I was blind but now I see Mark 10: 46-end
On the face of it this seems like a straightforward healing miracle. There is a blind man who encounters Jesus and receives his sight - one of a number such incidents recorded in Scripture. However it pays dividends to give it some closer scrutiny. Let’s look at the various people involved and the role they play in the story especially from the perspective of seeing, who was really blind?
The story starts with a typically for Mark brief statement “Then they came to Jericho”. They were in fact on their way to Jerusalem for an appointment with destiny. Just imagine what Jesus was thinking about along the way. Look at the verse before(45) “The Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” The passage immediately following this one is the triumphal entry and I am reminded of the hymn words – in lowly pomp ride on to die. Jesus knew very well where He was going and could see clearly the way ahead. As He journeyed with His disciples and a large crowd He must have been pondering these things.
Imagine the scene, the hustle and bustle of the crowds, the sense of excitement and anticipation as they joined the pilgrim throngs heading up to Jerusalem. Suddenly Jesus stops and says “Call him” (49) Amidst all the noise of the crowd and against the background of his own preoccupations Jesus hears the voice of Bartimaeus calling out. He stops and calls him over. He asks him what he wants and gives it to him! What a loving act of service – the son of man was certainly on his way to give up his life as a ransom for many but still had the time to be one who served.
I am always intrigued by the crowds that followed Jesus. They feature in many of the narratives and often get a bad press. Why were they following Jesus – what did they see in him? We know that there were popular hopes for a Messiah to come and deliver them from the Romans, but time and again they failed to see who Jesus really was. In this account it is fairly obvious that they saw Bartimaeus as a noisy distraction. What they saw was a beggar who was slowing down the main business – the journey to Jerusalem.
Bartimaeus is unusual in a number of ways. Firstly he is named – very few of the people who encountered Jesus are named in this way. There is speculation that he became a well-known disciple in the early church community – there are clues here for example in the way he addresses Jesus as “Rabbi” or more accurately “Rabboni” a title only found otherwise on the lips of Mary Magdalene plus the final about following Jesus along the road or way. This so called blnd man saw more clearly than many others just who Jesus was – son of David, the one who could save, master”.
Just how clearly are we seeing? If I were to put up a sight chart how much could you read? How can we assess our spiritual vision – the key is how do we view Jesus and how do we view people in need.