B Cycle – 30^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 24

Mk. 10:46-52

The story of Bartimaeus is one of my favorites because it challenges us to be bold in exercising our faith.  Yet, like so many of the stories recorded in the sacred scriptures, we listen to them as stories while never allowing those words to touch our hearts.  This one like all of them is more than just another miracle story.  This brief encounter of Bartimaeus with Jesus should get our attention.  It should hit us and open our eyes just as Baalam ass was hit by Baalam because Baalam was blind to the reality of what was right in front of him.  (You can read this account in Num. 22:22). ‘

I am tempted today to focus on the question Jesus asks Bartimaeus – “…what do you want me to do for you?” But there is more going on than the lesson we can learn by voicing our need.  There is another lesson revealed in the opening words of this story and it unfolds during their encounter.  Those opening words have Jesus leaving Jerico with his disciples and a large crowd follows.  We do not know how large, but we can imagine a large is more than fifty people surrounding Him.  Bartimaeus knew that the prophet and rabbi everyone was talking about was passing by. This great prophet was there very near.  The one who had healed the deaf, the lame, the lepers, and yes healed the blind was close enough to hear his cry for help.  

He did not know this was the incarnate Word made flesh, the Son of God. But he does believe Jesus was the Messiah and acknowledges that as he cries out “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” He believes Jesus is the promised messiah who would retore Israel to the glory. Jesus would sit on the throne of King David who brought prosperity and peace to Israel.  He will restore Israel, and he will overthrow Israel’s oppressors. 

Bartimaeus is also acknowledging a belief that Jesus had the power to restore his sight.  Jesus could do what no other person could do, remove the blindness that has kept him from interacting with society.  Restore his dignity and give him the freedom to discover the wonder of living as a disciple.

But notice how the people following Jesus tried to silence him. He was acting in a manner that was not acceptable to others.  He was crying out in his need and people were trying to silence him.  The more they tried the louder he shouted out to Jesus – have pity on me.  He had faith in Jesus just as the woman with the hemorrhage believed just touching the tassel of His garment would heal her. He believed just as the centurion believed Jesus could heal his child without being physically present to the child.  He believed in Jeus just as Peter did when he stepped out of the boat and walked on water.  Faith does move mountains, but we fail to understand we all have a mountain of doubt.     

Interesting how it was those who were desperate and without hope who not only turned to Jesus but how He sought them out.  It is interesting how blind the Pharisees were even as they witnessed those miraculous healings.  The Pharisees were renouncing Him, calling Jesus as blasphemer, and denouncing Him as a fraud from Satan. 

We need to examine our own belief in Jesus and in His power to heal us physically and spiritually.  We do not need to be desperate like Bartimaeus to cry out to Jesus.  That is not the message of this gospel.  If that is all we hear then we have missed what Jesus is telling us through this story.  Bartimaeus had heard the stories of Jesus as people walked pass him and that was what motivated him.  Perhaps it was more than hearing about others.  Could it be that it was instinctive as Jesus walked pass him.  That being in the presence of Jesus stirred something within his heart that made him cry out.

Faith defies reason.  It is our answer to doubt because it increased trust in the ability of God to touch our deepest need.  Bartimaeus is one such story.  It is easy for us to believe it was desperation motivating him.  It is instinctive for us to know Jesus offers us more than we are experiencing.  Bartimaeus was not shy in his approach to Jesus. He did not hesitate when he knew Jesus was right in front of him.  He would not let others stop him nor would he allow propriety to deter him that day. 

This gospel is just a story unless we begin to reflect on what we would do if we were sitting on the roadside that day.  Today, and every Sunday, we have Jesus here present to us. The one who healed the blind Bartimaeus, who touched the lepers, healed the broken hearted and dined with sinners.  Christ is bodily present to us in the Eucharist and yet so many of us stand before Him, but we are unchanged by the encounter.

Why is there so little response, so little growth in spirituality, so little growth in faith and so little healing?  Christ came to heal the broken hearted and to set us free from the sins that hold us in bondage.  We ignore this sacrament’s ability to transform us into disciples who hunger for the more God is offering us.  Jesus have mercy on us.  Touch our hearts today and stir within us a flame of faith that yearns to be released into an unceasing cry of praise and glory as we acknowledge the great gift of Jesus Christ.