We don’t usually get a name…. In the Gospels, we usually hear about the "crippled man" or "the woman with a hemorrhage"… but today we get a name – Bartimaeus. This is significant because it says this guy MUST be a real person – not just a story. He could have still been alive when these stories started circulating and he could easily have stepped forward saying “that’s not how it happened”.
So, this is a real event – but the masterful way Mark
tells the story reveals spiritual insights as well, which means this story is
also about you and me.
First - The blind man is a beggar. He has no power. He has no control. He is at the mercy of the people around him even
to be able to eat. And he is at the
mercy of God to inspire people to have compassion.
You and I are that beggar…. We have no control. We are at the mercy of God and the people
around us to help us through life. We
may ‘think’ we’re in control, but events happen which prove to us time and time
again that we have no control. Every
good thing people have done for us was because God inspired them to compassion.
Second - The beggar is blind. His entire world is limited to what he can
hear and feel. He knows there is more to
life beyond the reach of his fingers, because he can hear it – he can sense it
– but he can’t see it.
You and I are the blind man. Experience tells us there must be more to
life than what we can hear and feel – Science CAN’T explain everything. Something in us KNOWS there is a God – but
the culture tells us to only believe what we can see. Yet, some people have such a good sense of
the divine that it’s as if they CAN see God… we want that sense too! So we call out – Lord, I want to see!
Third - Bartimaeus doesn’t know Jesus – but he’s heard
the crowds talk about him… how he healed that deaf man and that woman with a
hemmorhage – and for the first time he could remember, a strange feeling called
hope arose inside of him. Jesus is the
source of his Hope, so he wants to meet Jesus.
You and I are Bartimaeus – at some point in our life,
we realize that we don’t have a relationship with Jesus. We hear other people around us who seem to
have that relationship – who have a joy or peace about them that can only be on account
of Him – and it raises a feeling inside of us – even when all hope is gone,
our hope lies in meeting Jesus.
It’s like we KNOW that God is out there – we KNOW that
Jesus is real – we’ve heard stories about Him.
We KNOW he works miracles, but we’ve not SEEN it for ourselves. Yet, just the fact that others HAVE seen
miracles creates that feeling of hope in us – so we cry out – Son of David,
have pity on me!
Jesus asked him, “what do you want me to do for you?”
– and without hesitation, Bartimaeus answered – Lord, I want to see! Notice, there was no hesitation…
How much are we like him? Do we KNOW what we want from Jesus? Is it on the tip of your tongue? Would you be able to answer that question if
Jesus asked you? What do you want from
me?
Also notice that when Jesus called him, the man
dropped everything and ran to him. Let
that sink in – if a blind man drops something, it’s GONE…forEVER. He’ll never 'see' it again. He’s ready to risk
everything he has – everything he has put his faith in – everything he has
acquired in his meager existence to create ‘some’ level of comfort – or at
least to survive the cold nights. He was
ready to leave it all behind because his greatest desire was to be able to SEE.
What do YOU want to see? Do your actions support your ideal? Are you doing the things necessary to attain your greatest desire? Would you drop everything to attain it? Would you leave your life behind
for a chance to meet Jesus? For example -
Jerry always said he wanted to see mountains, but
every vacation was at the beach.
Sara wanted to see northern lights but couldn’t stand the cold, so she never
went north.
Alex says he wants to meet Jesus, but he never made it a priority to go on a
weekend retreat.
Too often, what we SAY is our deepest desire isn’t
really true – and our actions prove it.
Here’s a short story to hopefully make my point
clearer:
When he was still in high school, Jerry and his buddy Joe would go to dances –
Jerry loved it – he was out there busting a move – break dancing – and he especially
liked dancing the slow songs with the girls.
Joe hated it.
He thought he was too cool to get out there and act like a fool… he
thought the girls would think he was a dweeb, so he sat against the wall. In his mind, Jerry was a dweeb – acting like
a fool out there on the floor. He didn’t
notice that Jerry was the one slow dancing with the girls… Joe hated it so much he didn’t really even
want to go to dances anymore.
But then…, Elizabeth showed up – and Joe was smitten –
she was the girl of his dreams – and he overcame his fear of looking stupid and
asked her to dance. They danced a slow
dance and he wished the music would never end… but then a fast dance started
and he stood there kinda awkwardly for a moment, but Elizabeth just said –
c’mon let’s keep dancing – and she started dancing – and Joe – still awkward –
tried to mimic what he’d seen Jerry do – dancing around a bit – but looking
over his shoulder in case somebody was laughing at him. Notice that- his beloved was dancing in front
of him, but he was so self-conscious that his attention was not on her.
Slowly, he got more comfortable and his attention
gradually re-focused on Elizabeth. Her
smile made him feel less self-conscious and he relaxed and danced and looked her in the eyes.
And wouldn’t you know it – by the end of the night, Joe
LOVED dancing. After that night, HE was
the one who would be coaxing Jerry to go with him to the next dance, hoping
that Elizabeth would be there.
The moral of the story, is that we all need SOMEthing,
some desire, to pull us out of our comfort zones. Our normal tendency as humans is to be
SELF-conscious – to think only of ourselves.
It would be a lonely existence except that God planted a desire in us to
connect with others. In theological
speak, it’s called EROS – it’s that passionate desire that has the power to
overwhelm our inhibitions and change the way we act. In short – EROS pushed Joe away from being a
wall-flower and onto the dance floor, where he discovered the love of his life. (They’ve been married now for over 30 years
now, by the way)
Without EROS, we’d all be stuck in our own world. Without eros, boy would never meet girl. We would only look at our SELVES and never
look at our beloved face to face.
What’s your EROS?
What is your deepest desire? What
desire has God placed on YOUR heart?
Several years ago, I was out of town at a Catholic
conference and went to Mass – and somehow I was convicted that I was not in a
state of Grace, so when it came time for communion, I simply crossed my arms to
receive a blessing. I still recall the
exact words this Priest used to bless me:
“May God grant you your deepest desire”.
At first, I thought – is that a good prayer? Because if you asked me what I desired, -
well, you can probably guess what I desired – because I’m a red-blooded
man. But I knew there had to be more to
this blessing than those kind of surface desires…. This blessing was that God
would fulfill my DEEPEST desire.
What IS my deepest desire? Ask yourself that… what is YOUR deepest
desire? I propose to you that whatever
our deepest desire is was put there by God… and that deepest desire IS
to be united with God. It’s like a
homing signal placed inside of us which draws us ever back to our Father. Until we RECOGNIZE our deepest desire, we
won’t live our life in a way to achieve that desire. We’ll always find reasons why we shouldn’t
drop everything and go after that desire.
If we learn nothing else from Bartimaeus, let it be
this: Jesus IS our deepest desire. Drop everything and run to him… and when you
can see, - look your beloved in the eye
and see God face to face.
