Thirtieth Sunday In Ordinary Time, B: Bartimaeus

Bartimaeus, called “a blind man,” in Mark 10:46, is begging on Jericho Street, we hear in our Gospel today, and a verse from the First Reading, Jeremiah 31:8, describes those such as him as the “blind and the lame.”

Today, we would be more sensitive and say that Bartimaeus is “person who is blind; not a blind person.”

Or a “person with a disability” instead of “handicapped person.”1

Surprisingly, Jesus never gave any person with a disability, who was begging, money or any material goods.2

Instead, Jesus says to Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?"

Naming our needs does something—like naming our hurts or naming our sins. By identifying our needs we are more likely to have them met.

Bartimaeus tells Jesus that he wants to receive his sight. From this we can surmise that Bartimaeus long had the desire to be independent but was incapacitated by his disability.3

E.g., When healed, Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.

The early Christian writers made a big deal about Bartimaeus throwing aside his cloak.

As per Ephesians 4:22 and Colossians 3: 9, which speak of “putting off your old self, which is the old person, and putting on the new self.”

So, Bartimaeus is said to jump out of the old man.

His cloak was used to spread out on the ground to collect change when he was not wearing it; so, in effect, Bartimaeus cast aside his beggar’s license.

He had the expectation of transformation and a change of status from a blind beggar to something else, he was ready for something new.

Similarly, in Acts 3:1-10, a man with a disability is begging for money, but the apostles do not give him money, but heal him instead and the man is overjoyed. The word holoklerian (Acts 3:16) suggests completeness, therefore nothing should prevent the healed man from partaking in public life.4

What about our ministries? Should you give money to those begging at an intersection; or the homeless who don’t want to return to society and turn down offers from social workers to live in a group home or subsidized apartment?

To help you answer, there was a belief among Jews that ‘he who befriends the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed.’6 And Acts 20:35 says that Jesus taught that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Empathy is knowing that we can all get stuck on the side of the road in different ways and at different times in our lives insofar as you don’t see a way forward to your normal life or desired life circumstance.

We do not know if a person begging is a person living with a mental health issue. Some are casualties of a social system; some are addicted, and some are just plain frauds. We should still be willing to talk to them, whenever possible and prudent. It’s been found that “people with disabilities are equally if not more likely to consider themselves religious than those without disabilities.”5

Notice that we learn from Bartimaeus that a sign of wellness is that we would fight for our right to be heard. Fight for our healing. Fight for the truth.

E.g., Bartimaeus kept calling out, "Jesus, son of David, have pity on me,”—The Greek is “elision me” though many people rebuked him and told him to be quiet.

The crowd lacked empathy and wants to hush him, but he made a fuss. The more they denounced, the more he announced.

Sometimes the crowd cooperates with demons without even knowing it. A satanically instigated attempt to steal a word of hope! 6

In fact, the earliest commentary of Mark’s Gospel says, “Sins and demons suppress the cry of the poor man, which the Lord heard.”7

Jesus told St. Faustina something similar, “In these situations, take no heed of the opinion of others, but obey the evidence of your conscience and take God to be the witness of all your actions, ever mindful of God.”8

When Jesus said "Call him," the crowd called the man who is blind, saying to him, "Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you," which fulfills the prophecy from Jeremiah 31:7 in our First Reading: Thus says the LORD: Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your praise and say: The LORD has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel.

The response of faith is always personal. Immediately he received his sight Bartimaeus and followed them "on the way."

Only in company with others can we find salvation and fullness of life and help others stuck on the side of the road of life.

Bartimaeus lives among us now. "Do you see what I see? Do you see that God cares for you even though you may be on the fringes of society?”