The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen
Mark 10:46 “Then they *came to Jericho. And later, as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a beggar who was blind named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 48 Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ 49 And Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him here.’ So they *called the man who was blind, saying to him, ‘Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.’ 50 And throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And replying to him, Jesus said, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ And the man who was blind said to Him, ‘Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!’ 52 And Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.” (NASB)
Studies have found that new members of a group, congregations included do not feel at home in the group when people start calling them by name, but when they become able to call others by name. While it is important for you to know the names of fellow members, especially new members it is more important that the new people come to know your name. That’s why a few congregations have adopted the practice of having their members to put on their name badge when they enter the building.
This morning’s Gospel lesson we are told of a blind man who came to Jesus to be healed. That is not unique. There are a few a lot of such cases recorded in the four Gospels (and probably a great many more over Jesus’s three year ministry). But this account relays a rather unique detail that is absent in most other miracle stories. It is unique because we are given the name of the blind man.
Bartimaeus was his name, “the son of Timaeus.” The revealing the name of the people on the receiving end of a miracle is rare in the Gospels. We have Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead (John 11:43–44), Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus cast out seven demons (Luke 8:2), Malchus, whose severed ear Jesus repaired (John 18:10; Luke 22:50–51) and a few others, but not many.
The revealing of the blind man’s name as Bartimaeus adds some humanity to the event. It puts some more flesh and blood and history into the story so we feel like we know him a little better, even if the only other details we have is that he is the son of Timaeus and a beggar.
For his part, Bartimaeus didn’t care whether folks then or now would call him by name. What mattered to Bartimaeus was that he was able to cry out to Jesus and apply to Jesus the Messianic name and title given to the Promised Messiah in the Old Testament. “Jesus, Son of David,” Bartimaeus cried “have mercy on me!”
At the time Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem to die. The road to Jerusalem ran through the town of Jericho, a town most known for the walls that came tumbling down and a Canaanite woman and prostitute named Rahab who helped Joshua’s spies escape the city and certain death.
The road between Jericho and Jerusalem was a main thoroughfare with a lot of traffic. It was filled with travelers; among them priests, rabbis, pilgrims, traders, government officials, and pedestrians, as well as robbers and beggars. The blind man Bartimaeus was one of those beggars on the side of the road on the day Jesus passed by.
The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Bartimaeus wasn’t alone. He was with another blind beggar, whose name remains unknown, but who Jesus also healed. Begging was considered an honorable and acceptable way to make a living for people who suffered from some handicap or illness that made it impossible for them to work or unlikely to he hired by anyone. Begging was the job of last resort.
The people of the day didn’t think of it as panhandling, or a nuisance, or of the people who had to beg as lazy. If you could work and had money it was your civic and religious duty to give a beggar something when given the opportunity. Begging was the ancient world’s “social welfare net” and very one knew they might be just one illness or accident away from falling into that net themselves.
By the time Jesus was pass through Jericho, Bartimaeus had heard about Jesus. He had heard how Jesus healed the sick, and cast out demons, and raised the dead. He had heard about Jesus’s compassion. His love for the lost. His call to discipleship and the good news of forgiveness in the Gospel. Bartimaeus believed that Jesus could rescue him.
As Jesus was making His way to Jerusalem, a crowd followed. Bartimaeus began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He repeated himself over and over again.
Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus in the manner taught in the Old Testament. Mercy was the basic plea of God’s people in the Old Testament. Psalm 6:4 “Return, Lord, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your mercy.”
Isaiah 63:9 “In all their distress He was distressed, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.”
Psalm 86:15 “But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, Slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth.”
When Jesus told the parable of the tax collector and Pharisee in the temple, this is the prayer He put into the mouth of the tax collector who couldn’t even lift his eyes to heaven, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” It is also the prayer of the desperate Canaanite woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon.
Bartimaeus’ cry (prayer really) is a confession of faith in Christ and a confession of his sin. It calls on the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name. It confesses Jesus to be the Son of David, which is the Jewish way of saying the Christ, the Messiah. It is a prayer for mercy to the God of all mercies who delights in showing mercy to those who fear Him.
As for blindness, it was very common in Jesus’ day. Blindness is a horrible affliction in any age, but it was especially so in 1st century Israel. There were no guide dogs, no public programs, no way to read, no specialized schools or services. The blind were left to beg for their daily bread. The blind also lived under the social stigma that their blindness was God’s punishment for some sin that either they or their ancestors had committed. (John 9:1-2) Bartimaeus was completely dependent on the mercy of others for his existence.
The blind beggars at the side of the road is the perfect picture of what faith in Jesus is all about. Bartimaeus cannot see Jesus, yet he believes in what He has heard. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God.
Faith is a beggar before God. It offers nothing. It itself is a gift and faith receives everything as a gift. Luther said of faith that it is the hand that receives the gifts God gives through the gospel. When we look at Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, we see what faith in Christ looks like, and we, as is to be true of all Christians take our place at his side praying to Jesus for the same mercy.
Now you see why this prayer occurs so often in the Liturgy: “Lord, have mercy.” Kyrie eleison. “In peace, let us pray to the Lord. Lord, have mercy. Christ, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy on us.” This is the language and theology that is missing from the “let us entertain you” church growth crowd. This is biblical language that doesn’t make sense to the modern self identified Christian. We are sinners, undeserving of God’s favor, forgiveness, and blessings. Thus we pray, thus we cry, Lord have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon me.
The crowd that tried to silence Bartimaeus, ended up calling to him. “Cheer up. Get up. He’s calling to you.” Bartimaeus 50 “throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. 51 And replying to him, Jesus said, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’”
Why would Jesus ask that? He already knows what Bartimaeus wants. It would be pretty obvious. He already called out for mercy, but Jesus wants him to say it specially. He wants us to say out loud what we want from God.
The apostle Paul teaches, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
“You do not have because you do not ask.” (James 4:2)
“This is the confidence which we have in Christ, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.” (1 John 5:14)
Bartimaeus wanted to see. He believed that Jesus had the power to restore his sight. He wanted to fix his own eyes on Jesus. Jesus responds with a curious reply: “Go your way; your faith has saved you.” Your faith has saved you. The word Jesus uses is “saved” not healed. It includes though both salvation, the forgiveness of sins and heal. It is one package fill with many benefits. Jesus’s statement here is identical to the words spoken by Jesus to the bleeding woman in Mark 5:34. The blind beggar now comes under Christ’s reign and rule, in a decisive way, for which reason the perfect tense verb form, sesōken, is used—the act has happened and a new situation now obtains.
Bartimaeus recognizes Jesus for who He truly is (47), and, given his understanding of Jesus’s identity, he persists in his request (47–48), for he knows not only the identity of, but also the character of, the one to whom he pleads. Jesus is the Lord God who shows mercy to the undeserving.
Faith cries out to Jesus for mercy; and faith receives mercy from Jesus. With Jesus blind eyes see. Sinners are forgiven. The dead rise back to life. Jesus came to fix what Adam broke. He came to bring a new creation with His dying and rising – a new creation in which the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap for joy, the leper is cleansed, and the dead rise to life.
In Bartimaeus we see a small fulfillment of the promise given to us in the Old Testament lesson this morning. “‘Lord, save Your people, The remnant of Israel!’. . . Among them those who are blind and those who limp, The pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together; They will return here as a great assembly…for I am a father to Israel . . .”
“Lord have mercy.” These words not only remind us that we are beggars; they remind us who is serving who in the “worship service” – we don’t come here to serve, but to be served by Jesus! To receive the Lord’s mercy.
As you all know, when Luther died, a note was pulled from his pocket. On the note was written, “No one can think that he has tasted the Holy Scriptures thoroughly until he has ruled over the churches with the prophets for a hundred
years.” Then in Luther’s hand writing a response. “This is true. We are all beggars.”
We are still, and will always be beggars. From the day we were brought to the baptismal font as helpless infants to the day we breathe our last – we remain beggars who must rely fully and only on Jesus’s mercy.
And He gives it to us in the Word and Sacrament ministry of the church where we receive the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, adoption as sons and daughters, and admission into our heavenly home and life without sin eternal.
AMEN.
May the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.