Apprentice 2 Jesus

The challenge of Christ being the center cannot be avoided. In the Gospel of Mark, there are two stories of blind men being healed. The first one in Mark 8 is followed by the great confession of Peter. He answers the question everyone of us must answer concerning Jesus.

“Who do YOU say that I am?”

What follows in Mark are three stories when Jesus revealed what was ahead and how the disciples completely missed what Jesus was saying. It wraps up at the end of Mark 10 with healing of Bartimaeus.

Three times Jesus reveals he will be arrested, beaten, crucified, then resurrected. Three times the disciples bring on discussion about greatness…THEIR greatness.

We struggle with our own place today. We search for our own significance. We have the same reaction too often. Jesus gives HIS agenda, and then we quickly redirect the discussion to OUR agenda. We are like blind people walking around!

To have significance in this life, Jesus calls us to be slaves. “Servants” is too polite. Slaves is the right term. No rights. No agenda of our own. We are called to serve.

Even though I am a pastor, I do not do this well. I confess my weakness. I need to be like Bartimaeus and recognize I am indeed blind. I do NOT want to be a slave. Too often I want to be served! Or, if I serve, I want to be RECOGNIZED for my serving!

I need to cry out with Bartimaeus, “Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”