The Reading
Mark
10:32-52
They
were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them;
they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside
again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "See, we are going up to
Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the
scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to
the Gentiles; they will mock him, and
spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise
again." James and John, the sons of
Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do
for us whatever we ask of you." And
he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit,
one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus
said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink
the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with?" They replied, "We are
able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink;
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is
not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they began to be
angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, "You
know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it
over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes
to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must
be slave of all. For the Son of Man came
not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." 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.
The message
With
6 Sundays left until Easter, we are now more than half way through our faith
journey into Mark’s Gospel. I wanted to
take a few moments this morning to review some of the things we have
experienced and help place the events and lessons of Mark’s Gospel we have
heard so far in their larger context.
Mark’s
account of Jesus life, death and resurrection is more complicated than it often
first appears. A majority of Mark tells
the stories of Jesus miracles of restoration, care and compassion, signs of
power, and expressions of God’s love for the world through healing and helping
others. Mixed in with these stories are
a series of teachings centered around radical news about the Kingdom of God,
the most shocking is Jesus consistent warning that the he will be handed over
to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then
they will hand him over to the Gentiles;
they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and
after three days he will rise again. (Jesus has said this on 3 or 4 occasions
already in Mark’s Gospel, each time it is ignored, denied or misunderstood by
even Jesus closest followers)
There
are reasons Jesus was often misunderstood or ignored and people wanted to
eliminate him. The message Jesus shared
was truly radical, it challenged and changed long held religious beliefs and
traditions. Jesus teachings had little
or no respect for the religious or political leaders and little interest in
keeping things the way they were. Jesus
words confronted systemic injustice in which everyone, except the very poor and
outsiders, participated in, Jesus talked about God’s love for all people,
established men along with outsiders, the poor, women and children (who were
all widely considered sort of useless at the time). Jesus stripped away the
exclusiveness of faith, God’s love was for everyone. That is why people ignored and walked away
from Jesus, he made them uncomfortable. Many
people viewed Jesus the same way we would view someone who walked into our
church and started yelling “that is not correct, everything you are doing is
wrong, I know secret things about God, I have a new message to share” in the
middle of our bible reading. This
actually happened to a friend of mine a few months ago at a church
upstate. A new man walked into church
and about 15 minutes into the service, started to yell and share his
interpretation of the scriptures. The community called the sheriff who showed
up in a few minutes and took the man ,kicking, screaming and yelling, to the
local hospital for drug testing and a psych exam. We do not like our worship being disturbed,
but we really hate when how we understand ourselves as good and faithful lives
disturbed. In Jesus’ case, he did upset the ancient traditions and practices of
faith but things were a little more complicated though; his teachings were
supported by impossible signs of power (which reflected the truth of his words)
. Even Jesus own 12 disciples often fail to understand what Jesus is teaching
and what these things mean for the world.
(Mary and Jesus female followers honestly seem to do much better,
remaining faithful and getting it from the start).
Throughout
Mark, Jesus’ words and power lead to a series of escalating conflicts. There is
the conflict between good and evil seen in the casting out of demons and the
temptation in the wilderness that starts Lent.
Then there is the conflict between Jesus and the religious and political
authorities which will eventually lead to Jesus death. This group of Pharisees, Sadducees, high
priests, lawyers, kings and governors become more frightened, confused and
aggressive with each miracle Jesus performs and each time he addresses the
crowd. They start by challenging Jesus
with trick questions and using their knowledge of the law to expose him as a
fraud. When these attempts fail, they quickly move on to plotting ways to kill
him (while maintaining their own power and control).
This
morning, we see conflict between the disciples. Jesus repeats himself and tells his 12
disciples that he will suffer, die and rise again. 10 of them have no idea what
to say or think, so they ignore it. James and John bring misunderstanding to a
whole new level. They do not ask for a
clearer explanation, they do not offer prayer or help, they do not promise to
walk with him and they do not try to alleviate some of his anxiety. Instead, they ask for rewards, to be set
apart from the others, to sit in places of honor after all that other stuff is
over. This is not exactly bold, faithful
and sacrificial discipleship but there is something so very human and honest in
their request. They want to be
recognized and acknowledged, celebrated and honored. Jesus gives them two answers. First, Jesus tells them “The cup that I drink
you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be
baptized; but to sit at my right hand or
at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been
prepared." After this, conflict
starts between Jesus disciples. Now that
James and John made this power grab, the other 10 thought those 2 should be
punished and knocked down a few levels. Jesus again tells them to stop acting
like the rulers and important people he has spent so much time confronting and
criticizing; Jesus tells his disciples “but whoever wishes to become great
among you must be your servant, and
whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but
to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Jesus disciples are invited to live
differently, to live as people who know they are valued and important since
they are children of God, just like everyone around them, good, bad, rich,
poor, similar or different, are valued and important since they too are also
children of God.
Jesus
warning about his death and resurrection and invitation to a joyful life ends
with the healing of blind Bartimaeus.
Jesus was on his way out of Jericho and people wanted to see, hear and
experience every single thing he had to say. This might be the last opportunity they had to
encounter Jesus. No one was there to have this sacred moment disturbed by some
poor blind guy so they all tell him to shut up. (sort of like the amount of
shushing and be quiet that goes on at a broadway musical or classical concert
whenever someone near you whispers or wiggles). Jesus is not disturbed by Bartimaeus at all
though. Jesus calls him over and asks “okay, you have my attention, what do you
want?” Bartimaeus wants to see and
completely believes Jesus can restore his sight. Jesus responds by saying Go; your faith has
made you well." And immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus
on the way.
In
Mark, Chapter 8, before Jesus starts to talk about his suffering, death and
resurrection, there is also the healing of a blind man. These 2 signs of power intentionally surround
the most difficult and shocking of Jesus teachings. Jesus restores the sight of 2 people who are
blind to the light, colors and shapes of the world and tries to restore the
sight of everyone who is blind to God’s loving presence and restorative work in
the world. The same faith that allowed
the blind to see can allow people to see what God is doing in the world. It was
considerably easier to make the blind see. We have a lot of work to do.
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