Lord, I Want to See!

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It’s a day like all others for blind Bartimaeus as he sits by the Jericho road begging, frizzy brown hair disheveled, leathery face creased. The hot sun beats down as if bent on burning up his mind. He is bored, bored, bored. No life for a man of action, he thinks once again for the millionth time, recalling the days of his youth a couple of decades ago when he ran the streets with friends. He’d been their leader and protected the younger boys. Back then, he’d enjoyed a measure of respect. Today? Bartimaeus sighs.

Suddenly he hears shouts and the slapping sounds of running feet as a buzzing crowd approaches. He holds out his stone cup, clouded eyes fixed, and cocks his head. Something unusual is afoot.

“What’s happening?” He turns his head left and right, straining to hear.

“The Rabbi healer is coming!” a young boy shouts. Here in his town? He’d heard about this miracle worker. Jumping Jehoshaphat, what fortuity!

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” He is shouting now, and he cannot stop as all the longing of pent-up years course through him. “Jesus, have mercy!”

“Shush, be quiet!” People want him to remain unseen, unheard. As always, they don’t want him interrupting their pursuits or disturbing their peace. But how can he not cry out when Hope is walking down his street?

He feels the crowd coming to a standstill and strains to hear. An authoritative voice speaks in the distance, but he can’t make out the words. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me,” he shouts again. Then a woman nearby says, "Cheer up! The Rabbi wants to see you!”

Bartimaeus’ face lights as if someone just dropped a year’s wage of silver shekels in his cup. He throws down his cloak, leaps to his feet, and rushes headlong as the crowd leads him to Jesus.

When his guides stand still and clamor subsides, a kind voice speaks. “What do you want me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus stands erect, his voice resolute. “Rabbi, I want to see.”

Suddenly the words “Receive your sight” burst into swirling colors, shapes, and light as the smiling face of Jesus comes into focus.

Bartimaeus gasps, sputters. Wonder spreads across his face as he slowly turns his head right and left to take in his surroundings. Then he drops to his knees, his face to the ground. “Oh, my Lord, thank you, thank you!”

When he stands again, people gape at his shining eyes, a dark brown color now, and shake their heads, amazed. Bartimaeus begins jumping up and down, raising his arms to heaven, and as Jesus and the crowd surge forward, he follows, praising Yahweh over and over in his loudest voice. And no one minds his shouting now.

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REFLECTION:

There are places in our lives where we, too, sit by the road, blind. Where we need a miraculous word to see, to shift perspective, to receive light so that we do not trip and fall on the path ahead. Where we despair and wonder if we’ll ever see change.

Bartimaeus is willing to drop all dignity when he starts calling for Jesus like a child wailing for its mother. He ignores people who try to silence him and just shouts louder. He models an important lesson. Don’t let anyone stop you when you just need to get to Jesus.

Can you imagine yourself, along with Bartimaeus, crying out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”? What better prayer when we’re desperate! Amazingly, Jesus stops and calls for you. You throw off your cloak, which represents your former way of being, and hurriedly grope your way into his presence, eager for change. When he asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” What do you say? What is the miracle you want?

“Rabbi, I want to see!” Perhaps you want to see a way through some impossible situation at work or with a challenging loved one. Maybe you want to see how to cope with a debilitating health problem. Some of us may want to see so that we can find the path that leaves addiction behind.

“Rabbi, I want to see!” The first person Bartimaeus saw when blurry images came into focus was Jesus. Can you imagine what that must have been like? As we cry out for sight, surely Jesus is the one we need to see most.

Prayer: Lord, in our desperate places of need, we come to you raw, without pretense. We ask you to open our eyes! Thank you that you still answer this prayer today. In Jesus name, amen.

Scripture References: Mark 10:46-52; Luke 18:35-43