Have mercy on me!

Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you." And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight." Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.

- Mark 10:46-52

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught once again about the importance of service and humility. James and John Zebedee, two of his closest disciples and friends, asked to be allowed to sit on His right and His left in the fullness of His kingdom. Jesus taught them that this was not His to give, but that these places are "for those for whom it is prepared." But before that, they don't understand what they are asking, and the suffering He will endure - that they must be prepared for also. Jesus declares to all of the apostles, "Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus, of course, is on the road to Jerusalem - to His Passion and death on the Cross. The great cry comes forth from Jericho, and it is the cry of each of us to God who is love, "Have mercy on me!" "Have mercy!" my study bible says, "is a favorite phrase of prayer in the liturgical tradition of the Church. Mercy is God's lovingkindness, His tender compassion toward repentant sinners." "Son of David" we might say is Bartimaeus' recognition of Jesus - a sign of his faith. Ancient Israel took Jericho with a shout - let us see how this happens in Jesus' ministry. I think it's also important that we notice Bartimaeus and his persistence. Nothing can silence him - he won't listen to the others who tell him to be quiet.

So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, "Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you." And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So Jesus answered and said to him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" "What do you want Me to do for you?" is the question that we heard also in yesterday's reading, when James and John Zebedee asked for something Jesus could not give to them. This question seems to teach us that we might not always get what we ask for, but we are always asked to be specific, and to come to God with our real desires - in some sense, with who we really are, in dialogue. We ask for love and mercy, and we will receive that in return. But we give our all, our heart's desires. Bartimaeus' throwing off his garment is a symbolic undoing of his outer stature, revealing himself to God.

The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight." Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." My study bible says, "Jesus knows all things, and knows this man is blind. Yet He asked, 'What do you want Me to do for you?' The man could have asked, 'Lord, give me grace to live with blindness,' but he asks for his sight. Faith needs to be specific, and Jesus requests him to exercise his faith by asking for a specific need. Rabboni means 'my teacher,' showing the man's affection for Jesus." "Your faith has made you well" is the same response Jesus has made to others, such as the woman with the years long flow of blood.

And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. Bartimaeus becomes a disciple - this is the way in which Jericho is "taken" in the story of Jesus' ministry. The shout of grace and mercy goes out, and the Lord, the "Son of David" responds. The healed man becomes a disciple - as has happened so often with others. This is the unfolding of God's grace interacting with us. This synergistic action, working in tandem, so often has the effect of a great transformational change. It is Bartimaeus' faith that makes all the difference, in a depth of change that goes far beyond just healing his eyes; there is spiritual sight involved as well. My study bible notes here: "Bartimaeus follows Jesus, becoming a disciple of His (the road is G. hodos, the same word used for 'the Way' in Acts 9:2), and is not commanded to silence. Now that Jesus is heading toward an open confrontation with the Jewish leaders in the Holy City, the veiling of His identity (the messianic secret) is no longer necessary."

What do you truly desire? In yesterday's reading, the desire of John and James Zebedee was not to be - there are too many heavenly realities and understanding of discipleship they require for that to be granted at that time. But the truth is that Jesus' answer gives them what they truly need and desire: the power to become the disciples and servants they ask to be - and today we think of them as His closest companions, privy to the early great healing of Jairus' daughter, and of course, Jesus' Transfiguration. And they would go on to serve as was required of them - John's Gospel, Epistle and Revelation are three great books of the Church. But we see Bartimaeus, and his answered prayer. His transformation, the depth of change wrought in the person through this healing ministry, is far more of an answer than he asked for. He not only receives his sight, but becomes a disciple, and leaves Jericho following Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. Wherever we are, the gospels teach us, we offer all that is to God. We offer who we are, right where we are, and Christ will take that; God's mercy will interact with our offering of ourselves. What it is to be specific is really to offer up who we are in a sort of sacrament, and then God responds and transforms - and that is life in this ministry, a life of faith. It is a kind of cooperation, a communication. Too often prayer is considered asking or "begging" (and it's important that our subject today is a blind beggar). But God wants all of us, not just our desires but all that we can be. Someone recently said to me that so often a prayer is answered by giving us a challenge, to be what God sees that we can become. So Bartimaeus' answer is a challenge. He receives His sight, but as a disciple there is so much more down the road, and so much more for him to conquer and achieve in his life. Jericho was the site of a famous battle in which God's grace responds through a great shout of the people. What is your shout to God, and how does it call you forward along the road of the challenge to be what you can be in God's sight? Let the communion in prayer be the start of that action, that forward movement along the Way, the road on which we "Follow Him." We don't know where that might lead, but our prayer will surely be answered. Jesus told Bartimaeus, "Go your way" as he was healed. Can we respond in the way of Bartimaeus?