30th Sunday Ordinary Time Cycle B
Jeremiah 31:7-9 Hebrews 5:1-6 Mark 10:46-
52
“What do you want me to do for you?”
This is the 2nd week in a row we’ve heard this question coming from the lips of
Jesus. In last week’s Gospel it was “What do you wish me to do for you?” in
response to James and John telling Jesus, “Teacher, we want you to do for us
whatever we ask of you.” ‘Well, what do you wish?” And after asking Jesus if
they could sit at his right and left in all of his glory, Jesus doesn’t outright refuse
the two sons of Zebedee, but tells them his right and left in the kingdom has
been prepared for those already chosen in God’s plan of
salvation.
And instead of seeing the two brother Apostles as two followers seeking to
expand their power base, I like their question to Jesus because it reveals their
deep desire to want to be close to him after their bodies die. And they will come
to learn, accept, and implement the way in which one comes close to Jesus
after the body dies; a life of service in the body now! So, James and John don’t
get refused outright by Jesus, but they don’t receive any premature promises
either. Jesus waits for them to drink the cup of suffering that he will drink, along
with being baptized into the baptism of martyrdom first. Then they will be
guaranteed eternal closeness. There’s a cost to discipleship.
But this Gospel has a different answer from Jesus to the question “What do you
want me to do for you?” One reason for the different answer to the same
question has to do with different circumstances. But the different answer to the
same question also has to do with a different type of person who’s doing the
seeking. Or better still, a person who’s dealing with different issues. A person
who is ready, and a person who has been ready for many years, to be close to
Jesus. Bartimaeus the blind man has the same desire as James and John in last
week’s Gospel, except this guy is spiritually ready.
His blindness, his suffering, his being ostracized, his being rebuked, his being
told to shut up and be quiet, his being mistreated for years because of a
physical defect in his God-given body has prepared him to be close to Jesus.
The blind man’s proximity to Jesus in spirit as well as in body produced an
immediate result from Jesus in the question, “What do you want me to do for
you?”
In the spirit of Psalm 34, the Lord hears the cry of the poor, the blind, the lame,
the mistreated, and the forgotten blind man on the side of the road. They are His
special possession. He lifts them up on eagles’ wings, and carries them to His
right and left in all His glory. They have no one but
God.
Bartimaeus had no one….but Jesus. I’d like to say that would suffice in this
world, having no one but Jesus. I’d like to say Jesus was all Bartimaeus
needed. And in a certain sense that would be an accurate statement. If
Bartimaeus was hoping to receive his sight from anyone other than the
Messiah, he would have been roundly mocked and greatly disappointed. Not
that it would have mattered to a man forgotten on the side of the road! But for
the purpose of regaining sight, Jesus alone was the answer.
But a “Jesus alone” attitude, being an approach to life that says “Jesus alone
will take care of a brother or sister’s unfortunate circumstances,” it doesn’t
address the whole issue of Bartimaeus’ blindness. Just in the same way a
“Jesus alone” attitude doesn’t address the whole issues of poverty, or hunger,
or homelessness, or any other human condition that falls short of God’s original
creation. As long as we are here, and we are capable and able and willing,
“Jesus alone” never makes the grade of Christian discipleship. Rather, the
approach of “in cooperation with Jesus” is a truer reflection of our relationship
with Christ and with others. This spirituality of living life “in cooperation with
Jesus” begins to make a dent, in fact makes a real difference, with some of the
more serious issues addressing our culture today for the purpose of lifting up
those who are down.
To cure a blind man on the spot based on his faith, to change all the functions in
his head that were defective and rearrange them back into perfect position so
he can see, is for “Jesus alone.” But to feed Bartimaeus, and to care for
Bartimaeus, and to lift Bartimaeus up off the side of the road, and to help
Bartimaeus walk toward his Savior, are all acts that are “in cooperation with
Jesus.”
May we always live our lives “in cooperation with Jesus.” It’s an attitude and
approach to life that leads to the right and left of Jesus in all his glory. And that’s
what I want Jesus to do for you!