The Blind See

⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” ⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

⁵² “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

 Finishing his teaching on service, Jesus and the disciples arrive at Jericho.  As they leave that city, surrounded by a large crowd (other disciples, their families, hangers on?--we simply don't know), they come across a blind man begging.

The story plays on the irony that the man can't see anyone and everyone else wants to be blind to his existence.  We are told his name, Bartimaeus, which is unusual in Mark (we are only given a few names in previous healings--Simon's nameless Mother-in-law, the name of the demons that inhabit the man (Legion) and the name of the father of the girl Jesus heals (Jairus)--only here are we given the proper name of the man actually healed).  And Mark feels the need to explain the name.  This seems entirely unnecessary, as it is a simple hebrew construction where "bar" means "son of".  This seems to indicate that Mark's original readers would not have spoken Hebrew and needed to understand that the name indicated relationship.  But, it provides a pause for those who know Greek, as they realize that the fathers name means honor.  So this blind man is both Timaeus' son, but also a son of honor as he will prove as the story progresses.

But this Son of Honor is by the side of the road, begging.  Is Mark talking about the way the Gentiles have often been treated.  They are blind in need of hope, but on the outside looking in.  Though they are according to Jesus adopted sons (bar) of the Jewish tradition, they are left at the side of the road begging.  Is Jesus' last miracle not just that he heals a blind man, but also that he forces the Jews to recognize that his message extends to the Greek speaking gentile world?

Bartimaeus calls out to Jesus with a title rooted in Jewish tradition.  "Son of David," he cries, "have mercy on me."  Of all the things that Jesus has been called so far in Mark (Messiah, Son of God, Teacher, Lord) this is the first time Jesus is called son of David.  Having been introduced as son of Timaeus, it seems appropriate that he refers to Jesus as a son as well.  He is blind not only physically, but spiritually as well as he does not see Jesus as son of God.  It was common in the teaching of the day (as we will find out later) that the Messiah was to be the son of David, so this was a title of honor that had significant political and religious implications (although, Jesus will later deny this identity in a dispute in Jerusalem).

The crowd tries to shout him down.  His presence has always been a burden on the community as a blind man in that day could not fend for himself.  He was an utterly dependent person.  And the  community appears to have wanted to put on their best chamber of commerce face for Jesus and they would rather the disciples meet the mayor than the town beggar.  

But he will not stop, he can not see, but he can speak.  He is not seen, but he is heard.  "Call him," Jesus says.  This is the word used for gathering disciples, so Jesus instructs the crowd and disciples to invite him in to the community.  The group does a remarkable about face and act almost as if the calling of Bartimaeus has been their idea.  The blind man is incredibly excited and tosses away his cloak, which likely was the modern equivalent of a violin case or hat used to collect money.  So when he tosses away his cloak, Bartimaeus is leaving his old life behind.

Jesus asks Bartimaeus what he wants.  Unlike James and John who respond to this question with a desire for an honored place, Bartimaeus merely wants to see.  He does not want to aggrandize himself, but has a desire to be whole.  I suspect that Jesus took this to mean not only a restoration of his physical sight, but also a clarifying of his spiritual sight moving him to understand that Jesus is not merely the son of David, but also the son of God.

In the final healing of the gospel, Jesus again seems to have the ease of the early miracles.  There are not complications, just the command to go.  And not surprisingly, the son of honor joins the group to follow Jesus on the way.  His response is so different from the disciples who have on the way been arguing about who was the greatest.

Next stop, Jerusalem.

Whatever We Ask

³² They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. ³³ “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, ³⁴ who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”

³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

³⁶ “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

³⁷ They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

³⁸ “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

³⁹ “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, ⁴⁰ but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

⁴¹ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. ⁴² Jesus called them together and said,“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The disciples and Jesus are on the way up to Jerusalem.  The early Christian community took the term "the way" to describe their movement.  The disicples are in shock and fear at Jesus' resolute march to the center of Jewish religious practice.  Is it because they believe what Jesus has told him about his coming death or because they know that there is a movement afoot to do harm to him there?  They walk with the dread of knowing that nothing good (in their minds) can happen the way they are going and wondering why Jesus doesn't just go somewhere else.

Jesus tells the disciples for the third time about what will happen in Jerusalem.  Each time he tells them, more detail is revealed.  Now, it is revealed that the chief priests and teachers of the law who will take him and condemn him.  The Gentiles will mock, spit on, flog and kill him.

Immediately following the stark description of what will happen, with nothing to buffer, James and John come to Jesus to ask him to do for them whatever they want.  This should come as no real surprise because after each previous prediction disciples have stuck their foot in their mouth (Peter rebukes Jesus, the disciples discuss who will be greatest).  They seem unable to understand the gravity  of what is happening.  They hold so strongly to the old definition of Messiah, that they are unable to see Jesus as anything other than the military leader who will conquer the Roman occupier and pass out the spoils of victory.

James and John misunderstand Jesus in much  the same way as many modern people do.  They view Jesus as a way to get what they want.  They are more concerned about what Jesus can do for them than what they can do for Jesus.  They are more interested in being served than in serving.

Like children, they cover their real question by asking for the less specific "whatever".  Jesus will have none of it and asks them directly what they want.  The reluctance of James and John may be like the disciple's previous ones where they have been reluctant to speak to Jesus about their true thoughts.  They know that what they want is not a part of Jesus' mission, but it is what consumes them.

"Can one of us sit on your right and left in glory?", they ask.  If Jesus had said yes, we can be sure it would have been a short time before James and John each came to Jesus privately and asked to be on the right!

Jesus asks what he intends to be rhetorical questions.  "Can you drink the cup I am drinking?"  "Can you be baptized with the baptism I am undergoing?"  Jesus asks them if they are able to suffer with him.

Like the rich man in the previous story, the disciples answer in the affirmative.  But rather than looking on the disciples with love, Jesus merely responds that they will get the cup and baptism they have asked for even though they don't have the slightest idea what it means.  Jesus refuses to do what they have really asked him to do.  He refuses to play the role of cosmic rabbit's foot.  Jesus will not do "whatever they ask" anymore than Jesus will do whatever we ask.  They need to learn that disciples do whatever God asks.

When the other disciples find out, they are furious.  Not, one would presume, at James and John's misunderstanding of Jesus but that they did not think of asking first.

Jesus takes this opportunity to differentiate between the world's use of power and authority and authority and power in God's kingdom.  Politicians use power to gain authority to exercise it over others to accomplish what they want.  It is essentially the working of selfish people to shape the world to their desires.  Jesus' disciples are to serve others and gain authority and power through their selflessness.  And it is Jesus who models this by drinking the cup, receiving the baptism, and redeeming humanity by serving the world.

Being Loved By Jesus

¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

¹⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³ Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴ The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again,“Children, how hard it is^[b] to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

²⁸ Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

²⁹ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel ³⁰ will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

From the discussion of divorce, Jesus is placed again in a familial setting as he is asked by parents to place his hands on their children.  The theme over all of these recent passages seems to be those who are dependent on others (divorced women, children).  Jesus shows a special compassion for the least of these, but his disciples see them as just another waste of Jesus time.  They want to be about the big flashy work (miracles and crowds) and see these pestering parents as road blocks to doing great things for God.

There is that word again--rebuke.  It is the word used throughout Mark to describe the driving out of demons.  So when the disciples rebuke the people bringing the children to Jesus it is a strong response.  The important point to remember is that the last time a disciple tried to rebuke someone, it was Simon Peter trying to get Jesus to renounce his impending death.  In that case, Peter was the one who needed to be rebuked just as the disciples will need correction here.

Jesus again reiterates to the disciples that the kingdom of God is the possession of the child-like (not the childish).  Children have the graces of wonder and dependence.  These are the qualities that one must have to truly accept the gospel.  Jesus takes the children in his arms and blesses them.

This action of blessing will serve as a dramatic counterpoint to the next person who comes to Jesus and will refuse to be embraced but instead will leave.

An unidentified man comes running to Jesus and falls on his knees before him.  It brings to mind all the other people who have fallen at Jesus feet when they meet him.  On every occasion, they leave with Jesus having met their needs.

Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?, he asks.  When Jesus asks him why he calls him "good," it may be to see if this man is ready to recognize that Jesus is the son of God and thus "good" in a way that God alone can be.  We are not told that the man asks this to test Jesus, but this is the way that Pharisees and others approach Jesus with a question rather than a plea.  The question itself seems a bit of a trap as inheritances are given not something that one earns.

Jesus affirms that the man already knows the answer of what "to do," which is to keep the commandments.  Jesus then lists only those that describe how a person treats others.  It is almost as if Jesus is telling the man, if you just live right all the time and never break any commandments, you don't really need God at all.  That is what you "must do" to gain eternal life.

In what is a surprising claim to the ears of those who believe in universal sinfulness and the impossibility of keeping all of the commandments, the man avers that he has done all these things since birth.

It is then that Jesus looks at the man, perhaps remembering the children who have so recently been before them, he sees in him the braggadocio and lack of personal reflection that is a part of being young.  Whatever the case, Jesus looks at him and loves him.  And this is an important point.  This word has only been used twice before in the gospel of Mark and both times to describe how God feels about God's son Jesus.  So it would be wise to pay attention to it here--this is the first time that Jesus is said to have loved anybody particularly.

But it is not the warm gooey love of modern affection that Jesus offers.  Jesus loves him and so he demands something more.  Go sell everything and give it to the poor is not one of the ten commandments, it is moving beyond thou shalt not to thou shalt.  In a way Jesus loves the man so much that he asks him beyond a religion of prohibition to a life of love.

This is the first time that Jesus' command to follow has been prefaced by a condition.  The man must acknowledge that he is dependent not on his own scrupulous law keeping, but on God to provide when he has nothing left to rely upon.  Sadly, this is too much for him and he turns and walks away.  Jesus loved the man enough to ask him to change, but the man didn't love Jesus enough to change.  The man's face falls because he has great wealth.  Which shows the failure of the man to understand.  He can't give everything away because he has so much?  Wouldn't any person have the same problem. If you give away everything and you are rich, you have nothing.  If you give everything away and you are poor, you have nothing.  The amount you have to give is not what makes the action of giving more difficult, it is instead your attitude about what you have that presents the challenge.

How hard it is for the rich, Jesus comments.  Certainly this is not all the rich, but an attitude that is most commonly found in those with wealth.  Having resources, they mistake them for security.  They come to believe that money solves all of life's problems not just money problems.  Jesus says it is as hard as a camel going through the eye of a needle.  Leaving aside discussions that compare this to a gate in Jerusalem, Jesus almost surely seems to be again using hyperbole and humor to make a point.

Stopped by the ridiculous image, the disciples ask who then can be saved.  This is a rather interesting question as the disciples take what Jesus has said about the rich and applied it to all of humanity.  Jesus goes on to say that God is in the business of working the impossible.  This means that some camels will find a way through the needle, but one can surmise it is done only when they have been stripped of all their unnecessary baggage.

Peter, who like the rest of the disciples seems continually to be jockeying for position, exclaims that he and the others have left everything to follow.  And for a change, Jesus agrees with him.  Giving up everything they have gained everything.  Jesus does include a couple of uncomfortable cautions in his praise.  First, he suggests that the everything they will gain for following includes persecution.  Then, Jesus concludes by telling the disciples that the first will be last, which may mean the order of this world will change but it may also caution Peter and the others that just because they have been first to answer the call to follow it does not give them the special importance they seem to want so desperately. 

Til Death Do Us Part

Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.

² Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

⁵ “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. ⁶ “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ⁷ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, ⁸ and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰ When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. ¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. ¹² And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

After Jesus concludes his private teaching with the disciples, he again is on the road.  The crowd once again gathers and now rather than a miracle, Jesus teaches them.

Some of the Pharisees come and ask Jesus about divorce.  This is not the first time the topic appears in Mark, earlier John the Baptist has been beheaded because of his repudiation of the divorce and remarriage of Herodias. It appears that the topic was as much of a hot potato then as it is now in many religious circles.  Will Jesus respond with scripture or will Jesus take a pragmatic approach.  "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?", they ask.  It was a time when a man could easily end a marriage and then have no responsibility for the woman he had cast aside.  Most importantly to those who ask the question, will Jesus say that divorce is wrong and then potentially end up on the wrong side of Herod and potentially meet the same judgement?

Rather than a direct reply, Jesus asks for Moses' command on the issue.  This poses the interesting question--are Moses' commands God's commands?  Or is Jesus implying that the Pharisees are more concerned with Moses' announcements than God's intention.

The Pharisees respond that Moses had established a legal process that allowed the marriage to be dissolved.  They use Deuteronomy 24:1-4 as their citation--which ironically is not a "command" about divorce.  This passage is not about the legality of divorce, but its practical implication.  A man who has divorced his wife may not remarry her after she has been married to someone else according to Moses.  The assumption is that with a legal document divorce is permitted.  This is one of the many times when Jesus turns the question he is asked back on the questioner and they reveal that they already knew the answer.

It must be kept in mind that arranged marriages that intertwined families were the order of the day.  To get a divorce was not merely to rend the nuclear family, but it was a form of disobedience to the will of the parents and thus a fracturing of the Ten Commandments.

If the Pharisees knew the answer, then one might wonder why they asked.  It may be due to a controversy of the day over the grounds that made a divorce permissible.  One rabbinic school of thought believed that divorce was only permitted when a woman had an affair.  Another rabbinic school had a long list of acceptable reasons including ruining a meal.  The Pharisees may really have wanted Jesus to tell them under what conditions divorce was an option.

But Jesus does not want to get into an argument about conditions.  He declares that Moses allowed divorce because of the hard heartedness of people.  So if divorce is legal is it God's intention?  The answer here clearly is no.  Jesus does not give a list of acceptable reasons for divorce.  Instead, he goes back to Genesis to argue that God's intention for marriage is that it be the establishing of a permanent new family situation.  The law has provision for the frailties and sinfulness of human beings, but marriage is intended by God to be permanent.  

Jesus goes on to say that no person should separate what God has joined, which seems to assign blame for the divorce not just on the parties in the marriage, but also those who are outside the marriage and for whatever reason whether it be gossip or lust or some other cause that places fracturing stress on the relationship.

The disciples who are afraid to ask Jesus about his death and resurrection, are fearless in asking Jesus about this hot button social issue when they finally get him into the privacy of the house. Jesus tells the disciples that both a man or a woman who enter into a new marriage commit adultery against their previous spouse.  

It is a rather different interpretation than many would have had during Jesus day.  First, his response assumes that women could initiate a divorce.  This was not the case in Jewish law although it was in the Roman world.  Second, he suggests that a man who remarries commits adultery against her (whether the first or second wife, we don't know).  In the Jewish world, only men could be the victim of adultery as they were the only party in the marriage that could gain or lose honor.  Jesus raises the possibility that women are equal partners in a marriage relationship. 

But with this equality comes an equal share of the responsibility.  Divorce is not God's intent but it can be initiated by either the man or the woman and either also can enter into dishonoring relationships.  It is not clear, but it may be that Jesus here is speaking against marriages where one party divorces another to pursue someone else and then marries them.

This is not an easy passage.  The concepts in it may use the same words we use for modern relationships, but they portray practices of the ancient world that may only shadow those of the modern world.  I think when faced with the question of divorce, we should give the same answer that Jesus does.  God's intention is that marriage is permanent, but we are fallen creatures in a fallen order and God's intentions are not perfectly lived out.  That is where the power of grace resides.