They spent some time in Jericho. As Jesus was leaving town, trailed by his disciples and a parade of people, a blind beggar by the name of Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting alongside the road. When he heard that Jesus the Nazarene was passing by, he began to cry out, “Son of David, Jesus! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Many tried to hush him up, but he yelled all the louder, “Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped in his tracks. “Call him over.”
They called him. “It’s your lucky day! Get up! He’s calling you to come!” Throwing off his coat, he was on his feet at once and came to Jesus. Jesus said, “What can I do for you?”
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
“On your way,” said Jesus. “Your faith has saved and healed you.” In that very instant he recovered his sight and followed Jesus down the road.
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Try to imagine the scene in which this parable takes place. It’s less than a week before the Passover begins in Jerusalem; people from everywhere travel to Jerusalem every year for this holy day. For some, it’s a yearly pilgrimage, and for others it may be the only time they ever go. There is lots of excitement in the air, and the vendors in the markets are busy getting everything ready. It’s also a time when the Romans are most concerned about outbreaks of “freedom” groups.
Imagine you are an innkeeper in Jericho. This is the time of year when you make enough money to pays the bills for the rest of the year. People are filling the streets, rooms command premium price for those passing through on their way to the festival You never make it to Jerusalem yourself, - too busy working - but the brisk business is welcome.
Times haven’t changed much, have they? People still go to Jerusalem for Passover, and there is still the ever-present threat of violence. Every year many Muslims travel to Mecca in the Hajj, the holy pilgrimage. - and there are those who take advantage of pilgrims, in order to make a fast shekel. Some will be selling T-shirts and key rings; in Jesus’ time I wonder what they would have been selling - maybe cheap sandals, or money bags, or some kind of holy relic left over from the trip with Moses.
And there would be those who sit by the road and beg, knowing that the pilgrims will be in a good mood, and that the crowds will come back next week when the celebrations are over To these beggars, this is the best kind of crowd to work with – they are in good spirits, there is extra money to be spent, and it’s a religious holiday that encourages people to give. They couldn’t ask for anything better.
There is a particular intersection in downtown Toronto, where a couple of panhandlers appear usually around Thanksgiving and Christmas, knowing that people will be feeling a bit more generous. They sit out in the freezing cold, right at the stop light, and as cars pull up to stop, most people hand over some cash. I usually do. It *is* that time of year. They aren’t usually there, but they are clearly quite poor, which tells me that the panhandling is to get a little extra money to be able to celebrate the festivals.
Well, back to the road to Jerusalem. This year there is the hot-shot traveling preacher who brings his crowd along. He has a reputation for miracles, but there is even speculation that he may be the Messiah, the Son of David, who will ascend the throne of Israel and free the land from Roman rule. Expectations are high, among the followers. This man is surely the one, and he just needs to get to Jerusalem, and will demonstrate his incredible power.
Jesus could barely keep the disciples in check. As we read through Mark’s Gospel, we see that Jesus has been trying to hammer home the point that he will die in Jerusalem. But they would rather hear the rumors that are circulating; they want to believe a story of a King being acclaimed and anointed, who will rule from David’s throne, fulfill the hopes of the people, and be ruthless with the enemy, Rome.
In today’s reading, all of these groups and expectations meet in the city of Jericho at the bottom of the hill that leads up to Jerusalem.
What do we know about Bartimaeus? We know that he is Bar-Timaeus, the son of Timaeus. We know he was blind. We know he was looking for mercy, not money. We know that, because he asks for mercy and because he throws off his cloak, which he likely would have used to catch the money thrown to him by travellers. So it isn’t money he wants at all.
Unlike the “man born blind”, it’s more likely that Bartimaeus acquired blindness at some point in his life. A common experience among the people contracting a disease in which the eye duct would dry out, and in the arid and hot climate this often led to blindness. It was a dreaded disease spread by flies; when he cried out, the crowd, even the disciples, try to hush him up.
As a blind man, he was not welcome at religious festivals. People with disabilities could not take part in temple events, something straight from Levitical Law (Lev. 21:17-21). According to those laws anyone with any kind of blemish could not participate in sacrifices. So Bartimaeus had to live a life without worship. He was cut off from the religious centre of the community. At a guess, maybe his parents provided for him, so he didn’t need money, but more likely acceptance.
In some ways he could see things that people around him didn’t see, as if he had insight rather than eyesight.
When he called out to Jesus as the Son of David, for example, he may have been acclaiming Jesus as the Messiah (Mk. 10:47-48). It could also be that he remembered that King David made room at his table for Mephibosheth, the lame descendant of King Saul. Perhaps he was calling Jesus to make room for the blind and the crippled in his coming realm. Maybe he was pleading for mercy on behalf of all those who were cast out because of their disabilities and deformities.
For many years in the Buddhist system of belief, it was thought that women, and those who had any disability, could not become enlightened. It wasn’t until the time of Shinran, a Buddhist monk in Japan, that women and the disabled were allowed to take teaching. There is no question that Jesus also recognised that those who were outcast, pushed aside, or deemed not acceptable, were just as acceptable as anyone else.
Jesus asks almost the same question this week as last. Jesus asked James and John “What do you want me to do for you?” Today he asks Bartimaeus “what do you want?”
Last week the disciples asked to be seen and noticed by everyone.
This week Bartimaeus asks to see.
It would have made somewhat more sense, maybe, if the disciples should asked to be able to see clearly, and Bartimaeus asked to be seen. Mark’s Gospel keeps hammering home how thick the disciples were at not being able to see what Jesus was trying to get across to them. Maybe they really should have asked to see - but of course, they weren’t even aware they *needed* to be able to see.....they were too focused on the prestige of being on Jesus’ right and left, elevated above all their peers. - and because they could not *see*, they didn’t realise that Bartiemaus really need to be seen, to be recognised as a person, regardless of his blindness. Yet all Batimaeus can ask for is to be able to see, not to be *seen*.
What would you ask for? Your physical eyesight? Or insight? Like the disciples, maybe we really don’t want to see. Maybe it’s easier to look past the beggars on the streets, easier not to notice the lonely in our community, preferring someone else to do it. Seeing the needs might require us to act. If we actually know how we might help, we might also have to do something.
But if we cannot see, how can we follow Jesus on the road to Jerusalem? We would see neither the cross, nor the tomb.
What’s the very last thing Mark tells us in this story? That Jesus says to Bartimaeus “Your faith has made you well.” He has been given sight. - and Mark says he got up and followed Jesus.
So the question remains, what do you want Jesus to do for you?
Sources:
1. What Do You Want? A sermon by Rev. Randy Quinn based on Mark 10:46-52
2. Feasting on the Word, commentary by Victor McCracken. Westminster John Knox Press 2009.
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