The Wisdom of Blind Bartimaeus and King Solomon

A sermon  by Andrew Colman on Mark 10:42-52

Tonight, we come to the end of Chapter 10 of Mark's Gospel, which concerns Jesus and his disciples. It says a large crowd passed by Bartimaeus on the side of the road, who we hear was a blind beggar.

Unfortunately, we all have the experience of passing someone on the street who is unhoused and without nearly enough food or water or anything really. For one reason or another, mental illness, addictions, and lack of support, this person has ended up on the street and has to ask and beg for everything.

Also, I think we can probably remember a time when we felt particularly moved and wanted to offer something but really didn't have anything to give.

We couldn't possibly give to each person asking on every street corner or tucked into every nook and cranny of the city? If we did, our whole bank account would be empty by the time we got home.

Or maybe we feel some kind of conflict about who or how the money we do have to support the needy is spent.

This is to say, that there are so many reasons why we don't and more practically can't give to every person who begs or asks for help.

So we developed a bit of a filter. People ask, we walk, maybe we smile, maybe we offer something, but I know that the last time when walking through Downtown Winnipeg, it was mostly the walk.

Yes, we support places that care for the needy that can really stretch the impact a dollar makes,

but that still doesn't make the walk any easier.

We are at the point in Mark's Gospel where Jesus turns his face towards Jerusalem; he was leaving Jericho [a place that still actually exists today] to go to Jerusalem.

So they were busy. They had been moving through those streets healing, teaching, bringing peace, but it was time.

Jesus, the time had come.

The opening of chapter 11 is the story of the disciples going to find the donkey and Jesus' triumphal entrance to Jerusalem. We skip that in the cycle of readings for now and keep it until Holy Week, but we need to know that because that is what is on Jesus' mind as he is leaving Jericho.

This was one of Jesus' very human moments,

he had something big, huge, cosmic, like the final sacrifice for all of humankind, on his mind;

it was noisy, there were lots of people around.

Presumably, Bartimaeus was not the only beggar on the side of the road, and so he just walked on past.

Can hardly blame him.

But all of that momentum and noise was not enough to keep Jesus from stopping, coming to a standstill, at the call of one of the beggars, who was calling him by his true identity

“Son of David, Messiah”

who was crying for the promise that was promised in the scriptures

“have mercy on me”

And then Jesus asked the blind begging man the same question he had just asked James and John earlier, "What can I do for you?”

And, if we think back to the story that came just before James and John to the rich man. We remember that the rich man had a question as well - which was, in fact, very similar to James as John.

James and John ask for the right and left hands of the places of Glory, and the Rich Man asks what he needs to do to Inherit Eternal Life.

They are not precisely the same, but they are similar. Both are looking to be elevated above others in some way.

The rich man thought he was doing well, better than most, in his opinion, as he thought he had been keeping the Ten Commandments his whole life, which is a pretty lofty statement! It’s something essentially no one can do.

And James and John were looking to be placed at the head of the table.

They were both looking for a worldly or otherworldly levels above those around them, fundamentally missing the point—fundamentally missing what Jesus was teaching and had on offer.

But Bartimaeus, well, he is a kin to King Solomon at this moment. Solomon asked for The gift he needed most to discern what would be best for him as a leader of the Israelite people; Wisdom and it was granted to him. It was the gift that would help him lead God’s people in the way that God had intended.

Now Bartimaeus was not Solomon; he did not have a people to lead, but he did have a life to lead, and so he asked for the thing that would allow him to put one foot in front of the other without fear of tripping in a pothole and breaking an ankle.

He asked for the gift that would allow him to follow Jesus; he gift that would allow him to see who else was calling from the side of the road so that he might come to a standstill and offer them healing and comfort.

There was something about being called "Son of David" for the second time that seemed to have caught Jesus' attention. There was something about him being called by Messiah that let Jesus know that Bartimaeus got "it" what Jesus was up and had on offer.

Even before he had finished his work on the cross.

In a way Jesus, in that moment, was being seen -

for who he really was - and that is a blessing.

Especially after the two indecents with the Rich man and James and John, all three of whom had just called him Teacher, or in Greek Didaskle.

Now, we know that how we refer to each other is important.

They speak to our hearts and our motivations.

The Gospel writer has put this in the spotlight with these three consecutive stories.

The motivations of all of the characters are highlighted by the names of those who came to Jesus.

A teacher, the Didaskle kind, is one to you go to gain something for yourself. And this isn't necessarily bad. We have teachers who are trained to teach us things that we need to know so we can live life well. They are paid to do so, and it is what we expect from them. And this is a good thing. I am so thankful for the many great teachers I have had in my life.

But a teacher is not the Messiah - the one who comes to save

In fact, when a teacher is said to have a saviour complex, that is generally seen as a pretty serious problem.

And if a student sees a teacher as a saviour, that will almost certainly end up being a bigger problem.

But Bartimaeus got his saviour right. He called to Jesus asking for mercy something only God could provide and Jesus called him and asked him “What can I do for you?”

And then something beautiful happens Bartamaeus addresses him as a kind of Teacher indeed

but so much more more calls him Rabbi or the Greek Rabbouni. Not just a teacher of knowledge, but of a way of life. Or in Jesus case The Way of Life.

When we come to Jesus for The Way that only he can, he will stop and will draw us to him, grant us that knowledge wisdom, so we too can follow him.

If we think back again to the rich man, James, and John, Jesus did not turn them away. He did not dismiss them as lost causes but rather as three people who still did not see him for who he really was and the true gifts that he offered.

He didn't want them following him or any of us for that matter simply as a Teacher.

He desires for us to follow him first as Messiah, the one cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the humble.

And then once we get that riches neither in gold nor knowledge make any of us better than another - but that we all made in the glorious image of God, each deserving of all compassion and love.

Then, as Rabbouni, does he want to be our Teacher. Because, really, his redeeming work on the cross, can only be understood from that place of humility.

So, as we move through our day-to-day, may the words of Bartimaeus be in our minds and on our lips,

Jesus, Son of David, Have Mercy on Me,

Rabbouni, let me have sight.

Jesus will come to a stop. Like Bartimaeus, he will call us to him, and he will give us what we need to rise up and follow him.

Amen