10232021 – Mark 10.46-52
You already know my bias and my prejudice, so just know, OFF THE BAT, this is “my favorite gospel.” There. I have said it. There is no gospel like Mark.
“Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.” Of course, he did. And did you catch the word, “immediately.” No time to waste. We gotta get moving…that would be Mark’s gospel. Hurry up. Time is of the essence.
A blind guy.
Following Jesus. Go figure.
You gotta love Mark’s leanness. His political edge. His “immediacy.”
You gotta love the Aramaic language that slides into his account, the native tongue, if you will. The vernacular.
“Talitha Cum”
“Eloi, Eloi, Lema Sabachtani…” He just puts it out there, like we know what to do with it.
The “earthliness of the writing,” a sower goes out to sow. Dirt, seeds, field, rocky ground…we see it, we get it. Dirt under the fingernails…
When “the nard is poured” in Jerusalem, I can smell it in Oak Creek. That “vague scent” transcends pages and centuries and even millennium.
You gotta love the “messianic secret,” “Say nothing to anyone…” And so, what do people do, they tell EVERYONE!
Everybody seems to think they know what the Messiah will be LIKE, WHAT he will DO, WHAT he will SAY, WHERE he will GO…and they are all in for “a huge surprise.” EPIC!
Everybody wants to LABEL Jesus, put him in a box, PIN him down, MAKE HIM INTO whoever THEY WANT him to be. He will have NONE of it.
And then, there is Jesus, constantly turning everything and everyone and all of their thoughts and thinking topsy turvey…upside down.
Jesus DOES as he wants. Or better stated, AS GOD WANTS!
And usually “what he does is” points beyond himself to God.
Go to God.
Listen to God.
Praise God.
Trust God. Give thanks to the Lord.
Worship the Father. It is all about God!
Mark is sly and subtle he slides stuff in without our noticing…he’s sneaky that way.
What we have before us is an amazing story. It is the healing of blind old Bartimaeus. His name is actually explained.
You know the hymn, you’ve sung it, you either hate it or love it. ANYTIME someone goes from being blind to receiving their vision back, they have also gone – from being LOST to being FOUND.
They are coming to faith.
They get it.
A spiritual light bulb turns on – above their head. No caption is necessary!
It is so much MORE than just a physical healing. The whole of the person.
What is funny. What is hilarious.
Is ALL THOSE PEOPLE who ARE in the KNOW, those people who SHOULD be on top of everything…those people who have been SCHOOLED…should get it…
You know, people like the Scribes and Pharisees, the Priests, the Sadducees, even, the Disciples themselves.
They are the one’s who YOU WOULD THINK would “get it” that Jesus is speaking God’s truth…GOD’S WORD – for God’s sake listen to him…
These are the guys who study, debate, are knowledgeable and who walk with Jesus all the time and yet are clueless…
Instead, THEY FAIL…
They are the ones who are “literally blind” as to what is standing right in front of them. They are the ones who refuse to see Jesus for WHAT and WHO he really is. They are the ONES who DO NOT GET IT!
Only Mark is bold enough to say that!
Then along comes the unacceptable ones…the unclean ones…the dirty ones…the unlikely ones…Sinners, Tax Collectors, Women, even Small Little Children, the Non-religious types, the Non-Jews or (Gentiles), Syro Phoenicians, Samaritans, Widows, despite their lack of clout, their wrong social status, their lack of education and their ritually poor status…the nobodies, the marginalized, those on the fringe of society, they ALL SEE IT…they all UNDERSTAND…they all GET IT.
A blind guy, a beggar, like old Bartimaeus, sitting or lying by the side of road, screaming his fool head off…he gets it! Even without eyes that see.
He still understands. He gets it. He perceives…he knows who Jesus is…and WHAT he stands for…
They can tell him to be quiet. They can tell him to hush. They can TRY to silence him. But he is going to refuse them every time. Because he gets it. He understands. And once he IS healed. Once he HAS regained his sight. Once he SEES…he gets up. He RUNS. He does the 220. He SPRINTS. He chases after Jesus…Hey Lord, wait for me…Oh No you don’t, you ain’t going nowhere without me…I will follow you anywhere, even to the ends of the earth…Wait up…wait for me…
NOW, what about YOU? Amen.