Following in the Way

And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. (Mark 10:52 ESV) Today at International Lutheran Church, we conclude our reading of Mark Chapter 10:46-52 as we celebrate the Reformation. This is the familiar story of blind Bartimaeus who, after crying out, receives his sight in faith. More than just another amazing miracle of the Lord, this is a lesson in what Jesus’ journey to the cross is all about – the salvation of you, of me, and of all.

This story completes the three different types of encounters that Jesus has along His journey to Jerusalem and the cross. The chapter began with the first type of those who react negatively and harshly to the ministry of Jesus. To start with, the Pharisees attempted to discredit Jesus, His teaching, and His person by testing Him about the propriety of divorce. The carefully worded question was not meant to seriously or sympathetically address the brokenness of our condition but to entrap Jesus in His words.

The second type was that of the eager young man who came to Jesus asking the ultimate question of what he must do to inherit eternal life. While his earnest search and desire to know the truth can be seen in his kneeling before the “good teacher,” the brutal honesty and sincerity of where his true treasure was found can be seen in the sadness of his departure. His great wealth stood as an impossible barrier in the way of his following after Jesus. But what is impossible with man, is possible with God.

And so, we arrive today at the third type of encounter that Jesus has on the way to the cross. We know the way He is on because Jesus has just made His third and final prediction of what is awaiting Him in Jerusalem. He has told the disciples about how he will face betrayal, mocking, spitting, flogging, crucifixion, and ultimately resurrection on the third day. All this is fast approaching with absolute certainty. In many cultures, to state something three times is one way of stressing its unchangeable nature. Jesus will become the least in the kingdom, the servant of all, the ransom of the nations. What is ironic in all this is that only the blind son of  Timaeus can see it.

Jericho is the same city that was the first of many that fell to the armies of the Lord as Joshua led the people into the Promised Land (Joshua 6:1-27). In fact, the name Joshua and Jesus are the same. (Joshua is the Old Testament Hebrew name for Jesus as pronounced in the Greek speaking world.) It is also the place of the tragic end to the reign of Zedekiah and the deportation of the people of God to Babylon (Jeremiah 39:1-7). But this time the commotion is not the shouting of the Lord’s Army at the command of the Angel of the Lord that we hear. Or the cries of Zedekiah as his sons were slaughtered before his eyes and his sight was taken away (Jeremiah 39:1-7). Instead, the ever-increasing volume of the shouts are coming from a blind beggar named Bartimaeus (Bar means ‘son of’), and those trying to shush him.

Yet here is the good news! “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” (Mark 10:49) What stops Jesus along the way is the very goal to which He marches – “the saving” of a blind man. The word “made well” is this same word used by Peter when he asks, “Who, Lord, can be saved?” (Mark 10:26) Yes, Jesus restored his sight. Yes, his life was transformed in such a way that he left all he had, his cloak which he had tossed aside, and now he was on the way with Jesus. But what is especially apparent here is that his faith, a gift of God itself, is fully realized in the freedom that is his in Jesus. Bartimaeus follows Jesus “in” the way. He is now in Jesus and in His way, just as we are by faith and the gift of Baptism now in Jesus and in His way.

Yes, this faith alone is what makes us shout at the top of our lungs – “Lord Jesus! Have mercy! Save us!” Just as Luther and the reformers found the Hope of all Nations in God’s Word Alone, Christ Alone, Faith Alone, and Grace Alone, we too celebrate this radical reformation in us. Yes, this faith is alive in us and makes us spring up from our sad situation and readies us to shed our cares of sin and death behind! Yes, in this faith we are but beggars, and yet we are overjoyed to hear our Lord’s approach in His Word and in His Holy Sacraments knowing He calls us to come to Him. Yes, in this same faith we are together “Following in His way.”

Pastor Carl