His Blindness Is His Greatest Blessing!

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We hear of the story of the blind beggar Bartimaeus in today’s gospel.  Jesus is leaving Jericho on his way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  And on his way he heard Bartimaeus shouting out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.’  This man who lived in complete darkness had a tremendous desire for light, for clarity, for a cure.   Many who were there told him to shut up, but he only shouted louder.  He could not miss this chance and he could care less of what others would say.

This is the last healing miracle in Mark’s gospel and he seems to be drawing a contrast between Jericho, a huge metropolis, and Jerusalem.  It is like the city of man and the city of God.   You need to leave one to enter the other.  We try to live in both but it doesn’t work.  Don’t fall into the trap of saying that this does not apply to me because I am not blind.  If this man did not acknowledge his human condition, his reality, he never would have met Christ.

Bartimaeus is not making an intellectual profession of faith.  He is becomes hoarse by making a public act of shouting.  He pours out his soul.  He demands the goodness of God to be poured out upon him and nothing could stop him.  Jesus hears them over the objections of the others, even the apostles.  Do I ever have the boldness to cry out in this way?  Jesus is always listening to us to see if our cry rises above the tumult of the world, and our passions.  He shouts his Holy Name and asks for help.  Those around them try to make him stop which shows Bartimaeus is making more spiritual progress than the disciples.  He is physically blind but his spirit is in good order.

Mark is showing us clearly an itinerary of faith: don’t be afraid to cry out, like this man.  Jesus calls out to him over the uproar of the city.  He longs to make intimate contact with what hurts in us.  This episode is an epiphany of what Christ will do for us in Jerusalem: he will restore the fullness of life to all mankind.

His blindness is healed with certain conditions.  First, Bartimaeus must manifest his sickness; he has to say what it is and, second, he must desire to be healed.  This results in an illumination (another word for baptism) from the Lord and he commits to following Christ.  This passage is like a symbolic baptismal initiation that has great psychological insights.  It is a picture of what God wants to do with you!

Jesus Christ wants to hear his request, and wants to hear it loudly, before he stops.  He needs to verbalize it with his own lips and say only the essential thing: he wants to see again.  God doesn’t impose on us.  He is always searching for us and leaves us free to call upon him to see him and the glory of the kingdom.  And often we want God at our beck and call.
The irony of this gospel is the physical blind sees Jesus, while the seeing remain in the dark.  The point of every healing is to bring salvation to the people and is a sign of what God wants for all of us.

What is the first thing that Bartimaeaus sees?  It is the face of Jesus.  The giver and the gift are nearly the same.  He sees the whole Christ.  He immediately is healed and immediately follows Christ, never to detach himself again.   A deep wisdom has infused into his heart and with this new vision he can see far beyond the physical world.

Blindness was his greatest blessing because he encountered Christ.  This blindness makes him a beggar and desperate for salvation.  Nothing stops him.  He thanks him by following him; to see and to follow Christ is the same thing.  Once a person finds Christ then he/she more easily gives up the things that control their life.

The miracle is not just a physical miracle but it makes whole a human person.  What wouldn’t we do to be like Bartimaeaus?  To have a bit of his humility, his boldness, his self-knowledge, his persistence, and above all his trust.

Let us pray that our own miseries and blindness will be exposed to the mercy of God and yield such fruits.  This is not a matter of wishful thinking but to pray and to ask with a real effort, a continual one.  When we pray like this man our life will radically change direction.

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