thanksgiving morning a bearded, old, filthy, man wandered into a church.
On this particular day, the guy did not sit in the back pew.
Instead, he strode right up the center aisle and plopped himself down in the middle of the church.
And in the middle of the sermon, he began shouting, “Hallelujah! Glory to the God in the highest!” “Praise the Lord!” Then, he began to preach quoting the Bible from memory.
The pastor, ushers, and parishioners were clearly terrified during this whole ordeal.
The whole church service was spiraling out of control. No one knew what to do next.
It was pretty uncomfortable. Everybody was frozen…waiting to see what would happen next.
When the old guy had finished his monologue, he departed, while calling down blessings upon blessings on all those gathered there.
The congregation did not know how to respond, so they sat there dumbfounded and quiet. A similar thing happened a couple of thousand years ago outside Jericho.
The guy’s name is Bartimaeus. He sits on the side of the road on a worn-out mat wearing a tattered and torn cloak.
He is unshaven, uncombed, and clothed in the dirt and filth of Palestine roadways.
In his eyes you see a vast emptiness.
He is blind. Helpless and dependent…a daily beggar by trade.
Obviously, he is poor.
He had heard of Jesus.
He may have heard about how Jesus had healed a blind man on a previous visit to Jerusalem.
He may have heard what Jesus told the followers of John the Baptizer: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”
So, Bartimaeus sits, waiting.
He thinks to himself, “If only I can get close enough for him to hear me, I can be made whole.
But what if he cannot hear me? What if he does not care about someone like me?” He will sit and wait patiently for his Messiah, his savior, to come…he has hopes he will be heard.
Bartimaeus now begins to hear the crowd grow louder and louder.
He is told that it is Jesus of Nazareth passing by. so, he starts crying out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The people saw Jesus as a carpenter’s son. Bartimaeus saw him as Son of the Most High God. Others saw him as a prophet, a miracle-worker, a storyteller, a rabbi or as some kind of a healer.
Many in the crowd began to rebuke old Bart. They tell him to be quiet and let the Rabbi alone.
HOW dare a lowly beggar try to stop Jesus.
Bartimaeus was nothing but a pest, a nuisance, and an obvious sinner. So, the crowd tried to silence him. But he shouted again, “Son of David, have mercy on ME!”
Jesus stood still. He did not simply pause.
He did not slow down and glance over at the beggar.
Jesus stood still. He stopped completely.
Do you find it unusual that a blind man would throw away one of his few possessions – his cloak?
It is a strange detail…added in there by Mark. Usually, a blind person would keep all their possessions at arms-length so they could retrieve them again.
But not old Bart. He had no such concerns.
He KNEW that he would be able to see exactly where his cloak was after having met and encountered Jesus.
Bartimaeus asked Jesus for his sight. And his vision was immediately restored by the one who is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD. He is told that it was his faith that made him whole and that he may go on his way.
And he spied his cloak, and ran over and picked it up again…
And followed after Jesus. I tell you…
This guy was a disciple, a student, a man of faith and conviction. He knew a good thing when he saw it, now, what about you? Amen.