WILL TO BE HEALED
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October २५

A few days ago I met a man on the street. He was drunk and was totally confused. He said, “Sir, Can you please help me to get home? I am lost?” The experience of being lost is a common phenomenon. The gospel reading for the 30th Sunday presents a situation where Bartimaeus, a blind man, is desperately looking for a way out. He was living in the street of Jericho. When he heard about Jesus passing that way, he cried out, “Jesus, I lost sight, help me to see.” (Mark 10: 46-52). The question is: What made him blind and what kind of blindness did have?

City of Fall
He lost sight and direction because he was living in the wrong place and he was on the wrong path. He was living in Jericho. Jericho was a symbol of fall. Remember the story of the victim in the parable of the Good Samaritan. He fell into the hands of robbers while he was leaving Jerusalem to go to Jericho. Jerusalem is the city of God whereas Jericho was the city of evil. He was leaving the city of God. There is no clarity, no safety and no peace outside of God. We find Zacchaeus also in Jericho. He was struggling to find peace. Bartimaeus, the hero of our present story, was also living in the streets of Jericho. He was in the wrong place and on the wrong path. The result was total disorientation. He lost the way. He was in total darkness. People who live out side of God are in the wrong place. Where there is no God there is darkness, confusion and conflict.

Son of Honor
Every miracle of Jesus has historical and symbolic significance. Bartimaeus might be physically blind, but the focus is on his spiritual blindness. A number of things will substantiate this point. First of all, physical blindness was attributed to sin by traditional Jews. It was considered to be a punishment from God. Secondly, this was the only place in the Synoptic Gospels where the name of a person who was healed was mentioned. In this story, he mentioned Bartimaeus’ name twice. The word Bartimaeus has a double meaning. In Aramaic it means son of defilement and in Greek it means son of honor. Mark uses the name Bartimaeus in both senses, first in Aramaic and then in Greek. It means he was living in shame but had the potential to live in honor. Thirdly, Jesus said to him, “Your faith has saved you”, instead of saying, “You are healed.” Finally, Mark says, “He followed Jesus on the way,” a clear indication that he had been living on the wrong path.

Will to be Healed
The great thing about Bartimaeus was that he did not waste the moment of grace. He did not let the opportunity fade away. As soon as he came to his senses and realized the need for vision, he rushed to Jesus. He was not influenced by the crowd. Nothing stopped him from pursuing the desire of his heart. He responded with urgency. He ended up in the world of Jesus. The gospel says: “He followed Jesus on the way. He discovered the way of Jesus and took a new direction in his life.” The result of conversion is a new way.

Work of Grace
We all experience moments of conversions. We all witness strong feelings towards God. These are works of grace. The irony is that these moments of conversions rarely occur and even if they happen, they may not last either. Jesus visited Jericho several times. Even though Bartimaeus was living in Jericho, only once did he feel Jesus’ presence. If we delay in responding to the call of grace, we may lose the urgency of the call. Do not despise or ignore the inner call for conversion. They are moments of grace. We need a will to be healed.

Helpful Hints
In order to respond to the work of grace, Bartimaeus did a number of right things they are helpful hints on our journey of Faith. First of all, he accepted the truth about his life. He had the humility to acknowledge his blindness. Secondly, he was not ashamed of bringing his weakness before Jesus. Thirdly, he did not pay attention to the thinking of the mob. Fourthly, he was persistent in his appeal to Jesus. Finally, he showed his sincerity by living the new way.

The important questions we need to ask are these: What is the Jericho of my life? Is there any obstacle in achieving my goal? How seriously am I trying to make my way right?