First Reading: Jeremiah 31: 7-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 126
Second Reading: Hebrews 5: 1-6
Gospel: Mark 10: 46-52
Jesus and his disciples have been on a journey to Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover. Mark uses “The way” as a metaphor for the way of discipleship. The gospel today ends with a blind man receiving his sight and following Jesus on the way, i.e. on the way of discipleship. The next chapter of Mark begins with Jesus approaching Jerusalem. Three times on the way, Jesus foretells his passion (chapters 8, 9 and 10) but his disciples fail to understand what following Jesus is all about. At the first announcement Peter begins to rebuke Jesus. After the second announcement, they begin to argue which of them was the greatest. And after the third announcement, James and John approach Jesus and ask that one of them sit on his right and the other on his left in his kingdom. They are still blind to understand that the way of Jesus is the way of self-sacrifice and the cross.
Recall Mark’s story telling technique, framing a story between two other stories. This technique is often called Markan sandwich, technically called “intercalation.” Think about it like this – why do we bother to make a sandwich? Why not just eat two slices of bread one after the other, then the lettuce, slices of tomatoes, then some cheese, cucumber and a few slices of meat? We could, but they taste better when we place them together and eat them as sandwich. By way of analogy, the two pieces of bread in this sandwich are the healing of a blind man in Bethsaida (8:22-26) and another blind man in Jericho. The filling of this sandwich is the story of the journey to Jerusalem. The idea of the sandwich is that the flavor from the inner story will add zest to the taste of the outer one and vice versa. Mark has framed the journey in this way to symbolize that it has been all about the healing of the disciple’s spiritual blindness. Although Jesus has been teaching them all along “the way,” their vision remained partial, they failed grasp fully who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. Only after the resurrection and the descent of the Holy Spirit will their eyes be fully opened to understand.
This is why Mark frames the journey to Jerusalem between two stories of Jesus healing a blind man. The first took place at Bethsaida (8:22-26). This healing was gradual, and in two stages. Now towards the end of the journey, just before the entrance into Jerusalem, we have another healing of a blind man whose healing was instantly complete. On the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, Jericho is not the most direct route to Jerusalem but lies about twenty miles west of Jerusalem. Why take this roundabout? Our Lord knew that in Jericho, a man was waiting, longing to meet him and to be healed. In other words, Jesus went out of his way because of his love for one person – a poor blind beggar.
When Bartimaeus is informed that it is Jesus who is passing by, he cries out; “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” Calling Jesus, “Son of David” indicates that though he was physically blind, he had already received the sight to see that Jesus is the true fulfilment of the promise of a Messiah who will be the son of David. Many bystanders rebuke Bartimaeus and tell him to keep quiet, but that only makes him cry out more loudly than ever – “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.” The fact that he continues to cry out and refuses to be silenced confirms the depth of his faith in Jesus and perseverance. ‘Blessed are you when people exclude and insult you on account of the Son of man.’ In the rebukes of the crowd, Bartimaeus was blessed. He teaches us by her example not to succumb to the pressures of the world but to persevere in the way of the Lord. When he is told Jesus is calling him, throwing aside his cloak, he jumps up and goes to Jesus. Here, he teaches us, that to go to Jesus, we must throw away the old self, our former way of life. Jesus asks Bartimaeus, “what do you want me to do for you?” This question is addressed to us as well. We all have something we need God to do for us. The blind man replied, Master, I want to see.” Jesus has greater gifts for Bartimaeus. He not only gave him the gifts of sight, but he also gave him eternal salvation for Jesus always gives more than we dare to ask.
It was the last time Jesus passed that way. He never returned. The blind man could have succumbed to the crowd and decide to wait for Jesus to pass another day, but he will not miss his opportunity. Today, Jesus passes alongside our lives. And He may never pass again. Are you going to keep quiet or are you going to call out to him? Our eyes are blind; we cannot see the presence of God in our midst. We are paralyzed on our mats, incapable of reaching the heights God has destined for us. We are sick in many ways and worst of all, sick to our very souls.
Finally, the first reading from the Book of Jeremiah is a call for great rejoicing at the promise of salvation of the remnant of Israel from exile back to the Promised Land. In the Scriptures, there are two ways: in the Old Testament, “The way” points to the Exodus from the land of slavery to the Promised Land under the leadership of Moses and in the New Testament it points to the New Exodus under the leadership of Jesus; it is the way of discipleship to which we have been called from the ends of the world.
Happy Sunday,
Fr. Chidi Onwuka, m.ss.cc