Let Me See

Note to the Teacher

This lesson follows the lectionary text where Bartimaeus receives his sight, and Jesus proclaims that faith has healed him. The icebreaker involves identifying things the youth can’t see. The scripture reading activity asks students to put themselves in the story and identify the characters' feelings. The activity is a throwback game show that leads the students to think about seeing things in different ways. The discussion asks students to consider other ways of seeing people.

Icebreaker: Eyes in the Back of Your Head

Before the session, find enough random objects for each group member to have one plus a few extras. Ask the group to sit in a circle with their hands behind their back. Place an object in each person’s hands, then go around the circle and ask them to identify the object without looking at it. The students will present the object to the group after they guess it.

Scripture Reading: Mark 10:46-52

Read the scripture passage twice – a leader will read it the first time, and the second time, a student volunteer will read it.

After the second scripture reading, ask:

What did you hear in the scripture reading that you already knew or that sounded familiar?

Do you know anything about the context of this scripture (what was happening before/after, who the characters are)? (If not, look at a few passages before and after this one to get a sense of the context.)

What did you hear in the scripture that you hadn’t noticed before?

Was there something you were listening for the second time the passage was read?

Then, read the passage a third time and ask everyone to pay attention to the emotions described in the story, the emotions the characters in the story might have felt, and the emotions you feel when you hear this story. After the reading, let everyone choose colored markers and write those emotions on a poster board. The leader can summarize by exploring the emotion poster and asking volunteers to share their entries and questions about the collage.

Activity: Liars Club

This activity can be completed with a panel of just two leaders but three to five would be more entertaining. It is based on the Liars Club game show from the 1970s. Gather several obscure objects or parts of objects that would not be immediately recognizable out of their context. The panel should see these objects before the game begins and decide which panelist (only one) will tell the truth about the object.

To play the game, the panel is introduced to the students; the emcee presents the panel with an unusual object. Each panelist will explain the object’s use, but only one panelist will be telling the truth. The audience will decide which panelist is telling the truth by answering a poll with raised hands. Then the truth-teller is revealed. Play for three to five rounds, depending on the time available.

Discussion

Think about the objects you identified behind your back. Did you notice anything different about them when you felt them instead of seeing them? Was anyone surprised about what their object was? Were there objects that could be identified only after seeing them?

Think about the Liars Club game. Was anyone convinced by a fake description of an object?

Are we ever convinced about someone we don’t know other than hearing how others see that person?

Have you ever had a friend visit for the first time? Do you look at your room differently when you shift your perception to what you think your visitor sees?

Bartimaeus was always on the roadside – how might people have seen him differently after Jesus noticed him?

Many scholars say this text is about more than physical blindness. When Jesus said, “Your faith has healed you,” he talked about more than the man’s eyes. How can we see people the way Jesus sees people?

How can we hear people who are reaching out for mercy the way Jesus hears them?

Bartimaeus had been ignored. How can we notice and help people who have been ignored feel welcome?

Materials Needed

• A poster board to share
• Bibles
• Colored markers
• A set of familiar objects for tactile identification in the icebreaker activity
• A set of three to five obscure objects for the Liars Club activity.