Mk. 10: 46-52
It was a moving train. A young man looking through the window outside shouted with happiness to his parents: “Daddy see, trees are running behind us…” He was almost twenty-four years old. The fellow passengers observed him with great curiosity. After some time, he called his dad and said: “Daddy, look at the sky, clouds are running along with us…” The fellow passengers could not control their laughter and giggled at this young man. They murmured to each other: why was this young man behaving like a small child?…They looked at his parents with pity…However, his parents were extremely happy and their hearts were filled with tender love and care towards him…As the journey continued, just like a little child, he was commenting on various things that he saw along the way…At times, he embraced his parents and kissed them…One lady who was travelling in the same compartment could not control her curiosity and blatantly told his mother: “Why can’t you take your son to a good doctor?” With lots of serenity and patience, she answered: “We are coming back after consulting the doctor…My son got eyesight today for the first time in his life…”
In today’s gospel we read the moving story of Blind Bartimaeus, who experiences a cure from his blindness and his cheery acceptance of Jesus as the Master of his life. He was not born blind; therefore, he knew what it meant to have sight. He was not born blind therefore, he knew what it means to have sight. Though, he did not have a prior encounter with Jesus, He was longing to see Jesus. In all the probability, he might have listened people speaking about the person of Jesus, his teachings and miracles that he performed. That’s why he cries: ‘Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me.’ He knew for sure that Jesus was not an ordinary rabbi and He could lead him from darkness to light. How was it possible for him to grow into this conviction? Gospel clearly says that he listened everything about Jesus. We hear with our ears but the process of listening happens with our hearts. Hearing can be passive but listening is always active. The first step in our spiritual growth is listening. Which means listen the Words of Jesus with our whole heart. We can be sure that his words will transform our heart of stone to heart of flesh. Thus, this process of daily conversion help us to grow in our relationship with Christ. In fact, the crowd that followed Jesus they had sight but they did not recognize the person of Jesus and their faith was shallow. Anyhow, Bartimaeus though he was blind, he showed others the path to Christ through his deep faith in the person of Jesus.
The second message that we can derive from the testimony of Bartimaeus is that his perseverance in the faith journey. He was not ready to give up on his faith in Christ. When people discouraged his cry for Jesus’ attention, he did not remain silent. Instead, he cried all the more loud: “Jesus Son of God have mercy on me.” In fact, his sincere cry demanded a miracle from Jesus. Jesus could not bypass him and go his own way because Bartimaeus heart was filled with faith and hope that Jesus would heal him. Dear friends do we have perseverance in seeking Christ like Bartimaeus? It can happen to all of us that at times when we feel that our prayers are not answered, we feel discouraged and may give up our thirst for Christ experience. The example of Bartimaeus teaches that none of our prayers are left unanswered. What we need is perseverance and holy longing for his experience. Lord in his time he would call us and grant us his experience.
Thirdly, what should be our pleading to the Lord? Bartimaeus prayed: “Lord let me see again.” We need to pray for the fulfilment of our material needs but above all our heartfelt prayer should be restoration of our spiritual insight that we may see the Lord again who grant us the miracle of this day and this moment, the Lord who walks with us in our journey of life like a companion. We all have sight but do we recognize the Lord who is present in our life? Many of our brethren though they have sight yet their eyes of faith remains blind and lead a mediocre or lukewarm Christian life without wanting to grow in their spiritual journey. Once Jesus calls Bartimaeus he responds to Jesus ‘Rabboni,’ in the whole of the New Testament we see this expression only twice. The other instant is in Jn. 20:16 – when Mary Magdalene encounters the risen Jesus. This expression depicts their deep intimacy with the person of Jesus and once he experiences the person of Jesus, he follows him at once in his way to Jerusalem. Thus, Bartimaeus set us a role model of radical discipleship by wholeheartedly accepting his cross and follows the Master.
As we meditate on the character of Bartimaeus, let us imitate the passion and zeal with which he sought the Lord. Let us never allow ourselves to be discouraged when the road seems to be dark, let us wait for the Lord. It is for sure that Jesus will guide us to the path of light with his question: “what do you want me to do for you?” Let our sincere prayer be: “Lord let me see again, let me see you in my journey of life walking beside me helping me to carry my cross.” Thus we may grow from being a member of the crowd to being a faithful disciple like Bartimaeus.