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Gospel: Mark 10: 46-52
As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus,
sat by the roadside begging.
On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”
Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man, saying to him,
“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”
He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”
Jesus told him, ‘Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Bartimaeus is the last person we meet in Mark’s Gospel before Jesus is arrested and led off to be crucified.
Was this a coincidence? Or did Jesus know he’d meet this blind beggar all along?
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Imagine Bartimaeus seated along the roadside begging. He’s wrapped in a cloak with his legs crossed. As people pass by, some may have thrown a coin or two into his lap.
At the sound of Jesus’ voice, however, Bartimaeus throws his cloak and the coins resting on it aside, lunging forward to meet his Lord.
It’s an act of desperation – and an act of faith. Bartimaeus has literally parted with everything he owns.
But in so doing, he fulfills the greatest commandment in all of religion:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your mind, and with all your soul.”
Bartimaeus put God first. His possessions and the life he lived came second.
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What becomes of him?
Scholars say that we know his name – “Bartimaeus” – because he joins the early Christian community. As the Gospel tells us today, after regaining his sight, Bartimaeus followed Jesus, “on the way.”
Shortly thereafter, he either witnessed the death of Jesus or was told about it by another. But Bartimaeus hung around long enough to also bear witness to the resurrection.
Interestingly, the clothes and coins Bartimaeus parted with that day would’ve been replaced tenfold. We know the first Christians were incredibly generous, so they would’ve made sure he was clothed and fed not only that day, but every day after.
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Bartimaeus reminds us that when we put God first, everything else falls into place.
As Jesus himself says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be given to you.”
So, how can we put God first in our lives today?
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Image credits: (1) Life-Giving Water (2) KSIM.org (3) America Magazine