by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Joining the Parade

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Car watching is a hobby in which car enthusiasts love to participate.

“That’s a 1955 Chevy Bel-Air. It has a 256 cubic inch, 162 horse, V8 engine” (I don’t know cars and picked all that up on the internet.) People who know these facts are probably the same people who would rather drive the car than watch it from the curb.

“‘Go,’ said Jesus [to Bartimaeus], ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”
Mark 10:52 English Standard Version

Bartimaeus sat by the roadside listening to the parade march past him. He was probably sitting where he did every day, hoping for people to be generous and hand him something. Would they give him food from the marketplace, a coin, something that would help him make it through another sightless day?

However, there was something different about the crowd this day. There was a whisper circling through the throng. “Jesus is passing our way!” “Jesus is here!” “Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem!”

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” he cried. Jesus calls him. Bartimaeus throws off his cloak and feels his way to Jesus. “Rabbi, I want to see!” He receives his sight and follows Jesus on the way to Jerusalem.

He no longer sits by the curb watching the cars go by, he joins the parade. Many believe that the reason Mark gives us his name is because he was known to the believers who read Mark’s book for the first time. Maybe Bartimaeus even followed Jesus to his cross.

What about us? Are we sitting on the curb watching the Jesus parade go by, or are we willing to do what Bartimaeus did and follow Jesus on the way, a way that will lead to his death but also to his resurrection, a way that leads to our death and resurrection? Life is better in the parade than watching it from the curb.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado