Jesus, Son of David, 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 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed.  And as they followed they were afraid.  Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them the things that would happen to Him.  Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles; and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, "Teacher, want You to do for us whatever we ask."  And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory."  But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask.  Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"  They said to Him, "We are able."  So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared."  And when the ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John.  But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And however 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!"  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.  My study Bible comments that the restoration of sight to the blind was a sign expected to be performed by the Messiah (Isaiah 29:18; 35:4, 5), a power which God had reserved only for God (compare John 9:32).  Son of David, used by Bartimaeus to call Jesus, is a messianic title; it shows that the blind man had faith that Jesus was the Christ (the "Anointed," meaning Messiah).  There is also a spiritual interpretation of this miracle in patristic tradition.  Jericho, my study Bible explains, was a low-lying city which was associated with sin (see Luke 10:30; 19:1); here it symbolizes fallen humanity.  As Christ passes through Jericho, it is an image (or icon) of His Incarnation.  The Lord restoring sight to Bartimaeus is a parallel to His restoring humanity to glory -- to "enlighten" Bartimaeus' eyes is to illuminate humankind.   Having been made whole by Christ, human nature can now follow Christ on the road to the Kingdom, which is symbolized by the Lord's subsequent entrance into Jerusalem (in the verses that immediately follow today's reading, which begin chapter 11).  

How many ways are there for a person to be blind?  In Christ's world, it was commonly understood that a blind person's eyes were "darkened," unable to receive light.   So to have one's sight restored was to have one's eyes opened, allowing light to illuminate sight.  These are all expressions denoting common perceptions about blindness and sight.  But they all clearly have metaphorical meanings.  To be enlightened or illuminated is to understand something, to obtain knowledge, often used to mean spiritual wisdom.  As Christians, we couple this with our understanding, especially through the Gospel of John and other Scriptural references, that God is light (see John 1:4, 5; 1 John 1:5, among many other references).  Also in John's Gospel, Jesus says, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going" (John 12:35).  Here Jesus is referencing both Himself as the light and also light as synonymous with the good, and darkness as evil or the influence of the devil.  Darkness (or the absence of light) may also be seen as a metaphor both for ignorance and even heresy.  A heresy is most often a partial truth.  Like the weeds (or tares) that resemble the wheat in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30), half-truths or partial truths can be more dangerous than outright lies for their ability to deceive.  So we should consider even partial darkness to be metaphorically a problem for human beings.  Each of these considerations reflects on what blindness is when we're speaking in spiritual terms:  blindness may mean being deceived by lies and half-truths, or by hypocrisy, another theme Jesus warns about constantly in the Gospels.  When He levels His criticism at the Pharisees and scribes, it is most often about their hypocrisy.  See especially Matthew 23:1-36, in which He calls them "hypocrites!" many times.  He says to them, "For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness" (Matthew 23:27-28).  This is a metaphor that builds on metaphors:  a whitewashed exterior that seems to reflect the fullness of light hides an interior which is full of darkness.  In that same passage from Matthew 23, further reflecting the theme of spiritual blindness, Jesus calls them "blind guides" and "fools and blind" who lead others into their spiritual darkness and ignorance, misleading with lies, hypocrisy, and heretical partial truths.  ("For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves" - Matthew 23:15).  Blind Bartimaeus is perhaps a symbol for a misled humanity:  blind through no fault of  one's own, but simply for having inherited and been born into a world of sin and darkness, of lies and partial truths, of those who mislead for their own gain, and with spiritual leaders who practice hypocrisy.  Jericho becomes a symbol for a world blighted by these effects, which blind us to the light of God, making it hard to find our way.  Into this world comes Christ with His brilliant light, so dazzling (see the Transfiguration reading) that those of us who are used to darkness may ourselves be blinded to it for a time, unable to take it in -- and yet, as my study Bible explains, it is His healing grace that allows us to become whole so that we may receive His light.  Bartimaeus' prayer is one that lasts through the ages and is still with us.   With the quality of faith and trust, the Lord's grace and mercy enable us to truly see and to become accustomed to His light,  so that we may dwell in it.  Let us welcome that light as we walk on the road with Him as does the healed Bartimaeus, toward Jerusalem, becoming more accustomed to His illumination -- so that we, also, may celebrate the Resurrection with Him, in His glory.