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, 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 it, 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."  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; 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 considered to be reserved by God for Himself (compare John 9:32).  Son of David is a messianic title, which tells us that Bartimaeus had faith that Jesus was the Christ.  There is also found in patristic commentary a spiritual interpretation of this miracle as well.  Jericho was a low-lying city associated with sin (Luke 10:30, 19:1).  (Apparently, in Christ's time, this area of the road to Jerusalem was a site of criminal activity, commonly for robbery, and associated with danger.)  Here, it symbolizes fallen humanity.  So, in a spiritual interpretation of this story, Jericho symbolizes fallen humanity, and Christ passing through is a symbol of His Incarnation in the world.  The restoration of sight which Christ gives to Bartimaeus parallels His restoring humanity to glory.  Having been made whole by Christ, my study Bible says, human nature can now follow Christ on the road to the Kingdom, which will be symbolized in Christ's subsequent entrance into Jerusalem in the passage that follows (Mark 11:1-11).  

 

 Clearly blind Bartimaeus, as my study Bible indicates, is a spiritual metaphor.  In addition to the specific patristic interpretation of this story noted above, he serves as a stand-in for us as well.  There's a particular shape to the story of Bartimaeus.  He already has faith that Jesus is the Christ, as indicated by his faith which moves him to call out to Jesus as "Son of David."  Bartimaeus is in that all-too-rare position of already knowing and understanding that he is blind, and that his blindness gives him limitations in life.  Spiritually speaking, many of us are, in fact, "blind" to our own blindness.  We can't see around our own dark corners where we hide from ourselves the things we don't want to see.  It's a common understanding that it's simply a human pattern that people are frequently blind to their own flaws, often true in people who love to point out instead the flaws in others.  But Bartimaeus, on the other hand, knows that he is blind.  His life is reduced to begging by the side of the road, for this is what he can do.  But he is not begging out of a sense of self-pity.  His condition and his circumstances render him unable to do other work.  But, that, also Bartimaeus is not satisfied with.  He knows his limitations and how his life is curtailed through this affliction, but he doesn't accept them as the final word.  In some sense, he's aware that the world he knows is not all there is.  In fact, now his opportunity to do something about his blindness and this state in which he lives by begging is approaching, coming down the road.  Here is his hope, and possibility.  And Bartimaeus makes every effort he can to get the help he needs from the one whom he has faith is the Messiah.  He shouts, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  In the center of this story, we're told that then, many warned him to be quiet .  In this place symbolic of fallenness, where there is a kind of notorious criminality, people are somehow complacent.  They don't like that Bartimaeus shouts for attention and for help or mercy.  But although many warn him to be quiet, Bartimaeus responds by crying out all the more.  He wants Jesus' attention, and he has confidence in seeking that attention.  Jesus hears him and commands that they bring Bartimaeus to Him.  The people now say, "Be of good cheer.  Rise, He is calling you."  What does Bartimaeus do?  Throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.  In Thursday's reading, we read about a man who had many possessions, who was reluctant to part with those possessions even for the reward of an eternal life, even for Christ who loved him.  But here, Bartimaeus is entirely willing to give up his old life symbolized by the throwing aside of his garment.  Bartimaeus knows what the rich young ruler from Thusday's reading perhaps doesn't know, that one must lose their life to save it, and by clinging to the old will lose even what he might have (Mark 8:35).  Bartimaeus is calling to the One who can help him, the one place where he can find what he truly needs.  He calls to the Light, to Jesus, to illumine his sight.  Jesus asks him in return, "What do you want Me to do for you?" Bartimaeus' prayer is specific,  "Rabboni, that I may receive my sight."  This term, Rabboni, is one of the greatest respect and yet also personal affection.  It is the one by which St. Mary Magdalene responds to Christ when she encounters Him risen at the empty tomb (John 20:16).  It means not just "Teacher," but "my Teacher."  Jesus replies, as He did to the woman whose blood flow of twelves years was stopped by touching His garment in good faith (Mark 5:34), "Go your way; your faith has made you well."  Then we're told that immediately Bartimaeus received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.  Did he go out and party and celebrate with his friends?  Did he boast of something as if it were his special achievement?  Is he satisfied to stay by the road where he is now that he has received his sight?  No, Bartimaeus knows where the light is, and his journey into his new life is just beginning.  He knows he need to follow the Light that gave him light, and so he turned and followed Jesus on the road.  He's on his way to the life he needs following the only One whose mercy could give him his sight.  Here Bartimaeus becomes a metaphor for all who've tried in all kinds of ways to escape an afflicted and limited life, and failed to find help and real guidance in the midst of a fallen world that is also blind to its own limitations.  So often we seek solutions offered by popular culture, media, or what the crowds are chasing or tell us to do.  But there is one place where the light of mercy comes from that can illumine our way out of a dark situation, a fallen life surrounded by limited expectations and hope -- and Bartimaeus is going to follow where it leads him.  We contrast Bartimaeus' limited life with the life of the rich young ruler of our recent reading.  Bartimaeus, though blind and possessing nothing, now stands to gain all for he could "see" his hope in Christ.  The rich young ruler possessed everything, but went away with nothing despite Christ's love for him.  Let us consider where our hope always lies, and follow what blind Bartimaeus knew to do.  For even one who failed (in yesterday's reading) always has hope of repentance and to follow Christ in faith toward the Kingdom.  Bartimaeus' cry to Jesus, "Have mercy on me," is the foundation of the Jesus prayer, and punctuates worship services (particularly among the Orthodox).  For His mercy is that of opening to hope and possibilities not considered, horizons to which we might be blind but may see through His light.   

 

 

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!

 

 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should 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 brought to Him.  And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.

 

- Luke 18:31–43 

 

On Saturday we read that infants were brought to Jesus that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.  But Jesus called them to Him and said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it."  Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.  You know the commandments:  'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother."  And he said, "All these things I have kept from my youth."  So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.  And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."  And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"  But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."  Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."  So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life."

 

  Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.  For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.  They will scourge Him and kill Him.  And the third day He will rise again."  But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.  My study Bible says that this saying was hidden not by God, but because the disciples could not comprehend its full meaning until after the evens of the Passion had taken place.  

Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging.  And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant.  So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.  And he cried out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Then those who went before warned him that he should 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 brought to Him.  This blind man begging by the road greets Jesus as the Son of David, which is a title associated with the Messiah.  "Have mercy on me" is the refrain of the Jesus Prayer practice, and also the repeated interjection in worship in the Church.  Note the blind man's fervent desire, repeatedly asked, and asked all the more after being told to be quiet.  That Jesus stood still is an indication of God's response to frequent, repeated, and fervent prayer.

And when he had come near, He asked him, saying, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight."  Then Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well."  And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God.  And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.  My study Bible says that even though Jesus knows what we want before we ask, He calls us to ask freely so that we might learn of His mercy.  There is also a patristic interpretation of a spiritual nature to this miracle.  The blind symbolizes the future generations who would only come to faith by hearing, without the benefit of seeing Christ in person (see John 20:29).  Those who tried to silence him are persecutors and tyrants who , in each generation, try to silence the Church.  But nevertheless, under persecution, the Church all the more confesses Jesus Christ.

There's something about the repeated demand of the blind man that is very poignant.  We don't know how long he has been sitting by the side of the road begging.  Like so much else that we encounter in the Gospels in the persons of people waiting for a cure, or for help, there seems to be an endless period of waiting for help and assistance.  John's Gospel speaks of the paralytic who had an infirmity for thirty-eight years, who waited by the side of the pool called Bethesda, for the time when an angel stirred the water so that he could be cured (see John 5:1-15).   There is the woman with the blood flow of twelve years, who had spent all of her money on doctors, and had only gotten worse (Luke 8:43-48).  We get a sense of persons endlessly waiting for help that doesn't come, respite that somehow isn't possible with the things at hand, the limited options that are available to them.  The stories about these people and their infirmities tell us that it is the encounter with Jesus that brings in something entirely new, "out of the box" so to speak, into the world.  The paralytic at the pool by the Sheep Gate doesn't need an angel to stir the water nor someone to put him in it.  The woman with the blood flow needed but the great courage and daring, exemplifying her faith, to touch the hem of the garment of Jesus.  And this blind man needs the alacrity, persistence, and energy he musters to realize who Jesus of Nazareth is, to shout the proper cry, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" and to have the gumption to defy the crowd and persist in his plea to Jesus.  The actions on the part of the people desiring healing in each of these stories are meant to teach us about our faith, and our proper conduct in that faith.   As Jesus has taught in many times and places in the Gospels, we are to be persistent in our prayer.  We are not to lose heart (Luke 21:9, 19).  We are to endure (Matthew 24:13).  And fervent and frequent prayer is rewarded with response (Luke 18:1-8).   So in the understanding of these stories of the hope of the paralytic, the faithful courage of the woman with the blood flow, and the persistent, insistent prayer of the blind man in today's story, we are to understand the "flavor" of our character before Christ in the midst of our faith.  We're not to lose heart, we're to insist on our prayer, we're to call upon Christ.  Often, it is quite possible that our prayers are not answered in precisely the way that we'd hoped, but it is only persistent prayer that connects us with the magnitude of the power of God to work in our lives in ways far beyond what options seem to be presented to us by life.  It is that persistent prayer that connects us with strengths we didn't think we had, hope where we were hopeless, a renewal of faith, an energy in new options and new thinking that didn't present itself before.  These are the things I have found from prayer, and they bear out the truth in the Gospels.  Possibly the greatest gift of Christ is the hope where there was none, and the outside-the-box insight into options that didn't previously present themselves.  Today's story of the blind man in Jericho is an image of the limited understanding and insight of a sinful world, and the powerful effect that prayer to Christ has on our own blindness and limitation.  There will always be new ways in which we might be expanded and enlightened, and therefore healed.  So we greet Him as Son of David, but most properly as Lord, for it is His power that we ask Him to use to help us.

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!" 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 and the disciples were going up the road to Jerusalem. He was walking ahead of them, and they were amazed. Then He took them aside again and told them what was going to happen to Him at Jerusalem. "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." John and James Zebedee came to Him. They said, "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 wanted to sit on His right and left hand in His glory. He told 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 indicated they were able. Jesus told them they would indeed do both, "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." Speaking to all the disciples together, He said, "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. To my mind, this is a sad picture, one of great pathos. It's not just blind Bartimaeus we might see here, but the connotations of Jericho are important. Jericho is the sight of the great battle of victorious Israel, led by Joshua after the long wandering of Exodus. With a great shout and the blowing of the trumpets -- the heralding of God's kingdom -- the walls of Jericho gave way to Israel. We might think of blind Bartimaeus in a sense as the state of Israel at the time of Jesus' life. The people need help, they need someone who will bring back the true spirit of faithful leadership, they need vision. "Joshua" and "Jesus" are in effect the same Hebrew name (in English we read them differently due to translations over the centuries from language to language). It means "God is Salvation."

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!" Again, we have a hint about Jesus' identity as leader, and His ties to the history of Israel. He is "Son of David" -- in the lineage of the king whose rule would unite the two kingdoms, north and south, Israel and Judah, if only for a time in history. The psalms tell us the whole history of Israel, and even prefigure the story of Jesus' life. The great bulk of them are by tradition attributed to David, who was also a musician and shepherd. They remain the prayers of the Church, in an unbroken testament to their spiritual power for both Jews and Christians.

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?" This statement, "What do you want me to do for you?" is the same question Jesus asked His closest friends, James and John Zebedee, in yesterday's reading. Blind Bartimaeus, the beggar, is approached in the same way.

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. In these spare sentences, we have the power of the faith of Christ revealed. He who was prefigured in Joshua, who is the Son of David, has a leadership for a new way of victory. That victory is in faith, in opening our eyes to truly see. It is a restorative faith; "God is Salvation" teaches us what it is to be "well." In this is our salvation, our trust. Blind Bartimaeus, no longer blind, follows Jesus down the road. In Greek here, the word for "road" is the same word used for the "Way."

What does it mean to be "saved?" The salvation history we read in the Bible tells us of the history of Israel, and then the coming of Jesus Christ, His apostles and those who would come afterward to spread this faith to the whole world. In this salvation history there is the constant purpose of God, of YHWH, to which we are always called back. It is always characterized by a message of love. The early Israelites were given a Law that would enshrine the importance of community, in the care even of the stranger (as they were strangers in Egypt), of the widow and the orphan. So often in the Gospels, Jesus will call others back to the true purposes of the Law. Here, blind Bartimeaus is treated even as His closest apostles and friends were treated, with the question, "What do you want Me to do for you?" The "shout" of Israel led by Joshua is now the shout of Bartimaeus, needing help by the side of the road. It is our cry to God, "Have mercy on me!" What does each of us need? What do we want Him to do for us? In this question is everything. David loved the Lord with his whole heart and mind and soul, and we can see that in all the psalms. Let us consider the leadership offered by Christ to everyone, the Son given to us "for God so loved the world." Let us follow in His leadership, His Way, for what must be our own victory, what will truly make us well.