Foretaste of the Sermon to Come
The Texts for Sunday are Jeremiah 31:7-9, Hebrews 7:23-28, Mark 10:46-52
After his transfiguration, Jesus has some tough love for his disciples. He tells them 3 times he’s going to be killed, and he has to keep saying that the last will be first and the first will be last, that their role is to be servants rather than jockeying for position under his coming messianic rule. The poor disciples are blind to who this man Jesus is, even though he’s been telling them all along. In Mark 10:35, James and John have the audacity to ask him to do whatever they ask. Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do?” and they say, “we want you to let us sit next to you in your glory”.
All this blindness over the last two chapters! You’d think after the transfiguration and hearing God’s voice boom from the clouds, “This is my son, whom I love – LISTEN to him,” Jesus wouldn’t have to keep telling them the same thing over and over, but here we are.
But who can see who Jesus is? It’s blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46! He calls Jesus, “Son of David,” which means he knows Jesus is the Messiah. And like James and John, he calls out to him for help, but in a much more humble way – the way a Messiah should be addressed – “have mercy on me!”
This is the way we address him when we sing, “Kyrie Eleison” after confession and absolution…”Lord Have Mercy”! And like he asked his two bumbling disciples a few verses ago, he asks the man, “What do you want?” And instead of asking for status, he asks for his sight. This blind man, Bartimaeus, could see who Jesus is even though he didn’t have use of his eyes. As Jesus did so many times before, he told him, “Go, your faith has healed you,” and indeed, suddenly Bartimaeus could see and he joined Jesus on the way, on the way to the cross. Jesus (Joshua in Hebrew) has crossed the River Jordan into Jericho, and is on his way to liberate and bless Israel and all people through his death and resurrection.
In Sunday’s sermon, listen for the themes of social status, Mark’s messianic secret, messianic expectation, proverbial and literal blindness and sight, and how God works through those who we least expect. Lord Jesus! Have mercy on us and give us eyes to see and ears to hear that you are the one who saves, who makes us whole!
Kyrie Eleison!
