Mark 10- Jesus said, "What do you want me to do for you?"

 

Job 42:1-6, 10-17; Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22); Hebrews 7:23-28; Mark10:46-52

Our Gospel reading today follows right after last week’s Gospel reading where we meet James and John asking for the place to the right and Left of the throne of Jesus. They thought that serving Christ was about power, authority, and glory. But they missed the cross. They didn’t understand yet that authority in the kingdom came with self-sacrificial love and service. Their discipleship to Jesus wasn’t only about them, it was for the benefit of others as well. They saw Jesus only in part, but, in a way, they were blind. … And, I don’t think it is a coincidence that the very next encounter they have on their journey to the cross in Jerusalem, is to encounter a blind man in Jericho.

Jericho is on the way to Jerusalem if you are coming from Galilee. It is about 25 km to Jerusalem from Jericho as you come up through the Jordan River valley. There might also be some symbolism involved here, since Jericho was the first city conquered as the people entered the Promised Land. Now another Joshua (Yeshua is Jesus’ name in Hebrew) is leading the way to another Promised Land, another Kingdom.

It is here that Jesus, his disciples, and a large crowd meet a blind beggar. The blind man hears that it’s Jesus and he starts crying out- 

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

 This is the only time in the Gospel of Mark that we hear the title “Son of David” used for Jesus. This is a declaration that this man believes Jesus is the Messiah, the one who was expected to come to save Israel. He cries out to this Saviour for mercy, but 

“many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly”.

It’s curious to imagine why they are telling him to be quiet. Maybe Jesus is saying something and they can’t hear because this man is yelling. … Having a disability like blindness was sometimes also considered a curse due to sin (Jn 9:2). Maybe they just treated people like this man with contempt, and not worthy of the master’s time. … Maybe they are trying to get Jesus’ attention to ask their own questions, and this man is competition.

We can have external voices that can get in the way of our healing as well. For example, in family systems theory they see the family as an interrelated whole. If the dad is angry and alcoholic that has an effect on the whole family. If dad stops being angry, and stops drinking, then that has an effect on the family. One of the things the family systems people noticed is that the system often wants to go back to the status quo. The family might (even unconsciously) try to get dad to be angry again, or to drink again. They know the rules in the family where dad drinks. They know that the problem is dad. But when dad stops being an angry alcoholic, then the rest of the family has to look at themselves in the mirror and recognize that they might have things to work on too. It's always easier on our egos if the problem is outside us.       

I often encounter people for whom this crowd is an internal voice. Inside of them they have voices saying God has more important things to do than to hear your little problems. It is an internal voice that says your problem isn’t big enough for God to care about. There are so many other things going on in the world, it’s better to not bother the Master. So they don’t bring their issues to God. They let the internal crowd silence them.

But not this man. 

“… He cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’”

 His faith led him to fight to not let anything come between him and Jesus. There is a mixture of boldness and humility in him. He is crying out boldly, even though people are telling him to be quiet. But he is asking for mercy, in humility. He knows it isn’t something he deserves, but it is something Jesus can give.

This passage is one of the roots of the Jesus Prayer, 

“Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy of me, a sinner”.

 Another is Luke 18 where we read about the Pharisee who seems to be trying to impresses God with his good deeds, and near him is a tax collector praying with his head bowed in humility, saying, 

‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner’ (Lk 18:13).

 Jesus says it was the tax collector who was justified by God. It was the humble prayer that desired mercy that was approved of by Jesus, not the boasting prayer of the Pharisee about how good he is, which might even be implying that God owed him. … The Jesus Prayer is also a repetitive prayer- 

“Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a sinner”.

 As this blind man cries out for Jesus over and over, trying to be heard over the crowd, so we pray over and over in persistence and faith. Sometimes the crowd we are trying to shout past is our own internal crowd. The one that tells us the Master is too busy to deal with us. We knock persistently on that door, like the widow knocking on the judge’s door seeking justice in Jesus’ parable (Lk 18). We call out persistently to Jesus.

Jesus stops moving and asks for the man to be brought to him. He throws off his cloak and springs up to get to Jesus. He throws off his cloak, which was probably also his bedroll, as if he wasn’t going to need it anymore, and goes to Jesus. … And Jesus asks him a very important question, 

‘What do you want me to do for you?’

 He could have answered this question in a number of ways: “Do you have any spare change?” “That man over there took my best begging spot, can you tell him to give it back to me?” … Or maybe “can you help me be content with my blindness?”

This is an important question for us to consider. Sometimes we don’t actually take the time to consider what our deeper needs are. There is the surface stuff- the little argument we had with someone; or the lack of money to pay the bills. But often we don’t look at the deeper reality behind these issues. The pride and anger that led to the argument. The greed and gluttony that drained the bank account. Sometimes we pray for surface issues when there are much deeper issues that we should also be praying about. It can be a bit like asking Jesus for spare change, when really the issue is our blindness. The blindness is what has led us to have to beg for change in the first place.

I believe that prayer can bring dramatic healing in our lives. People share stories with me all the time about a healing they received that was brought about by prayer. And prayer is just doing what the blind man was doing- calling out persistently, with faith, to Jesus. … I also know plenty of times when we pray and we don’t receive healing. I don’t understand how all that works. But, sometimes it happens, and that in itself should encourage us.

Sometimes I wonder if God wants a deeper healing for us. We sometimes pray for surface stuff, but God wants a deeper- a more wholistic healing for us. The theologian Paul Meyendorff says, 

“the very purpose of the Church is to heal us, to restore the rift between God and humanity which is caused by our sin and leads to death. This is achieved precisely when we are united to one another and to God in the body of Christ, which is the church”… 

“Jesus Christ is here asking for nothing less than the healing of the whole world, all humanity, all creation. This is achieved when we come to know Christ, when we become one with him and with one another. Everything that the church does, all its sacramental and liturgical life, all its teaching, is directed at restoring the proper relationship between God and creation, which has been corrupted through our sinfulness. This is the real meaning of Christian healing, and it involves the whole person, body, soul, and spirit.”[1]

The blind man said to Jesus, 

“My teacher [Rabbi], let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.”

 … Faith isn’t some mysterious power. Faith is trust. To have faith in a friend is to trust them. This man had trust that Jesus could help him. He had faith that Jesus had the power to heal him in this way, and his faith gave him the boldness to ask and not be silenced by the crowd. How did his faith make him well? His faith led him to persistently reach out to Jesus and ask, believing he had the ability to do what he was asking. … This man is healed and follows him on the way. This is likely more than just following Jesus on the literal dusty road on the way to Jerusalem. In the early days before the followers of Jesus were called “Christians” followers of Jesus were called followers of “The Way”. We have this man’s name, Bartimaeus, I suspect because he became known to Mark’s community. He became a follower of The Way. In the Gospel of Mark, the disciples have been struggling to see Jesus clearly, so this healing is also a symbol of that greater healing that they need. This section of Mark begins with another healing of sight (8:22-26). It is a 2-stage healing. The man is first healed partially, so he sees, but people look like trees walking around, then he is healed fully. It begins a section of Mark where his disciples understand him partially. They see him as an earthly Messiah- a mighty warrior king, but they don’t see the cross and the self-sacrificial love Jesus is called to, or that they are called to as his followers. … Maybe we are in need of a greater healing of spiritual sight as well. Maybe, just like the early Apostles, we have blind spots and we don’t see Jesus clearly. It is a kind of blindness that the Gospel of Mark encourages us to seek Jesus persistently, with faith, to have cured. AMEN




[1] Paul Meyendorff, the anointing of the sick, p 19