Preaching the Scriptures

  The Rt. Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Mark 10:46-52   Mercy   Before sight, instead of money, his first request was for mercy.   Bartimaeus, the man we encounter in Mark’s Gospel today, was a blind beggar – two conditions that were, of course, in no way mutually exclusive.   He sat by the road in extraordinary need; that was obvious to everyone, and still is.   He was blind.   And so he was poor.   And, he was, based on the initial reaction of the crowd around him, something of a pariah or nuisance.   His temporal needs were vast.   But his first request, his primary plea, was for mercy.   On this particular day, the day recorded in our Gospel reading, Jesus was in Jericho.   And for the people of Jericho that was a really big deal.   It wasn’t every day that a miracle worker passed through town.   And so the buzz built and the crowds assembled.   They came to see Jesus.   And see Jesus they d...

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...