Fr. Manuel J. Montesclaros, SJ
30th Sunday In Ordinary Time
October 25, 2015
His blindness has reduced Bartimaeus to a beggar sitting at the side of the road. Life so to speak daily passes him by. He simply sits at the margins, hoping that those who have been blessed to actively go through the journey of life may pause and take notice of him, awaiting from them some tokens of mercy. The tokens have made him exist each day but never have lifted him up to stand and walk along with the givers of these tokens through the road of life worthy of being son of a father. There seems to be an irony here. To be a son of a father entails a life of dignity, provision and security. He is called “son of Timaeus.” Yet, he finds himself alone, a nobody, uncared for and vulnerable. This has been his life, simply begging by the peripheries.
Then he heard something that kindled up a ray of hope. Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And so he began to shout and to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” But many of the crowd exercised authority over him to silence him (a reminder of how the disciples exercised authority over those who were bringing little children for Jesus to touch, scolding them for doing so, Mark 10:13). But Bartimaeus only shouted all the louder. Jesus stopped to tell the scolders to call Bartimaeus. In doing so, Jesus overturned their supposed authority in favor of His own true authority (Mark 10:14).
Let us pay attention to the twist. When the scolders called Bartimaeus, they actually here showed their obedience to Jesus’ authority. This signals as well that the scolders have become agents to carry out the authority and will of Jesus, despite their earlier rebuke of Bartimaeus. It is noteworthy how quickly Jesus’ exercise of authority turns things about.
The scolders’ telling Bartimaeus to get up because Jesus was calling him made him jump up and went to Jesus. His actions carried out, and even exceeded, their words.
Let’s now turn our attention to the question of Jesus to Bartimaeus. His question was actually a response to Bartimaeus’ actions that as noted above, exceeded the words of the scolders. Since he had not uttered a word yet to Jesus. Here Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus clarified whether Bartimaeus wanted money since he was begging or something else. But all along, Bartimaeus knew what he truly wanted, “Rabbuni, let me see again.”
Jesus’ response to the desire of Bartimaeus is instructive, “Go, your faith has saved you.” It implies, “You don’t have to sit at the side of the road begging anymore.” Here Jesus exercised His authority and gave Bartimaeus tokens of mercy no more, as he had been receiving from the passersby all through these years. Instead, Jesus bestowed upon Bartimaeus mercy itself! This mercy has lifted him up to stand and walk again, along with the Giver of mercy, through the road of life, now worthy of being son of a father. For indeed, Bartimaeus truly is son of the Father, the Father of the Giver of mercy Himself!
“And immediately he saw again and began to follow him on the way.” What a shift! What a turn around: from sitting at the side to following along the road!
Indeed, He who is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE (John 14:16) has passed through the road at the side of which Bartimaeus sat. He has asserted His authority. By doing so, the assumers of authority over Bartimaeus scolding him to keep quiet have become Jesus’ agents to carry out His authority and will to bestow upon Bartimaeus mercy itself. By his faith and by his insistence, despite the scolding by those who assumed authority over him, Bartimaeus has been led to the WAY Himself. He has been set free from his blindness by the TRUTH Himself. He has been made to walk along the road of life as a follower of LIFE Himself, worthy of being son of the Father.