Once I Was Blind, But Now I See

Visions of Glory

We are all sick. We are sick from the time of our conception. Sons and daughters of Adam have inherited the guilt and corruption of original sin. We are blind, lame, and deaf, even if we are in perfect physical condition. The physical maladies we suffer are manifestations of the deeper realities in our lives, a truth emphasized in the sacrificial system. Animals that represented the worshiper had to be without bodily defect.

Sin has radically corrupted us. We need healing, healing of body and soul. Through his substitutionary death and subsequent resurrection, Jesus has come to perform this healing.

Among other themes that tie Mark’s Gospel together, healing is prominent. As in the other Gospels, we see the record of Jesus healing many. In Mark, however, the Evangelist ties the healings to the condition of Jesus’ disciples. The correlation is there from the beginning. Jesus calls four disciples–Simon, Andrew, James, and John (1:16-22)–and four healings follow (1:23-28; 29-31; 40-45; 2:1-12). Jesus calls Levi (2:13-17), and one healing follows (3:1-6). Jesus calls the disciples to himself on the mountain, and there are eight new names (3:13-19). Eight healings follow in the rest of the Gospel (5:1-20; 5:21-43 (x2); 7:24-30; 7:31-37; 8:22-26; 9:14-29; 10:46-52).

Mark makes this even clearer in what scholars call “the Markan sandwich.” Mark will record a few stories together that mutually interpret one another. He may start a story, interrupt it, and then finish the original story. The literary device is used to tell us how the stories relate.

One of those sandwiches includes the Royal Entry. Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to Jerusalem to be betrayed, die, and rise again (10:32-34). That is foundational for the next three scenes: wanting to sit on Jesus’ right and left hands (10:35-45), healing blind Bartimaeus (10:46-52), and the Royal Entry (11:1-10). Jesus tells his disciples, “See” or “Behold” in 10:33. What do they need to see? They need to see his mission as king as including betrayal, death, and resurrection. The sandwich that follows tells us that both they and the crowds on Palm Sunday are blind to his mission. They need to be healed like Bartimaeus.

James and John ask to be seated at Jesus right and left hands when he comes into his kingdom, which they probably thought he was about to do when he went to Jerusalem. Maybe Jesus would deal with his enemies as King David dealt with the Jebusites in 2 Samuel 5. They are blinded to the fact that the path to glory is the way of suffering and death. The beginning of exaltation is to be lifted up on the cross.

Parallel to the disciples are the crowds at the Royal Entry. Like the disciples, they proclaim truths about Jesus, but they don’t fully see the full picture of how the King enters his glory. These same people who hail him as king may be those who join in the cries to crucify him later.

Blind Bartimaeus is the only one who sees clearly. He calls out to Jesus as the Son of David, the King. When the Son of David comes, he will, among other things, heal the blind (Isa 35:5). Jesus asks Bartimaeus the same thing he asked James and John, “What do you want me to do for you?” making the parallel between the two obvious. Bartimaeus wants to see. Bartimaeus receives what the disciples need: the ability to see Jesus for who he is and what he came to do.

What do you see? Do you see glory without the cross? Do you see authority as a means to consume upon yourself instead of being spent for others? Do you need your eyes healed

?