WHO IS BARTIMAEUS? (October 25, 2009)
Text: Mark 10:46 – 52
Mark 10:46-52 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. (47) When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (48) Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" (49) Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you." (50) So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. (51) Then Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man said to him, "My teacher, let me see again." (52) Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way. (NRSV)
Who is Bartimaeus? We have his story in Mark 10: 46 – 52, but other than that we really do not know much about him. He was blind, but was he born blind? Or, did he have an illness that caused him to go blind? Consider the story of Olympic Skater, Nancy Kerrigan’s mother. “… When Nancy was just a year old, her mother sustained nerve damage in her eyes from a virus and became legally blind. To watch her daughter perform, Brenda must press her nose against the TV screen and realize the blurred image is her daughter. Nonetheless, Brenda Kerrigan has always been her daughter's greatest fan.” (Raymond McHenry. McHenry’s Quips, Quotes & Other Notes. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004, p. 217). We know from stories like Brenda Kerrigan’s story that she was not born blind but became blind because of a virus she had. We also know that her blindness did not cause her to become a beggar.
Are we not all restless beggars who hunger for God's grace until we find it?
Bartimaeus became a beggar because that was the only way he could make a living.
1) He was at the mercy of both strangers and people who knew him for help.
2) Maybe some people even considered him to be a nuisance.
3) When you consider the way the crowd looked at Bartimaeus, it seems like a logical conclusion to make.
4) Are there times when we might see others the way this crowd saw Bartimaeus?
WHO IS BARTIMAEUS IN THE BIBLE?
How much do we know about him? Like we mentioned earlier, we know that Bartimaeus is blind and that he is a beggar? What else do we know?
1) How do we feel about beggars? Do we look down on them? Do we look at beggars with a “one-size-fits-all” point of view?
2) How often do we find ourselves being suspicious about the authenticity of each beggar’s circumstances?
3) Someone (Warren W. Wiersbe) once said that there are “lazy people who never work but expect others to take care of them”. (Warren W. Wiersbe. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete Old Testament In One Volume. Colorado Springs: 2007, p. 1077). It is one thing to be pseudo-needy, but it altogether another thing to be openly-greedy. Is Bartimaeus one of these so-called “lazy people?”
Not all beggars are alike. Consider this story to illustrate that point. “A man was walking along the street late one evening when he was approached by a beggar. "Can you please help me?" the man asked. "Would you give some money for some food to a poor man? I don't have a possession to my name, except this gun that's in my hand." ” (Steve May. The Story File. “Persuasion”. Peabody Hendrickson Publishers, 2000, p. 238). You talk about an offer that cannot be refused!
Did you notice how the crowd in this story responded to Bartimaeus? There were two responses. First, the crowd shunned Bartimaeus. They wanted to exclude Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus had nothing in common with those in the crowd right? Wrong! The crowd that was following Jesus were beggars themselves. They were no different from Bartimaeus because they too, wanted Jesus’s assistance. Are we not all beggars at the feet of Jesus? Then there is the second response. Notice how the opinion and response of the crowd changed when Jesus told the crowd to tell Bartimaeus to come to Him!
Bartimaeus addresses Jesus in way that is different from those in the crowd.
1) Bartimaeus is the only one there who identifies Jesus as the Son of David. As someone (A. K. M. Adam) points out that the Gospel of Mark “… deploys healing stories to underline the contrast between outsiders who see Jesus and insiders who remain blind to [H]is true identity”. (David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor. eds. Feasting On The Word. Volume 4. A. K. M. Adam. “Exegetical Perspective”. Louisville: Westminster: John Knox Press, 2008, p. 215 ).
2) Although Bartimaeus is physically blind, his perception of Jesus is unique, because no one else in the whole crowd speaks to Jesus the way Bartimaeus did.
WHO IS BARTIMAEUS TO US?
Are we not tempted to think of this scripture as just another miracle story?
1) If we think of it as just another miracle story, then do we not miss the point?
2) If we think of it as just another miracle story, then we can exempt ourselves from taking action.
3) If we look hard enough, then we will see many examples of the characters of this story in real time.
4) Who are the ones on the outside? Who are the ones on the inside? How many of them are spiritually blind? How many times do we encounter “blind moments” because of our denial of what we encounter but choose not to see?
Who are we and where are we this story?
1) Are we over there with the Bartimaeuses of the world?
2) Or, are we hiding in the crowd?
3) Like the crowd in this story, how often have we discouraged anyone from seeking Jesus?
4) Who are the excluded people that we see sitting in the margins in our community?
5) Who are the people in the crowd?
6) We are all people in need of the Savior’s assistance.
7) We do not know the percentages of how many are poor or rich.
8) Proverbs 22:2 reminds us that the Lord is the maker of both the poor and the rich.
9) The Lord is the maker of those who are excluded from the crowd as well as those in the crowd.
How often are we like Jesus in this story?
1) Jesus welcomed a brother named Bartimaeus who was excluded.
2) We, too, should welcome our excluded brothers and sisters.
3) Jesus did not let man-made barriers stop Him from reaching the lost, the neglected or healing the sick.
4) How well doe we follow in His footsteps?
Earlier this week, I met a Bartimaeus. While I was visiting at the Methodist Oaks I was thinking about how I would write a sermon on this text or rewrite an older sermon I once preached on this text. While I was walking down the hall, I was thinking about writing this sermon one way. Before I left, I had a different angle. I was visiting one of my members who happened to be in a room with her peers gathered around a TV set. One of her peers seemed to want me to visit with her. So I did. But, I felt like I was excluding all of the others. So I asked them to sing the first verse of Jesus Loves Me. Everyone in the room joined in. Even those who looked like they were sleeping joined in the singing. Then, we sang Amazing Grace. Before I left, we all had prayer. As I was fixing to leave, there was a lady in that room that I had never met before. We did not talk long. But, what she said made me think hard. She is 94 years old. She told me that she missed fellowship like fellowship that we had shared during that short time. She was the epitome of Bartimaeus.
What do we do when we meet Bartimaeus? As I was walking back to the parking lot, I thought about how many times I have met a Bartimaeus and did not know it. Many times I have walked in nursing homes to visit church members. Many times I have also walked by strangers who lived in these nursing homes when they have said “hi". I usually say “hi” back to them. After I visited at the Oaks this week, I wondered how many people there are who live there who want more than just a “hello” because they want fellowship. So what can we do, when we meet a Bartimaeus in a nursing home or any where we met a Bartimaeus figure? Stop, talk, sing and have fellowship and pray.
The nursing home just one of the many settings where we can meet a Bartimaeus figure.
1) It is also a place that could be a mission field where God is calling us to go as missionaries.
2) I once served a church where there was a group that would go to sing hymns at a nearby nursing home once a month. Those people looked forward to it every month.
3) I want to close this morning by asking two questions. Where is our mission field? What are doing about the harvest that is plentiful where the laborers are so few in the mission field where God has called us?
In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
