The blind man said to Him, "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight"

 

 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, we 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 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!"  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).  This is a power which God had reserved for Himself (compare John 9:32).  Son of David was a messianic title, which my study Bible says shows that Bartimaeus had faith that Jesus was the Christ.  There is also a spiritual interpretation to this miracle given in patristic tradition.  Jericho was a low-lying city which was associated with sin (Luke 10:30; 19:1).  Here it is a symbol of fallen humanity.  As Christ passes through Jericho, we therefore get an image of His Incarnation.  My study Bible says that therefore, the Lord restoring sight to Bartimaeus parallels Christ's restoring humanity to glory.  Having been made whole by Christ, human nature can now follow Him on the road to the Kingdom.  This is symbolized by Jesus subsequent entrance into Jerusalem (in tomorrow's reading, Mark 11:1-11).

Bartimaeus calls out from the side of the road, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  This is perhaps one of the most ancient and oft-repeated prayers of the Church.  It punctuates our worship services and our own personal prayers.  Note how Bartimaeus addresses Jesus with a proper title for the Messiah, Son of David.  It not only tells us about Bartimaeus' faith in Jesus, it tells us that he is appropriately addressing the One to whom he is appealing.  Bartimaeus gets down to specifics, in a way that conveys honor to the One he hopes will help him.  This teaches us about proper prayer and worship, for neither comes from a sense of entitlement.  Often this kind of honor or respect is closely connected with awe, for awe conveys a sense of the power and authority of God whom we address.  Just as Bartimaeus gets down to specifics, so also does Jesus.  He, in a sense, asks more of Bartimaeus once He is addressed.  Jesus first responds by addressing him directly out of the crowd, and calling on Bartimaeus to come before Him.  The people tell Bartimaeus, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you." Then we can observe Bartimaeus' immediate obedience and fervor, for he doesn't just come to Jesus, he arises and throws off his garment to do so.  In a way, we could view that as Bartimaeus not wanting anything to come between himself and Jesus.  In another sense, he throws off his garment in order to stand fully revealed before Jesus.  This is indeed the posture of prayer, and perhaps even more significantly, of confession.  He seeks to hide nothing from his Lord.  It is, in that perspective, the perfect preparation of right-relatedness to God, to meet God.  In this posture, Jesus in turn asks Bartimaeus to be specific, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  Bartimaeus replies, specifically, addressing his need:  "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  Rabboni means
"my Master."  Jesus responds as He did to the faithful woman with the flow of blood, "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  Like that woman, Bartimaeus is now in full righteous relation to God, and he is one who now follows Christ on the road to Jerusalem and the Triumphal Entry.  Bartimaeus, although blind, could see what so many could not and would not see:  that Christ is Lord.  He also intuitively knows the mercy of the Lord, as this is what he invoked in crying out among the crowd.  Moreover, he comes to Christ hiding nothing, which is what confession is for, and this is the way it is meant as preparation for Communion with our Lord, full participation in Christ's life, death, and Resurrection.  As Bartimaeus follows on the road to Jerusalem, let us think what it means to stand fully before our Lord, our own "cloaks" thrown off, and to ask for our true desire, looking into the face of Christ.