Preaching the Scriptures

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 10:46-52 What does Jesus give the man who has nothing? This man has no name.   See, Bartimaeus is not a name.   It is looks like a name, on the page, in English, but it is not.   It is a description.   It means simply “son of Timaeus”.   Were you reading this is Aramaic, which would be pretty impressive, by the way, the line at the beginning of today's gospel passage would rather awkwardly read: “son of Timaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.”     This man has no name – only identifiers.   He is a son.   He is blind.   He is a beggar.   And apparently, that is all you need to know. Oh, and one more thing: he is annoying.   Not because he is a beggar.   Blind folks in first century Palestine had to beg.   There were no sight centers or social safety nets.   The crowds understood that. It was just that Jesus has attracted this large crowd in Jericho, on his way to Jerusalem.   They really want t

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 10:35-45 Passion Passion Passion Three times.   This has happened three times.   In the verses immediately preceding today's Gospel reading, Jesus predicts his passion and death for the third time.   And for the third time, his disciples just don't get it. After the first passion prediction in Mark's Gospel, Peter took Jesus aside and rebuked him – which Jesus did not love.   You might remember Jesus gave Peter the less-than-desirable nickname “Satan” after that little encounter.   Peter expected big things from Jesus; that is why he was following Jesus.   He was sure Jesus was selling himself short.   Surely he could do better than death on a cross.   That was a pretty low bar. The first try didn't take, so Jesus tries again.   Still not successful.   After the second passion prediction in Mark's Gospel, the disciples argue about which of them is the greatest; they spent the road trip jockeying for position i