CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH
The Rev. Fred
Weimert October 4, 2009
The Son of Man
In
scripture Jesus is called by many names…
The most familiar is Jesus Christ…
or Jesus the Christ
which is the same as
Jesus the Messiah…
the anointed
one.
He is also called
The son of Man…
a
title that became overlaid with glory
during
the late biblical age…
and
during the days
of the inter-testimental period.
In the book of Daniel
this title Son of Man
which
had once meant simply a human being (Ps. 8)
began
to take on apocalyptic significance…
when
we were told of
one
“like a son of man’
who
comes riding on the clouds,
and
who was given
dominion.
(Dan.
7: 13)
There were other titles for Jesus as
well…
There were some who
called him the Son of God,
and in today’s Gospel reading…
Jesus
was called the Son of David.
You might
think that this title
Son
of David would have been used frequently
for
Jesus.
While the
concept Son of David
was spoken of occasionally
Jesus is only called by this name in
two stories…
in
the story of the healing of the blind man
or as Matthew tells it blind men.
and
in Matthew’s story of the Syrophonician woman.
The irony of
this should not escape us…
Jesus
is only recognized as King David’s son…
by
a woman from another country,
and
she may have used that name
for all Jewish men.
And
it is used here in Mark 10,
and
in all of the parallel versions of the story,
as
the name the blind man used for Jesus.
John’s
gospel
is
afraid we might miss the irony.
so
when he tells the story
of the blind man’s healing.
while
the blind man doesn’t use this title,
Son
of David…
John
explains to us:
Jesus
said,
"I came into this world for judgment
so
that those who do not see
may
see,
and those who do see
may
become blind."
(Jn. 9: 39)
It
was the blind man
who
saw clearly enough to call Jesus
Son
of David…
While
the sighted in this world
never
recognized his royalty.
The gospel
story for today
is a miracle story…
It happens as Jesus was
headed for
toward his
death,
his
crucificition,
or as John pictures it Jesus’
glorification.
Mark
10: 46 – 52
They came to
As he and his disciples
and a large crowd
were
leaving
Bartimaeus
son of Timaeus,
a
blind beggar,
was
sitting by the roadside.
When
he heard that it was Jesus of
he
began to shout out and say,
"Jesus,
Son of David,
have
mercy on me!"
Many
sternly ordered him to be quiet,
but
he cried out even more loudly,
"Son
of David,
have
mercy on me!"
Jesus stood still and said,
"Call him here.
"
And they called the blind man,
saying
to him,
"Take
heart;
get
up,
he
is calling you."
So throwing off his cloak,
he sprang up and came to Jesus.
Then Jesus said to him,
"What
do you want me to do for you?"
The
blind man said to him,
"My
teacher,
let
me see again."
Jesus said to him,
"Go; your faith has made you
well."
Immediately
he regained his sight
and
followed him on the way.
Here ends the reading.
Once upon a
time…
there
was a poor fisher man.
Truly he was poor
and he made his living
by fishing,
But if the truth was fully known
he was also a poor
fisherman.
One
day at about noon
after he had been fishing for hours
with
nothing to show for it.
He
pulled in his nets for that last time
and
in it was a single fish.
The
fish was fairly large
and
of a species
he had never seen before.
And
as he worked to free the fish from the net
he
thought he heard it make a sound.
When
it was completely free from the net
he
lifted the fish to his ear,
and
he heard it say:
“I am a magic fish,
and
if you set me free,
I
will give you three wishes.”
You have all heard this story before
haven’t you…
You probably don’t
remember what the fisherman asked for…
and neither
do I.
I kind of remember that
what he asked for
didn’t
really make him happy.
But I do remember that when I heard
this story as a child…
I dreamed for weeks
about catching a magic fish…
and of the
things I would ask for
with
my wish or wishes.
I
would have been so much more wise.
In a way
this story has a ring of that old tale.
Because, before he heals this man’s
blindness,
has the audacity to ask:
"What do you want me to do for
you?"
In John’s gospel Jesus doesn’t ask
he just heals the man…
No questions
asked…
But
here Jesus asks:
"What do you want me to do for
you?"
There is some irony in this
question,
because it is asked in
front of his disciples…
among whom
were James and John
who
about 10 verses earlier had said:
“we
want you to do for us
whatever
we ask of you. "
And to this Jesus had
replied:
"What
is it you want me to do for you?"
which is virtually the
same thing he said to this man…
But when
James and John had made their request…
Jesus
had said “I can’t do that.”
How is it
that he couldn’t give
two
of his favorite disciples what they asked for…
Two
people who had been with him
almost
since the beginning.
but now this
blind man
who
Jesus had probably never met before
asks
for something miraculous…
and
he gets it.
Why
does that happen…
I
know it would concern Job.
Why is healing this
man’s blindness so important…
lots of
other people in Jesus’ day
went
through life blind
so
why heal this man.
By healing
him…
Jesus
may have been taking away
the gimmick he used for begging.
People
gave him money because he was blind…
What
would he do now to support himself?
In John’s
story the man’s healing
caused
him to be dragged in for questioning
and finally driven out of their
midst.
Maybe by healing this
man
Jesus would
cause problems for him.
But this story simply says
that the result of this
healing
was that this man
followed
him, Jesus, on the way.
Did he just follow to
the edge of town,
or just
until he reached
Did he follow to the
cross?
or beyond
it?
I don’t know,
but I believe that he
followed Jesus
on and in
the way…
I
believe he walked in a new way.
Not
just because he could see…
He
followed because of the way he saw Jesus.
I have a
lot of people
who call on the phone
or come to the back door of this
church…
and
they usually want something.
Usually
I ask them:
"What is it you want me to do for
you?"
I
try not to assume that I know what they want,
Some
want money
others
to get married here
or
buried from here…
Some
just want to use the bathroom…
or
have a 12 step meeting here.
some
may just want to talk.
and
I try to help them get what they ask for,
sometimes
I wonder if what they want
is
what they really need.
I wonder if
Jesus had,
in all of his healing,
healed other blind
people…
Maybe he had,
and maybe this one was
the only one…
to followed
him on the way.
My
greatest desire for people
is
that they discover God’s love for them in Jesus
and
that they come to understand
the
value of following
in the way of Jesus…
a
way of love
and
openness
vulnerability…
the
way of life.
so
may we live.
amen.