Monday Morning Music Ministry

4-3-23

This time of year we focus once again on Palm Sunday, Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter, the Resurrection, the Ascension. In fact we should meditate on these events – and the truths behind them – more often than once a year. What was a miracle on the morning called Easter is a miracle to cherish in summer, fall, and winter too, and every day of our lives.

In the same manner also I have learned to look “beyond the familiar,” regarding the events of this season, and all events recorded in the Bible, all passages that speak to us. To know contexts is to enrich the truths.

For instance, the story of Blind Man Bartimaeus has always been compelling to me. The setting is just before Holy Week as we call it; just before Jesus entered Jerusalem. We know from the Palm Sunday story that His reputation preceded Jesus. Multitudes of people thronged about Him – happy mobs, really. They knew of His miracles, heard about His teaching; shared in the popular adulation. We read of His entrance to Jerusalem, the crowds, the palms laid in His path, the Hosannas. (We know too how the mob turned, as mobs often do; that is for another time.)

On His way to Jerusalem Jesus passed through the city of Jericho. We know a little bit about Jericho – a city of sin and resistance where “Joshua fought the battle” and destroyed the walls; where, also and perhaps significantly, Jesus named it in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Three Gospels describe the “celebrity tour” (if we can picture it in today’s mode) of Jesus, His entourage of Disciples, and the cheering crowds, as they headed for Jerusalem.

In the midst of this hubbub, a lonely street beggar, blind and poor, became aware that Jesus approached; the Miracle-Maker from Galilee. Here I have always wanted to “go beyond.” There is so much to “unpack” in this seemingly simple story of one more of Jesus’s miracles.

Join me in the various examples of symbolism. “The rest of the story” as Bartimaeus was made to see, his eyes healed.

We can meditate on the significance: Physical blindness being a “type” of spiritual blindness. Even the Disciples, knowing Scripture and prophesies and hearing Jesus’ own references to His imminent fate, were themselves blind to the reality of what was about to happen… and its spiritual importance. Yes, we all need our eyes opened.

We can realize that what Jesus heard was not the poor beggar’s cries, but what Bartimaeus called out: not Jesus’s name, but His title: Son of David. This was (and not from the mouth of a temple scholar) the Scriptural identification of the coming Messiah. This was not Ancestry.com trivia, but an acknowledgment that this Jesus, passing by, was indeed the Son of God incarnate. Yes, we all need to acknowledge the Savior.

In some translations, the cry of Bartimaeus is “Have pity on me!” but in the original Greek it reads, “Have mercy on me!” (Thus Kyrie Eleison, “Have mercy on us,” in traditional liturgies.) Of course, both pleas are appropriate. The cry for mercy, however, speaks as much to the longing of his soul – for forgiveness – as for pity, concern for his physical state. Yes, we all have serious spiritual needs, no matter the condition of our health or comfort in life.

To me, an important lesson has been the nature of the Disciples’ efforts, as we read, to make Bartimaeus shut up. I can almost imagine them saying, “Who are YOU? This is the Master wanting to move on! (Implying, ‘WE are important too!’) Stop yelling out! We are trying to keep this parade organized…” But Jesus had other priorities, and other ideas about order and dignity. Yes, we all need to respond to Jesus Christ as He would have us do… not as people around us – or even people around Him – do!

In contemporary context, I will recall my own experiences. Growing up in churches where prayers – even “Hallelujahs” and “Hosannas” – were sleepily mumbled by writ, with no hints or feelings of joy. Many churches discourage “amens” and raised hands from the congregation when Good News is shared. At the seeming other extreme, some churches order joy and dancing, but likewise discourage weeping in conviction, or expressing needs for forgiveness

“Shut up, blind man! We’re having CHURCH here!”

Thank God, Jesus heard Blind Man Bartimaeus. And He stopped. And He healed. May we all call out to Jesus, laugh with Jesus, cry unto Jesus. Praise Him in whatever circumstance, and wherever you are. He is always ready to call out to us, laugh with us, and cry with us.

Jesus will even stop parades to be there for us.

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That was a meditation on what happened just before Palm Sunday and Holy Week. Here is a song about what might have happened just before Easter itself:

Click: The Night Before Easter

5-24-21

One of my favorite passages in the Bible… Wait, I always feel funny when I start a conversation or a lesson that way. Every passage in the Bible ought to be as important, meaningful, and “favorite” as every other. Right? It’s all God’s word! I remember once thinking about those “red letter” Bibles, that every verse, every chapter, every book, should be in red, since it’s all the word of God.

Well, tangents aren’t in red, so I’ll go on. A Bible passage that speaks to me in many special ways is one that has many aspects and nuances and applications, but has become a favorite scene that attracts my attention.

It is the story of Blind Man Bartimaeus, the last (recorded) miracle of healing performed by Jesus, as He passed through Jericho on the way to Jerusalem where He would be arrested, tortured, and crucified. There was a crowd with Him and the Disciples. Luke 18:35-42:

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he cried out, saying,“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him,saying,“What do you want Me to do for you?”

He said,“Lord, that I may receive my sight.”

Then Jesus said to him,“Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”

When I read commentaries on this wonderful account, I am always impressed at the various messages or meanings that people take from it.

Some people relate physical blindness with spiritual blindness, and how Bartimaeus reached out and saw the Truth in his soul as well as his eyes.

Some people note that the term by which Bartimaeus addressed Jesus – “Son of David” – was a significant awareness of Biblical prophecy, and attracted Jesus’s notice.

Some people contrast the helplessness of a blind beggar outside the gate, his status in Jewish society, and the majesty of a King passing by.

Some people bless the modesty of a beggar, who might have pleaded for anything, like raiment of money or food or shelter, but was content to beg for open eyes.

Some people wonder if there is significance that this is the second account of blind eyes being healed by Jesus; or His last miracle recorded; or that Jesus, knowing the need of Bartimaeus, yet asked him to speak it; or how it was that a blind man would know the powers of this miracle-worker who passed by in the midst of a crowd; or…

… or many other lessons. I do not disagree with any meaning one can glean. Like a faceted gem, God’s truths have many messages in them; many applications.

But the meaning that has always seemed specially important to me is one that is seldom discussed. And I think it has special application today, in our lives, our churches, in our culture.

As I picture the scene described in Luke (also in Mark’s gospel) beyond the healing power of Jesus that still can be pleaded, and all the lessons others see, is this detail:

This was a crowd scene before a city gate. Jesus, Disciples, followers, the normal public about their business. Bartimaeus, however, inquired, and knew that Jesus was near. He called out – he acted. He yelled, by necessity, loudly. The Disciples and others tried to shut him up! They “warned” him to be quiet.

I can imagine them saying – even amid the hubbub – “Silence!” Maybe, “Don’t bother the rabbi!” Maybe, “You, down there — be dignified!” Maybe, “Jesus has an agenda. Mind your own business!” (Remember, the Disciples recently had argued about who between them would be “first” and “last” in the coming kingdom.)

Today, would they say, “We’re holding church here! Don’t raise your voice!” Or, “You should have checked with us for permission to call on Jesus!” Or, God forbid, would some say, “Be quiet! Jesus has more important things to do!”

The point is – or the points include – that the persistence of Bartimaeus was honored by Jesus. The “dignity” of the moment, an artifice anyway, was obviously meaningless to the Lord. And the “rules” of the followers – hangers-on, bureaucrats, managerial types – were nothing in the eyes of the Savior. Nor in the “eyes” of the blind man.

Applications today? “All of the above.”

But chief among them – yes, my favorites – are these:

In your personal life, never let tradition nor insecurity nor ignorance prevent you from crying out to the Lord when you need Him.

In your family and church-community life, never let rules and customs keep you from crying out, singing out, laughing, challenging, asking, pleading, confessing, and seeking God’s face. Let no one hush you up! That’s Jesus – and He’s listening for you!

And in your country, what’s left of it – remember Blind Man Bartimaeus as your role model. Speak up. Speak out. Don’t let “officials” tell you to keep quiet. Don’t be quiet!!!

If Bartimaeus had kept quiet, obeyed arbitrary rules, avoided speaking out and speaking up for himself, and missed the opportunity of making contact with holiness in his presence… he would have stayed as one more forgotten blind beggar in the dust. Dignified. Quiet. Polite. And lost.

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This is an old and rough video from a few decades ago, but a great example of worship services when Jesus passes by.

Click: Hymn Medley

(For readers with hand-held devices, copy and paste the following link in your browser: )

https://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=SIIrwtST8QM