Jesus the Personal Savior
No, he's not just for you, but he *is* for you.
Mark 10:46-11:11
Bartimaeus, described as a blind beggar, is an individual healed by Jesus whose name we actually know. We don’t usually know the names of those Jesus heals. Mark says he began to follow Jesus on the way.1 The reason we know his name could be simply because he became a disciple and was known to Mark.
Jesus seems to handle different people in different ways, including those he heals. Some follow him, but most don’t. Some Jesus even sends away. He instructs many not to tell anyone what he’s done for them. Why?
We aren’t really told except sometimes it seems Jesus has desires about timing. Regardless, the notion is true: Jesus responds to different people in different ways.
This is good news. Jesus is no carbon-copying, institutional, one-size-fits-all machine. He is personal and contextual. He feeds the crowds, but he heals individually. He is concerned about the nations and a big city like Jerusalem, but his real work does happen individually.
In this way, Jesus is a personal savior. Not personal in that we each keep him to ourselves, private-like. Not personal in that we can avoid community or relationship, forsaking the Church. But personal in that Jesus knows each one and loves them in the context of who they are.
Mark 10:46-11:11
Jesus and his followers came into Jericho. As Jesus was leaving Jericho, together with his disciples and a sizable crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, Timaeus’ son, was sitting beside the road. When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” Many scolded him, telling him to be quiet, but he shouted even louder, “Son of David, show me mercy!”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him forward.”
They called the blind man, “Be encouraged! Get up! He’s calling you.”
Throwing his coat to the side, he jumped up and came to Jesus.
Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man said, “Teacher, I want to see.”
Jesus said, “Go, your faith has healed you.” At once he was able to see, and he began to follow Jesus on the way.
When Jesus and his followers approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Jesus gave two disciples a task, saying to them, “Go into the village over there. As soon as you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘Its master needs it, and he will send it back right away.’”
They went and found a colt tied to a gate outside on the street, and they untied it. Some people standing around said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them just what Jesus said, and they left them alone. They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes upon it, and he sat on it. Many people spread out their clothes on the road while others spread branches cut from the fields. Those in front of him and those following were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessings on the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest!” Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. After he looked around at everything, because it was already late in the evening, he returned to Bethany with the Twelve.
Prayer
God,
Thank you for knowing and loving me as an individual. I’m particularly thankful because I know myself. That you love me nonetheless might be the first of miracles. (I’m not really meaning to put myself down. I just think I’m boring. And you’re like…God and all…so…I feel like you likely have more exciting options.)
I think it’s a choice to believe that you love me. I accept that. And you’d better believe I’m running with the notion. It just seems like life is best to operate this way. I could resort to the notion that you don’t care. But there’s enough around - enough signs, enough goodness in the world both near and far, in nature and people, that tells me you are indeed love and you know and care about me.
So help me, God:
I want to return the same. I have no misgivings that I can be all you are. But I want to be loving.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.
The Way was a term used for the early Church, describing not simply a group of people, but those on movement with Jesus, both before his ascension and well after.