Opening Blind Eyes and Closed Hearts

As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus, was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"

Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."

So they called to the blind man, "Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you." Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

"Go," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you." Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

- Mark 10:46-52

There is a dear elderly lady at our day program who often flatters her staff: "you look nice today!" she'll say, and with praise on higher ground she might add, "you look like me!"

We always smile at her embellishment in a flattering light, for the simple reason that she is blind, and can't see us at all. Still, she has a way of seeing things with striking clarity that I'm often blind to; and the more I listen to her flattery the more I see how she calls forth a beauty hidden deep, something wondrously beautiful within. 

In the Gospel story above there are two astonishing miracles that take place: the opening of blind Bartimaeus' eyes, but perhaps even more remarkable, the opening of the crowd's hardened hearts. 

The crowd had closed their ears to the cry of Bartimaeus' heart, endeavoring to silence him. Bartimaeus' disability was repulsive to the crowd; dismissed as a "waste of time", his unwelcomed voice disturbed their smug self-satisfaction; all except for the ears of One who heard this blind beggar's heart cry and was moved with compassion. Jesus called Bartimaeus, overlooked and underrepresented, to the centre of their attention, where all could see him clearly and their own unrecognized need. They found themselves in the same company as his blind beggar, crying out for mercy. 

And there he was, the centre of attention - in the centre of God's will - Jesus' gesture of invitation opened their closed hearts, seeing Bartimaeus in an entirely different light, a light thrusting through even the hardest of human hearts. In a surprising turn of events, they cheered him on, as Bartimaeus jumped to his feet and ran as fast as his legs could carry, stumbling toward the inviting voice of Jesus, the One welcoming him into the house of love with a view beyond words - the human face of the revealing God staring compassionately at him - still adjusting his opened eyes to what must have been overwhelming, blinding light.

Though the world had made every effort to convince him otherwise; Bartimaeus responded to a generous voice calling out for him personally; a stirring voice that spoke deep and called forth the deepest longings of his unwanted heart: a voice of recognition. Jesus saw past cosmetic superficialities and social standing, past the attractiveness and abilities the world renders useful; Jesus saw right past outward appearances - the only thing the crowd could see - because "the Kingdom of God is within" (Luke 17: 21). Jesus saw something in Bartimaeus the world refused to look at - receptivity to his voice - giving Bartimaeus the faith to cry out with an irrepressible voice of his own. 

I no longer listen to our client's flattering words with skepticism, but with a heart of welcome and  wonder; if only offering a glimpse into what she is seeing with spiritual in-sight; momentarily turning us inside out from her point of view; unearthing the beauty within. You are beautiful to God - beauty to die for - and though the world may not see it; Jesus is always listening; ever perceiving the way of the heart.