Mark 10: 46 – 52
Jesus
was about to leave Jericho with his disciples and a very large crowd was
following them. A blind beggar named
Bartimaeus was sitting curled up by the roadside. When he heard that Jesus was
passing by, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on
me!” . . . And Jesus stopped and said, “What do
you want me to do for you?” And Bartimaeus said to Him, “Master, I want
to see.” And Jesus said to him, “Go on your way; your faith has saved
you.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed Jesus on the road.
“Jesus, Son of David,
have pity on me.”
*
I’m
probably not the only person reading this blog who has been in that dark place
that imprisoned Bartimaeus. I’m probably not the only one of us who once sat
curled up by the roadside of life begging Jesus for help. While our darkness may
not have been physical like the blindness that afflicted Bartimaeus, it was,
nevertheless, just as deep, just as crippling, just as painful. Who among us
has never experienced his or her own personal time of darkness?
That darkness can take many forms. It can be the broken heart that remains after the loss of someone we have loved very deeply, or the sadness and fear that walks hand in hand into our mind when we suffer with anxiety and depression. It can be the news that we have cancer, or the pain and immobility of crippling arthritis or MS, or any of the many illnesses and conditions that afflict us human beings. It can be the fear and hopelessness that comes from losing employment, or the financial panic we experience when we see our savings, the funds we managed to put aside for our kids’ education or our own retirement, disappear in the face of worldwide recession. “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.”
That darkness can take many forms. It can be the broken heart that remains after the loss of someone we have loved very deeply, or the sadness and fear that walks hand in hand into our mind when we suffer with anxiety and depression. It can be the news that we have cancer, or the pain and immobility of crippling arthritis or MS, or any of the many illnesses and conditions that afflict us human beings. It can be the fear and hopelessness that comes from losing employment, or the financial panic we experience when we see our savings, the funds we managed to put aside for our kids’ education or our own retirement, disappear in the face of worldwide recession. “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.”
In
the above Gospel Bartimaeus called out to Jesus from within his own personal
darkness. And Jesus heard. He
stopped, turned back to where Bartimaeus was sitting, and called to him,
“What
do you want me to do for you?”
Jesus asked.
“Master,
I want to see, I want this darkness to leave me.”
And
Jesus tells him, “Go your way, your faith has saved you.”
Miraculously,
the darkness is lifted and Bartimaeus can see. He throws his cloak aside and
gets up off the ground. But instead of going his own way he makes a choice, he
chooses to follow Jesus. And so it is with each of us.
In
one way or another, all of us have had personal times of darkness, times when
we called out to Jesus for help. And Jesus did help us. And like Bartimaeus, we
each made a choice: rather than going our own way after the darkness was
lifted, we chose to follow Jesus – to follow him right up to this moment.
But
we know that in life darkness comes and goes. That roadside cure wasn’t a
one-time event for Bartimaeus, and neither was our own personal cure. I believe
that, like us, Bartimaeus continued to have good days and bad days and times of
darkness. But once called by Jesus, he – and we – experienced a miracle.
That
miracle wasn’t a one-time cure against anything bad that might ever happen to
us; no, that miracle was the gift of faith – faith to keep following Jesus, day
after day through all the ups and downs, no matter what life hits us with.
Real
faith, like the faith that saved Bartimaeus, is not the belief that we will
never ever again have a bad day, never again be depressed or afraid, never
again get sick, never ever lose a loved one, never reach the end of our earthly
journey. Real faith is the conviction in our heart that whatever may come, we
will get through it with God, that whether in this life or the next we will be
healed of all darkness, all brokenness, we will be made whole. And my sisters and brothers, each of us
has that faith – whether we actually realize it or not – or we wouldn’t have
read this far.
As we go on with our life today and continue to follow
Jesus, let us pray for each other that the miracle of faith be kept burning
brightly in our hearts; and that the brightness of that miracle will dispel any
darkness we may yet encounter in life.
And let us never, ever forget that Jesus is walking with us
through all the darkness, all the brokenness, loving us, holding our hand,
leading us safely home.
……………………………………………………………………………………..
Readers of this blog might enjoy these books by
Deacon Lex. Both are available on Amazon.com:
Just to Follow My Friend: Experiencing God’s Presence in Everyday
Life
Synchronicity as the Work of the Holy Spirit: Jungian Insights for
Spiritual Direction and Pastoral Ministry
