Introduction
First (and this will be funny at the end of the commentary), you have a choice. You can choose Mark instead of John on this Reformation Sunday and I highly encourage you to. Why? Because you can stay with this remarkable Markan narrative and STILL preach on Luther and the Reformation, I promise you.
So please, please, please, choose Mark this week.
Where We Are and Where We’ve Been (Narrative Context)
This is the 4th week that we’ve been in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Mark. And the story that we hear today is the culmination of the 10th chapter and in many ways, it is one of the climactic moments of the Gospel of Mark. The story of Bartimaeus, often called “Blind Bartimaeus.”
It’s an amazing story just on its own. The healing of this man who is so desperate for healing and Jesus and gives him this wish that he so desperately wants. And then he willingly follows Jesus as one of his disciples. It’s such a beautiful text just on its own.
But when we look at it in the context of all of chapter 10, it has even more meaning.
Now remember 4 weeks ago, we had the difficult text where the Pharisees in the scribes are testing Jesus with a question about lawful marriage. Jesus gives a response that focuses not on the law but instead on people being in relationship with one another. Jesus even references back to Adam and Eve in Genesis suggesting that people are not meant to be alone.
Immediately after this story, the text we heard 3 weeks ago, we hear of the rich man who comes to Jesus asking how he might inherit eternal life. Jesus responds to him by asking him about the relationship commandments and living into community. The man doubles down and says that he has followed these commandments his entire life. To which Jesus tells him to go and sell everything that he owns, give the money to the poor, and to follow him. In my interpretation, Jesus is telling the man that the one thing he lacks is community. The man walks away saddened because he had many possessions.
And last week, in the very next story in the Gospel of Mark, we hear about James and John asking Jesus if they can sit in seats of power on his right and his left. Reading it in the most charitable light, James and John do not want to be forgotten. As fisherman, they’ve always been overlooked. Finally, they feel seen, and they feel empowered. They don’t want to lose that. They don’t want to be forgotten again. To which Jesus replies that they do not know what they are asking. And that they will need to be leaders who are servants of one another.
And then we come to this text this week. And it truly is the culmination of these four texts and maybe all of the Gospel of Mark.
This Week
We begin with a man who is by himself. Even though there is a crowd around him, Bartimaeus is by himself because he is blind and a beggar. Alone and in need, Bartimaeus hears that someone is coming. Jesus of Nazareth. A name that he has heard before. So, as the crowd is passing him by, this lonely man cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.”
Now several things happen simultaneously in this moment. The first is that this blind beggar, calls to Jesus, using a title that no one else in all of the Gospel of Mark has used before, “Jesus, Son of David.”
Now remember who the first people were who questioned and tested Jesus to get him in trouble all the way back in chapter were the Pharisees and scribes, religious leaders, who know the law. We have heard about additional teachers from Jerusalem coming up to test and challenge him over the last few weeks. And so, for all we know they are still wondering around in the crowd trying to catch him in the act of disobeying the law. Now, to call somebody the “Son of David” would be blasphemous. It would be suggesting the person as the restorer of Israel. But it would also be a political statement. David was the King. And so, the Son of David would be the hopeful King of Israel. The one who would take the nation back from the Romans.
Now Jericho, the city that they were in, was just 13-15 miles from Jerusalem. For those who know Philadelphia, that is Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill to the Citizens’ Bank Park. For those in New York City, it’s a walk from the Financial District to the Botanical Gardens. For those in Baltimore it’s Hunt Valley to the Inner Harbor. The old city was in a ruined state, but the new city was rebuilt by Herod the Great as the location of his winter palace and a place of great beauty. Some commentators call it the city of palm trees.
Why do I say this? Because it’s a 5.5 hour walk from Jerusalem, and it’s supposed to be a beautiful place catered to the elite. That means that there are very likely folks from Jerusalem who are there. Religious leaders, Roman soldiers, those associated with Herod and the tetrarchs. And Bartimaeus cries out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” In a city of power, this man calls for Jesus.
The crowd, well aware of all of this, tries to quiet Bartimaeus. But Bartimaeus cries out even louder, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” The crowd very quickly changes their tune and call to the man saying, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” So, throwing off his cloak, Bartimaeus sprang up and came to Jesus.
Now again we have contrast with the texts from before. Bartimaeus, wanting nothing to hold him back, flings off his cloak, maybe one of his only possessions and maybe his only source of protection. He flings off his cloak, springs up, and came up to Jesus.
Jesus asks him the same exact words that he asks James and John after they demand that Jesus do whatever they ask of him. Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus says to him, “Rabbouni, which means “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.
Bartimaeus, is made whole.
But this stands in stark contrast to each of the stories that we’ve heard before.
Unlike the rich man, who grieved at the loss of all his possessions, Bartimaeus throws away his only possession in order that he might be seen by Jesus.
Unlike James and John, Bartimaeus does not ask for a seat of power, he asks that he might be able to see again, so that there would be nothing to prevent him from being in community any longer.
When Jesus tells him to that he is healed, he says “Go, your faith has made you well.” Unlike the rich man and every other disciple, Bartimaeus does not need to be told to “follow” instead he immediately follows Jesus on the way. Joining the community so that he and the others are no longer alone.
This story is the climax of chapter 10 because it brings every story in tension. It brings every struggle, every challenge to the forefront. But in contrast to them all, Bartimaeus shows perfect discipleship.
And that is what makes it one of the climactic moments of all of the Gospel of Mark. Because immediately after this, Jesus and the disciples (including Bartimaeus) walk into Jerusalem to palms waving as Jesus heads towards the cross. Bartimaeus accompanying him on the way.
Bartimaeus chooses discipleship. Willingly. Freely. Joyfully. Springing up and running to Jesus.
That is the contrast that is set up for us today. It is what helps us to hear and learn what discipleship is here and now.
Discipleship Is a Choice
Discipleship is a choice. It always has been.
You do not need to be a disciple of Christ to receive mercy or grace. Bartimaeus was healed without any conditions or qualifications. You do not need to be a disciple of Christ for salvation. For we are told that Jesus died so that all may have eternal life.
Discipleship is a choice that we make when we have an experience with Jesus that compels us to follow him on the way. But it is a choice. We are followers of Christ because we choose to follow Christ. Not out of obligation or expectation. And not out of expectation of rewards, or seats of power, or to claim righteousness.
Bartimaeus chooses discipleship because he has an experience with Jesus that opens him up to the possibility of new life.
Knowing what we know about where Jesus is heading into Jerusalem, what the disciples will experience in those first days after, and what the early church will experience as they try to make their way, discipleship is far from easy. But what Bartimaeus knows is that there is a joy to be found in discipleship. There is a joy that comes from being in the presence of Jesus. There is a love that can be found in Christian community. There is grace mercy and healing to be found in the community of God.
But to experience that daily, to be able to bear witness to it regularly, to be able to share it widely, you first have to choose to be a part of it.
Bartimaeus threw off his cloak and sprang up and came to Jesus.
This might be a weird thing for a pastor to say to a congregation, but what we have to emphasize to our congregations is there is no obligation or expectation that you have to be a disciple of a faith community.
Discipleship is not an obligation. It’s not an expectation. It’s a conscious choice. We choose to be in this community together. We choose to be servant leaders amongst one another. We choose to love one another as Jesus loved us.
Discipleship is a choice.
Reformation Connection – Freedom of A Christian
“The Christian individual is a completely free lord of all, subject to none. The Christian individual is a completely dutiful servant of all, subject of all.”[1]
This is usually the most quoted part of Martin Luther’s Freedom of a Christian. But how do we get there logically when we are concerned about works righteousness?
Luther states about “justification by faith,”
“Therefore, by this means, through faith alone without works, the word of God justifies the soul and make it holy, true, peaceful, and free, filled with every blessing and truly made a child of God, just as John 1:12 says: ‘To all who…believe in his name, he gave power to become the children of God.’”[2]
This is the reinforcing sermon that we try to preach as much as possible. There is nothing that you have to do and there is nothing that you can do to be justified by God. It is a free gift of grace. We don’t have to earn it, barter for it, or even change. We receive the grace of God through the free gift of faith because of God in Christ Jesus.
So, what then of the commands of Christ to love our neighbors? To love ourselves? Are these unnecessary? Unrequired? Why then do anything?
Luther about Works:
“For the inner person—conformed to God and created in the image of God through faith—is joyful and glad on account of Christ, in whom all good things have been conferred upon such a one. Because of this, that person has only one concern: to serve God joyfully, with boundless love and with no thought of earning anything.”[3]
Rather than expound on this theoretically, let’s use the chapter ten examples.
The religious leaders that come to test Jesus are using the law in order to bind and restrict Jesus and the people. Whereas Jesus points them to the joy of community, the story of Genesis that expresses that God does not wish people to be alone. Their concern (read: Mark’s portrayal of them) is of legality and joy is nowhere to be found.
The rich man’s question was probably the subject of many Lutheran sermons, “what must I ‘do’ to inherit eternal life.” Of course, our theology reinforces that there is nothing that he can ‘do’ to inherit eternal life. That is grace and grace freely given. But he can do something in response to this grace. He could joyfully choose to live in the community of Christ and follow the way. Instead, he leaves grieving because he had many possessions.
After this Peter seeks acknowledgment. “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” We don’t know if Peter is concerned about a reward, but it certainly seems that he is seeking some acknowledgment. A kind of ‘Give us something for our efforts.’
James and John desire the seats at Jesus’ right and left. While I think their motives are less sinister and more not wanting to be forgotten fishermen again, their hope in following Jesus is that there may be an earning at the end. A better seat at the table.
And then there is Bartimaeus. Who calls out in hope. Who throws off his only possessions. Who only asks for a gift so that he might be able to return to wholeness in the community. Who after being told to “go” instead follows (the place of discipleship) Jesus along the way.
Discipleship is choosing to follow Jesus in the joy of the Good News. In response to grace and the gospel. Discipleship is choosing to follow Jesus along the way expecting nothing in return because through him we have already received grace and love beyond measure. But of course, we get everything in return even still. Community, life, joy, and love. The presence of God dwelling among us.
So, let us conclude with Martin Luther’s conclusion: The Christian Lives in Christ and the Neighbor: “Therefore, we conclude that Christian individuals do not live in themselves but in Christ and their neighbor, or else they are not Christian. They live in Christ through faith and in the neighbor through love. Through faith they are caught up beyond themselves into God; likewise through love they fall down beneath themselves into the neighbor-remaining nevertheless always in God and God’s love, as Christ says in John 1[:51]: “Very truly I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Let this suffice concerning that freedom, which, as you see, is spiritual and true, making our hearts free from all sin, laws, and commands, as Paul says in 1 Tim. 1[:9], “The law is not laid down for the righteous person.” This freedom is far above all other external freedoms, as high as heaven is above the earth. May Christ cause us to know and preserve this freedom! Amen.”[4]
[1] 1. Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian, 1520: The Annotated Luther Study Edition, trans. Timothy J. Wengert (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2016), 488.
[2] Luther, 496.
[3] Luther,
[4] Luther, 530-531.
Micah Krey 
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