Year B
Jeremiah 31:7-9
Psalm 126
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 10:46-52
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026\u00a0 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you remember in English class\u2026 ever having to do an assignment called Compare and Contrast\u2026 where you’d take two paragraphs\u2026 or poems\u2026 or novels\u2026 and describe how they’re similar\u2026 but also how they’re different\u2026 the characters\u2026 the themes\u2026 the detail or lack of it\u2026 and when you were done\u2026 you had gained a deeper understanding of the author’s intent\u2026 what she or he hoped you’d gotten out of the story\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And have you ever thought that the Gospel passages which the lectionary authorizes\u2026 which we hear on Sunday morning aren’t enough\u2026 that it can make it more difficult to hear the story in its context\u2026 to understand the big picture\u2026 to understand what Jesus intends to convey\u2026 what he intends to teach\u2026 for us to see the whole picture\u2026 and did you know that while we’re not allowed to shorten the lessons\u2026 we are allowed\u2026 encouraged perhaps\u2026 to hear more\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I want to compare and contrast two stories in which Jesus healed blind men\u2026 today’s Gospel in Ch. 10\u2026 and five short verses in Mark\u2026 but there’s also a connection between today’s passage and last week’s story about James and John\u2026 that I’ll try to unpack as well\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So let me read Mark 8:22-26\u2026 They came to Bethsaida\u2026 some people brought a blind man to Jesus\u2026 and the man begged Jesus to touch him\u2026 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village\u2026 and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him\u2026 he asked him\u2026 “Can you see anything?” and the man looked up and said\u2026 “I can see people\u2026 but they look like trees\u2026 walking\u2026 then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again\u2026 and he looked intently\u2026 and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then Jesus sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And the Gospel recounts that from Bethsaida\u2026 Jesus and the disciples went to Caesarea Philippi\u2026 and Jesus told them of his death and resurrection\u2026 six days later he took Peter\u2026 James\u2026 and John up the mountain to witness the Transfiguration\u2026 then Jesus heard about the boy who was possessed by a Spirit which made him unable to speak\u2026 and the boy’s father told Jesus that the disciples tried to cast it out\u2026 but could not do so\u2026 from there they went to Galilee\u2026 and Jesus again told them of his coming Passion\u2026 but they didn’t understand what he was talking about and were afraid to ask him any questions\u2026 then they came to Capernaum\u2026 where on the Way they were arguing about who would be the greatest\u2026 then they went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan\u2026 and there were questions about divorce and whether it was lawful\u2026 and the rich man asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life\u2026 and then on the way to Jerusalem Jesus told them a third time about his death and resurrection\u2026 and then last week we heard the way James and John set Jesus up\u2026 and how Jesus responded\u2026 What is it you want me to do for you\u2026 <\/em>and did you notice\u2026 it’s almost word for word the way Jesus responds today to Bartimaeus\u2026 What do you want me to do for you<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus is the pre-eminent Spiritual Director\u2026 he respects James’ and John’s\u2026 and the blind man’s dignity\u2026 and doesn’t project his own desires on to them\u2026 or presume to know what they want\u2026 he invites them to speak their truth\u2026 which comes from their hearts and out of their mouths\u2026 Spiritual Director Jesus creates a safe space\u2026 and by asking people what they want\u2026 he\u2019s letting them reveal what they value\u2026 who they really are\u2026 and what they need to follow him\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first man who is healed\u2026 is not named\u2026 the second is\u2026 Bartimaeus\u2026 the son of Timaeus\u2026 a named man\u2026 because in scripture\u2026 unimportant people are generally not named\u2026 and so Timaeus may have had an important role in the early church\u2026 and his son knew about Jesus\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first blind man is led by some people to Jesus\u2026 and this blind man never speaks his request\u2026 Bartimaeus shouts out to Jesus\u2026 he’s the first person in Mark’s Gospel to identify Jesus as the Son of David\u2026 the Royal Messiah\u2026 but he is silenced\u2026 he calls out to Jesus a second time\u2026 and in a humorous kind of turn around\u2026 those who sternly ordered him to be quiet\u2026 now say\u2026 Take heart\u2026 get up\u2026 he is calling you<\/em>\u2026 and before Jesus even speaks to him\u2026 before his sight is even restored\u2026 remember\u2026 he was not born blind\u2026 and before Jesus even asks him what is on his heart\u2026 he leaps up\u2026 and throws off his most valuable possession\u2026 his cloak\u2026 not knowing whether he’ll ever be able to find it again\u2026 which also means that he throws off his old life\u2026 because his cloak was his blanket at night\u2026 it was where he concealed the alms given him\u2026 and in a way\u2026 in that moment of throwing off\u2026 we can see that his desire is so strong\u2026 that he commits to follow Jesus even before he knows whether he can\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus takes the first blind man by the hand\u2026 and leads him out of the village\u2026 away from the community he knew\u2026 and rubbed saliva on his eyes\u2026 not once but twice\u2026 because for some reason the first time wasn’t enough\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there’s the question\u2026 What do you want me to do for you<\/em>\u2026 James and John wanted to share in Jesus’ glory\u2026 but they thought that Jesus’ glory would look different than it did\u2026 Bartimaeus on the other hand\u2026 wanted to see\u2026 but he wanted to see God’s truth\u2026 he didn’t just want community\u2026 he wanted God’s community\u2026 v. 46 describes Bartimaeus as sitting by the roadside\u2026 and the Greek word odom<\/em> [ \u1f41\u03b4\u1f78\u03bd ] can also be translated as The Way\u2026 though he’s parked on the shoulder of the road\u2026 like a man who has a flat tire\u2026 not going anywhere\u2026 but in v. 52 we heard that he followed Jesus on The Way\u2026 so in six short verses\u2026 this man goes from being a spectator\u2026 to being a participant\u2026 from being alienated from community\u2026 to being restored to it\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the story about the first blind man\u2026 not seeing fully the first time he is tended to by Jesus\u2026 carries a symbolic message about the disciples’ blindness\u2026 their inability to see who is before them the first time\u2026 but it also reveals that we too can be blind the first time or two\u2026 to what Jesus teaches and does\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n A few years ago\u2026 I explained that people who are color blind can’t see the full range of colors that most of us take for granted\u2026 most types of color blindness occur when the green and red color cones in the eye\u2026 overlap too much\u2026 and this causes some colors to become indistinguishable from each other\u2026 as a result\u2026 the number of shades of color a typical color blind person can see are reduced by as much as 90%\u2026 but when you’re born this way\u2026 what you see is what you see\u2026 it’s not quite the same as being able to distinguish between thousands of Sherwin Williams paint color samples\u2026 and then not being able to\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So imagine what it’d be like to walk out of your black and white house in Kansas\u2026 which is all you’ve ever known\u2026 and into a stunning technicolor Oz\u2026 and that’s what EnChroma glasses do\u2026 they use lenses developed by an optician and a mathematician\u2026 which correct this deficiency by optically adjusting for the overlapping green and red cones… and those people who have always and only known muted colors\u2026 who intellectually understood that their perception was less than that of their family and friends\u2026 those people who never had a point of reference to know what being “less than” meant\u2026 are catapulted into a world of screaming colors\u2026 and they now know what it is to be equal to\u2026 to be restored\u2026 and in YouTube video after video\u2026 they can hardly believe how glorious what they see is\u2026 I don’t think it’s an overstatement\u2026 to say that they’ve been given a new life\u2026 a new identity\u2026 like Bartimaeus has\u2026 but his identity is not just as one who can see\u2026 it’s as a follower on The Way\u2026 after all\u2026 doesn’t salvation mean that we can finally\u2026 fully\u2026 truly see\u2026 and I wonder what Bartimaeus did with this gift\u2026 I wonder what we’ll do with ours\u2026 as we increasingly understand Jesus’ teachings\u2026 and what Jesus has done for us\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year B Jeremiah 31:7-9 Psalm 126 Hebrews 7:23-28 Mark 10:46-52 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026\u00a0 speak your truth\u2026 Do you remember in English class\u2026 ever having to do an assignment called Compare and Contrast\u2026 where you’d take two paragraphs\u2026 or poems\u2026 or novels\u2026 and describe how they’re similar\u2026 but also how they’re different\u2026 the characters\u2026 the themes\u2026 the detail or lack of it\u2026 and when you were done\u2026 you had gained a deeper understanding of the author’s intent\u2026 what she or he hoped you’d gotten out of the story\u2026 And have you ever thought that the Gospel passages which the lectionary authorizes\u2026 which we hear on Sunday morning aren’t enough\u2026 that it can make it more difficult to hear the story in its context\u2026 to understand the big picture\u2026 to understand what Jesus intends to convey\u2026 what he intends to teach\u2026 for us to see the whole picture\u2026 and did you know that while we’re not allowed to shorten the lessons\u2026 we are allowed\u2026 encouraged perhaps\u2026 to hear more\u2026 So I want to compare and contrast two stories in which Jesus healed blind men\u2026 today’s Gospel in Ch. 10\u2026 and five short verses in Mark\u2026 but there’s also a connection between today’s passage and last week’s story about James and John\u2026 that I’ll try to unpack as well\u2026 So let me read Mark 8:22-26\u2026 They came to Bethsaida\u2026 some people brought a blind man to Jesus\u2026 and the man begged Jesus to touch him\u2026 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village\u2026 and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him\u2026 he asked him\u2026 “Can you see anything?” and the man looked up and said\u2026 “I can see people\u2026 but they look like trees\u2026 walking\u2026 then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again\u2026 and he looked intently\u2026 and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then Jesus sent him away to his home, saying, “Do not even go into the village.” And the Gospel recounts that from Bethsaida\u2026 Jesus and the disciples went to Caesarea Philippi\u2026 and Jesus told them of his death and resurrection\u2026 six days later he took Peter\u2026 James\u2026 and John up the mountain to witness the Transfiguration\u2026 then Jesus heard about the boy who was possessed by a Spirit which made him unable to speak\u2026 and the boy’s father told Jesus that the disciples tried to cast it out\u2026 but could not do so\u2026 from there they went to Galilee\u2026 and Jesus again told them of his coming Passion\u2026 but they didn’t understand what he was talking about and were afraid to ask him any questions\u2026 then they came to Capernaum\u2026 where on the Way they were arguing about who would be the greatest\u2026 then they went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan\u2026 and there were questions about divorce and whether it was lawful\u2026 and the rich man asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life\u2026 and then on the way to Jerusalem Jesus told them a third time about his death and resurrection\u2026 and then last week we heard the way James and John set Jesus up\u2026 and how Jesus responded\u2026 What is it you want me to do for you\u2026 and did you notice\u2026 it’s almost word for word the way Jesus responds today to Bartimaeus\u2026 What do you want me to do for you\u2026 Jesus is the pre-eminent Spiritual Director\u2026 he respects James’ and John’s\u2026 and the blind man’s dignity\u2026 and doesn’t project his own desires on to them\u2026 or presume to know what they want\u2026 he invites them to speak their truth\u2026 which comes from their hearts and out of their mouths\u2026 Spiritual Director Jesus creates a safe space\u2026 and by asking people what they want\u2026 he\u2019s letting them reveal what they value\u2026 who they really are\u2026 and what they need to follow him\u2026 The first man who is healed\u2026 is not named\u2026 the second is\u2026 Bartimaeus\u2026 the son of Timaeus\u2026 a named man\u2026 because in scripture\u2026 unimportant people are generally not named\u2026 and so Timaeus may have had an important role in the early church\u2026 and his son knew about Jesus\u2026 The first blind man is led by some people to Jesus\u2026 and this blind man never speaks his request\u2026 Bartimaeus shouts out to Jesus\u2026 he’s the first person in Mark’s Gospel to identify Jesus as the Son of David\u2026 the Royal Messiah\u2026 but he is silenced\u2026 he calls out to Jesus a second time\u2026 and in a humorous kind of turn around\u2026 those who sternly ordered him to be quiet\u2026 now say\u2026 Take heart\u2026 get up\u2026 he is calling you\u2026 and before Jesus even speaks to him\u2026 before his sight is even restored\u2026 remember\u2026 he was not born blind\u2026 and before Jesus even asks him what is on his heart\u2026 he leaps up\u2026 and throws off his most valuable possession\u2026 his cloak\u2026 not knowing whether he’ll ever be able to find it again\u2026 which also means that he throws off his old life\u2026 because his cloak was his blanket at night\u2026 it was where he concealed the alms given him\u2026 and in a way\u2026 in that moment of throwing off\u2026 we can see that his desire is so strong\u2026 that he commits to follow Jesus even before he knows whether he can\u2026 Jesus takes the first blind man by the hand\u2026 and leads him out of the village\u2026 away from the community he knew\u2026 and rubbed saliva on his eyes\u2026 not once but twice\u2026 because for some reason the first time wasn’t enough\u2026 And then there’s the question\u2026 What do you want me to do for you\u2026 James and John wanted to share in Jesus’ glory\u2026 but they thought that Jesus’ glory would look different than it did\u2026 Bartimaeus on the other hand\u2026 wanted to see\u2026 but he wanted to see God’s truth\u2026 he didn’t just want community\u2026 he wanted God’s community\u2026 v. 46 describes Bartimaeus 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