Brief synopsis of the readings: Jeremiah wrote our first reading and it’s a joyful one. He describes the end of the Jewish Diaspora, the defeat and exile into Babylonia. Here the Israelites are allowed to return to their home. God will gather the exiles from the far ends of the earth: “the blind and the lame”. Mark’s Gospel describes the story of Bartimaeus, a blind beggar. He sat at the side of the road and begged for a living. Bartimeaus received word that Jesus was passing by and attempted to get Jesus’ attention. Many of those who waited for Jesus told Bartimeus to be quiet but it only called Bartimeaus to shout all the louder to get Jesus’ attention. Hearing the shouts Jesus stopped and asked that Bartimeaus be brought to him. Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted, and he asked for sight. Jesus complimented Bartimeaus on his faith and granted him sight and Bartimeaus began to follow him.
The first reading from Jeremiah looks fairly simple: both Isaiah and Jeremiah devote several chapters to the celebration of the return from exile. Many of you already know this story, but the Israelites were defeated and exiled by the Babylonians; their Temple was destroyed and most of them believed their story was over. A small group believed that God did not abandon them and they had a future. They were right. After several years their conquerers were themselves by conquered by rulers who allowed the Israelites to return home and rebuild their Temple.
They did. But this reading from Jeremiah contains an astounding verse:
See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame
Why did this matter? It matters because Jeremiah included the “blind and the lame.”
Today we look at people with disabilities with compassion. We respect handicap parking spaces and don’t park there. We see Braille characters and make a prayer of gratitude that we don’t need to memorize them.
But it wasn’t always that way. Previous generations, previous civilizations, looked on the blind and the lame as being punished. Maybe they were punished for some sin by God, maybe they were punished because of the sin of a parent. Their handicap pointed to their sin. As a matter of fact, earlier in the Old Testament (2 Samuel 5:8) King David commands: “The lame and the blind shall be the personal enemies of [me]… The blind and the lame shall not enter the [Temple].”
And while there’s little evidence that the blind and the lame were indeed excluded from the Temple, their lives were far from easy. Most of them could not make a living, couldn’t provide for a family, and at some point would not be able to count on the support of their own family. The passage from Jeremiah stands out because it includes people who were otherwise not valuable. And yet they were included. And they were included at a time when every able bodied person was needed: they needed to rebuild the Temple as well as their homes, their economies, and they lives. The blind and the lame couldn’t be part of that.
And in addition to not being able to pull their own weight, let’s face, they make us uncomfortable. They are evidence right in front of that whatever happened to them could happen to us (or our children). Maybe we shy away because they remind us of the frailty of all of our lives. We all live with the reality that we are all an infection away from blindness, an accident away from paraplegia.
And so enter Jesus and Bartimaeus. Today’s Gospel comes to us just before Jesus enters Jerusalem and begins Holy Week. Outside Jerusalem lives a blind man who hears that Jesus is nearby. We don’t know how much Bartimaeus knew of Jesus’ healing ministry, but whether he was propelled by knowledge, hope, or desperation, he begged for mercy.
It couldn’t have been easy for him. Since he couldn’t work all he could do was beg. His existence depended on the generosity of those around him and he broke one of the rules: he forgot his place. He caused a scene and embarrassed the people he needed. He ran the risk that those around Jesus, the important ones, would stop supporting him.
Did he really “forget his place?” I think he did. We like to think of ourselves as important and generous: let’s face it, when we are getting our taxes done, don’t we rise up a little when the tax preparer adds up our charitable donations? But there is implied hierarchy: we important people are willing to give to Bartimeaus but he should not bypass us and ask Jesus for healing. That would mess up everything.
Whatever the reason Jesus acted on an entirely different agenda, which is, let’s face it, most of what he did. Instead of going along with the crowd Jesus asks that Bartimaeus be brought to him. OK, can I say this? I’m sure I’m not the only one who draws a line between this scene and countless scenes where Pope Francis stops to speak to, encourage, or kiss someone who waited for him to come by.
Jesus heals him and makes it clear that Barimaeus is not healed because his blindness has been forgiven. He is not healed because of his courage, even if we can respect that. He is healed because of his faith. He is healed because his belief in Jesus propelled him to break the rules of polite society and show the humility to say to Jesus: “I believe you can heal me, and I beg that you do.
I said it wasn’t because of his courage but we shouldn’t discount his courage. Not only did it take courage to “break the rules,” it took courage to ask for healing. His life as a blind beggar wasn’t good, but it was a life. Once healed he can no longer beg. We don’t hear from him again and we don’t know what happened to him, but after his healing he needed to find a job. We don’t know if he was born blind or if he had a skill that became impossible after he became blind, but he can no longer hide behind a disability that Jesus healed.
I like to think that there was someone, or perhaps a few people, who admired Bartimeaus for his faith and his courage and took him under his wing. I like to think that some of what Jesus taught called that person to reach out and break a few rules of his own.