Your Faith Journey - Finding God Through Words, Song And Praise

The trajectory of Mark’s gospel is so very interesting. The central section of Mark’s gospel focuses on Jesus’ teaching about discipleship, and it is book-ended by two stories of Jesus healing persons who are blind. Today’s story of blind Bartimaeus, is the second of the bookend stories and it marks the end of the discipleship section. It also presents one of the key points in Mark's gospel. This story unlocks the gates to Jerusalem and what is to come as Mark continues the Jesus story.  This book end story of Mark’s discipleship section is the gateway into the last week of Jesus’ life and, the question we are being asked is, “Do you really want to see?”  Jesus asks Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Some commentators say this is a rhetorical question because Bartimaeus is blind and what he wants is obvious. However, it’s not that simple. Jesus is essentially asking Bartimaeus and each one of us, “Do you really want to see?” This passage needs to be read on two levels:  yes, it’s about physical