Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – October 27, 2024
At the edge of Jerusalem, after misunderstandings, disappointments, and misguided requests by Jesus’s followers and would-be disciples, we finally find a worthy companion for Christ on the road to the cross. He was actually off to the side, so you would have missed him had he not been so disruptive and persistent with his cries. Though blind, Bartimaeus recognizes Jesus’s true identity, and the son of Timaeus knows what he needs from the Son of David.
Not authority or power, not a seat at his right or left, not even eternal life, but mercy, a connection of heart to heart and eye to eye. For he knows that with the Lord’s mercy, there is fullness of redemption. Without family except in name or possessions save for a cloak, Bartimaeus casts both aside for what he desires most. His heart’s longing now fulfilled, Bartimaeus does not go his way as instructed by Jesus but follows him “on the way” to the cross.
How blessed are we to have Bartimaeus show us how to follow Jesus with joy to the cross.
All along this way, we have encountered a variety of people unable to see. The disciples were blinded by power and the rich man by possessions. Peter was misguided about Jesus’s identity as Christ, and the Pharisees couldn’t see the true purpose of the law.
How blessed are we, then, to have Bartimaeus show us how to follow Jesus with joy to the cross.
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