A Look at Blind Bartimaeus

There is a story found in the Gospel of Mark, 10th chapter.  It is of a beggar named Bartimaeus, or as the Bible calls him, 'Blind Bartimaeus'.  The good news is, Jesus healed him and he is no longer blind.  This is what the Bible says from the New Living Translation:

"Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.

But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”

So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.

“My Rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”

And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road." Mark 10:46-52

 

If you went to Sunday School, it is likely you learned this story.  It is an important story just as it is taught in Sunday School.  It shows Jesus as a miracle worker.  It shows Him as compassionate.  It validates His claim to be God in the flesh because who else could heal a man from blindness?  Today, we are going to look at the story within the story and examine some of the details to see if we can see things in a new light. 

Most of us forget that among the Jews, beggary as a profession isn't accounted for in the Law of Moses.  The Hebrew language doesn't even have a word for it.  When you see the word 'beg' in the Bible, it is there so English readers can understand the point.  

God's law made provision for all the Children of Israel to have land of their own.  If something calamitous happened and they had to sell their land, it was more like a pawning because they were to get it back.  God provided for Jubilee years where all slaves and bond servants were to be freed.  So, among God's people, there were no beggars.  Let me back that up with scripture:

"If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you." Leviticus 25:35

Knowing this little detail gives us a better look at the culture, because we find beggars in the stories of the Gospels several times.  What's up with that?

First, not all beggars were Jews and the Jews didn't feel obligated at all to help the heathen.  Remember the story of the Good Samaritan.

The story is found in Luke 10:25-37.  Jesus was approached by an expert in the Law of Moses; the King James Bible calls him a lawyer but if you look it up, it is an expert and teacher of the Torah.  He asked Jesus what he needed to do to have eternal life.  Jesus asked him what was written in the Law of Moses.

The man replied that you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength (which is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:5), and that you must love your neighbor as yourself (which is a quote from Leviticus 19:18).  Jesus told him that he was correct and to go and do so and he will live.

This wasn't good enough for the man because he asked, "Who is my neighbor?"  The Bible makes it clear that he asked this to justify himself.  This means that he didn't consider just anyone to be his neighbor, and Jesus knew it.

Jesus proceeded to tell the story of the Good Samaritan.  If you aren't familiar with it, please click the link above and read it.  I'm just going to do a quick rundown here.

In the story, a man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho.  He was attacked by bandits who even took his clothes (an identifying feature), and left on the road for dead.  The man was passed by a priest and a Levite.  You see, these 'holy men' wouldn't risk the possibility that they would become ritually unclean by touching a Gentile or a dead man, if the man was indeed no longer living.  They left him for the vultures.

Luckily, a despised Samaritan, enemy of the Jews, stopped and helped him.  He applied oil and wine to the man's injuries, took him to an inn and paid in advance for the man's recovery.  He also told the innkeeper that if what he had paid wasn't enough, he would pay the difference.

After the story, Jesus asked the rabbi, "Who was the man's neighbor?"

The expert answered, "The one who showed him mercy."  I don't think he could even speak the word "Samaritan" they were so hated.

Another reason someone may have been a beggar is that they may have been considered unclean or sinners.  There is a Psalm that says:

"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed asking for bread." Psalm 37:25"

Then there are the other Psalms that say things, when speaking of sinners and the heathen, like:

"Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied." Psalm 59:15

"May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes." Psalm 109:10

People assumed that if you were a beggar, you were being punished for unrighteousness, and maybe even the unrighteousness of your parents.

There is the story of another blind man that Jesus healed.  As Jesus and His disciples passed,  the disciples asked Him, "Is it his sin or that of his parents that caused his blindness?" (John 9)

Jesus assured them that it was neither his sin nor his fathers' that caused his blindness but that God could be glorified in him.  He was blind and sitting where he was, just so Jesus could walk by when He did and heal him.  The point is though, everyone assumed it was sin and would have likely not helped.  It is not to the degree of karma in the East, but akin to it.  Folks figured you were getting your just deserts.

I know you must be wondering what all this has to do with Blind Bartimaeus, but it does.  I promise.  We are trying to determine, if we can, why Bartimaeus was begging in the first place.  If he wasn't a Jew, it is obvious. The Jews felt no obligation toward him.

But I think he was a Jew.  Bartimaeus not only means 'son of Timaeus' (most know that bar in Aramaic means son), but it is reiterated in the story, "Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus."  The point is, it is assumed that the readers would know Timaeus or else why include his name?

If you are of the Greek persuasion, you would know that Plato made someone named Timaeus famous over 300 years earlier.  In Greek, the name means "honorable one."  But if you are coming from the Hebrew angle, which was likely in this story, the root of Timaeus is 'unclean'.  Pick your poison.

Now, back to the question, "Why was Bartimaeus begging?"

Of course he could be begging because, as a blind man, he couldn't support himself.  But couldn't he also be begging for a healing?  If his father was known in the city, he may even have been from a well off family.  I know I'm  speculating but so is everyone else that speaks about this story.  Details are scarce.

I am reminded of the story in John 5.  The Bible says that many sick, blind and lame lay on the porches of the Pool of Bethesda.  Occasionally, an angel would stir up the water and whoever got in at that time was healed.

There was a certain man that was sick for "a long time".  There was no one to put him in the water when it was troubled.  He was begging for a 'lift' so to speak, not necessarily for money.

But, what if Bartimaeus had heard about Jesus?  What if he knew this was his only shot at being healed?  Many beggars stationed themselves at the Temple to play on the piety of people, or the city gates which were places of high traffic.  Not only was there a lot of traffic at city gates, it was a bottle-neck.  You couldn't get in or out without coming within reach of anyone that was begging there.

Notice Bartimaeus was on the roadside.  Now, I'm not saying that people didn't beg on the roadside, they did.  I'm just saying there were more lucrative places.  These are some of the things I think we tend to overlook in a cursory reading.

The timeframe is important as well.  Jesus was on His way to the cross.  He would enter Jerusalem in the next chapter to shouts of "Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

This means He was well known.  He had been preaching for a while and doing miracles.  He had opened His ministry by reading Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue, a passage of scripture that included opening the eyes of the blind.  He told them that this scripture was fulfilled that day in their hearing.  This means that healing the deaf and blind was a part of Jesus' mission statement.

I think Bartimaeus knew about Jesus and was already a believer.  To me, it is obvious that He placed himself where Jesus was likely to pass.  Remember, everyone went to Jerusalem for the Passover.

There he was, on the side of the road.  He begins to hear the commotion of a crowd and becomes more and more excited.  When the tumult was close enough, he began to yell, "Son of David!  Have mercy on me!"

I find it amazing that the people around Jesus are the ones that told him to be quiet.  But did he stop?  NO!  The Bible says he yelled all the louder, "SON OF DAVID!!! HAVE MERCY ON ME!!!"

He hears the crowd quiet down.  Has the Master heard him?  Imagine how his heart must have pounded.

Jesus said, "Tell him to come here."

Bartimaeus didn't wait to be led.  He didn't call out for a guide.  He threw his coat aside and ran, probably stumbling, to Jesus.  I LOVE this story!

I started writing this to talk about Bartimaeus' cloak that he threw aside and what it represented, like "let us lay aside each weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us," as the writer of Hebrews said in 12:1; and how it didn't matter if the cloak was one that identified him as a beggar or one that identified him as a nobleman's son.  Bartimaeus didn't hesitate to toss it and run to Jesus.  If it was a beggar's cloak, he knew he wouldn't need it anymore.  If a nobleman's?  Well, Jesus said:

"He that loveth father or mother more than me in not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matthew 10:37

Bartimaeus got it.  So it didn't take long for me to shift from the cloak to the fact that he put himself in the path of Jesus.  I'll never believe otherwise.  He correctly identified Jesus as Son of David, otherwise known as the Messiah.  He correctly came before Jesus humbly acknowledging his need for mercy even more than his need for sight.  And he would not be silenced.

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12

My final thought about Bartimaeus is how his story ends.  Most translations read something like:

"And Jesus said to him, 'Go your way; your faith has made you well.'  And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way." Mark 10:52

Jesus healed him and told him to go his way.  Bartimaeus did go his way.  He followed Jesus.  He made the way of Jesus, the way of Bartimaeus.  My prayer is that God will make us more like 'No-Longer-Blind' Bartimaeus.