Gospel of Mark, chapter 10:52

The story of the healing of the blind Bartimaeus in today’s gospel (Mark 10:46-52) has aroused the curiosity of biblical scholars because it is about the only place in the Synoptic Gospels where the name of the person who was healed is given. Mark mentions the name not only once but twice, “Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus,” is mentioned first in Aramaic, and then in Greek. This unusual emphasis is a clue that the name is important in order to understand the point that Mark is making in the story.

In the Semitic world, a name was not just a label to identify the person. A name expressed the personality of the person. In Aramaic, Bartimaeus means “son of defilement (tame’).” This could be a nickname given to him because he was a blind beggar. The Hebrews held blindness to be a punishment from God for sin or defilement (John 9:34). But the Greek version of the name could also be understood as “son of honor” (timÉ). This would indicate the man’s inner nature. By giving us the name Bartimaeus with its double meaning, Mark could be telling us that Bartimaeus was a man of honor (timÉ) living in a state of dishonor (tame’). What Jesus did for him was not simply to restore his physical sight but, his God-given honor as a child of God.

Like Bartimaeus by the wayside, we are sometimes frustrated, feeling that there must be more to life than what we are getting out of it. Do we sometimes feel like we are born to fly and yet, here we are, stuck in a meaningless existence. Do we sometimes feel, like Bartimaeus, that we should be following Jesus in his mission to save the world and yet we find ourselves all day long doing nothing but living as victims of the same boring routine.

The good news is that Jesus is passing by. He can heal you and take away whatever weakness or handicap that holds you down. Do not pay heed to the naysayers who say you are a dreamer. Bartimaeus did not heed those who tried to dissuade him. Jesus is here to heal the blindness that has immobilized us, to empower and transform us from idle bystanders to enthusiastic followers of His way.

Fr. Hugh Duffy