March 15                                                                                                      Mark 10:  46-52

 

Then they came to Jericho.  As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means "son of Timaeus"), was sitting by the roadside begging.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."

So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you."  Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.  The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you."  Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Bartimaeus’ courage and faith to shout out persistently and ask Jesus for help to cure his blindness is most certainly admirable.  However, the New Englander in me… self-reliant, perhaps a bit stoic… wonders if I would have been content to suffer through lack of sight and not ask for help as Bartimaeus did.

It would have been easier to keet quiet, let the to-do pass by, and then go back to begging for money and food at which time the on-lookers would be more likely pay attention to his pleas, rather than the procession on the road.

But perhaps Bartimaeus’ lack of possessions and familiarity with asking for help was his boon in this case.  And although his call for aid was courageous and a leap of faith, he may have had one less hurdle to overcome than those of us that consider ourselves ruggedly self-sufficient.

In fact, we are not able to do it all ourselves, but with faith in God, and a persistent and prayerful call to help from Him, our way forward will be made clear.

~ Brian Byrne