On the way to Jerusalem

 


     “They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem…” (Mark 10.32).  It’s hard to know whether to laugh or cry as one reads this passage (you’ll see what I mean).  Once again, Jesus takes the Twelve aside and tells them what is going to happen to him in the capital – the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes who, in turn, will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him, spit on him, flog him and kill him; and after three days he will rise again (10.32-34).  Surely, the disciples will finally understand that they are not marching to victory, but rather to defeat.  Jesus will not be enthroned “in glory” as the Son of David/Son of God; rather, he will be condemned by those who hate him, he will be humiliated, tortured and killed (and after three days he will rise again).  Now it’s time for either laughter or tears (or a combination of both)…

     Following upon this final prediction of his imminent sufferings, James and John (the “Sons of Thunder”: 3.17) approach Jesus with a somewhat bold-faced request.  Jesus asks them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” (10.36).  They reply, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”  Perhaps with a look of sadness mixed with incredulity, Jesus tells them, “You do not know what you are asking” (10.37-38).  Jesus then cryptically describes his sufferings as both “drinking a cup” (cf. 14.36) and a “baptism” (10.38).  Jesus asks James and John if they are able to share in his cup/baptism, to which they reply eagerly (and most probably, without having decoded the riddle), “We are able” (10.39).  Jesus then assures them (perhaps while rolling his eyes) that they will indeed share in his “sufferings”, but as for the seats at his right and at his left when he is “enthroned” in “glory”, these have already been reserved for others (10.39-40).  Just when we thought this scene couldn’t get any more tragicomic, the other ten apostles get wind of the (failed) attempt of the Sons of Thunder to upstage them (10.41).  As the dust begins to get kicked up, Jesus – exasperated? exhausted? disappointed? most probably compassionate – calls the apostles together and gives them yet another lesson on the nature of greatness in the kingdom of God.  Jesus explains what we know to be true about all earthly kingdoms – those in power lord it over their subjects, often in tyrannical ways.  It’s the nature of power and “glory” – when you’re at the top of the heap, you impose your will on those who are beneath you. 

     “But it is not so among you”, Jesus reminds the obdurate disciples.  “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all” (10.43-44).  On the previous occasion when the apostles got embroiled in a status-contest, Jesus had put forward a child as an image of “greatness” in his kingdom (cf. 9.30-37); this time, Jesus puts himself forward as the model of true greatness: “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (10.45).  Once again, Jesus makes the connection between his kingship and his sufferings (cf. 8.27-31).

     “They came to Jericho” (10.46).  Jesus and his companions are drawing ever closer to Jerusalem, the place which represents one type of “glory” for the apostles; however, for Jesus, it represents “glory” of a different kind.  Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, is sitting by the roadside.  When he hears the large crowd following Jesus begin to pass in front of him, he asks what all the commotion is about.  Once he is told that Jesus of Nazareth is there, he begins to shout at the top of his lungs, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (10.46-47).  When people try to get him to be quiet, he screams out even louder: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (cf. 7.36).  Upon hearing his cries, Jesus stands still and orders Bartimaeus to be “called”.  “And they called the blind man, saying…he is calling you” (10.49).  Throwing off his cloak, Bartimaeus springs up and comes to Jesus.  Jesus then asks him the same question he had earlier asked the Sons of Thunder: “What do you want me to do for you?” (10.51; cf. 10.36).  Bartimaeus replies: “Teacher, let me see again.”  Jesus told him: “Go; your faith has made you well” (10.52; cf. 5.34).  Immediately, Mark tells us, he regained his sight and “followed” Jesus on the way (cf. 1.16-20).  Bartimaeus, the previously blind beggar, has become a disciple.  Even when he was blind, he had understood that Jesus was the Messiah (Son of David).  Mark is communicating a clear message.  For the second time, he has framed an episode where the apostles are demonstrating their deafness/blindness to who Jesus is/what it means to follow him with the healing of first, a deaf man (9.14-29; cf. 7.31-37) and secondly, a blind man (10.46-52; cf. 8.22-26).  Will the apostles be “healed” in time to “follow” Jesus to the place of his cup/baptism?

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