In this miracle story, we get a lot of details leading up to the miracle: Mark includes where Bartimaeus was standing, what he was doing when the Lord made his way out of Jericho, how he got the Lord’s attention, the annoyance of the other members of the crowd, the exuberance with which Bartimaeus leaped up, shedding his cloak so that nothing may hinder, the tender dialogue between Jesus and the blind man, and then Bartimaeus’ response of gratitude. All this in six verses!
Consider this story in light of the other stories in this chapter. Where the Pharisees harden their hearts against the teachings of Jesus and his identity as Messiah at the beginning of the chapter, Bartimaeus acknowledges Jesus as the Son of David and recognizes that Jesus has the power of God within him. Where James and John seek a position of power to lord over others, Bartimaeus approaches Jesus as a beggar, seeking nothing but healing. Where the rich young man refuses to follow Jesus and goes away sad, Bartimaeus joyfully follows the Lord on the way.
Bartimaeus is a model of the true discipleship that seems to elude just about everybody else in Mark’s Gospel, including Peter and the Apostles. Since he is a model of discipleship, what do we have to learn from him?
Firstly, we must recognize that like him, before meeting the Lord Jesus we are blind. Without Jesus, we are standing on the side of the road, not knowing which way is which, blind and not going anywhere. We might not be physically blind, but without Jesus, something is missing, we are without the light that is meant to guide our earthly lives. St Paul writes to the Corinthians: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel.”
Through sin, Satan has placed a blindfold on the eyes of the world. And even among the baptized, he is always trying to get us to put the blindfold back on, so that without the light of the Gospel, we walk not toward heaven, but toward hell. Sadly, there are members of the baptized who have let him, or perhaps have blindfolds because their parents had them baptized but never raised them to see Jesus and follow Jesus. But there are people in the world, in our neighborhood, in our workplaces, who like Bartimaeus, are blind, but want to see. So we need to ensure that the light of Christ is shining brightly in our lives.
Secondly, Bartimaeus models for us what it means to prioritize faith. He makes looking for Jesus his highest priority. And he does so with a sort of courageous recklessness. On the side of the road, he starts making a commotion. He doesn’t care what people think of him, he wants to get Jesus’ attention, he wants to encounter Jesus, and he pursues Jesus with a praiseworthy singlemindedness. When people tell him to quiet down, he cries out all the more for Jesus. He might have been labeled as a fanatic, or a zealot, or obnoxious; he doesn’t care. He cries out and keeps crying out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” with perseverance, intensity, and passion. Bartimaeus recognized that searching for Jesus must be our highest priority. And so must we. As Christians, are days and our weeks are to be structured around Jesus. Seeking him in prayer, engaging in the works he commands. Sunday Mass without compromise. Daily prayer without excuse.
Thirdly, Bartimaeus shows us that we must throw off our cloaks to approach Jesus. The thick, heavy cloak of the people of Israel was among their most prized possessions. It was protection against the rapid and frequent temperature changes, insulation against the harsh Judean winds, and at night it doubled as a blanket, especially for the poorer residents of the Holy Land, like Bartimaeus.
For these reasons, the Fathers of the Church have seen in this cloak a symbol of self- sufficiency, a symbol of our deep-seated tendency to think that we are capable of solving all of our problems on our own.
The cloak symbolizes all those things that we wrongly depend on for happiness, that we tend to idolize: good looks, intelligence, athletic ability, money, good education, success, popularity. You’ll never regret giving up television in order to pray and engage in charity, like taking part in our parish St. Vincent de Paul group. Don’t be afraid to rearrange things, to make prayer and charitable service a more deliberate part of your life.
Fourthly, notice how Bartimaeus is specific in his prayer. I want to see. Daily, we need to make specific petitions to the Lord. Bring to prayer that sick family member, pray by name for that clueless politician, for the return of lapsed Catholics, and like Bartimaeus, don’t give up and enunciate your petitions clearly: Master I want my son to be saved from addiction. Master, I want peace in my family. Master, I want healing for my friend. Master, I want a good job.
Lastly, having persisted in crying out to the Lord, throwing off his cloak, clearly enunciating his request to the Lord, he is healed, and then in gratitude, he abandons all that he has to follow Jesus.
There are a lot of people who cry out to God, they pray for healing, for peace, but when the prayer is answered, they go their own way. They are like the nine lepers, who healed by Jesus, fail to recognize and show gratitude to Jesus. Or the lame man at the pool of Bethesda. He received healing then went on to a life of sin. There are those who pray in desperate moments and then when the crisis is passed they return to their virtually faithless lifestyle.
But, not Bartimaeus. “Bartimaeus received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.” His physical blindness was healed, but more importantly the eyes of his heart were enlightened. Bartimaeus is the only recipient of a healing whose name is recorded by St. Mark, certainly suggesting that Bartimaeus continued to follow the Lord after his healing, and was a disciple known to the early Church.
I recommend some time this week, opening your bibles back to chapter 10 of Mark’s Gospel, reading through this story again, and asking the Lord to help you identify your blindnesses, how you can better seek Him in your life, what cloak, what safety blanket, you need to throw off, in order to follow the Lord with greater trust, and shine with the light of the Lord for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
No comments:
Post a Comment