Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost 24th October 2021

Mark 10: 46- 52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, 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. 

Reflection:

I read an interesting thought this week – 

‘The cry of the human heart is never unheard. It is never that God does not hear the cry, it is that man fails to hear the response. 

So, like the parts of a machine, made to fit, each into the other, and to work in perfect harmony, so is the human cry and the God-response’….. The cry of the human heart is never unheard … This leads me to wonder what it is that prevents the human heart hearing or recognising God’s response. For myself, I know it is easy to pray and go. Pray for something and then move onto the next problem or task before me without waiting… Is waiting on God something I/we need to do more of?

Is the busyness of life an obstacle to grace? Or is it a half-hearted request that leaves us feeling that God won’t answer because the request is not worthy, or important enough for God to worry about? Do we reach out and expect an answer? Or even persevere when at first there seems no result? Are we only prepared to receive the answer that we want or expect? Or is there another reason why we don’t seem to recognise God’s action within our request.

Perhaps there are many reasons why we miss God’s response. 

I love reading the story of Bartimaeus’ healing for I believe it gives us a glimpse into God’s gracious and merciful heart. When we truly understand the heart of God to hear and answer our prayers, we will pray and like Bartimaeus we will shout out to God with faith.

Bartimaeus is very poor, sitting by the roadside. I picture him, in the gutter. Years ago, living in Melbourne, I would catch the train daily into the city. Looking out the window there was a stretch along the line where many homeless men would camp behind the factories, with just a small bag, a blanket and some had a dog beside them. With nothing to their name, they would huddle in any shelter they could find. I imagine they would watch the trains go past and look at us- privileged people, on our way to work and shop. I wonder if they cried out? Save us? I do not know but Bartimaeus did.

In the gospel today we hear of Bartimaeus, a poor man, who is unfortunately also blind. The contrasts between this blind beggar and the other people that Jesus deals with seems great, especially if we think of the rich man we read about a couple of weeks ago, who wanted to know what he needed to do to enter the kingdom. Yet while the rich man could not give up his wealth to follow Jesus and receive the great prize, Bartimaeus, when Jesus calls him, throws off his cloak in order to join Jesus on the way. When you think about it, his cloak may well have been the only thing he owns, but he doesn’t hesitate – he throws off all he has.

While the disciples have recently been asking for status and power, to sit at Jesus’ right hand, Bartimaeus simply wants his basic needs met: he asks to simply see again. And, as a result, he immediately moves from sitting by the way to following Jesus on the way. He has gone, that is, from beggar to disciple.

What Jesus says to him, in this context, is important to notice. Our translation says- Your faith has made you well, but the Greek word for well is also whole or more significantly, saved. So, we might read it as Your faith has saved you. Earlier in the chapter the rich man asked how he could inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to acknowledge his dependence on God by giving up wealth and also that he needed to have solidarity with others in need by giving his wealth to the poor - he couldn’t do it. When the disciples themselves saw what they believed was an extreme requirement, they also despaired - remember they said “then who can be saved?”. Jesus answered them, “With humans it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Jesus now shows him the truth of these words. For in every way imaginable it should be impossible that Bartimaeus can be saved. Both blindness and poverty are taken as signs, in the first century, of punishment for sin. That’s quite likely why those around him try to hush him up – it’s embarrassing and ridiculous in their minds to have such a sinner call out to such an admired teacher. And Bartimaeus is not just quietly calling- he’s yelling out to Jesus and Jesus answers. By simply recognising his need, trusting that Jesus can provide, and being willing to give up what he has in order to follow, Bartimaeus is saved, restored and invited into the kingdom. 

Bill Hybels in his book – ‘Too Busy not to Pray’ says that often many of us have pressing personal needs and serious problems that ravage our lives, but we don’t ask God for help because somewhere, well beneath our surface layer of faith and trust, we don’t believe God has the power to do anything about them. The fact is of course that God is capable of handling any problem we could bring him.

Admitting to God that we may doubt that he can do anything, might be embarrassing and humbling but it is also cleansing as we ask God to heal us. As we ask God to heal our blindness and save us from our human frailty and weakness in whatever shape and form that may materialise, we like Bartimaeus are invited to throw off our cloak- the things that cover and hold us back from receiving the fullness of God’s goodness and grace.

We then can truly pray – ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done’. That we might:

-       believe in God’s love and power. 

-       come to him in sincerity and trust. 

-       clear away the barriers between us and God, including preoccupation and excessive busyness. 

-       listen for God’s still, small voice and obey it when we hear it.

And finally, we will endeavour to live in his presence and praise him in all we do.

 So when we think of all this in relation to Bartimaeus – he persists in prayer and receives a miracle. And he responds and follows Jesus.

The question then is - what will we do in response to Jesus?….