The blind man Bartimaeus, who had been
left to beg in an attempt to fill his belly and keep alive, must have heard
good things about Jesus. And he was also ready to put his trust in Jesus, for
he referred to him as “Jesus, Son of David”, thus recognising his Messianic
claims. It was “mercy” that Bartimaeus sought, for this was clearly what was
most neglected in his case. How many times, one wonders, was this man denied
mercy? When people tried to shout Bartimaeus down and push him aside, his
fledgling faith was such that he shouted out even more boldly.
Now let’s pause to consider the first
part of verse 48 … “Many sternly ordered him to be quiet”. Why would these
people do such a thing? Surely here was a person in need who should be easily
and naturally deferred to! Could these people have been so callous as to have
preferred their own agenda and wanted Jesus all for themselves? After all, didn’t
Jesus highest priority lie with them, the respectable people? Was this part of
a subtle (or perhaps not too subtle) campaign to inveigle Jesus back to the
commonplace and middle-class! Were these attempts to sanitise Jesus and take
the sting out of his tail! Sometimes we hear a lot more about the conquering
Jesus, than the Jesus who spent most of his time with sinners and the needy (as
well as his fallible and doubting followers).
Is this in any way similar to modern
attempts to keep people in their place? Long and embarrassing and soul-destroying
queues at Centrelink offices all round Australia tend to keep the poor in their
place! You could probably think of other examples. Is there here a problem with
status reversal? Even if the poor blind beggar Bartimaeus has to be seen, he
certainly shouldn’t be heard. If we can just keep the cameras and the
journalists out of the detention centres, then we might just be able to sleep
at night; not to mention keep national wealth intact. Yet of course Jesus
believed in reversals – complete reversals: Mark had recorded Jesus’ famous
words just a few verses earlier – “The last shall be first and the first shall
be last” (10:31).
Then to look at this troubling verse
48 another way, could there be even more subtle ways of keeping seeking people
away from Jesus? Is the behaviour of some Christians a big turn-off! I know
someone who attends church regularly, but is very bitter and twisted and
antagonistic toward certain people he knows. How does that stack up for the
good news of Jesus? Jesus himself refuted those who were judgemental,
hypocritical, uncaring or unforgiving. Often those who might be regarded as ‘non-Christians’
show a lot more grace and kindness than those who could be more expected to do
so (because of their stated relationship with Jesus or God).
How would we react to this sudden
interruption of the blind man Bartimaeus wanting to push past us and spend time
with Jesus? Well, we know how Jesus reacted, and this certainly gives us a
lesson. Jesus stopped what he was doing (he “stood still”), and asked others
(perhaps the very ones who were getting in the way) to usher Bartimaeus over to
him. Now, we do sense some belated human concern in the phrase, “Take heart;
get up, [Jesus] is calling you”. Were such people now shamed into such an
attitude? Will Jesus’ innate goodness become part of who we are?
Now, Jesus wanted to get to the depth
of what was troubling Bartimaeus. This man was a poor beggar because he had
lost his sight, and in the society of the time, such people tended to be left
to their own devices. So to provide a clear sign that the Kingdom of God was
near, Jesus restored this man’s sight. In this case of Bartimaeus, this act was
going to turn him from a seeker to a follower – this not only met his most
pressing need, but also confirmed Jesus to be who Bartimaeus had thought him to
be.
Note also a particular expression of
faith by Bartimaeus … he, in trying to make his way to Jesus, threw off his
cloak. The context would suggest that this was not only a cloak to protect him
from the elements, but also the cloak that he placed on the ground as part of
his begging. In approaching Jesus, Bartimaeus knew that this cloak would not be
needed for this purpose any longer. Bartimaeus would now have the sight, given
the cultural context, to better pursue a living, but also the light, to better
pursue a life. Because of faith, Bartimaeus not only experienced physical
healing, but salvation also (being “made well”). It is fair to say, that each
of us, if we are truly going to follow Jesus in true discipleship, need a
Divine miracle in our lives.
We ourselves may not be able to offer
remarkable gifts of healing like this to others, although we may; but the point
is bringing into other people’s lives the best of what Jesus has to offer. This
certainly means never pushing them aside. But it also means gaining some
understanding of what people need and working on providing that. As we address
the presenting needs of people, they can enter that space where growing faith
leads to an experience of salvation through Jesus. And this could spread!
Telling of the same incident, Luke concludes, “Immediately [Bartimaeus] regained
his sight and followed [Jesus], glorifying God; and all the people, when
they saw it, praised God” (Luke 18:43).
As we approach Easter once again, let us
sense the Divine miracles that have happened in our lives. Let us reflect on
those moments where Jesus has touched our lives at our very point of need. Even
if these experiences have been quiet and subtle rather than extraordinary and
dramatic, we all, each and every one of us, have the knowledge that Jesus went
to the cross so that we would be able to have a thoroughly satisfying
relationship with God. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment