The Gospel Reading and pondering for Sunday of Proper 25: Year B
“So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.” (Mark 10:50)
This is the healing story of blind Bartimaeus son of Timaeus who asks for his sight again. What is often kind of glossed over is Bartimaeus throwing off his cloak. Think about it, if you are blind you become well aware of keeping up with things so that you can put your hands on it again. I have my sight and still, I lose things all the time, my keys, my phone, my glasses, many things. But if we can’t see, we cling to items such as clothing, canes and cups. They are essential in our day to day lives. such items are our security blankets.
We also must consider that the blindness of Bartimaeus can be a metaphorical blindness. Bartimaeus was once able to see. But somewhere in his life he lost his sight. Perhaps somewhere in our lives we lost our sense of what is right and godly. And now, we want it back.
Bartimaeus was not born blind as was another person in our Gospel, he once could see, and knowing he has the opportunity to stand (or kneel) before our Lord Jesus, the giver of all good gifts and graces, throws off his cloak. He lets go of his security blanket knowing that being before Jesus will make all things new and secure again, and forever!
The same is true for us today. What is it that we truly want? What are we willing to let go of in order to get what we want? Remember, what we have now, for the most part, is a sense of false security, if not a false reality. The only way we can get back to seeing rightly again is to put our whole trust in our Lord Jesus by letting go of false security and illusions.
Our Lord Jesus asks us today, “What is it that we want Him to do for us?” What say yee? More than that, what will you do, even in the midst of people telling you to be still and be quiet? God telling us to be still and be quiet is one thing; our neighbors pretending to have the wisdom of God is another. Ask Bartimaeus.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools. And, as we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
A Collect for Sundays (BCP p. 98)
O God, you make us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of your Son our Lord: Give us this day such blessing through our worship of you, that the week to come may be spent in your favor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
onewhoponders 