We Blind Mice

Matthew 20:29–34; Mark 10:46–52

Jesus heals two men in Jericho. On the literal road to his Triumphant Entry and Passion Week, Jesus takes the time to heal these men. In the lowest parts of the earth, lost in literal darkness, these men are wise enough to hear the Lord, come when he calls, and when given the freedom to go anywhere, they go in His footsteps. May God open our eyes to see the Light of the World and follow in His footsteps.

Sixth Day, Sixth Sense

I invite you to imagine with me. God is creating, crafting humanity.

I grabbed the appropriately cropped version of Michelangelo’s work here.

He could do anything, give them any super power, any ability, and capacity. They are made in His image, spirit like Him, heart, mind, will, soul… but how will they experience the Creation around them? How will they “know” the world that He has made?

I will create these beings to “feel” things around them. By the interaction of their biochemical electric-magnetic fields impacting the electro-magnetic fields of the “stuff” around them, they will be able to discern shapes and sizes, motion, texture. And derive pleasure or pain from those interactions inspired by whether they help or hurt.

I will allow them to detect microscopic trace elements of chemicals as they travel in the air, distinctly identify hundreds of thousands of chemicals instantly, sometimes from miles away. Smell. And, God says, I will make it smell SO GOOD after it rains. Petrichor.

Oh, and what if they could detect even better the food and drink that they eat, identify things that are good or bad for them… And I will make cows, and they will taste AMAZING!

Oooh, what if they could pick up on minute vibrations in the air, all kinds of different frequency and patterns of vibrations, hundreds simultaneously, but they can sort and separate them all, identify and recognize, and even discern direction. I’ll call it “sound” and, when it comes together just right, the music those sounds can create will speak straight to the heart and soul.

But we are missing one.

What is the first words God speaks in Creation? Let there be light. Radiance. Wide spectrum radiation caused by pieces of God’s Creation going CRAZY with excitement, throwing off this stuff, this radiation. Is it particles, is it waves? Both. Neither. This is going to blow their minds!

This light will be a Created and Creative Metaphor, standing in for God’s presence, for God’s glory, for God’s goodness, for God’s person. They will want the light, strive for the light, seek the light, seek to be the light, want to be in the light…

And God creates in them eyes to see, to recognize, to know the light. What crazy artistry, the nose, the tongue, the ears… all a bit weird. The eyes, gorgeous, windows to the soul. Eyes to see not only His light, but everything His light reveals. By the way it reflects off things, more than any other sense, we experience the world around us, it’s beauty, it’s dangers and opportunities. The cosmos far beyond, “light years” beyond anything we could hear or smell or touch or taste… we see light revealing His Creation, maybe even light reflecting or bouncing all the way back from the Big Bang. “Let there be light.”

What a gift to see.

A loss of any of these things is tragic. I can’t pretend to truly know what it is like, would be like, to lose sight, but I believe I would give up my other senses first. What a gift God has given us.

Frequency of Blindness in 1st Century Israel

How many here have corrected vision? How many here would be essentially blind, or at least illegal to drive without it?

No contacts. No glasses. Corrective lenses weren’t invented until 13th century.

How many have had cataract surgery? Obviously not a thing. All the correctable causes of blindness, congenital infections, malarial fever, environmental damage due to blowing dust, sand and intense sunlight… major issues in near-desert Israel, none of them correctible. Add in poor nutrition, complications of poverty, and the occasional blow of a Roman soldier to the head.

You have quite a lot of blind people… at least, until their vulnerability and difficulty led to death. Because poverty and hardship was the likely outcome of blindness in this era, God’s law provided for them, and pronounces a curse on any who would take advantage:

Deuteronomy 27:18 ESV

18 “ ‘Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

It doesn’t help that the religious tradition assumed that all blindness was a divine punishment for sin, as we saw in Jesus’ healing of the blind man in John 9:2ff.

From Jericho to Jerusalem

So here, Jesus approaches his last week. Going out the gates of Jericho.

It’s like 18 miles, SUBSTANTIALLY uphill, but people make it in 4 hours. I almost tried it when I was there, but we spent too long in the Dead Sea which is right alongside Jericho.

Lowest dry land on the planet. Jesus is heading to his Triumphant Entry, Palm Sunday is coming.

Zaccheus is climbing a tree to see him (Luke 19). And he stays at Zaccheus’ house that night, so I am thinking it isn’t the same day as the Triumphant Entry, perhaps the day, the Sabbath before. We know well that Jesus is happy to heal the blind on the Sabbath.

How long have these men been blind? We don’t know. Maybe for years, maybe for a lifetime. Lost in darkness. In the literal lowest point on earth.

Sitting by the roadside, almost certainly begging for alms. Hoping to catch those on the trade road headed to Passover.

And they begin to hear a tumult. So many footsteps, so many people. Luke tells us they ask what is going on and someone tells them “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”

We pick up the story in Matthew:

Matthew 20:29–34 ESV

29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

I want us to step into the life of a blind man. So let’s read it again, this time in the words of Mark. This is a great example of the different gospels taking a different perspective. Mark isn’t going to contradict Matthew’s story in any way, but he is going to focus in on one of the men. And perhaps the fact that Mark knows his name tells us Mark, or maybe Peter, knew him, discovered his name later, and this is the origin story of a fellow disciple, a brother in Christ.

So let’s close our eyes. Hear the rustle of folks near us. The hubbub of people talking. And, for a moment, the incredible vulnerability of blindness.

Bartimaeus.

Mark 10:46–48 ESV

46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”9

The world, even a crowd of “Jesus followers” tries to shut him up. But he won’t be shut up in calling out for Jesus. Love it. Shouting out blindly into the darkness for Jesus, I’ve been there.

“Son of David, have mercy on me!”

What a title for Jesus. Not just “a” Son of David, this is Messiah language, the Anointed One, the Promised One, the Coming King, Son of David.

Mark 10:49 ESV

49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.”

I wonder if that means Jesus was a ways away. Maybe already passed by, for the crowd the man hears was “following,” not leading. But Jesus heard the cry, and passed word.

It’s a “calling” story, he is calling you, Bartimaeus. He wants you, he is asking for you, go to Jesus.

That’s a bit of an ask for a blind man. Stepping out “blindly.” Navigate the darkness, walk through a crowd you can’t see, on a road you can’t see, to a man you can’t see.

But is he cautious in his approach? I picture Blinkin’ running full tilt.

Mark 10:50–51 ESV

50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.”

Now he says “recover” so it seems this one, Bartimaeus, not born blind. He knew the beauty of the world around… and he lost it. Let me “see again”, “look again.” Let me recover my sight.

Mark 10:52 ESV

52 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.

And Jesus said to him, “Go your way…”

Usually when Jesus says “go” they go away.

He said “go show yourself to the priests” to the leper, and the leper went and did so.

He said “go and sell your possessions”, same word, to the rich young ruler. And He went away sad.

Here there is no target, no direction, hence the translation “Go your way.” In other words, go wherever you want. With sight there is freedom, freedom to see, freedom to spot a target and go “there.” Surely there are places he wants to see, people he wants to see, to tell the good news, perhaps family he hasn’t “seen” in years or decades.

He could have kids whose faces he has never seen.

Jesus says “go”… and our friend Bartimaeus makes the very best choice you can make with the freedom God gives you.

… your faith has made you well…”

Again, as we have seen, Jesus says “your faith has made you well.” How much did he need? One mustard-seed, that’s the faith unit of measurement. Just enough to get to Jesus. It isn’t that Bartimaeus “willed” it harder than anyone else, he didn’t squeeze harder, he didn’t say the best words and avoid the wishy-washy words… he had enough faith to come when Jesus called, enough faith to get to Jesus, enough faith to ask of Jesus.

That’s all the faith it takes. And Jesus had mercy, Matthew says he had compassion on both blind men, and healed them.

… and followed him on the Way

And then Bartimaeus “followed him on the way.” I love this because “The Way” is what the early church called itself, before they were called “Christians” (little Christs) in Antioch, they were called followers of “the Way” or belonging to “the Way” (Acts 9:2). Same word. οδος

Jesus says “call him” and he comes to Jesus. Good move.

Jesus says “go”… and he follows Jesus. Good move.

He once was lost, but know he’s found. Was blind but now he sees.

We Blind Mice

Is anyone blind here today?

Is anyone lost in darkness?

Maybe because you don’t know Jesus, you don’t believe in Him, you’ve never met Him, you haven’t seen Him.

Hear the crowd of people following Him and ask: “who is this guy?” We follow because we see and believe, we know Him to be the Son of David, the Master of Life, the Way, the Truth and the Light of the World.

Perhaps you know him… but you do not see him now. We all have moments of darkness, of spiritual blindness, seasons in the wilderness.

Even the Christian can feel lost in darkness in the lowest place.

Hear the footsteps of your Savior.

Hear the call of your Savior, even when it comes passed through the fellow humans, God loves to speak through His people. “Hey, tell Bartimaeus to come, tell KW to come to me, tell Jana to come here. Come near.”

Hear the call of your Savior, and run recklessly toward him. You may run face first into someone or something… worth it. Run towards Jesus, towards the sound of His voice, towards where you heard him last, listen to those around you saying “there he is, I see him even though you can’t right now.”

Hear the call of your Savior and run to Jesus.

I pray with you, now, that He would open your eyes again, the eyes of your heart, your spirit, your soul, your faith, open your eyes to see Him. And that you would be healed. That Jesus would answer now the desire of your heart to see, and above all to see Him.

And go, in His Way. In His footsteps. Even on the road to the cross.