As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more,
“Son of David, have pity on me.”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”
Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.
Reflection
Bartimaeus was physically blind but he believed in Jesus. Though blind, he saw with the eyes of faith. His was a faith that was beyond superficial. For despite having others trying to silence the voice of his faith, he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Deprived of sight, he put everything in his voice. We can say that he put voice to his faith, not only audibly but above all in fighting against all odds just to reach Jesus.
Jesus was impressed by this. Having heard the faint call, Jesus answered back with a call. The cry for help was answered with an invitation to come. For most of us, faith awakens in dire situations; but always for God, it begins when He calls and invites us. Taking from His Father’s heart, Jesus asks, “what do you want me to do for you?”
Bartimaeus responds from the depths of his heart. He revealed to Jesus what he wanted the most – the gift of sight. Jesus opened his eyes by telling him that his eyes of faith opened his eyes of sight. Faith does not only gives us sight in the darkest of moments but in the light of Christ, it allows us to redirect our journey from our own with that of Jesus like Bartimaeus who started following Him after he regained his sight.
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