Exegetical
Reflection on the Gospel of the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, Mark
10:46-62, October 28, 2012
AT
FIRST BLUSH, the Gospel would seem to be a miracle story. Mark tells us of a story of a miracle in
which Jesus healed the blindness of a beggar of Jericho, Bartimaeus by name,
because of his persistent request.
However, the manner in which the pericope is situated in the whole
Gospel, as well as the way in which it is narrated in Mark, makes it clear that
the Evangelist uses the story to teach us a lesson on what it means to follow
Jesus. He placed it on the section on
the teachings on discipleship that Jesus imparted to his followers on the way
to Jerusalem, after having been given the revelation that he was the
Messiah. Mark holds Bartimaeus as a
model of Christian discipleship. To
appreciate this point, we might well compare Bartimaeus with the disciples of
Jesus.
The disciples were not blind; their
eyes could see. Bartimaeus, on the other
hand, was blind; his eyes could not see.
But it is he whom Mark holds up for imitation. James and John, for example, were not blind,
yet they could not understand who Jesus was.
Even though they have already heard of Peter’s declaration that Jesus
was the Messiah, yet they betrayed their spiritual blindness in requesting to
be seated at the right hand and at the left hand of Jesus (Mark 10:37). Jesus in fact told them they were ignorant
of—blind to—what they were asking. In
other words, though they saw physically, yet the disciples continued to be
spiritually blind (Mark 8:18.21). Even
Peter was not an exception. Of course,
it was Peter who made the solemn declaration that Jesus was the Messiah (Mark
8:29). It is clear, however, that in
Mark’s story, Peter was likewise spiritually blind, though he could see
physically. When Jesus spoke openly
about the implication of this messianic title, Peter took him aside and rebuked
him. Jesus in turn rebuked Peter’s
spiritual blindness by saying: “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does but as human
beings do” (Mark 8:33). Physically blind
though he was, Bartimaeus was different from the disciples. Although he called Jesus only by the title
“Son of David,”(Mark 10:47—a fulfillment of 2 Sam 7:12-16), yet he requested
Jesus to heal him (Mark 10:51). Unlike
the disciples, he knew what he was asking—that the Messiah came to save him
from blindness: “Master, I want to see” (Mark 10:31).
What made the difference? Bartimaeus was different from the disciples
because he had faith (Mark 10:32). The
disciples, on the other hand, are described in the Gospel as having no faith at
all, or having only little faith. In the
story of the calming of the storm, for example, Jesus asked them: “Why are you
terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
(Mark 4:40) That is why, they could not
recognize Jesus with the eyes of faith, and therefore unable to understand the
Lord, his word and his work. In the
story of the walking on the waters, Mark remarked that the disciples “were
completely astounded. They had not
understood the incident of the loaves” (Mark 9:52). Lacking in faith, their hearts were hardened,
like Jesus’ enemies (Mark 3:5-6), and could not comprehend what he disclosed to
them: “Do you not yet understand or
comprehend? Are your hearts
hardened? Do you have eyes and not see”
(Mark 8:17-18b). It is therefore not
surprising that when Jesus was arrested, all of the disciples abandoned him and
fled (Mark 14:50). Even Peter denied him
not only once but three times (Mark 14:72).
Because they were blind, they could not understand God’s revelation to
them, even though their eyes could see.
That is why they did not follow him on the road to his death.
How different was Bartimaeus! He had great faith. Despite the effort of many to discourage him,
his faith did not waver. He persisted in
calling out the name of Jesus (Mark 10:48).
His faith was so great that he was too ready to put aside his old life,
symbolized by his cloak (Mark 10:50).
Because of his faith, he never doubted the healing word of Jesus. And abandoning himself to him, he was cured
of his blindness—he received his sight.
With eyes now open, his faith having the ability to know the power of
God working in Jesus, he followed Jesus on the way—which is the same as the way
of discipleship (cf Acts 9:2; 19:9.23).
As Jesus’ way was to Jerusalem, Mark wants to say that Bartimaeus was
ready to follow the footsteps leading to Calvary and to embrace the cross (Mark
10:52b). And once he is crucified with
the Lord, he would be able to make an offering to God for others (Heb 5:3; 2nd
Reading; see Lev 9:7). In other words,
for Mark, Bartimaeus is a model of discipleship.
What does this mean for us? Though, unlike Bartimaeus, we may not be
physically blind, and so we can even go through the usual practices expected of
a Christian, yet, we can be blind spiritually.
We may continue to profess Christianity, but our being Christian does
not go beyond the boundaries of the nominal. Brought up in a secular culture that hardly
recognizes God, we are simply unable to see beyond the superficialities. Money, power, self-interest, honor and glory blind
us to what is real. But our life need
not be without hope. What we need is
faith. If we have the faith of
Bartimaeus, then, we can allow Jesus to heal us. He will give us spiritual sight. With our ability to see spiritually, we will
be able to recognize who Jesus really is in our lives, and having known him, he
will enable us prefer him and the kingdom of God to all those worldly values
that deprived us of our vision. We will
put aside values that secular society clings to. With the power of the Spirit working in us,
empowering us to listen to his words and act of them, we will follow him on the road to Jerusalem,
accepting suffering and even death for the sake of the Gospel. Our journey of discipleship will culminate in
the offering of ourselves for others, and for the good of the community of
faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment