Mark 10:46-52 (NRSV)

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, 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.

Again, Jesus says “What do you want me to do for you?”  It is interesting that in the span of a few verses, the Gospeler has Jesus saying the same words.  It stands out to me again as the prominent phrase.  The blind man, Bartimaeus, answers directly that he wants his sight back.

Jesus and the crowd are on their way out of Jericho on their way to Jerusalem when they encounter Bartimaeus, a blind beggar.  This time the man that hey come across has a name, Bartimaeus.  His name literally means, “son of Timaeus,” so it’s almost redundant to say that he is the son of Timaeus.  He must have had some significance for his name to be mentioned.  The scriptures don't often reveal the names of the people Jesus heals.

Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus for mercy and is heard by the crowd passing by.  He acknowledges Jesus by his birthright as a descendant of the great King David.  Jesus sends for Bartimaeus and the disciples retrieve him.  Bartimaeus leaves the security of his cloak and goes to Jesus.  Jesus asks Bartimaeus “what do you want me to do for you?”  He doesn’t lift a finger (unlike before) and tells the man that his faith has made him well.  Bartimaeus immediately follows Jesus on the way to Jerusalem.

When we get to the low points in our lives, it’s then that realize that we so desperately need God.  Bartimaeus realizes that he needs the healing power of God in Jesus to regain his eyesight.  His condition has caused him not to be able to function normally in society so he is forced to beg for a living on the outskirts of town.  Jesus restores him to society without any effort but a word.  We are called today to understand that we need God always; in the good times and the bad.  When we are “with God” we have a full, rich, and fulfilling life regardless of our handicaps.  Bartimaeus realized that he continued to need God after he regained his eyesight, because even after he was healed, he followed Jesus on the way.

Mark 8:11-26 (NRSV)

The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him.  And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation."  And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.  Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat.  And he cautioned them, saying, "Watch out beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod."  They said to one another, "It is because we have no bread."  And becoming aware of it, Jesus said to them, "Why are you talking about having no bread?  Do you still not perceive or understand?  Are your hearts hardened?  Do you have eyes, and fail to see?  Do you have ears, and fail to hear?  And do you not remember?  When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?"  They said to him, "Twelve."  "And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?" And they said to him, "Seven."  Then he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?"  They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him.  He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, "Can you see anything?"  And the man looked up and said, "I can see people, but they look like trees, walking."  Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.  Then he sent him away to his home, saying, "Do not even go into the village.”

The phrase that jumps out today is when Jesus says, “Why does this generation ask for a sign?  Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”  A few days ago, I made a remark about the Pharisees and Scribes wanting Jesus to perform a “dog and pony” show to prove that he is who he says he is.  People seem to want to be entertained by the wondrous power and works of God.

Today, the Pharisees confront Jesus to test him and ask for a sign.  He doesn’t give them one and goes from that place and gets into a boat with the twelve.  They didn’t bring with them any bread with them in the boat and that spawns a conversation about bread.  Jesus cautions them about the influence of Herod and the Pharisees and calls it “yeast.”

Yeast causes bread to “rise.”  The Pharisees and Herod were rising up against Jesus and trying to influence others not to believe in him and what he taught.  The disciples still don’t understand.  Jesus then explains that the answer is in plain sight by their experience of the feeding of the 5000 and 4000.  They gathered leftovers, proving that the true word which comes from him is the true bread which gives life to the world.  When they arrive in Bethsaida, Jesus heals a blind man and makes him see clearly.  I still don’t think the disciples are seeing very clearly.

The call that I hear today is to pay attention what is plain sight.  To let Jesus bring us into focus, so we can see the whole forest, and not just concentrate on the trees.  We wonder around sometimes with tunnel vision, unable to see what God is trying to do around us.  If we focus on the big picture, we can get a better vision of where Jesus might be leading us.

John 9:18-41 (NRSV)

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind?  How then does he now see?"  His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes.  Ask him; he is of age.  He will speak for himself."  His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."  So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God!  We know that this man is a sinner."  He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner.  One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."   They said to him, "What did he do to you?  How did he open your eyes?"   He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen.  Why do you want to hear it again?  Do you also want to become his disciples?"  Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from."  The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."  They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.  Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"  He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him."  Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he."  He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him.  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."  Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?"  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

The phrase that immediately jumps out at me in this long passage is, “I have told you already, and you would not listen.  Why do want to hear it again?”  The continuous questioning is obviously getting on the man’s nerves.  The Pharisees are pushing the buttons again, scheming and trying to find something that Jesus has done wrong.

I have got to say that I appreciate the once blind man’s boldness with the leaders.  He answers their inquiries completely, and somewhat sarcastically.  The whole banter following the phrase, “Here is an astonishing thing…” offers the Pharisees an irrefutable explanation of the circumstances.  The leaders refute and claim that the man is trying to teach them (like they are beyond learning something new).  Maybe that’s the problem.

The encounter between Jesus and the blind man is intriguing (then again, wouldn’t an encounter with Jesus always be intriguing?).  In this meeting, Jesus gives the once blind man an opportunity to believe.  The man believes, and worships Jesus.

The leaders overheard Jesus and the man talking and then fall into the conundrum with Jesus over what it means to see.  That is where I feel that the call lies today.  We are called to see.  In order to see we need adequate light and we need to take the time to focus.  Jesus is the light.  He illuminates to dark places in our lives and allows us to see our real selves so that we can deal with it.

John 9:1-17 (NRSV)

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.  We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.  The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"  Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man."  But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"  He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight."  They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."  They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.  Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see."  Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?"  And they were divided.  So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him?  It was your eyes he opened."  He said, "He is a prophet."

“What do you say about him?”  The blind man declares Jesus a prophet, the Pharisee’s are split and his followers continue to be dazed and amazed at Jesus’ wondrous works.

We are just coming off Jesus narrowly escaping being stoned when he was preaching in the temple. (Saturday’s reading)  Jesus is on his way somewhere else and sees a blind man.  The man doesn’t ask to be healed, it is the disciples who are asking about the cause of the man’s blindness.  Jesus uses the opportunity to teach the disciples with the action of healing the man’s eyes.  In a very human, almost crude act, Jesus spits in the dirt and makes mud to apply to the man’s eyes.  Then he sends the blind man to wash.

It is an incredible miracle.  However, the Pharisee’s don’t get past the fact that Jesus may have violated the Sabbath.  Evidently, one cannot make mud from spit on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees question the man as to how his sight was restored and who did it.  The strange fact to me is the blind man did not know where Jesus was (or what he looks like), and yet the Pharisees are quick to assume there was some violation that rendered this act of healing as not from God.  The scripture tells us that they were divided over the decision.

The call I hear in the context of this reading is the one that comes from Jesus to the blind man.  Go and wash!  Be made clean!  I think I am going to refer to the gospel according to John as a gospel of participation.  Our first act of full participation in the Christian life is Holy Baptism.  It is the initiatory rite that makes us participants with Christ in his life, death, and resurrection, and it includes us as full members of Christ’s body, the church (it makes us Christian - not members of any particular denomination, but that is another argument for another day).  I feel that we are called in this scripture to be made clean in the waters of baptism, and then have our eyes opened so that Jesus can lead the way.