Jeremiah 31:7-9; Hebrews 5:1-6; Mark 10:46-52; Psalm 31
October 24, 2021
Larry Campbell
Mark 10:46-52
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to You, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.
I find the Gospel readings during the Fall season compelling. For us, on November 21st, we arrive at the last Sunday of the church year. This is the day the church commemorates Jesus, the Christ, the Ruler of all creation. However, for Jesus, these moments move towards the run-ins he has with the religious and political leaders.
Up to this point in Mark, the readings are a recounting of the weeks and days before
the Royal Triumphal entry into Jerusalem,
the clashes with people at the temple grounds,
the interogation by political leaders,
the torture at the hands of the Roman guard,
and ultimately, the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
Through September and October, the Gospel stories in Mark have born witness to some things Jesus said about what it means to live in the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven, is characterized by small and hidden things...like mustard seeds, and buried treasure...of things lost, and found.
The historical setting in Jesus time, as we know, was during the rule of the Roman Empire. That kingdom was characterized by cruel and brutal things...like crosses, and torture, and fear.
All of the people of Israel had two heroes that they saw as symbols of their hope for the future. The one we all know was King David. He had become almost mythical in his importance to the Jews. He was the warrior king who protected them and defeated their enemies; particularly the Philistines.
Along side David, in the imaginations of the people, was Judah Maccabee. Judah was a priest and a military general who, along with his father and brothers, led Israel in a revolt against the Seleucid Greek Empire about 150 years before Jesus was born, and about 100 years before Rome occupied Palistine. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the restoration of Jewish worship in the Second Temple in Jerusalem. In 164 BCE, Judah Maccabee removed all the statues depicting Greek gods and goddesses, and cleansed and purified the temple. By the way, Maccabee is not Judah’s last name. It’s the name he received during the revolution; (Judah “the Hammer”). These two leaders, David the King, and Judah the Hammer, had set the people free, and brought peace through war and revolution. They were examples of what the people were looking for in a Deliverer; a Messiah.
Mark has Jesus asking various people some interesting questions. There was Bartimaeus, the blind beggar from our reading today. And earlier in the same chapter there were two of his disciples, the brothers, James and John. Now, they had an interesting nickname...the “Sons of Thunder”. I imagine those boys were not meek and mild. More likely they were loud and boisterous, ambitious maybe; even devious and scheming. Jesus asked them the same question he asked Bartimaeus. “What do you want me to do for you?” They saw the connection between Jesus and David and Judah. Their hope was that when Jesus was, as they said, “in his glory”, they would be there, on his right and on his left. Now, when we think of glory, we think of heaven, and harps, and mansions nestled in the clouds. When James and John thought of glory, it had to do with victorious armies, horses and chariots, possibly entering Jerusalem riding on either side of the great General Jesus. And there would be the appreciative cheers of the crowd.
However, Jesus response to them was,
“You have no idea what you’re asking for. Besides, who sits on my right and my left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
(Mark 10:35-40)
I wonder who those people would be? Some have suggested that it was the two thieves that were crucified with Jesus, one on the right and one on the left. The glory of Jesus is riding on a donkey, and the suffering of the cross, not the victorious, militaristic entry into Jerusalem.
Bartimaeus also made the connection with David.
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
He had heard the rumors. He knew that Jesus was healing folks. The “Son of David” was the Messiah, the long-awaited “Deliverer” prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures. Well, James and John knew their bible, too. They were looking for something quite specific in a Messiah. They wanted the power that had become associated with the prophesied “Deliverer”. But Bartimaeus “saw” something different. Maybe he realized on his own what John the Baptist had to be told...
“the blind see again, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor are being told about the Good News.”
(Luke 7:22)
These words were from the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 35:5-6; 26:19; 61:1), and they were referring to the coming “Deliverer”, the Messiah.
Bartimaeus sensed something different about Jesus, this “Son of David”. He figured this was someone who could, and would, show mercy to a poor, old, blind man. And so, when Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you”, he said, “I want to see.”
With what you know about Jesus, if he passed you on the street in a crowd, would you recognize him? Would you call out to him? And if you did, what would you say when Jesus asked you, “What do you want me to do for you?”