Sermon for October 27, 2024 - The 23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Our gospel today takes place at a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. As we have seen time and again from our journey through the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has been traveling around with his disciples, teaching and healing. The disciples have been confused at times and misunderstand Jesus’ teachings, but they continue to follow Jesus because through their witness of the miracles and the healings they have come to believe that he is the Messiah. Jesus continues to remind them that their time together is coming to an end, and of course this very notion is met with disbelief. Today’s gospel marks the end of Jesus’ ministry outside of Jerusalem as he finds himself in Jericho.
Everything that we have heard these past weeks has been building up to what will happen in Jerusalem. Along the way we have heard very familiar stories like the rich young man who wanted eternal life, about James and John who wanted glory, and now our final pearl in the string of stories is about blind Bartimaeus who wants mercy. Jesus told the rich young man to sell all he had, give it to the poor, and follow him. Jesus told James and John that they must be the servant of all. But in today’s gospel story, Jesus’ interaction with Bartimaeus is not so easily summed up.
So, let us create the scene. Picture a crowd following Jesus as he walks from one place to the next. Likely there is enough noise with this crowd that you can hear Jesus coming while he is still a way off. Bartimaeus is not part of this crowd. He is a man who has lost his sight and now literally sits on the margins of society, begging with his cloak draped across his legs so that he can catch coins from those who pass by. When he hears the crowd getting closer, he begins to call out to Jesus.
Bartimaeus doesn’t just call out, he is creating a ruckus. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Onlookers shush him. The disciples pay him no attention because they are busy walking with Jesus. Undeterred, he calls out again, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He will not be silenced. He continues to name who Jesus is and to ask for mercy. When Jesus is close enough to hear Bartimaeus he responds with “Call him,” and the crowd quickly changes their tune to say, “Take heart, get up, he is calling you.”
At once Bartimaeus tosses his cloak aside and goes to Jesus. In his eagerness to be near Jesus, he leaves behind what may be his only possession; he leaves behind the cloak that kept him warm, the cloak that caught what little people shared with him. Bartimaeus throws off the only thing he has been able to rely on because he truly believes that being near Jesus will change his life. And we know how this story ends, just as with the hemorrhaging woman who was healed by touching Jesus’ robe, Jesus says to Bartimaeus “your faith has made you well.” In the middle of this crowd, he is healed. Restored to sight, Bartimaeus doesn’t just “go,” as Jesus instructed, but “followed him on the way,” a new disciple.
Through his encounter with Jesus, Bartimaeus’ sight was restored and though he was able to perceive Jesus before, he is now able to see Jesus in the fullness of his glory. As a follower of the way of Jesus, he will spend his time learning about the kingdom of God and learning how to see the face of Jesus in everyone he meets.
This leads us, as followers of the way of Jesus, where do we, where do I, see Jesus in the world today? Unlike the crowd, we do not have the luxury of witnessing Jesus stroll down the street in front of us. Like Bartimaeus at the beginning of our gospel, we must find a way to see him without actually seeing him.
Are you able to see Jesus or do you need your sight restored?
I’d like to say that I always see Jesus in the people around me and in my daily experiences, but sometimes my attitude or outlook prevent me from truly seeing. I can be my own biggest stumbling block when I get too focused on checking things off my to do list or let a bad night’s sleep colour the rest of my day. Those are the days where I need to call out to Jesus to help me see.
And if you do see Jesus at work in your life or in the world around us…what difference does it make in your life? These are the questions Bartimaeus’ faith poses to us and like Bartimaeus we are called to respond.
Like Bartimaeus, through being in community with one another we are able to hear “take heart, get up, he is calling you.” Each of us is being invited by God into a deeper relationship with him through Jesus and we rely on each other every step of the way. Over the past few weeks, our gospel stories have been about Jesus explaining what it means to be his disciple and how to understand the Kingdom of God. He has been showing us that to live into that Kingdom we have to be transformed. Just like the caterpillar is called to enter into its chrysalis, not knowing for sure when it will emerge or how exactly it will be changed, but it nevertheless it is transformed. And I would argue that our world is more beautiful because of it. We too are being called to a different way of being, one that centres on God and the service of others. This story reminds us to have faith; faith that God is at work even when we cannot see it or recognize it. Have faith that in the midst of the terrible things we do to each other and the world around us, God’s mercy and love is still at work, even in the darkness. So, may we have courage to be like Bartimaeus, to see Jesus at work in our lives and around us, and have faith that what we desire from God, God desires for us. Amen.
