READING BETWEEN THE TEXTS: MINOR CHARACTERS WHO PREPARE THE WAY FOR JESUS

Encounter, Winter 2005 by Gardner, A Edward

While Mark mentions only Isaiah as a source, he has brought together Malachi 3:1 with Isaiah 40:3. Malachi proclaims that the Lord will send his messenger to prepare the coming of Yahweh in judgment. It was likely that during Mark's time, this quotation was interpreted as referring to the eschatological Day of Judgment. Malachi 4:5 identified the messenger as Elijah, the prophet who will come "before the great and terrible day of the Lord." Immediately after the quotations from the prophets, Mark identified John the Baptist with the figure of Elijah by implicitly describing John as "clothed with camel's hair," having a "leather girdle around his waist," and eating "locusts and wild honey" (1:6).

Isaiah 40:3 echoes or repeats the words "who shall prepare thy way" with the words "prepare the way of the Lord." One reason for bringing them together is the repetition of these key words. Isaiah's "a voice cries: 'In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord..." is rendered after the Septuagint: "the voice (phone) of one crying (boao) in the wilderness..." John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus in Mark 1:4-11 by proclamation, by acting out, and by foreshadowing. He announces to the people a baptism for the repentance of sins, appears clothed in dress like Elijah, proclaims One who is to come after him and baptizes that One-Jesus. Later, John will anticipate or foreshadow Jesus's death upon the cross with his being beheaded by King Herod, Baptism itself becomes a foreshad-owing of being taken down from the cross, laid in the tomb, and rising out of the water.

While John may be said to prepare Jesus's way, other followers do so as well. The Interpreter's Bible gives additional meaning to Isaiah's metaphor. Regarding the metaphor of preparing the way, it says, "The practice of preparing roads for the victorious advance of a conqueror or king by clearing them of obstacles is not unknown."7 We are dealing with several senses of the metaphor. "The way of the Lord, God's purpose, which the prophets proclaimed, is fulfilled in Christ."8 Jesus removes one obstacle after another to fulfill God's saving purpose-overcoming temptations, healing the sick, casting out demons, forgiving sins, confronting religious and political authorities, defeating Satan, and rolling away the last obstacle of death. Characteristically, Jesus does not claim credit for healing someone, but he says to the woman with hemorrhages and blind Bartimaeus, "your faith has made you well" (5:34, 10:52). I suggest that minor characters, by faith in Jesus, help remove obstacles from his way and carry out the purpose of God. (Conversely, there are minor characters like Herod, Herodias, her daughter, and Pilate, who present obstacles to the saving purpose of God.)

BLIND BARTIMAEUS PREPARES THE WAY OF THE LORD

The motif of preparing Jesus's way can be seen plainly in comparing the episode of the healing of Blind Bartimaeus with Jesus's entry into Jerusalem and the quotations from the prophets at the beginning of Mark. There is a pattern of repetition or recurrence among Mark 1:3 (the voice of one "crying" [boao] in the wilderness), 10:46 (he began to "cry out" [krazo]), and 10:48 (he "cried out" [krazo] all the more). The word krazo is repeated by the crowd in Jesus's entry into Jerusalem in 11:9: "And those who went before and those who followed 'cried out' [krazo], 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!'" Bartimaeus's cry, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (10:46, 48) is connected to and finds its continuation in the cry of the crowd. Jesus calls Bartimaeus and Bartimaeus springs up, throwing off his mantle, and comes to Jesus. Jesus asks him the same question that he asks James and John (10:36): "What do you want me to do for you?" (10:50). Instead of seeking places of honor at Jesus's left and right hands, "Bartimaeus [which means Son of Honor, a play on his name] asks Jesus, 'Master, let me receive my sight.' Jesus answers, 'Go your way [hypago]; your faith has made you well.'" Then the text continues with some key words: "Immediately [euthys] he received his sight and followed [akoloutheo] him on the way [hodos]" (10:52). Hodos refers back to 1:2-3: "Prepare the way [hodos] of the Lord." This repetition suggests that Bartimaeus, although a minor character, plays a major role in preparing the way for Jesus in entering Jerusalem and also in entering upon the way to the cross and resurrection as the Son of David, the Messiah. In 1:3, "make his paths straight" (euthys) has, in the prologue, set the stage for the frequent use of the word "immediately" (euthys), which is used pointedly in 10:52. It suggests that one divine providence happens after another, as though in rapid succession, to prepare the way of Jesus and fulfill the purpose of God. The key word "followed" appears again in 11:8 as "those who went before and those who followed [akoloutheo] cried out, 'Hosanna!" The key word "follow" is used of the disciples of Jesus and it is used appropriately of Bartimaeus, who has seen by faith that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of David, and prepared his way and made his paths straight. Bartimaeus is more than an example of faith and values; he is a divine messenger who prepares the way for Jesus by replacing the obstacle of the disciples ' blindness with his ability to see who Jesus is. Notice that while Bartimaeus "followed Jesus on the way," it is also true that he is the one "who went before" to prepare Jesus's way.