Loving God, there are times when seeing, we do not see, and hearing, we do not hear.  Yet, you have the power to restore both our vision and our understanding.  Grant us the eyes to see and the ears to hear your message this day, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    Isn’t it ironic?  Jesus tells his disciples (not for the first time, I might add) that he is going to suffer and die in Jerusalem.  He is going to be mocked and spit on and flogged and killed and then will rise again.  James and John, apparently ignoring everything that Jesus has just said, ask if they can have the seats of honour in his glory.  They want to sit on Jesus’ right and left in positions of power.  Isn’t it ironic, though?  It is actually two thieves who end up on Jesus right and left.

    Isn’t it ironic?  Jesus’ disciples, who have their eyesight, don’t seem to be able to see a thing when it comes to Jesus.  However, Bartimaeus, who is blind, sees exactly who Jesus is.  In fact, he uses a Messianic title when he calls out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mk. 10:47).  He knows who Jesus is, and he knows that Jesus has the power to give him his sight again, and he is not going to be shushed by others in the crowd!  Jesus says to him, “your faith has made you well” (Mk. 10:52).  And Bartimaeus regains his sight and follows Jesus on the way.  Isn’t it ironic?

    The thing is that everything that we heard in today’s gospel is part of a much larger narrative.  The whole middle section of Mark’s gospel begins and ends with the healing of a blind man - one at Bethsaida, and one at Jericho.  In between those two stories, a number of things happen that all point to who Jesus really is, including the transfiguration with the voice from heaven.

    However, interspersed with other events, there are three different times that Jesus tells the disciples about his upcoming suffering and death.  And every single time, it is obvious that the disciples just don’t get it.  The first time, Peter rebukes Jesus, which is never really a good idea.  The second time, the disciples start arguing with one another about who is the greatest.  And the third time (which we heard today) James and John come up and request the places of honour in Jesus’ glory.

    And so, even though Jesus has taught them about taking up their cross, and making themselves last of all and servant of all, and welcoming those who are most vulnerable, it still hasn’t sunk in.  So once again, today, we hear Jesus teaching about serving others.  Do you really want to be great, says Jesus?  Then serve one another, imitating Jesus, who also came to serve.

    It might be easy to sit here today and rag on the disciples for being so thick.  However, can we really be sure that we would have understood had we been in the same position?  In fact, I wonder how many things there are, even now, that we just don’t “get” about the way of Jesus.

    For example, do we really understand why Jesus would spend so much of his time with poor people and sinners and outcasts?  And how comfortable are we imitating Jesus and hanging out with some of the same people?  Would we welcome poor people and outcasts here?

    And what about suffering?  Do we really expect, as followers of Jesus, that suffering will be part of the deal, or do we think that we will be protected from everything because we believe in Jesus?  In Cameroon, I was struck by the fact that an expectation of suffering is written right into the baptism service.  And so, everybody is reminded, right from baptism that an inheritance of eternal life will also come with suffering for the name of Jesus.  How many of us would even sign up if we knew that suffering was part of the deal?

    Another thing that perhaps we have trouble with is all of Jesus’ talk about loving our enemies and turning the other cheek.  Most of us really like the part that Jesus quotes that says “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Mt. 5:38).  However, this is not what Jesus teaches.  Instead, he talks about turning the other cheek and going the second mile and giving to everyone who begs from you.  And then he gets into loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you.  Do we really “get” this?  Do we really ask how to follow Jesus on the way, or do we simply ignore the parts that we don’t like?

    The disciples, it would seem, simply ignored whatever parts they didn’t want to hear - especially when it came to Jesus’ suffering and death.  The same thing happens with families or friends sometimes when somebody is dying, and tries to talk about their impending death, and their family or friends simply don’t want to hear it.  “Don’t talk about that,” they say.  “You’ll be fine!”  Some would call it selective hearing.

    However, then we have people like Bartimaeus, who was blind, and yet could see.  The thing is, though, that there is hope for all of us - even those of us who don’t quite “get” it when it comes to following Jesus.  This statement is based on those same disciples who so often had no idea what Jesus was talking about.

    You see, those same doubting, fearful, misunderstanding disciples end up becoming powerful witnesses for Jesus.  It takes multiple encounters with the risen Jesus and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, but soon they are doing the same things that they just didn’t “get” when they were traveling around with Jesus and trying to learn from him.  The presence of the risen Christ in your life and the power of the Holy Spirit can have that effect on you.

    There is no doubt that following Jesus has its challenges, not the least of which is our desire to follow our own way and our own direction.  However, at the same time, it is following Jesus that leads to resurrection and eternal life and life in all its fulness.  It has also been the experience of those who have followed Jesus over the years that the Holy Spirit gives the gifts of peace, joy and love, even in the midst of trials and difficulties.  This is just one more of those ironic reversals that Jesus seems to bring with him.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lent 2 (NL 2)                                Mark 10:32-52
February 21, 2016
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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