The 3 C’s of Bartimaeus: Crowd, Cloak and Conclusion
30th Sunday – Year B (Mk 10:46-52)
I thought I would start my sermon with, “True or False?” Are you ready? The following statements are based on the text of the gospel of today. If you agree to the following statements you simply raise your hands with an open palm, if you disagree with the statement then you show a clenched fist. So, true or false? Here we go…
1. The father of the blind man in today’s gospel was called, Timaeus (v.46).
2. Bartimaeus was not born blind (v.51).
3. Jesus hears our voices even when we pray amidst the noise of the crowd – amidst distractions (v.48).
4. The blind man went to Jesus naked (v.50).
5. The blind man was disobedient to the words of Jesus (v.52).
The gospel of today, the final section of Mk 10, is full of details. It is very unusual for Mark to be so descriptive. Scripture scholars say that details in a gospel narrative attest to the historicity of the event. There could be an eyewitness account here. But these details also could have had some symbolic significance to the Christian community to which it was first narrated, as it has significance for us today. So I invite you to reflect on three important details of the gospel text of today. Let me refer to them as the 3 C’s of the story of Bartimaeus: Crowd, Cloak and Conclusion.
The Crowd
The Gospel of today opens with the following sentence: “Jesus left Jericho, with his disciples and a great crowd” (v.46). This crowd was perhaps made up of enthusiastic followers of Jesus, or perhaps they were fellow pilgrims to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. But Jesus has been constantly testing their intentions, especially in Mark 10: from the story of the rich man (Mk 10:17-31) Jesus has invited them to be detached from their possessions, and from the story of James and John (Mk 10:35-45) Jesus had challenged them on their attitude towards power and privileges as disciples of Jesus. Now to crown it all, there is a miracle of healing a blind man, so that they may see what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
This crowd that follows Jesus is very mixed. Apparently, there are people who are discussing Jesus as they walk along with him. So Bartimaeus hears from them about Jesus (v.47) and begins to respond to the presence of Jesus. His way of addressing Jesus, “Son of David” might suggest that he not only knows the genealogy of Jesus, but could also be that the blind man already perceives Jesus to be the Messiah – the Christ! But the crowd now becomes a stumbling block. They muffle the blind man’s cry for help. But God hears the cry of the poor (Ps 22:25). Jesus reminds the crowd around him that they too should hear the cry of the poor. They should be instrumental in facilitating people to come to Jesus. And so, the crowd now tells the blind man, “Courage, he is calling you”. They bring him to Jesus.
In our context, today, we can take this crowd to be the people from whom we first heard about Jesus – our family, our teachers, the church. The crowd could also be the larger society that prevents us from encountering Jesus today – the media, the consumerist culture, the secular world. The crowd could also be those who facilitate our encounter with Jesus – our friends, the apostolic groups, our parish community. To what crowd are we drawn to?
And we, what part of the crowd are we in? Are we playing the role of those who at least spread the word about Jesus, or are we putting off others from encountering Jesus, or are we part of the crowd that offers courage to people, that God in Jesus cares for them?
The Cloak
When at last the blind man has the chance to approach Jesus, we are told, “So throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus” (v.50). Considering other references in the Bible, the cloak here could have at least two meanings. It could simply mean an exterior tunic that was his upper garment (Is 59:17; Job 1:20; Mt 5:40), or it was a large square piece of cloth (Lk 6:29; 2Tim 4:13) that the blind man had spread in front of him to collect some coins from the passers by. In any case, his act of throwing off his cloak shows a renunciation (that the rich man was unable to do earlier in Mark 10). The blind man does not need his cloak any more – he goes out to Jesus in symbolic nakedness. The blind man does not need his coins any more – because he is going to be healed now. He does not need his material security any more – because he has Jesus himself now.
What is the cloak that we shelter ourselves in? What is that cloak that we find so difficult to let go? What is that cloak that prevents me from being totally available to Jesus?
The Conclusion (to the cure):
What follows then is the cure. Jesus says, “Go; your faith has saved you.” And at once his sight returned and Bartimaeus followed him along the road.” Two Sundays ago, in the gospel story (Mk 10:21-22) Jesus told the rich man, “Come and follow me”, but he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth. But in the gospel story of today, Jesus says, ‘go’… but this man follows him along the road, for he was totally empty. One who was sitting on the side walks at the beginning of the story, is now on the road, following Jesus. Perhaps, Bartimaeus was a known person in the early Christian community, that is why his name is remembered!
This is the conclusion to any encounter with Jesus: renunciation and discipleship! One of the central themes in the Gospel of Mark is discipleship. Mark constantly reminds us right from chapter 9 (Mk 9:33, 34; 10:32) that Jesus was on the road – the road to Jerusalem, where he is going to suffer, die and rise again. When Mark had made reference to this road, the disciples have also been arguing ‘who is the greatest?’ However, Bartimaeus seems to be the ideal disciple, as Mark concludes his narrative on discipleship. The next episode in Mark’s narration will be Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
What conclusion would you like to see in the story of your own encounter with Jesus? Do you want to follow him along the road, or you want to go away enjoying the favour received from Jesus? Am I ready to walk with Jesus to Jerusalem– to the cross and resurrection?
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