On Line Bible Study - For the week August 17-23, 2009

Lesson 401
Blind Bartemaeus . . .

Mark 10: ⁴⁶Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" ⁴⁸Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" ⁴⁹Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." ⁵⁰Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

⁵¹"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

⁵²"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Jesus is in motion - on his way to Jerusalem. Giving blind people their sight is highly symbolic in Mark. It happens on two occasions - in Mark 8:22ff, and here in Mark 10:46ff. In Mark 8 the story precedes Jesus' foretelling of his suffering, death and resurrection. In Mark 10 it immediately precedes his entrance into Jerusalem - what he has predicted three times (Mark 8:22, 9:30, and 10:32) is about to take place.

Bartimaeus has two strikes against him, though it may well be that one causes the other; he is poor, and he is blind. Translations differ as to whether he had always been blind or had become blind at some point in his life. Donahue and Harrington translate the story from the perspective of the man recovering his sight (The Gospel of Mark in the Sacra Pagina Commentary), as does the New Jerusalem Bible.

Regardless of when he became blind, note that he does not ask for money - even though he is begging. Rather, he asks to be given his sight.

What is it that gives us contentment? (An article that is 4 years old, but still worth looking over ...http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/04/science/04happ.html?pagewanted=1)

How do you measure your "happiness"?

The phrase Son of David, used by Bartimaeus when he calls out to Jesus, may have been reminiscent of Solomon, King David's most famous son, a person often portrayed in New Testament times as a magician and healer. The man had faith that Jesus could do for him what people had come to believe Solomon had done for his people. Mark also uses it as a way to identify Jesus with the royal lineage of David. Whatever his physical and economic condition, this man had a clear-sighted faith in Jesus.

He waits on the road for him; and then, the "road" becomes something of a theological category - the path that enables him to follow Jesus.

Another notable quality in Bartimaeus - he is not dissuaded by other's attempts to silence him. Why would anyone attempt to silence a person who is crying out to Jesus? Some would do so out of envy. Others might do so out of frustration over the pending inconvenience. Have you ever had to alter your priorities because of the needs of another person? Bartimaeus is given his physical sight - a sight that comes to match his spiritual insight into the power of Jesus to heal.

No longer a beggar, now Bartimaeus is a follower! He pleads for the right thing, and he receives ever so much more than he would have had he only been asking for money.