And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road

 

 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 now 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 has rather extensive notes on today's passage, beginning with the comment that the restoration of sight to the blind was a sign which was expected to be performed by the Messiah (Isaiah 29:18; 35:4-5).  This is considered to be a power which God had reserved for God alone (compare to John 9:32).  Bartimaeus calls Jesus by the messianic title Son of David, which shows us his faith that Jesus was truly the Christ.  Moreover, in addition to the terms of the story, there is a patristic spiritual interpretation to this miracle.   As my study Bible explains it, Jericho was a low-lying city long associated with sin (Luke 10:30; 19:1).  In this spiritual interpretation of the passage, therefore, Jericho symbolizes fallen humanity.  In that context, Jesus passing through Jericho is an image of the Incarnation itself; God becoming human and walking in the fallen world. When Christ restores sight to Bartimaeus, then, it parallels His restoring humanity to glory (receiving light, so to speak, and illuminating them).  Having been restored, healed, and made whole by Christ, human nature can now follow Christ on the road to the Kingdom -- symbolized by our Lord's subsequent entrance into Jerusalem (on Palm Sunday; in the passage that follows, Mark 11:1-11).

When we stop to think about the setting of Jesus and the disciples on the road toward Jerusalem, we might do well to consider how in our own lives shifting goals change our perspectives and the meanings in the things we experience.  For one example, consider a young person who chooses to set a goal of going to medical school and becoming a doctor.  This shifts perspective to a place where each experience becomes filled with potential for learning how to become a good doctor.  Mathematics helps with understanding of chemistry; even seemingly simple business experience helps with considering how to eventually run a medical office.  All things and experiences might contribute to that goal.  Jesus and the disciples on the road toward Jerusalem help to teach us that lesson, because -- as we've observed through recent readings in the Gospels -- they go toward a goal the disciples don't really understand as of yet.  Jesus' glorification will not be the kind of worldly glory they understand from the world around them; neither are they prepared by the popular expectations of the Jewish messiah to deliver Israel from her worldly troubles with a resurrection of David's kingdom.  The Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus will shift and change everything, fill their present experiences with meanings they don't yet know -- and this is the surprising healing of human nature my study Bible speaks about regarding the spiritual understanding of today's story.  When our heads are simply filled with worldly or earthly images of what would make us great or glorious, how can we understand such sacrifice, or even what it is to be "great" on Christ's terms?  This is suggested by yesterday's reading (above), when Jesus tells John and James Zebedee, "You do not know what you ask."  For our eyes to be truly opened requires illumination on levels far deeper than material sight; it requires of us an understanding given through the light of Christ not just to intellect but to soul and spirit, to levels of the mind and heart that need healing, and adjustment to that change.   After Christ's Passion and Resurrection, and after Pentecost and all of the events of the establishment of the early Church with its persecutions, John and James Zebedee would have a much better idea of what they were asking about.  The illumination of blind Bartimaeus is the beginning of sight, to follow Christ out of the habitation of Jericho and whatever could be understood from this environment, and on into Jerusalem and beyond.  Jesus' glorification puts a completely different light on what makes greatness, what the light of glory is.  It's a different kind of goal that throws light even on suffering, for in suffering with us, our Lord engaged with the world and the pain of evil so that He could heal us and give us new meanings even in our own suffering.  In our modern world, we are often focused on a materialist perspective, one in which the things we consume and amass seem to define success and glory in life, for all kinds of reasons.  But we still (obviously) need Christ's healing in our modern "Jericho" environment.  In St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus teaches, "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing" (Luke 12:23).  As we head towards Holy Week, and the final week of Christ's earthly life, let us keep this in mind as He goes through His Passion and to Resurrection.  For our own suffering is transfigured and healed this same way and no other.  It is only after Bartimaeus receives his sight that he can follow Jesus on the road.  When we see clearly, we can do so, too.