Who's the Blind One Here

The Healing of Bartimaeus, Eustache Le Sueur 1625-1650

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem (we know what's going to happen there) going through the city of Jericho. He has a pretty big crowd with him, all heading in the same direction. A blind beggar is sitting on the side of the road, hears the commotion of all the people and hears the name Jesus whispered. He gets excited. Starts yelling to get Jesus attention. Folks in the crowd tell him to pipe down. Jesus is on a mission they say. there won't be any stopping to talk to a beggar.

Of course, Jesus stops, he visits, he heals.

This Sunday, we will spend some time with this story, wondering at Jesus willingness to stop, to love and to heal, and the feeling of the crowd that he wouldn't be willing to do those things.

The Upside Down Kingdom

What does success look like? Our society is very much built on hierarchies, power pyramids, where the goal is to work our way to the top of the pile. On our way to the top, we often leave behind some of ourselves, our ethics, our empathy. We scratch and scramble, tramp on the fingers and toes of others in our quest for what we perceive to be a success.

In our text this week, we hear James and John hanging on to that paradigm as they ask Jesus for positions of power in his coming kingdom. They want to be right at his side, on his left and his right hand.

Jesus surprises them with his response to their request. In his kingdom, he says, it's about service, it's about lifting others up, it's about being a servant. In his kingdom honour and power aren't found at the top but at the bottom. It seems to be upside down.

This Sunday, we'll spend some time with this teaching wondering how this teaching relates to our lives and the life of our church.

Let Go and Follow

What is keeping you from truly following Jesus? What is it that stands in the way of truly following, truly becoming a disciple of Jesus?

For a man who was on his knees in front of Jesus it was his wealth, his possessions. Jesus sees that roadblock, recognizes the thing that is standing in this man's way, and provides a solution. The solution is a bitter pill for the man to swallow. It's a difficult prescription. It's so difficult that it causes grief, it causes sorrow.

This Sunday, we'll spend some time with Jesus and this man, wondering about the things that stand in our way, things that stand in the way of us truly experiencing the kingdom of heaven in our own lives.