Keep in mind that Mark’s gospel is written from the viewpoint of an elderly, wise, and holy St. Peter. We can only imagine his thoughts as he retold these stories to Mark after many years of reflection and seeing the truth of Jesus’ words and actions.
Let’s zoom in on Jericho, which is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. People have been living in it non-stop for 11,000 years! It was the location of both the rise and fall of Israel’s political fortunes. It was the first city that Joshua and the Chosen People conquered as they entered the Promised Land. Perhaps you remember the story as they walked around its walls, blew their trumpets and the walls came tumbling down leading to a great victory. It was also to Jericho that the last king of Israel fled before he was hunted down and killed, leading to God’s people being scattered in slavery and the 12 twelve tribes were lost forever. At the time of Jesus and the early Christians, Jericho was seen as a city of sin, worldliness, and pain. Even the geography seem to reinforce this notion because Jericho sat almost 3500’ lower in elevation from Jerusalem, the holy city, even though it was only 15 miles away.
Jesus enters this “low city of the world” on his way to the heavenly city for Passover. He would have been teaching as he walked, answering questions and explaining the Scriptures. He is just walking through, at least that’s the plan. What good could be found in such a place, some might have asked. But Jesus is always listening for the cry of the poor. He is always on the lookout for a heart filled with faith.
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” , a blind man yells. Even as people tell him to be quiet, to have some manners because Jesus is teaching and shouldn’t be interrupted, that he has bigger and better things to do, that he is just passing through Jericho, the blind man doesn’t care. In fact, he gets louder, more persistent, more obnoxious. He calls him the Son of David, which is a term for the messiah, demonstrating his belief that Jesus is the Chosen One of God.
These things catch Jesus’ ear and he tells the people to call the blind man to him. Does Bartimaeus hesitate? No, we hear that he jumps up, throws off his cloak, which is a symbol of his worldly possessions, and comes right to the Lord.
Once he is standing in front of him, Jesus says, “what do you want me to do for you?” If you remember, Jesus said the exact same thing last week, when James and John came up to him. They blew it by asking for the places of honor at his right and left. Bartimaeus gets it right. He doesn’t even ask for the good thing of having his sight restored, he asks to see, which is not just his vision but the ability to see the world as God sees. And here is the important part, Jesus not only gives him what he asks but his vision as well. That is probably the most important part of the reading today. Don’t aim too low when asking God for something.
Think back to King Solomon when he was a young man. God appeared to him and said I will give you anything, just ask. Solomon could have requested power, money, a long life, peace, —— whatever he wanted. But he doesn’t request any of these things, instead he asks for wisdom. And guess what, he gets all those other “lesser” goods as well!
The blind man wants to see the world, his life, and God as Jesus does. The Lord says, not only will I give you that but your sight is restored too! And what does he do with the Divine gift of properly seeing the world, his life, and Jesus? He follows him on the way to Jerusalem, the way of the cross! He shows us the perfect progression of how a Christian should act: first he asks God for help, after receiving it, he gives thanks, and finally, he follows the Lord with conviction and loyalty.
I have to think St. Peter smiled as he told this story to St. Mark. He must have shaken his head at how blind James, John and all the apostles had been leading up to Jesus' death on the cross. I imagine Peter must have given glory to God for the faith of Bartimaeus and maybe even said to Mark, “make sure this story is included, so future believers don’t make the same mistakes we did.”
So, consider a couple questions in light of what we know now about this story:
- Do we ever make the mistake of “passing through” a place or passing by a person, assuming God cannot be found there?
- Do we think at times that God doesn’t care about me or my problems and fail to call out to him for help?
- Do we allow allow embarrassment, pride, or the voices of this world to convince us to be quiet instead of yelling for Jesus?
- Do we have a holy boldness when we go to God for what we need? Do we ask for the gift to see everything with his eyes or do we instead settle for lesser things that are good but not the best?
- Lastly, do we use those moments of Divine clarity and spiritual vision to give thanks to God and then follow him? Or do we settle back into the cares and concerns of worldly life until we need Jesus again?
The simple prayer of Bartimaeus is all that we need tonight, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me; help me to see!”
