Sight ...

Putting Things Right

 

 

46They 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. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you." 50So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51Then 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." 52Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

 

Gospel Mark 10:46-52

 

Title: Lord, that I might see! [Click for smaller image view]

Lord, that I might see!

Sculpture

1970

Matyas Church

Bufapest

Hungary

 

 

Notes:

"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." -- Mark 10:47-52a

"When Jesus grants [Bartimaeus'] request "to see again" by saying, "Your faith has saved you", Bartimaeus "immediately saw again and followed him on the way." In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus' healing does not necessarily elicit a response of following after him. For example, the healing of the paralytic in 2:12, the healing of the woman with a flow of blood in 5:34, and the healing of the blind man in 8:26 all have a miracle as a central narrative element, but there is no reponse by the beneficiary that involves following Jesus...This episode begins a series of passages that portrays Jesus as a Davidic figure, but here the first impulse by Mark is not to stress David's royal, earthly, militaristic, or political qualities. Instead, by contructing the story of the healing of the blind Bartimaeus in such a way as to combine the title "Son of David" with the healing of a reliable character, he stresses the tradition of healing that is associated with Solomon as the son of David." (Ahearne-Kroll, 140)

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20211022201032590&code=ACT&RC=54181&Row=6


 

 

 

The only thing worse than being blind

is having sight but no vision.

~ Helen Keller

 

 

People must have righteous principles in the first,

and then they will not fail to perform virtuous actions.

~ Martin Luther

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our monthly condo group get-together.

About 10 or 12 of us met at Susan Brown’s home.

It’s time to meet inside instead of out on the lawn.

Edith Gilman, Susan Brown

 

Suzanne Koczon-Shipley, Lisa Carpenter

 

 

Evergreen Rotary Club

Our speaker this week was Tracy Dorland, Jefferson County’s new 

Superintendent of Schools.

 

 

 

Fellow members Betsy Hays and Linda Lovin were inducted into the

Mountain Area Women in Business Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

 

 

You cannot depend on your eyes

when your imagination is out of focus.

~ Mark Twain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October 24, 2021   Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost 

                 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

 

23Furthermore, the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; 24but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

26For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews 7:23-28

 

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

Book of Job: Job 42:10-17 Satisfaction with Life's Reward – The Bible Teaching Commentary

 

 

 

 

 

(Students and Colleges Sunday) 

Job 42:1-6, 10-17 and Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22) 

OR 

Jeremiah 31:7-9and Psalm 126 

Hebrews 7:23-28

Mark 10:46-52 

 

 

At first glance, these lections seem to have very little in common. Yet each carries an undercurrent of putting things right. The driving narrative is that of blind Bartimaeus: our desire for Christ is an act of faith that God uses to bring restoration. Jesus restores, but Bartimaeus’s desire and belief are necessary to make the restoration possible.



https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6331/worship-elements-october-24-2021

 

Summary

Bartimaeus’ faith is proved by the title he gives to Jesus: Son of David. This is an explicit confession of Jesus as messiah. Despite the fact that he could not see Jesus with his eyes, in faith he saw Jesus’ true identity more clearly even than many of Jesus’ own disciples. Like the feeding miracles which satisfied the natural hunger of the people in order to point to the supernatural sustenance of the Eucharist, Bartimaus was given natural sight as a sign of the spiritual sight he showed in his confession of faith.

There is much to be said about the eyes of faith and the all-important confession of Jesus as Christ and Lord in right belief, but the preacher might also hang an exhortation on verse 52. After Bartimaeus received his sight, he followed Jesus on his way. This also shows the genuineness of his faith, that he follows Jesus even after his eyes are opened.

For us today, the Christian life comes with great natural benefits. Habits of virtue and self-control, on balance, make life go better for us. But Jesus calls us further down the road than just living a better natural life. He calls us on to eternal life by way of the Cross. This life choice is probably why Bartimaeus is named in the Gospel. As a disciple and eyewitness to Christ he may have been known among the community of Jesus’ apostles, and could even have been a source for the very Gospel he appears in. In the same way, we will be named in the Book of Life if we not only receive benefits from Jesus, or confess him publicly once, but by following him in faith all the days of our lives.

https://www.preachingtoday.com/lectionary/

 

 

First Reading Job 42:1-6, 10-17

1Then Job answered the LORD: 2"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 3'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 4'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.' 5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

10And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of money and a gold ring. 12The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children's children, four generations. 17And Job died, old and full of days.

Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22)

1I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2My soul makes its boast in the LORD;

let the humble hear and be glad.

3O magnify the LORD with me,

and let us exalt his name together.

4I sought the LORD, and he answered me,

and delivered me from all my fears.

5Look to him, and be radiant;

so your faces shall never be ashamed.

6This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,

and was saved from every trouble.

7The angel of the LORD encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

8O taste and see that the LORD is good;

happy are those who take refuge in him.

19Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

but the LORD rescues them from them all.

20He keeps all their bones;

not one of them will be broken.

21Evil brings death to the wicked,

and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.

22The LORD redeems the life of his servants;

none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Second Reading Hebrews 7:23-28

23Furthermore, the former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office; 24but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25Consequently he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

26For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Gospel Mark 10:46-52

46They 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. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 48Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 49Jesus stood still and said, "Call him here." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you." 50So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51Then 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." 52Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.