22nd Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 25[b]) October 24, 2021
Mark 10:46-52
46 And they came to Jericho. And as [Jesus] 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!” 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.” 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.” 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.
In the Name of Jesus.
Are you listened to? Jesus gives us the gift of prayer, even telling us to pray to his Father, that his Father would let his Name be holy among us.
Are you heard? If you are heard, why are you heard? It hardly seems that the sinner should presume that holy God would hear the prayer of one who is sinful against him.
When blind Bartimaeus, sitting by the side of the road, was told that Jesus was walking by, he addressed Jesus. This is prayer.
Mark 10:47:
When [Bartimaeus] heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
There were reasons for Bartimaeus not to feel confident to pray to Jesus. Bartimaeus was blind, and according to the teachers of the Law, if your eyes are blind, or your ears are deaf, or you have other afflictions in life, it’s because you are unworthy, you don’t stack up under the Law.
So the teachers of the Law gave Bartimaeus reason to think he could not pray. The crowd, too, they wanted to hear no prayer from this sinner. Mark 10:48:
He began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And many rebuked [Bartimaeus], telling him to be silent.
But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
This is faith praying. Over against the conviction of the Law that you are unclean and unworthy of God, over against the judgement of others that you don’t quite stack up so you need to be silent, over against all doubt that God would stoop to listen to the plea out of the mouth of a sinner, over against all of this, faith prays. Bartimaeus prays.
How did Bartimaeus know that Jesus would hear his plea?
He addresses Jesus as “Son of David.” That is, as the Christ, anointed to save sinners, to establish his throne of the cross, to shed the blood to redeem sinners, to show mercy to sinners.
“Son of David, have mercy on me!”,
says Bartimaeus.
The sinner is saved by mercy, not by the Law. Jesus came for mercy and grace, not for the Law. In a sinful world which looks for more Law, for it is a world of sinners trying to justify themselves by the Law, in a world which does not want to hear Bartimaeus praying for mercy over-against the Law, Bartimaeus, voice of faith, prays,
“Son of David, have mercy on me!”
But would Jesus would hear his plea? Mark 10:50:
And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Jesus stands before Bartimaeus as the One who will not turn away from the prayer of a sinner, will not refuse the plea for mercy.
Into this, Jesus has been anointed. That’s what it means to be the Son of David. David had been given the promise that his greater Son would sit upon his throne and it would be an eternal throne. Bartimaeus knows that Jesus is that greater, fulfilled, Son of David.
Jesus hears Bartimaeus’s prayer for mercy because he, Jesus, is the One appointed to make intercession for the sinner.
This is what it means to be the Son of David. It is to be the One anointed to take the throne of the cross to shed the blood which makes intercession for the sinner before the Throne of God. Hebrews 7:25:
[Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
This is what faith knows, this is what Bartimaeus knew, that the sinner approaches God the Father through Jesus. The sinner comes to God in prayer not in any righteousness of his own, not in any worthiness under the Law, but through Jesus and his righteousness and worthiness. As the letter to the Hebrews puts it:
[Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.
Approaching God the Father through Jesus, the sinner knows, we know, that the prayer for mercy is welcomed, is heard, because that is why Jesus lives, to make intercession for the sinner. Hebrews 7:25:
[Jesus] is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
For this reason Jesus came to us. For this purpose he was raised up from the dead for us. This is, as the letter to the Hebrews says, why Jesus lives—to intercede for the sinner, for us.
He now is seated upon the throne in Heaven, the eternal throne promised through David—on the throne to speak as our advocate to his Father.
His speaks to his Father for our forgiveness, for mercy, for grace to be given us rather than the judgement of Law. The Father hears that prayer—he never refuses the intercession of his Son. By that prayer, you are justified, declared innocent.
That same voice of Jesus, of intercession for the sinner, of mercy, is spoken here on Earth, so that the sinner justified in Heaven at the Throne, hears that justification here on Earth in the Word of Gospel.
What are we hearing, after all, when Jesus gathers us to his Table? What we hear are the words he appointed to be spoken in his Church: Take and eat, this is my Body. Take and drink, this is my blood. For the forgiveness of your sins.
As our ears hear those words here on Earth, Jesus is speaking to his Father in Heaven: Father, my blood covers their sin. My blood atones for their guilt. My blood redeems them. Father, forgive them their sins.
Sins forgiven on Earth are forgiven in Heaven. The voice of Jesus we hear here on Earth in the Gospel is spoken in Heaven in intercession. The sinner justified here on Earth stands justified before the eternal throne in Heaven.
So that, we stand before Jesus as did Bartimaeus. No worthiness of our own, no righteousness to present, but sinners.
But sinners praying, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.
Jesus never turns away from that prayer. For he lives to make intercession for the sinner, for us.
In the Name of Jesus.