Gospel of Mark, chapter 10:47

In today’s scripture, the blind beggar Bartimaeus comes across as a vulnerable seeker . Everybody in the neighborhood, it seems, knew this blind son of Timaeus. People advised him to quiet down, not to be upsetting himself and others who were quietly going about their business. All the while, Bartimaeus ignored their admonitions and boldly called out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me!” Eventually, the same people who were fed up with Bartimaeus helped him on his way to Jesus. Sometimes it works like that. We are helped and led to the Lord by people we would never expect to help us. The Lord works in strange ways, indeed.

When Jesus called Bartimaeus to come forward, the blind beggar asked for the obvious: that he might see. His faith drew forth the miracle of sight and his eyes fell on the One who brought him wholeness of body and spirit. Then, Jesus told him: “Be on you way! Your faith has healed you.”

Bartimaeus chose to follow the way of Jesus. This following of Jesus “on the way” refers to much more than Bartimaeus’ new–found ability to walk better, now that he could see. It focuses on a new Bartimaeus entirely, one who has become a Disciple of Jesus. This is following of a different kind; this is a more challenging walk for Bartimaeus. From then on this new-sighted man became a faithful man. Bartimaeus not only got his eyesight back; he gained the kind of foresight, hindsight and insight that conforms to that of Christ who called him forth from his original blindness.

The journey of Jesus led to Jerusalem (The place of His full and final self-giving) and to the glory of the Resurrection. Bartimaeus-vulnerable, stumbling and seeking, had to learn this as he went along. So do we, we are also asked to take in the whole journey. How do we set out? We set out with the assurance of Faith which tells us that this journey is not our own. We will know we are on the right way if and when our lives are conformed to that of Christ who called us forth out of the dark valley into the highway to heaven.

In contrast to the rich young man, who belonged to a higher social status than Bartimaeus, and rejected the invitation of the Lord to follow Him, Bartimaeus encountered Jesus “on the way,” and followed Him. There is an important lesson here. You don’t have to be important or distinguished to follow Jesus; and Bartimaeus makes it clear that those at the bottom of the social order are just as favored in the eyes of God, as those at the top? Bartimaeus is a clear case of where God’s “power is perfected in weakness.”

Fr, Hugh Duffy