In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
For the third and final time, our Lord gives the Apostles a
description of his Passion. He will be betrayed, mocked, spat upon, scourged,
and crucified. Then on the third day he will rise. Despite three years of
hearing Jesus teach and seeing his numerous miracles, the Apostles don’t
understand what he is talking about. What’s more, these words of Jesus are hidden
from them.
Then, as Jesus drew near to Jericho, a blind man hears the
commotion. St. Mark tells us this man’s name is Bartimaeus. He asks what is
going on and some men in the crowd tell him Jesus of Nazareth is coming. The
crowd identifies our Lord as “Jesus of Nazareth,” as in “Jesus, the son of
Joseph the carpenter.” Bartimaeus identifies him as “Jesus, Son of David,” that
is, “Jesus the Christ, the Seed of David sent to save his people.”
Bartimaeus goes on to cry out for mercy. The cry, “Lord,
have mercy!” was commonly heard whenever a powerful man came into a town. All
sorts of people would line the streets and cry out for mercy, hoping for a
little money or even simply to be noticed by the powerful man. The Apostles and
the rest of the crowd probably assumed that Bartimaeus was just one beggar
among many, come to gawk at a celebrity.
But when Bartimaeus asks for mercy, he doesn’t mean healing
or alms or justice. We know his cry is different because he cries not, “Lord,
have mercy,” but, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy!” He recognizes Jesus to be
the promised Savior and cries out that he would have mercy upon him, that is,
that Jesus would be the atoning sacrifice for his sins. Remember that the top
of the ark of the covenant, the seat from which God judged Israel AND the place
where the blood of the atoning sacrifice was poured, is called the MERCY SEAT.
A cry to Jesus for mercy is a cry for salvation.
In the liturgy, when we sing the Kyrie, we also cry out for
mercy. We are not crying out for a favor from a celebrity or hoping that He
will notice us. We cry out for the mercy that we already know has been
fulfilled. We cry out in joy, celebrating the mercy that has been shown to us. We
simultaneously ask Christ to have mercy on us because of our sins and thank
Christ for the mercy that He has shown us. This mercy is the shedding of His
blood on our behalf. Your works don’t save you but neither does your faith. The
blood of Jesus saves you. Your faith, itself a gift of God, simply receives
that blood of Jesus, receives forgiveness, life, and salvation.
What do you have that is worthy of Christ’s sacrifice?
Nothing. There is nothing within you that is worth Christ’s sacrifice. What
then motivates Christ to die on your behalf? His love. The love of Christ is
patient. His love is kind. Christ’s love does not insist on his own way, is not
irritable or resentful. He does not rejoice at sin but rejoices in the truth.
Christ lovingly bears all things. He humbly submits himself to death in love.
He believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Christ endures
the pain of betrayal, the depth of mockery, the sting of scourging, and the
blackness of death. He endures all things because he loves you.
There is nothing within you that is worth Christ’s sacrifice and yet because you are created in His image, everything within you is worth Christ’s sacrifice. He loves you and all people despite themselves. His love never ends. The love of Christ never ends. He Himself is Love.
Bartimaeus was not more intelligent than the Apostles. He
didn’t understand the words of Jesus on a higher level of thought. The
difference between Bartimaeus and the Apostles is that Bartimaeus trusts that
whatever Jesus does, it is for the Good of man. He trusts that Jesus will have
mercy upon him and however that mercy is obtained, it will be the Will of God
and it will be a blessing to him.
The Apostles have already shown themselves unprepared for
this type of faith. St. Peter, the first among the Apostles, has vowed to
prevent the crucifixion twice already and has been called Satan because of it. The
Apostles have allowed their affection for Jesus to blind them to the purpose of
the Incarnation.
At the end of this account, Bartimaeus follows Jesus into
Jerusalem. Jesus was headed into Jerusalem to die. It would not be a stretch to
think that Bartimaeus followed Jesus into martyrdom. The Love of Christ which
redeems his soul then shows itself in Bartimaeus’s own faith. He becomes
patient and kind, willing to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things,
and endure all things because he can see his eternal reward.
The Love of 1 Corinthians 13 is first a reference to Christ
himself. If you have knowledge of all the trivial facts in the bible but do not
see how they point to Jesus, then you may as well bang on a gong. If you can
speak in beautiful language and hold rapt the attention of thousands but do not
speak of Christ’s death on the cross, you are nothing. If you give all your
money to the poor and boldly stand up to the government to be martyred but do
not have love, you gain nothing. Jesus Christ is love. With Jesus, faith the
size of a mustard seed moves mountains. Without Jesus, faith the size of
Everest is worthless.
Only once you have established this fact, that Jesus Christ
is love and only He never ends, can you see how this Love moves within your
soul. We bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all
things for the sake of Christ. We do these things because we know that Jesus
has had mercy upon us. Faith, hope, and love abide with us now because we need
them now. But the greatest of these three is Love because only it endures
forever. Right now, we need faith in things unseen and hope of the resurrection
which is made ours in the love of Jesus. At the return of Christ, faith and
hope will no longer be necessary because we will see Jesus face to face. Then,
of these three, only love will remain.
Bartimaeus is changed by the Love of Christ and his soul is
moved such that he can now endure all things. He knows that no amount of
suffering on this side of glory can compare with the joy to come. Bartimaeus
would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of His God than dwell in the tents of
wickedness, even if it means his own temporal death.
Such blessed vision awaits us all. Right now, we see the reality of Christ’s love for us as though we are looking in a dirty mirror. We know God’s love in part only because we cannot yet see clearly. We speak, think, and reason like children because we cannot comprehend the fullness of Christ’s love for us. Often, we think like the Apostles. We let our affection for people, nostalgia for the past, or comfort with the status quo blind us to the purpose of the Incarnation. Affection, nostalgia, and comfort are not evil things in themselves. They are glorious gifts of God. But if they prevent the mercy of God from moving your soul so as to imitate His Love, then they have become idols. You have become an idol. Repent of such foolishness and turn instead toward the perfect Love of Christ.
And “when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”[1]
This coming “perfect” is not related to moral perfection or artisanal
precision. It carries the idea of something being fulfilled or brought to
completion. It is what Jesus proclaims from the cross, “It is finished.” Thus
when the fulness, the completing comes, the partial will pass away. This is a
reference to the resurrection. Our eyes will close in death, and we will be as
the blind man. Then, we shall recover our sight. We will follow Jesus and
glorify God.
When the fullness of time has come, all things will be made
new and you will no longer see through a dusty mirror. You will see the
fullness of Christ’s glory. You will see His love. You will see. You will know
and you will be known. You will see Jesus face to face. You will understand His
love.
And on that day, we will see each other. We will see the
beautified faces of all the beloved saints of God. We will rejoice and cry out
“Lord have mercy!” in joy and delight for the mercy He has shown to us.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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