Mark 10:46-52
David A. Davis
October 25, 2015
They came to Jericho. The city of Jericho sits in the Jordan Valley to the east of Jerusalem. Today it is in the West Bank under the control of the Palestinian Authority. On the other side of the Jordan River is the country of Jordan. Biblically speaking, Jericho is mostly an Old Testament town. Joshua. Jericho. Walls tumbling down. In the New Testament, other than the healing of blind man by the side of the road, there is the story of Zacchaeus in Luke. Zacchaeus climbed that tree in Jericho. Also, when Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan, he begins with “a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” The man fell among thieves on the road from Jerusalem down to Jericho. Down to Jericho. That’s because Jericho sits at about 850 feet above sea level. Jerusalem is just below 2,600 feet above sea level. The distance is about 17 miles. So the road from Jericho to Jerusalem is up, as in “going up to Jerusalem.” Jericho was the last stop in the Jordan Valley before going up.
As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar was sitting by the roadside. Jesus, his disciples, and large crowd were setting out to go up. You will remember the importance of “going up to Jerusalem.” Last week I put it this way, “When it comes to the stories of Jesus and the descriptions of his travels and the way the four Gospels point to his whereabouts, there may be no more loaded of a phrase, no more symbolic of an expression, no directional cue more crucial, no passing comment less to miss than this one: “going up to Jerusalem.” Up to Jerusalem. When Luke describes Jesus heading to Jerusalem, he puts it this way, “When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Here in Mark, just outside of Jericho, with his disciples and a large crowd, Jesus was set to go up.
A blind beggar was by the side of that Jericho-up-to-Jerusalem road. Not just any beggar according to Mark. Mark gives the beggar’s name. Bartimaeus. Mark doesn’t just write Bartimaeus, he writes “Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus,” which is sort of redundant since Bartimaeus means “son of Timaeus.” As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus-Bartimaeus, a blind beggar was sitting by the side of the road. The reader is not to miss the naming of the blind man. He is the only person healed by Jesus in a gospel miracle story to be named. Mark makes it very clear. The blind beggar has a name and he has father. A name and face. There along the road; the disciples, a large crowd, Jesus and Bartimaeus.
“When Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, Bartimaeus began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered Bartimaeus to be quiet, but Bartimaeus cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’” They sternly ordered him. They didn’t ask him to quiet down, They didn’t just “shush” him. I take it to mean they told him to shut up! Sternly. Interestingly, in Mark, Jesus is usually the one speaking sternly. That’s a counter-intuitive pairing, Jesus and stern. In Mark’s language, Jesus was stern when he sent the healed leper away at once and told him not to say anything. And when he cured and healed many in Galilee, he sternly ordered all of them to not make him known. And when Peter proclaimed to Jesus, “You are the Messiah,” Jesus sternly ordered the disciples to not say a word. But here the stern silencing comes from the crowd and it was directed not just at any blind beggar, but at Bartimaeus-Bartimaeus. The one who just wouldn’t shut up.
“Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man saying to Bartimaeus, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” Jesus stood still. He held his ground. He stood firm. He didn’t just stop. He stood still. Early here in the tenth chapter when people were bringing little children to Jesus so he could bless them, the disciples spoke sternly then, too, trying to get them all to stop. Jesus was indignant with the disciples and their behavior and he rebuked them. But here, along the Jericho-Jerusalem road, Jesus offered no rebuke in response to how they tried to squelch Bartimaeus. Nor did he ignore the shouts from Bartimaeus and move on. No, Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” He stood still on the road up to Jerusalem. You are catching on, right? On the way up to Jerusalem, and to the cross, and to his suffering, and to his self-emptying sacrifice, and to his betrayal and his suffering and his torture, and to his death, and to his resurrection, and to the epicenter of God’s salvation history, on the way up, he stood still for Bartimaeus. He stood still because of Bartimaeus.
“So throwing off his cloak, Bartimaeus sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to Bartimaeus, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man Bartimaeus said to Jesus, “My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to Bartimaeus, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately, Bartimaeus regained his sight and followed him on the way.” Bartimaeus-Bartimaeus. The crowds told him to keep quiet but Jesus never does. The healed leper; Jesus told him to keep it a secret. The healed paralytic; Jesus told him to go home. The Gerasene demonic, after he was healed, begged Jesus to let him come along. Jesus told him to go home and tell his friends what God has done. When he healed the daughter of Jairus, he told everyone to not say anything but to give her something to eat. The blind man at Bethsaida; Jesus told him to go home and not even go into the village. Here by side of the road up, the one who was blind but now sees, Bartimaeus, followed Jesus on the way.
Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, was the last man healed. We have just spent three weeks here in this tenth chapter. The tenth chapter, where Jesus told the rich young man to go, and to sell, and to give, and to follow, here where the disciples who were with Jesus on the road going up to Jerusalem were scared to death, here Bartimaeus regained his sight and followed. Bartimaeus and his fourth quarter, last act, end of the line, last stop following, What comes next is “Hosanna in the highest” and “Take eat, this is my body” and “See my betrayer is at hand” and “Crucify him” and “I do not know this man” and “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Hardly a bandwagon to jump on. Bartimaeus. He followed Jesus on the way.
Bartimeaus-Bartimeaus. Mark wants to give him a name and a face. Mark wants you to remember his name. Bartimeaus was a blind beggar along the side of the road. Not just any road. The road. The road up to Jerusalem. And Bartimeaus just kept shouting and shouting and shouting. “Have mercy on me!” Mark wants you to remember him. The crowds wanted to ignore him. Jesus came to a full stop along the way. Jesus stood still for Bartimeaus. Bartimeaus, the one who could have given blind beggars a bad name. But instead he gets a name, face. Jesus, Mark, and the gospel, they gave him a name, a face, and a healing right there on the road… up.
From the perspective of literary criticism and the analysis of the plot, scholars point out how the healing of the blind beggar Bartimaeus serves as a transition. If you just look on the page of your Bible, the spaces before and after, editors seem to set the story apart. A transitional paragraph right before the Triumphal Entry. Bartimaeus’ reference to Jesus as the Son of David foreshadows what the crowds shout as the parade passes by. The miracle of sight restored provides the threshold for the reader to step through into the chapters of the Lord’s passion and death now three times predicted by Mark’s Jesus. Mark 10:46-52… the Gospel writer’s way of helping to move the narrative along.
But remember, Jesus stood still. He held his ground. He stood firm. It’s more than a transition; it’s a full blown interruption. Once Jesus set his face to Jerusalem there was nothing that was going to stop him. When Jesus was walking ahead of the disciples along the road going up to Jerusalem, nothing was going to stop him. No ruler. No power. No principality. No soldier. No amount of wealth. No political maneuvering. No last minute negotiation. No parade. No prize. No battle. Jesus was heading to the cross. Nothing was going to stop him. Then came that shout, “Lord, have mercy on me.” It was the shout of human suffering and Jesus stood still. The Son of God heads to Jerusalem with the weight of the world on his shoulders and the Savior’s salvation-making march is interrupted, stopped, stood still by human need. His name was Bartimeaus.
Thus says the Lord, the Lord who created you, O Jacob, the Lord who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine (Isaiah 43). His name was Bartimeaus. 46.7 million people in the United States live below the poverty line. His name was Bartimeaus. 21% of the children in our nation live in poverty. His name was Bartimeaus. 420 kids in Princeton Public Schools qualify for reduced or free lunch. That’s two in every classroom. His name was Bartimeaus. Autism now affects 1 in 68 children, 1 in 42 boys. His name was Bartimeaus. Some describe immigrants as criminals and infants as “anchor babies” and every Syrian refugee as a risk. His name was Bartimeaus. On average 55 people a day commit suicide with a firearm. His name was Bartimeaus. Guns are the second leading cause of death in the United States for kids ages 1-19. His name was Bartimeaus. Every 67 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimers’ Disease. His name was Bartimeaus. One in three deaths of senior citizens is dementia related. His name was Bartimeaus.
Stand still, Jesus! Jesus, stand still. Lord, have mercy. Human need, human suffering, isn’t a statistic or a stereotype. It has a name. Every bit of it comes with a name. His name was Bartimeaus. And Jesus stood still.
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