The ‘Last’ Disciple….?

Sermon for Last Sunday after Trinity  – 27  October 2024  – All Saints, Kesgrave

Text: ‘Go,’ said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.                                 (Mark 10v52)

God give you peace my sisters and brothers.

Jesus healed many many people.  Probably in the hundreds and the four Gospels between them list 37 distinct times when Jesus worked miracles including healing.  So it shouldn’t be too difficult to name some of the people He healed.

Here’s a list of some…

• Jairus’ daughter: Jesus healed her after she died, showing that faith can make anything possible 
• The paralytic at Bethesda: Jesus healed him near the “Sheep Gate” in Jerusalem 
• A crowd of people: Jesus healed a crowd of people who were lame, blind, crippled, and unable to speak 
• A blind men: two in Mark 8 – we’ll come back to them later.
• Lepers: lots of lepers – some grateful some forgetful
• A woman who bled for 12 years: Jesus cured her when she touched Him, was it her reaching out to touch Him that ‘made’ the healing possible?
• A paralyzed man: Jesus healed him after his friends had, literally, raised the roof
• The Centurion’s servant: Jesus healed him in Capernaum 
• A man’s withered hand: Jesus healed his hand on the Sabbath 
• A widow of Nain’s son: Jesus raised him from the dead when he was on the way to be buried.
• Man blind from birth: Who was then cast out of the Synagogue for believing in Jesus
• Peter’s Mother-in-Law:  imagine that.  Jesus even heals Mother’s-in-Law! 

Not a name between them.  Anyone know their names?  We know the names of some of their relatives but not the people themselves.

It’s a bit like the famous Dad’s Army scene isn’t it?

⁴⁸ Many rebuked [Bartimaeus] and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’  So they called to the blind man, ‘Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.’ ⁵⁰ Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. (Mark 10v48-50

Why is it we know his name, but not the names of the two blind men Jesus healed earlier in Mark Chapter 8?  It is interesting to note that this central part of Mark’s Gospel is book-ended with the healing of blind people.  At the beginning two men are healed and we hear nothing more about them.  At the end we get to know Bartimaeus by name.

The disciples, and they seem to be too good at this, don’t want Bartimaeus (along with any children) to bother Jesus,  However Bartimaeus is having none of it, ‘he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’

(What is it with the disciples that they stand around Jesus and only allow religious leaders and wealthy rulers to get close to Him?  A lesson the Church might learn…)

When Jesus finally hears the cry of Bartimaeus, he calls him to him – a living parable of walking by faith not by sight – and questions him. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ 

I don’t know about you but if I were in Bartimaeus’ sandals I would be saying to myself, ‘I thought I was the one who was blind.  Can’t Jesus see that I can’t see?’

But Jesus is gracious and doesn’t presume that the healing Bartimaeus desires is what everyone else thinks it is.  Those who are involved in counselling and healing ministries are very used to the concept of the Presenting Problem.  Very often people ask to speak about one thing and end up talking about what really matters.  Bartimaeus does not do this, instead he simply says, ‘Rabbi, I want to see.’

Imaginative Prayer Exercise

Imagine the crowd, Bartimaeus and Jesus as if you were making a movie. Pay attention to the details: sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feelings of the event. Lose yourself in the story; don’t worry if your imagination is running too wild. At some point, place yourself in the scene.  Which character are you?  One of the crowd?  A little child – there seem to be a lot of children in these chapters?  A grumpy disciple?  Perhaps Bartimaeus or a friend of his?

At the resurrection of Lazarus, Martha, one of his sisters, goes to fetch his other sister Mary with the words, “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” (John 11v28).

What is stopping each of us, every day, from stopping and listening to His gentle loving voice until that day in Paradise we meet Him face to face and He will call us by name….

oooOOOooo

This blog  ‘The ‘Last’ Disciple?’  is copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2024.  It may be reproduced free of charge on condition that the source is acknowledged.