Lord God, thank you for your Word, for speaking to me through it. Please show me more reasons to praise you, to trust you, to be who you have made me to be.
Read MARK 10:46–52
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘Come as the light: to us reveal / our emptiness and woe, / and lead us in those paths of life / where all the righteous go.’1
Think Further
Today’s reading concludes our journey through Mark’s account of Jesus’ final path to Jerusalem. Mark chose his material carefully, structuring the narrative to make his main point clear: the disciples were not heroes or celebrities but, until the resurrection, failures. Yes, they left home to follow Jesus, sensing that he alone held the key to knowing and relating to God. For that, we hold them in everlasting gratitude. However, Mark arranged his narrative to show that the disciples constantly misunderstood Jesus’ mission. It is highly likely that Peter was a major source for Mark’s gospel, which makes this point very powerful. The apostles did not want Mark, who was the first writer to record Jesus’ story, to gloss over their failures as disciples. They did not want the Christians of the early church, suffering persecution, to think the apostles better or more faithful than themselves.
It is fitting, therefore, that Mark should end this part of the narrative with the healing of a blind man. Sight and blindness form one of those meaningful word pairs that the Scripture writers, and Jesus himself, used so effectively – death and life, darkness and light, lost and found. Mark provides what was then a powerful metaphor, when blindness was misunderstood as a punishment. The disciples’ minds are still darkened. Deep down they know they want to see, want to understand. That is why they have not fled from Jesus. Soon the light would dawn upon them. Soon they would see the risen Jesus. Soon they would understand. Soon they would gladly follow him to whatever end. That same blindness can be ours – our eyes dazzled by what the world offers, like some in Mark’s narrative. God, however, can heal our blindness – and then we have but one choice. Simply, like Bartimaeus, we must follow Jesus along the road.
Apply
Jesus is Lord of light and life who takes away our darkness of mind. May we follow him along the road.
Closing prayer
Jesus, Son of David, thank you for the mercy you have shown me, for calling me to yourself, and for the spiritual sight you have given me. Help me to stand firm in the assurance of your resurrection and see clearly your purposes for me as I follow you.
Last Updated on November 14, 2024 by kingstar
