Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle B

MARK 10:46-52

BIBLE SCHOLARS HAVE SPECULATED FOR 2000 YEARS ABOUT WHY THIS MAN, BARTIMEAUS, IS THE ONLY PERSON THAT JESUS EVER HEALED WHO IS NAMED. AND THEY HAVE WONDERED WHY MARK CALLS HIM “BARTIMEAUS, THE SON OF TIMEAUS”. BECAUSE BARTIMEAUS ACTUALLY MEANS, “SON OF TIMEAUS”. WHEN I WENT TO MY SOURCES, I FOUND THAT “TIMEAUS” COMES FROM A GREEK ROOT MEANING “HONOR”. HOWEVER, WHEN APPLIED TO A PERSON, IT CAN MEAN “ENLIGHTENED” OR “HAVING LIGHT”. AND THERE IS A GREEK PLAY IN WHICH A PERSON WHO IS PORTRAYED AS HAVING NO REDEEMING QUALITIES – DIRTY, UNDERHANDED, UGLY, FOUL-MOUTHED – IS IRONICALLY NAMED “TIMEAUS”. AND OF COURSE THERE'S THE POSSIBILITY THAT THIS RELATIVELY COMMON GREEK NAME SIMPLY DESIGNATED SOMEONE WHO WAS VERY WELL KNOWN TO THE EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AND AS SUCH WAS AN IMPORTANT WITNESS TO CHRIST'S HEALING MINISTRY AND POWER.

BUT I THINK I'LL GO WITH “ENLIGHTENED”. BECAUSE MARK LIKES TO USE DOUBLETS IN HIS GOSPEL – SEPARATE STORIES LINKED BY A PHRASE OR AN IMAGE, TO MAKE A POINT. AND IN THIS CASE, THE STORY OF BARTIMEAUS FOLLOWS THE STORY OF JAMES AND JOHN. JAMES AND JOHN, AS YOU REMEMBER FROM LAST WEEK, CAME TO JESUS AND ASKED HIM TO PROMISE TO DO WHATEVER THEY ASKED HIM TO DO. AND HE REPLIED, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” AND THEY WENT ON TO ASK FOR POSITIONS OF HONOR WHEN JESUS CAME INTO HIS GLORY. BARTIMEAUS LIKEWISE SAYS, “SON OF DAVID, HAVE PITY ON ME!” AND JESUS REPLIES, “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU?” AND BARTIMEAUS ASKS TO BE ABLE TO SEE.

I THINK THERE ARE SEVERAL THINGS TO SEE IN THIS STORY. CONSIDER WHAT THINGS WOULD BE LIKE IF YOU WERE A BLIND BEGGAR IN PALESTINE. FIRST, EVERYONE, INCLUDING YOURSELF, WOULD BELIEVE THAT YOU WERE BLIND BECAUSE YOU WERE CURSED IN SOME WAY, OR PERHAPS YOUR PARENTS WERE CURSED. AND BEING CURSED COMES FROM BEING HATED BY GOD, OR BECAUSE OF A SIN. AFTER ALL, PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT GOD DISLIKED SOME PEOPLE FOR REASONS THAT WERE NEVER VERY CLEAR; THE SCRIPTURES SAY “HE LOVED JACOB BUT HATED ESEAU”. WE NEVER DO FIND OUT WHY GOD REJECTS THE SACRIFICE OF CAIN BUT ACCEPTS THAT OF ABEL. KING SAUL, ONCE GOD'S FAVORITE, COMMITS AN OFFENSE AND GOD PROMISES THAT NOT ONLY WILL THE KINGDOM BE GIVEN TO ANOTHER, BUT NO ONE AMONG SAUL'S DESCENDENTS WILL EVEN SURVIVE; AND YET DAVID DOES ALL KINDS OF TERRIBLE THINGS, AND GOD CONTINUES TO LOVE HIM AND FAVOR HIM. BUT BARTIMEAUS DOES NOT ACCEPT HIS FATE; EVEN WITH THE CROWDS TRYING TO KEEP HIM QUIET, HE CAUSES A RUCKUS.

WHEN HE IS TOLD THAT JESUS IS CALLING HIM, HE THROWS ASIDE HIS CLOAK. A BEGGAR DURING THE DAY PUT HIS CLOAK ON THE GROUND BEFORE HIM TO COLLECT WHATEVER PEOPLE MIGHT OFFER. AT NIGHT, THE CLOAK WAS HIS SHELTER. BARTIMEAUS THROWS HIS CLOAK ASIDE, ABANDONING THE ONE THING THAT DEFINED HIM, THE ONE THING BY WHICH HE MADE HIS LIVING, WITH WHICH HE KEPT WARM AND AVOIDED THE WORST PART OF THE OCCASSIONAL RAIN STORM. WHEN JESUS CALLS YOU AND I, THERE IS SOMETHING WE HAVE TO ABANDON; IT MAY NOT BE EVERYTHING, BUT IT IS ALWAYS SOMETHING. AND IT'S NEVER EASY TO GIVE UP OUR STUFF, OUR POSITION, OUR ROUTINE.

IT SAYS THAT BARTIMEAUS “SPRANG UP AND CAME TO JESUS”. ANOTHER TRANSLATION SAYS HE “JUMPED UP”. MARK WANTS US TO SEE THAT HE HAS NO HESITATION WHEN HE IS CALLED. THAT'S ANOTHER PROBLEM WE HAVE, I THINK. A LOT OF THE TIME WHEN WE CONSCIOUSLY DO SOMETHING BECAUSE WE ARE CHRISTIAN, WE DO SO WITH A LITTLE RELUCTANCE. WHEN WE GIVE OF OUR TIME, TALENT AND TREASURE, SOMETIMES WE DO SO WITH A TINGE OF RESENTMENT, OR WE DON'T GIVE AS MUCH AS WE COULD, OR WE GIVE UP OUR COMMITMENT AT THE FIRST SIGN OF RESISTANCE. EVEN THOUGH OUR ACTIONS ARE MOTIVATED BY OUR FAITH, WE AREN'T ALL IN, WE ARE HOLDING BACK. THE BLESSED MOTHER SAID, IN RESPONSE TO THE ANGEL, “BE IT DONE TO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD!” BUT A BETTER TRANSLATION IS “NOW DO TO ME WHAT YOU SAID YOU WILL DO!” OUR RESPONSE TO GOD'S CALL NEEDS TO BE WHOLE-HEARTED.

AND THEN JESUS GRANTS THE REQUEST OF BARTIMEAUS, AND HEALS HIS BLINDNESS INSTANTLY, WITHOUT TOUCHING HIM. NOW SOME OF YOU REMEMBER THAT IN ANOTHER PLACE IN MARK, HE HEALS A BLIND MAN WITH HIS OWN SPIT, AND AT FIRST THE HEALING IS PARTIAL; JESUS HAS TO MAKE A SECOND PASS IN ORDER TO CLEAR UP THE VISION COMPLETELY. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE HERE? JESUS HIMSELF POINTS TO IT – IT'S THE MAN'S FAITH. PERHAPS THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND MIRACLE IS THAT JESUS, WHO IS GOD, IS ALWAYS READY TO GIVE US WHAT WE NEED, BUT TO RECEIVE EVERYTHING HE WANTS TO GIVE US REQUIRES FAITH ON OUR PART. THE FIRST BLIND MAN HAD BEEN BROUGHT TO JESUS BY HIS FRIENDS, AND PROBABLY HAD LITTLE FAITH; BARTIMEAUS FULLY EXPECT THIS SON OF DAVID TO HAVE THE POWER TO HEAL HIM. SAINT AUGUSTINE SAID THAT GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING WE NEED, AND IS READY TO GIVE IT TO US. THE REASON WE PRAY IS NOT TO CHANGE GOD'S MIND, BUT TO ENLARGE OUR DESIRE FOR WHAT GOD WANTS TO GIVE US.

THE LAST POINT TO MAKE IS THAT WHEN HE IS HEALED, BARTIMEAUS DOESN'T GO “ON HIS WAY” AS JESUS TOLD HIM TO DO, AND OFTEN TELLS OTHERS TO DO. INSTEAD, HE JOINED THE CROWD THAT FOLLOWED JESUS.

SO MARK HAS SHOWN US JAMES AND JOHN, WHO ASK FOR POWER AND GLORY FROM JESUS, AND WHO ARE TOLD THAT IF THEY REALLY WANT TO BE FIRST IN HIS KINGDOM, THEY HAVE TO BE SERVANTS. JESUS HAS TO SET THEM STRAIGHT. AND THEN MARK TURNS OUR ATTENTION TO THE BLIND BEGGAR, THE ENLIGHTENED ONE, WHO ALSO ASKS JESUS FOR SOMETHING, BUT DEMONSTRATES REMARKABLE, OVERWHELMING FAITH IN DOING SO.

 THINK OF WHAT YOUR LIFE WOULD BE LIKE IF YOU WERE LIKE BARTIMEAUS. YOU WOULD BE UNAFRAID; YOU WOULD NOT CARE WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF YOU. YOU WOULD SEE THAT BEING CALLED BY JESUS IS NOT A TERRIBLE DISRUPTION IN YOUR LIFE, BUT A CHANCE TO ENTER INTO A NEW LIFE. AND YOU WOULD ANSWER HIS CALL WITH JOY, AND HAPPILY GO THROUGH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE IN HIS COMPANY. BARTIMEAUS, DESPITE HIS BLINDNESS, IS TRULY THE ENLIGHTENED ONE.