Someone To Talk To

I've been reflecting this morning on the story of the healing of blind Bartimaeus, in chapter 10 of St Mark's Gospel. There is so much in this story, which is the very last event before Jesus makes his entry into Jerusalem to the shouts of 'Hosanna' and the waving of palm branches.

And the first thing that strikes me is that this is a man with no name, something Mark makes very clear when he explains the meaning of 'Bartimaeus' for his Greek readers. This is a man with no name of his own, he's just known by those around as "Timaeus' son". Presumably, being blind, he didn't count, had no value or even identity of his own.

That was about to change. Jesus arrives, and crowds line the streets. I don't imagine any of them were being all that quiet, so the fact that Bartimaeus managed to annoy them by shouting only serves to underline with desperation with which he was yelling. But it's what he was shouting that is so important: "Son of David!" Here, at the very moment at which Jesus is about to enter the Holy City, is a man recognising him for who he is, and making the same confession Peter has made earlier - for the Son of David is the Messiah. Not just an interesting and challenging teacher and teller of stories, not just an inspiring preacher, not just a healer of the blind, even - but God's holy one, and the one long expected.

Jesus picks out his voice in the general hubbub, stops, and asks for him to be brought forward. It will be pretty obvious straight away that this man is blind, so, even without any special sensitivity or divine awareness, it should be clear to Jesus what Bartimaeus wants. Nonetheless, he still asks him - "What is it you want?" God knows our needs, and there's nothing we can tell him about ourselves or our world that he does not already know. But he still desires and welcomes our prayers, our imploring prayers as well as our shouts of praise and promises of service. He is someone for us to talk to . . . but he also chooses, himself, to need someone to talk to. Faith is not just about what theories you subscribe to in life, it's what you do about it, and the God who reveals himself to us in Jesus is a God who seeks relationship.

Bartimaeus receives from Jesus affirmation, identity and sight. All things that we need, too. And what does he do with this? He follows Jesus on the road. The essence of the disciple is that immediacy of response we see in Peter and Andrew, James and John and the others. Jesus called them, and they came, straight away. And here, at the close of the ministry of Jesus outside Jerusalem, is Bartimaeus doing the same. Throughout the Gospel of Mark up to this point, Jesus has ordered people to keep quiet, not to talk about what has been done for them, to go home. He does not say this to Bartimaeus. The time has come for the Messiah to be seen, and known, and, inevitably, to die.