The Price is Right

How many people here are fans of The Price is Right? It is a great show to watch. The thing I used to love the most about watching it wasn’t so much about whether a person won big or not, but about the way they expressed themselves during the show. When people spin the wheel and wait fo the outcome and are either totally excited or totally depressed at how they did. When you see how they react to being over or under when bidding. They face they make when someone bids $1 more than someone else to beat them out. And perhaps my absolute favorite is when they call a new person forward to be the next contestant on the Price is Right.

As I was reading today’s story about Blind Bartimaeus, the imagery of The Price is Right popped into my head. The whole scene of Bartimaeus trying to get Jesus’ attention is not exactly what you do to get on the Price is Right, but the reaction of the crowd trying to stop Bartimaeus from bothering Jesus and then when Jesus says to call him here, they switch gears and suddenly act like that insane audience shouting and cheering for Blind Bartimaeus to go and see Jesus. Bartimaeus jumps up and runs to Jesus to get his audience with Jesus. He is the next person to go and see Jesus. Now I know that lots of people like to make custom clothing for the Price is Right to help be seen also, but the blind man comes to Jesus after basically tossing off his only clothes. Not sure that’s a great analogy either, but it works.

Now that I have all of you waiting for service to be over so you can watch an episode of the Price is Right and compare it to the story of Blind Bartimaeus, let’s dig in to why this story is so impactful. We learn so much about this man. First of all he is one of a few people actually named in the Gospels of someone being healed, but even more important than that is what this man knows of Jesus. He understands, perhaps on a level differently from others, who Jesus is for people. There are several things that Bartimaeus says that helps us see that. So we’re going to look into what he says, to see what he sees.

Now Mark doesn’t say that Bartimaeus says the words that Jesus is from Nazareth but it does say that when he learned it was Jesus of Nazareth. There were other people named Jesus during this time so when he hears it is Jesus of Nazareth he begins to shout. Word has gotten to the city of Jericho about who this Jesus of Nazareth is and more importantly the kinds of things he has done. Despite being blind and being a beggar Bartimaeus has gleaned enough information to know that Jesus of Nazareth is this healer and teacher. He absolutely wants to meet this Jesus. Which is why he persistently shouts to him until he is noticed. So despite all of these things that would be considered stumbling blocks, Bartimaeus still knows who Jesus is and what he might be able to do for him.

Then he shouts at Jesus. He doesn’t just shout for Jesus to come to him. He doesn’t just shout ‘heal me’. He shouts by addressing him as the Son fo David. This is the first time in Mark’s Gospel that anyone has used that title for him. The question becomes, “how does he know Jesus lineage?” If Mark has never mentioned that someone knows his lineage then we have to assume no one actually knows it. Yet here we have plain as day, Bartimaeus shouting he’s the Son of David.

We may not get a specific instance where we hear the title Son of David elsewhere but we do see passages like the one on the screen from Jeremiah, as well as from Isaiah and Ezekiel and others that talk about a descendant of David coming to bring peace and justice to the land. Also from what I gleaned from my studies there were oral traditions that the Son of David would come bringing justice and healing to the world. Bartimaeus clearly knows these passages as well as the understanding that it will be a descendant of David. Bartimaeus seems to know a lot about this coming Messiah.

The last thing that I want to point out is that when Bartimaeus makes his request he calls him the Aramaic word Rabbouni which we know today in the shorter form as Rabbi, teacher. Even though we have had others use the word teacher, it has always been in Greek, so this is the first time we hear someone call him Rabbi. It is also actually only one of two instances in the Gospels that the actual word Rabbouni is used. Bartimaeus has spent a lot of time sitting on this road thinking about Jesus. In his speaking now that he has finally met Jesus he uses everything he has learned to share with Jesus that he knows all about him.

The problem is that people don’t want him to even get the chance to speak because of his blindness. He is a sinner and a beggar. He is unclean and should not be near someone so clean and pure as Jesus. I wonder if that happens today. If we, even unintentionally, shut people out from encountering Jesus because of who they are or what they look like, or the preconceived notions we have about them.

The irony is, as I mentioned already, that Bartimaeus seems to know more about Jesus, who he is and what he came to do than even the 12 disciples at this point. Despite his blindness, Bartimaeus sees more than most. He sees Jesus for who he is not who the world wants him to be. Even though Bartimaeus asks for his sight to be returned, he already makes his real request earlier. He wants mercy to be shown to him. He doesn’t want greatness like the disciples. He doesn’t want to sit at Jesus right or left like James and John, he wants mercy to be shown to him. He wants forgiveness of sins and being able to see again will being about that forgiveness and healing, an acceptance back into the social and religious life of the world.

Jesus encourages Bartimaeus to go, but instead Mark tells us that after regaining his sight he follows Jesus. By the way that Bartimaeus speaks it seems as if regaining his sight was just a means to be able to follow Jesus due to religious restrictions. It wasn’t about gaining his sight so he could run off and do all the things he missed out on while he was blind. It was about following the one who showed him mercy, following the one who saved him. Saved him here on earth and in the life to come.

That is the power of the Son of David. He offers mercy and salvation to all whom encounter him. The price, you could say, is a life of following him, discipleship. A price that Bartimaeus felt was right, a price he was more than willing to accept to be able to follow the one who he knew could and would do so much for him. A gift Jesus was eager to offer to Bartimaeus and as he heads to the cross, a price Jesus was willing to pay for the whole world. A price that gives us more than and prize from any prize show could ever offer us. The price is right, and we thank Jesus for what he did for this whole world to be able to see and experience the love of God. Amen.