Seeing and not seeing
Commentary
Job and blind Bartimaeus share some things in common. Both are social casualties and the reigning orthodoxy would diagnose their situations as caused by Divine retribution triggered by some inner personal or familial flaw. "Who sinned," the disciples asked Jesus on another occasion, "this man or his parents that he was born blind?" (John 9:2). The old vision of the Divine Cosmic Jailer lingers on even today.
Both Job and Bartimaeus come to see what those around them could not see. Job said, "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you" (Job 42:5). Bartimaeus regains his sight and sees Jesus in a way even the sighted disciples do not see him. Mark's comment that Bartimaeus followed Jesus on the "way" gives more than his spatial location. It indicates his existential location as a follower of the "way" of Jesus. The other disciples are not yet there.
The dissimilarities between Job and Bartimaeus are the textual contexts. Job is a fictional character in a dramatic story that brings under scrutiny the doctrine of reward and retribution. The encounter of Jesus and Bartimaeus is set within Mark's theme of hearing and not hearing and seeing and not seeing that overarches this section of his gospel (Mark 8:22--10:52). This is the theme that governs the exposure of the lesson.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Job does not receive explanations and answers. He undergoes an experience of presence in the midst of his suffering. He perceives the God who cannot be contained in any dogma and whose sovereign freedom transcends all our categories of human judgment.
Job 42:1-6 reminded me of a true story. It used to be my practice to spend a week of reading each year on a seminary campus. I would stay on campus in a dormitory room. One evening several years ago at Andover Newton I could hear a student in a neighboring room loudly practicing what sounded like a sermon. I happened to meet him in the hall the next day. He said that he hoped his sermon practicing had not disturbed my sleep. He was getting ready for his senior sermon in the chapel. I asked him what text he had chosen and he told me Jesus' cry of dereliction, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). I asked him the reason for the choice of this text since it was not holy week. He told me that he grew up in Mississippi and experienced both the hardship of rural poverty and racial discrimination. "One day," he said, "I was reading the gospel of Matthew and came across these words. I brooded over them for a while and then said to myself, 'This man has been where I am!' Those words led me into the ministry."
There has been debate as to whether or not the final paragraphs of Job are a later addition. Why this two-fold restoration of Job's fortune? But then again we are dealing with a God who in his sovereign freedom is not bound by our judgments. Grace abounds at the conclusion of Job.
Hebrews 7:23-28
Some parts of scripture lie dormant for years until experience enlivens them. The book of Revelation is a case in point. In times of persecution Christians have rediscovered the sustaining power of the visions and poetry of John. Some other passages lie dormant because not all have equal value for the contemporary preacher. Some of the passages from Hebrews are a case in point. First century Christians familiar with the liturgy and rites of the temple sacrifices in Jerusalem would not be strangers to the vocabulary of this epistle and would catch the radical way the author uses this vocabulary to interpret the crucified and risen Lord. For this reason I cannot assign a high priority to preaching from passages like today's lesson, at least not without competent preparation on the part of the preacher, lest one use the language in a way that supports grotesque doctrine of blood atonement. The image of Jesus as high priest is a major image in Christian tradition. The English priest/scholar, F. W. Dillistone has written a number of books that would be a help to the interpreter, all published by Westminster Press in Philadelphia. Especially helpful would be The Christian Understanding of Atonement, Christianity and Symbols, Jesus Christ and His Cross.
Mark 10:46-52
This is the last scene in Mark's account of the journey to Jerusalem. Prefaced by the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida, the section concludes with the healing of Bartimaeus, one of the many little people who plays a significant role in Mark's gospel. Through the gospel readings of the past few weeks we should be aware that Jesus has a serious communication problem with his disciples who see him only in terms of the values of their culture. Catch the irony. Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem accompanied by a blind man who sees the "way" of Jesus and sighted disciples who do not see.
I want to suggest a non-traditional interpretation to two actions. First, the cry of Bartimaeus, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me" (Mark 10:47). Bartimaeus, like the 12, understands the messiahship of Jesus in terms of a warrior king, a Messiah of power and glory. It can be argued that his cry for mercy is motivated by genuine fear and foreboding. Would not a military Messiah enforce the dogmas of the priests? The Essene writings speak of two Messiahs, a military leader and a priest, the former subservient to the latter. Under such a militant piety might not the plight of those deemed blemished and the ostracized be even worse?
The crowd tries to silence Bartimaeus, an indication that their hopes are pinned to a David-type liberator. Shouting out that title was not wise given the possible presence in the crowd of Roman ears. The crowd started to rough up the blind man. Violence always hovered over the crowds around Jesus. Jesus calls Bartimaeus. Could this action be interpreted as giving protective custody to Bartimaeus? At any rate, he sees Jesus and his "way" as the way of the cross.
How does our culture today influence the way we who are the official circle around Jesus see and understand him? In what way do our own agendas of achievement and success blind us to the way of Jesus as James and John were blinded? Can we see others without seeing them?
Both Job and Bartimaeus come to see what those around them could not see. Job said, "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you" (Job 42:5). Bartimaeus regains his sight and sees Jesus in a way even the sighted disciples do not see him. Mark's comment that Bartimaeus followed Jesus on the "way" gives more than his spatial location. It indicates his existential location as a follower of the "way" of Jesus. The other disciples are not yet there.
The dissimilarities between Job and Bartimaeus are the textual contexts. Job is a fictional character in a dramatic story that brings under scrutiny the doctrine of reward and retribution. The encounter of Jesus and Bartimaeus is set within Mark's theme of hearing and not hearing and seeing and not seeing that overarches this section of his gospel (Mark 8:22--10:52). This is the theme that governs the exposure of the lesson.
Sermon Seeds In The Lessons
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Job does not receive explanations and answers. He undergoes an experience of presence in the midst of his suffering. He perceives the God who cannot be contained in any dogma and whose sovereign freedom transcends all our categories of human judgment.
Job 42:1-6 reminded me of a true story. It used to be my practice to spend a week of reading each year on a seminary campus. I would stay on campus in a dormitory room. One evening several years ago at Andover Newton I could hear a student in a neighboring room loudly practicing what sounded like a sermon. I happened to meet him in the hall the next day. He said that he hoped his sermon practicing had not disturbed my sleep. He was getting ready for his senior sermon in the chapel. I asked him what text he had chosen and he told me Jesus' cry of dereliction, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46). I asked him the reason for the choice of this text since it was not holy week. He told me that he grew up in Mississippi and experienced both the hardship of rural poverty and racial discrimination. "One day," he said, "I was reading the gospel of Matthew and came across these words. I brooded over them for a while and then said to myself, 'This man has been where I am!' Those words led me into the ministry."
There has been debate as to whether or not the final paragraphs of Job are a later addition. Why this two-fold restoration of Job's fortune? But then again we are dealing with a God who in his sovereign freedom is not bound by our judgments. Grace abounds at the conclusion of Job.
Hebrews 7:23-28
Some parts of scripture lie dormant for years until experience enlivens them. The book of Revelation is a case in point. In times of persecution Christians have rediscovered the sustaining power of the visions and poetry of John. Some other passages lie dormant because not all have equal value for the contemporary preacher. Some of the passages from Hebrews are a case in point. First century Christians familiar with the liturgy and rites of the temple sacrifices in Jerusalem would not be strangers to the vocabulary of this epistle and would catch the radical way the author uses this vocabulary to interpret the crucified and risen Lord. For this reason I cannot assign a high priority to preaching from passages like today's lesson, at least not without competent preparation on the part of the preacher, lest one use the language in a way that supports grotesque doctrine of blood atonement. The image of Jesus as high priest is a major image in Christian tradition. The English priest/scholar, F. W. Dillistone has written a number of books that would be a help to the interpreter, all published by Westminster Press in Philadelphia. Especially helpful would be The Christian Understanding of Atonement, Christianity and Symbols, Jesus Christ and His Cross.
Mark 10:46-52
This is the last scene in Mark's account of the journey to Jerusalem. Prefaced by the healing of the blind man at Bethsaida, the section concludes with the healing of Bartimaeus, one of the many little people who plays a significant role in Mark's gospel. Through the gospel readings of the past few weeks we should be aware that Jesus has a serious communication problem with his disciples who see him only in terms of the values of their culture. Catch the irony. Jesus prepares to enter Jerusalem accompanied by a blind man who sees the "way" of Jesus and sighted disciples who do not see.
I want to suggest a non-traditional interpretation to two actions. First, the cry of Bartimaeus, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me" (Mark 10:47). Bartimaeus, like the 12, understands the messiahship of Jesus in terms of a warrior king, a Messiah of power and glory. It can be argued that his cry for mercy is motivated by genuine fear and foreboding. Would not a military Messiah enforce the dogmas of the priests? The Essene writings speak of two Messiahs, a military leader and a priest, the former subservient to the latter. Under such a militant piety might not the plight of those deemed blemished and the ostracized be even worse?
The crowd tries to silence Bartimaeus, an indication that their hopes are pinned to a David-type liberator. Shouting out that title was not wise given the possible presence in the crowd of Roman ears. The crowd started to rough up the blind man. Violence always hovered over the crowds around Jesus. Jesus calls Bartimaeus. Could this action be interpreted as giving protective custody to Bartimaeus? At any rate, he sees Jesus and his "way" as the way of the cross.
How does our culture today influence the way we who are the official circle around Jesus see and understand him? In what way do our own agendas of achievement and success blind us to the way of Jesus as James and John were blinded? Can we see others without seeing them?
