Commentary: The prophet Jeremiah conveyed these words of consolation during a difficult time in Israel’s history. The nation was experiencing exile. Having been conquered by the Babylonians, the Israelites were being taken captive from Israel to Babylon. It was one of the darkest days of their history. Still, God promised hope and restoration. The Lord invited them to rejoice even in the midst of this great trial because He would one day “bring them back.” God promised to gather His people back together again. Although the Israelites did return to the land of Israel about 70 years after they were exiled, they never completely returned to the glory of the days before the exile. For example, David’s line of kings was not restored and they went from having one foreign ruler to the next. It was a time of ongoing spiritual exile too, as the Israelites continuously rebelled against God. Still, God is faithful. He ultimately fulfilled His promise in Jesus, as is evidenced through the reference to “the blind and the lame.” In today’s gospel, we will hear about Jesus healing a blind man. Jesus also healed the lame and welcomed all into His kingdom. He is the Savior who came to restore us not just to a piece of land but to the true Promised Land of Heaven.
Commentary: Today’s second reading continues in the book of Hebrews to teach us about Jesus as the high priest. The high priest was chosen to represent the people before God and to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people to make atonement for their sins. Today’s passage points out that the high priest could relate to the people he served because he was one of them who also experienced human weaknesses. The high priest was not an office chosen by the individual but was a calling by God. The individual simply responded to the call to accept the office. Similarly, Jesus was sent by the Father to be our High Priest. He is the perfect and once-for-all mediator between God and humanity because He is fully God and fully man. In His humanity, He is like us in all things except for sin. He can, therefore, relate to our weaknesses and offer healing. Jesus is not only the High Priest but He is the sacrifice. He offered Himself on the cross as atonement for our sins, winning salvation for us.
Commentary: In today’s gospel, Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem where He would fulfill His mission by dying for our sins on the cross and rising again. In Mark’s gospel, the healing of Bartimaeus as Jesus departs Jericho is the last account before Jesus’ triumphal entry into the Holy City of Jerusalem. Bartimaeus was a blind beggar. He was, therefore, considered unclean and an outcast from society. Thus it makes sense that “many rebuked him, telling him to be silent” when he cried out for Jesus’ help. His pleas for help from Jesus evidence this man’s great faith. We don’t know the background but chances are he had heard much about Jesus and the many miracles Jesus had performed. He had heard enough to trust that Jesus could do something about His blindness. But Bartimaeus did not only believe Jesus was a miracle worker. Even more so, he expressed faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Bartimaeus called Jesus the “Son of David.” This was a title for the Messiah because the Messiah was to be a descendent of King David. Thus, Bartimaeus expressed profound faith in Jesus’ identity, professing Him to be the Messiah, which only the Apostles had explicitly professed up until this point. Jesus acknowledged the blind man’s faith restored his sight. The irony of this whole story is that the man who could not physically see is really the one who could see things as they are. He had the eyes of faith, regardless of his lack of physical sight. He believed in Jesus and then chose to follow him. Let Bartimaeus, then, be an inspiration to us to see the world through the eyes of faith.
Taking it Home:
Bartimaeus had faith, despite his physical blindness. Although we may not experience physical blindness, we can often have spiritual blindness as the result of lacking faith in certain areas of our lives. Maybe it’s in our finances, or at our job, or in our families, or in some other aspect of our lives that we are lacking trust in God. Whatever it is, ask God for the eyes of faith today.