The disciples try to quieten down Bartimaeus because they believe something bigger is happening than whatever he alone might get. This is the royal progress of the Messiah, the procession of the king to his capital, Jerusalem: how could he possibly stop now? Who is this that’s getting in the way? So, there’s more than a touch of irony about this encounter: the Messiah is indeed on his way to his capital, but this stop along the way precisely proves who he is and what he is in full sight of the disciples and crowd. They all see Jesus for what he is: the healer of humanity, the Saviour of all people, even the little ones.
The arc of Christ’s healing action comes to completion here in Jericho. It began in Nazareth, in the synagogue, when Jesus read from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me … to give new sight to the blind.” That arc of action is completed not in obscurity, but in the bright light and noble joy of the Messiah’s own pilgrimage to Jerusalem, who is joined by the beneficiary of the miracle. From this point on, there will be no more healings: only parables and polemics, until the cross.
Thus, Bartimaeus is worthy of interrupting, as it were, Jesus’ march into Jerusalem. He is the chief witness now before all pilgrims to the completion of the Lord’s healing ministry. Everyone counts in the Kingdom of God.
But what of us, who have our own needs and wants. Do we count? Can we interrupt, as it were, Christ’s heavenly majesty to put a request about improving our life here? We might ask ourselves whether we have ever made a wholehearted request of the Lord like Bartimaeus did. Perhaps we feel we can get by as we are, or that the Lord is unlikely to give us what we ask. Both of those are possible.
Bartimaeus helps us make our requests to the Lord as a model of petitionary prayer, an example of “asking” prayer. He attracts Jesus’ attention for two reasons which we can make our own.
Firstly, Bartimaeus has the kind of faith and trust in Jesus which we should have too. He hurls just about every title at him which the people of his day used: Son of David, Jesus (which means ‘The Lord saves’), and My Master (just as Mary Magdalene did). There’s not much left which Bartimaeus hasn’t said of Jesus in faith. And so the stakes are raised: there’s lots of room for disappointment in Bartimaeus if Jesus doesn’t pay him any attention. But that’s how it is to be for us, who usually have much less to worry about than Bartimaeus. If his physical disability meant destitution and permanent isolation, any suffering or adverse circumstances we might face shouldn’t prevent us coming to Jesus in full faith. Indeed, all life’s experiences can be used to send us on to Jesus, and lead us to give him the worship which is his due. After all, the Son of God wrote the laws of nature and overrode them to help Bartimaeus. We’re never so far gone that he cannot answer us if we wholeheartedly confess him to be our Lord.
Secondly, Bartimaeus asks for something which will enable his full discipleship, as we must. He asks not for more but for enough: “to see again”, to re-enter society again, to walk without worry again, to follow his heart’s desire. We believe that discipleship can happen when we have removed the obstacles in the way. Salvation is when there’s no longer any obstacle to our eternal life with God. So, we are to ask the Lord, as Bartimaeus did, to remove from our lives whatever inhibits our full discipleship. For Bartimaeus, it was his physical disability because of all that went with it. For us, we might consider praying to be relieved of an addiction or a bad habit, or have the courage to deal with a toxic relationship or even to end it, or lift away persistent doubts about the faith, or remedy a character flaw, or heal a broken heart, or correct unchecked cynicism.
Bartimaeus shows us what comes before discipleship: the right faith and the right request. He knows, as we do, that crying out in prayer for freedom is indeed effective, that everyone counts in the Kingdom, and that Jesus is here for us.
Fr Paul Rowse, OP
Parish Priest
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