BARTIMEUS

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 (Mark 10:46-52)

1. No one wants to listen to the blind beggar named Bartimaeus. He was among the least important (even considered rubbish) in society. In the crowded city, as people jostled to see Jesus, Bartimaeus sat on the side of the road (v. 46). sometimes in society, when you welcome an ‘important person’, obviously anyone who is not important must be considered a nuisance. In this case, Bartimaeus shouted, directly addressed the ‘Important Person’ by name, and demanded His attention. Bartimaeus' behaviour was clearly disruptive (unless it was during an election campaign, in which case, this story would have been an easy moment to show his “populist” character). Just being there was disturbing, let alone acting up. Of course, no one would listen to him, the ‘Important People’ were too busy for rubbish like Bartimaeus, so they reprimanded him and told him to shut up.

2. For Bartimaeus, the unheard blind beggar, his ‘ticket’ was that he knew about Jesus. He must have heard stories about Jesus from people in Jericho. No one would have told him directly. He would have collected the pieces of the story. He must have collected bits and pieces of stories from passers-by as they told them (usually blind people tend to have keen hearing and more ability to remember what they hear). He collected all the pieces of the story by mentioning Jesus' name with “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” (v. 47). 

3. Jesus turned around and heard him, and asked the people to call Bartimaeus. From Jesus' request, we can confirm that the distance between Bartimaeus and Jesus was already quite far. With the noise of the crowd, Bartimaeus may not have been heard, but Jesus heard him. There are two important things that we can reflect on:

a. When everyone else didn't care and considered Bartimaeus a nuisance to be silenced, the LORD heard him. Bartimaeus, our example of faith, held this ‘ticket’ tightly in his prayer. He knew well from the pieces of the story he had gathered, that Jesus was the Messiah (Son of David). He would hear and help.

b. Bartimaeus may have been blind, seeing nothing. But, no blindness prevented him from ‘seeing’ Jesus. When life forces us to be blind and everything becomes very dark, the LORD opens Himself to be seen. For poor Bartimaeus, the LORD was the only one he could ‘see’. Later, we learned that this ‘only’ turned out to be everything to Bartimaeus. 

4. Bartimaeus' request is one of the most interesting in the Gospel story: ‘Rabuni, that I may see’ (v. 51). It's more interesting because when Jesus granted his request, the first thing he saw was Jesus. Now, he could see the Messiah more clearly. Seeing Jesus, for Bartimaeus, opened up all his darkness, and made him find his direction again. He then walked with Jesus. 

5. Now we know what to ask for, right?


Lublin - Poland, 27 October 2024

Fr. Valerian Karitas

Diocesan Priest of the Diocese of Ruteng - Flores


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