Most New Testament scholars would agree that the central section of Mark's
Gospel is 8:27-10:52. This section culminates with Jesus' stunning announcement
to his disciples: "We are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will
be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn
him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and
spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise" (10:33-34).
Mark highlights the importance of this section in at least three ways. First,
it is framed on both sides by healing stories. The first is the two-stage
healing of a blind person in Bethsaida (8:22-26). This miracle story serves
as a kind of parable about spiritual blindness. The disciples need to receive
a "second touch" to clarify their fuzzy perception of the Kingdom
of God, and to better understand what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
The second healing story comes in 10:46-52 with the encounter a blind beggar
outside of Jericho named Bartimaeus. Unlike the blind man at Bethsaida, Bartimaeus
sees clearly the first time and begins to follow Jesus on "the way."
Not only does he regain his sight, he also becomes a disciple of Jesus.
Second, Mark highlights this section as important through his grammatical
structure. Mark has been called the "Gospel of the Fourth Gear,"
because Mark's Jesus is constantly on the move. The word that appears again
and again throughout the Gospel is "immediately." The language is
constant motion. And the picture that begins to form in one's mind is Jesus
"power walking" from one event to another, with his disciples always
fifty yards behind breathlessly trying to keep up.
I believe one of the reasons Mark frames his Gospel in this way is to make
clear that Jesus knew his purpose and nothing was going to distract him from
fulfilling it. But every now and then Mark throws in a grammatical speed bump.
A historical present takes past-tense events and arranges them in present-tense
language to emphasize its significance. It is Mark's way of saying: "Throw
on the brakes, slow down, and listen carefully."
The Bartimaeus story includes one of those speed bumps (10:49). Mark wants
us to know that the event we are about to read is extremely important for
understanding the message he is trying to communicate.
Finally, the importance of this section is suggested by repeated references to Jesus' journey "on the way." This serves as a reminder of Mark's opening words about Jesus Christ, the Son of God: "Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him" (1:3). While the New International Version does not always make this clear, the constant cadence of references to "the way" (8:27, 9:33, 9:34, 10:1, 10:17, 10:32, 10:46, 10:52) feature this section as a lens through which Mark can be understood. Being on "the way" means more than moving through the landscape to Jerusalem - it means that Jesus has accepted the goal God has set before him to suffer and die for the sins of the whole world.
This will be the last healing story in the Gospel of Mark. Although not as
spectacular as the raising of Jairus' daughter from the dead (5:21-43), the
cure of Bartimaeus is climactic in the sense that its outcome marks the goal
of this Gospel in the life of its readers: To follow Jesus "on the way."
Discipleship means following in the footsteps of Jesus, even if it means suffering
for the kingdom of God.
The obvious human need in the passage is spiritual blindness. It is verbally
expressed in the words of Bartimaeus: "Rabbi, I want to see" (10:51b).
Bartimaeus is blind and there is nothing he can do about it. The need for
sight functions symbolically as well as literally. Not only does he have the
need for physical sight, he also has the need for spiritual sight. Bartimaeus'
dilemma is our dilemma.
The ironic twist of the story is that the people who ought to be able to see
cannot, and those who shouldn't be able to see can. Though he is an outsider,
through his recognition of Jesus as Master, Bartimaeus acquired spiritual
vision and became the prototype disciple. He stands in vivid contrast to the
blindness of the insider disciples and spiritual leaders.
The disciples approach the kingdom for personal power. Bartimaeus approaches
the kingdom out of his need. The disciples are blind as bats. Bartimaeus can
see perfectly.
Both Bartimaeus and the disciples are asked the same question by Jesus: "What
do you want me to do for you?" (vv. 36, 51). It is clear that the only
remedy for spiritual blindness is the power of God. Spiritual blindness can
be so deceptive that its healing requires an act of grace - God doing something
for us that we cannot do for ourselves.
Bartimaeus speaks the only cure for religious deception: "Jesus, Son
of David, have mercy on me!" (vv. 47, 48). That phrase is repeated twice
in the passage to remind us that only the grace of God can give us enlightened
hearts.
Our response to God's grace in this passage can be summed up in three words:
humility, faith, and obedience. Bartimaeus did not let pride stand in the
way of responding to Jesus. He knew he was in trouble and was willing to be
vulnerable to put himself into the stream of mercy.
He also responded with faith. The blind man in chapter 8 begged Jesus to touch
him. Jesus recognized a confident trust in Bartimaeus that required only the
speaking of a word: "Your faith has healed you" (10:52).
Discipleship is another way to say obedience. Three times in verse 49 the
word "call" appears. Bartimaeus becomes the model disciple who comes
to Jesus, believes, and then follows him in the way (v. 52).
A narrative text (story form) makes preaching in a narrative way (story sermon)
very natural. One of the ways to preach from a narrative is character identification.
Choose someone in the story and imagine what it would be like to be that person.
Walk in their shoes for a while. Tell the story from their perspective. The
preacher may even want to preach a first-person sermon.
Preaching instructor Tom Troeger writes: "If I am a wise preacher, I
will not simply report the final essence of my thought. I will employ language
that helps the listeners feel the bodily weight of the truth." A preacher
must never explain what they can evoke. To explain a joke is to ruin the punch-line,
but to let the person experience the joke gives power to the punch-line.
The punch-line of this passage is blindness. Without psychologizing Bartimaeus
and distracting from the point of the story, try to vividly imagine what it
would be like to be blind. Close your eyes. Listen to the sounds. Try and
accomplish a simple task. How does the world "look" to a blind person?
Begin to rehearse Mark's account of the story in your mind through the "eyes"
of Bartimaeus. It will give you fresh insights into the story.
One of the major themes of the story is spiritual blindness. Mark pursues
that theme through a question Jesus asks in two different contexts: "What
do you want me to do for you?" (10:36, 51). James and John answer that
question in terms of power and privilege. Bartimaeus answers that question
in terms of brokenness and need. The preacher could pursue that same question
to help the congregation identify their motivations pertaining to their relationship
with God.
It is important the congregation understand that following Jesus is more than
something we do - it is an attitude of the heart. Discipleship begins when
we stop our maneuvering and begin to surrender. Following Jesus means that
we stop living in our own power, and begin to trust in God's power. Only then
will we have 20/20 vision.
*Thomas Troeger, Imagining a Sermon (Nashville: Abingdon, 1990), 55.
