The Lectionary and Scripture Interpretation for Ordinary Time
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Jeremiah 31:7-9
Earlier prophets had tried to get the people to mend their ways and return to God before disaster happened. Jeremiah’s message was different: disaster is now inevitable. Accept it and throw yourself on God’s mercy to preserve you through it. Exile is coming and the nation must surrender to it.
In Chps 30-31, though, the tone shifts to talk about the restoration – they are going to return home someday, and that is a cause for hope and celebration. These chapters are a collection of poems with one basic theme: salvation after judgment. 31:7-14 talks about the road of return, a New Exodus, leaving a land of slavery and returning once more to the Promised Land. The remnant are those who have escaped calamity and have been purified through exile; they are saved through their return to the land.
V7 pictures a joyous parade home and v8 paints a picture of everyone who is returning home. It includes the blind, the lame, pregnant women, and even those in labor. These are all people with no power of their own, physical or otherwise. This tells us that only God could have effected their liberation.
V9 references streams of water. In the first Exodus, water was scarce so Moses struck a rock to provide water for the thirsty pilgrims. But here in this new Exodus, streams of water flow all around them. It’s a picture of unbelievable abundance. The verse also references a level road: the first Exodus had many hardships and dangers. This new Exodus is seen as a smooth path.
An image of God is also given in v9: that of father. Frequently in the Old Testament, God will call Israel or individuals “son” or “child” but rarely is God himself called Father until Jesus uses the image in the Gospels.
This passage ends with a reference to Ephraim. Jacob (renamed Israel after he wrestled with God) had 12 sons. The youngest two were by his favorite wife, Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph had two sons by his Egyptian wife: Ephraim and Manassah. In Genesis 48, Jacob recognizes these two sons as if they were his own. When the 12 tribes of Israel are named, these two are named as tribes while Joseph himself is not. The tribe of Levi is a tribe but it’s a special one, dedicated to God’s service. So to get 12 tribes: count Joseph’s 2 sons but not Joseph and leave out Levi and you’ve got 12.
Also, remember that Jacob/Israel was the younger twin. His brother Esau should have received his father’s blessing to be the leader of the family, but Jacob tricked Isaac and was blessed instead. When Joseph brings his sons, he puts the older one – Manasseh – to the right, a place of higher honor, and he puts the younger Ephraim on the left. But Jacob crosses his arms and blesses Ephraim, the youngest, with the greater blessing.
God looks to the very youngest, the least significant, as being the most special. This is the theme of reversal that Jesus has talked about in Mark – the first shall be last and the last shall be the greatest. The outcasts are coming home in a joyful return!
Have you ever had this experience of feeling like an outcast who is finally returning home?
Hebrews 5:1-6
Aaron was the brother of Moses and the first “high priest” for the Jewish people. Ever after, he was the model of all that a high priest should be. One characteristic, in particular, that the author of Hebrews notes about Aaron is that he did not choose the role; God chose him. It is the same with Jesus: the Father chose the Son for the role of Savior.
Another characteristic this reading brings out is the ability to understand and empathize with weakness and frailty. The Jewish priest was a mediator between God and humans. The best mediator does not judge either party, but is impartial. Perhaps the best mediators understand both sides.
Vv 5-6 quote from Genesis 14:18-20 and Psalm 110. The Psalm was interpreted as referring to the Messiah. The Genesis story is about a battle that is fought by Abraham who wins. On the way home, he stops by the city of Salem (Jerusalem) and encounters the King, who is also a priest of YHWH, and to whom Abraham gives a tenth or a tithe of the spoils of battle. Abraham is the father of the Jewish faith and no one holds a higher position, yet Abraham submits to this King Melchizedek. Rabbinic literature of the first century showed a high interest in this figure and a definite association with the Messiah.
This passage shows two important qualifications of a high priest: they could sympathize with human frailty, and they were explicitly appointed by God. The author of Hebrews makes an elaborate argument throughout the book that Jesus is the only high priest the people will ever need. And so he must address both of these qualifications. He shows a human Jesus, affected by everything in the human condition. To be sure, Jesus was affected by sin, but Jesus himself did not sin. And, because Jesus did not come from the priestly lineage, the author puts him in the line of Melchizedek, who was greater than Abraham himself.
How has Jesus dealt patiently with you?
Mark 10:46-52
Today’s passage forms a bookend with a somewhat similar story at the beginning of chapter 8. In that story, Jesus puts dirt and spit on the man’s eyes, and then says “Can you see?” The man replies “I can see, but the people look like trees walking around.” So Jesus has to then complete the healing. This story is highly significant in Mark’s narrative. It represents the disciples (and all of us, really) who hear Jesus’ teaching but don’t quite understand it. It is played out in the intervening chapters where Jesus predicts his passion, and is met with an inappropriate response from the disciples who do not understand, so Jesus has to teach them.
Today’s reading is the bookend to that story. It is symbolic of all who hear and do understand. The implication is that if you’ve listened to the teachings of Jesus in the previous chapters, you’ll have clear sight. Almost everything in today’s story has deep symbolic meaning.
The passage begins with Jesus leaving the city of Jericho, which is 15 miles from Jerusalem. The story of the fall of Jericho starts in Joshua 5:13.
There’s a sizable crowd because there are many people on the road going up to Jerusalem for Passover. This makes it a good place to beg – catch the pious travelers going up to Jerusalem and get them to do a good deed, to give alms.
You’ll hear some say that the man in this story is named. He’s actually not. He’s called Bartimaeus, which, in Hebrew or Aramaic, means “son of Timaeus.” Mark helpfully translates that for his non-Jewish audience. We’re not given the man’s first name, just his family connection. So he’s not only blind – he’s nameless.
In the parallel story in Mark 8 (the “incomplete” healing), that blind man is brought by friends. This one comes to Jesus, or tries to, of his own initiative. He calls him “Son of David” This is the only use of this title in Mark, but there were many Old Testament prophecies that #1 the Messiah would come from the line of David, and #2 the Messiah would heal the blind. Jesus is now allowing the public proclamation of who he is – he doesn’t tell this man to be quiet.
V47 says that the man asks for “pity.” This is the root of the Greek word eleison – kyrie eleison, Lord have mercy. Pretty much every modern translation uses the word mercy; it’s unclear why the NAB translators chose pity.
I think v48 is symbolic of what our culture does when someone begins to take their faith more seriously: “You’re crazy! Why do you want to do that church stuff?!” “They’re just out to get you!” Even well-meaning people can sometimes hold us back from maturing with their cautions.
Last week showed Jesus so eager to get to Jerusalem and embrace his destiny, he leaves the crowd behind. Today he stops in his tracks.
Jesus calls Bartimeus, who throws his cloak aside. When early Christians were baptized, they would strip completely naked, leaving their cloak behind as they stepped into the baptismal pool. It was a symbol of leaving behind the old way of life. For Bartimaeus, the cloak was most likely the cloth he laid down to collect offerings from people. This was, in essence, his livelihood, the way he survived. He threw it aside, literally to cast away, to get rid of it. This is an oblique reference to baptism. He leaves behind, he casts away, his former way of life, and he comes to Jesus.
Also last week, James and John wanted Jesus to grant whatever they asked. Jesus posed to them this very same question, using the same word for wish/desire/want:
What do you want me to do for you?
James and John had an inappropriate response. But here’s the model disciple, having left his old way of life behind, and correctly answering the question in v51: I want to see.
In the first healing story in chp 8, Jesus used dirt and spit along with his spoken word to effect the healing. In this story, Jesus does not have to touch him at all. A mere word is enough for a complete healing.
V52 says “Your faith has saved you.” Some translations will say healed but saved is actually a better choice. This word does not denote physical healing. It is about being delivered from danger into safety. The focus here is on faith rather than physical healing.
One of the books I consult for understanding Mark is Other Followers of Jesus: Minor Characters as Major Figures in Mark’s Gospel by Joel Williams. He says that our temptation when reading this gospel is to identify with the disciples, the Twelve, because later on they will be the leaders of the Christian community. But in Mark’s gospel, identifying with them may not always be very helpful, and, indeed, may lead us astray. The disciples are blind; they continually misunderstand who Jesus is and what he wants from them. They don’t “get it” and we might not get it either, which can lead to us excusing ourselves for our ignorance and lack of response to the true demands of discipleship. As a corrective, Williams suggests, Mark introduces these “minor” characters like Bartimeaus who model for us the correct response to Jesus and his call.
Bartimaeus is saved from his blindness, which, in scripture, is often a symbol of ignorance. People are said to be metaphorically blind because they do not understand.
In Jeremiah, the outcasts are coming home in a scene of joyful return of powerless people. These are people on the margins of society, pushed to the edges and not truly a part of the community. Like them, Bartimeus has always sat on the margins of society. But here he is made whole and joyfully joins that society. The outcast comes home.
The passage ends by saying that Bartimaeus followed him on the way. This implies that he is willing to join Jesus in Jerusalem and share in the passion, in Jesus’ suffering.
In this story Mark is once again confronting us with a choice: are you ready to spring up from your old life, leave it behind, and embrace your baptismal calling to join Jesus’ way of discipleship, even though that way will inevitably lead to Jerusalem and suffering and death?
Pray imaginatively with this story. Sit for a while in your blindness and come to know it. Can you feel the desire welling up in you to see? How do you approach Jesus? What do you say and how does he respond? How does sight come and how does it make you feel?
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© 2024 Kelly Sollinger