FROM JERICHO TO JERUSALEM

Bartimaeus is trapped by the roadside in Jericho. Biblically, if Jerusalem is the holy city of God (Psalm 48:1) and the city of righteousness (Isaiah 1:26), Jericho represents hostile territory that resists God. Nearly 24 kilometres away and 3500 feet below Jerusalem (800 feet below sea level), Jericho is often described as the city that stands in God’s way and His people. No wonder, Joshua’s troops had to march around the city blowing their trumpets until its walls collapsed so it could become the first city to fall in their conquest of Cannan and subsequent march to Jerusalem. The victim of the Good Samaritan parable is attacked by robbers on ‘his way down’ (a geographical and spiritual backslide) from the holy city of Jerusalem to Jericho. So Bartimaeus’ entrapment in Jericho, in the world of biblical symbolism, points to a man distanced from God, withdrawn into his desolate history, stranded by his disability, unable to open himself to God's call to march from Jericho to Jerusalem.

The name Bartimaeus is an obscure one but also symbolically relevant. Bar in Aramaic means son. Timaeus could be interpreted in two opposing ways.  As a verb ( טמא), it means unclean. However, its noun form (τιμη) and its Greek translation means honour or value. So, the name Bartimaeus means both the son of the honoured/respectable and the son of the unclean. This irony underlining the double meaning of his name is perhaps Mark’s unique way of pointing out Bartimaeus’ unique predicament. Here is an honourable and valued son trapped by the roadside in hostile territory, devastated by poverty and the stigma ‘of a roadside beggar’, wrapped by his cloak of despair. He is trapped in Jericho, excluded, marginalised, and reeling under the weight of his life’s obstacles, which also seem to hinder his union with God. Bartimaeus represents each of us, our isolation and entrapment in situations of oppression, sin, weaknesses, guilt, and injuries.

John, in the parallel version of this miracle story (9:1-12), is careful to add that contrary to the claims of some Mahavishnus of our time, his sickness or disability is not caused by his past or present ‘karma’ or the sins of his parents. Jesus makes it clear that his suffering does not mean he is/was unclean, when he insists, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him”. The problem for Bartimaeus was not his illness or disability! It is just that he hasn’t discovered the light that illuminates his life. It is perhaps the same difficulty that also hinders our pilgrimage of life, healing, liberation, and faith. Jesus walks his way bringing along with him the possibility of becoming the light of his life. As the second reading points out, he is the ‘Son of God’ who comes in solidarity to restore our honour. This man, trapped in the darkness of his Jericho, senses the approach of this light of life and cries out, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me”.

Interestingly, obstacles continue to hinder him. This time, the crowd following Jesus tries to stop him. Rebuked and asked to be silent, he cries out all the more. His spontaneous and persistent cries are signs of not only his distress and desperation but also his incredible trust. He addresses Jesus as the “son of David”, using the messianic expression par excellence. This insistent, repeated prayer reaches its goal. What follows is close to the gospel models of a vocation story. Jesus stops and tells the crowd, “Call him”. Bartimaeus springs into action. The response is immediate and enthusiastic, as it is in the case of every single vocation episode of Mark’s gospel. He throws off his cloak, the symbol of his entrapment in his blindness, poverty, exclusion, and oppression.

Throwing off his cloak, he is clothed anew by the new life of Christ. Leaving behind his only possession, Bartimaeus takes a leap of faith to embrace the light of Christ. The wall of Jericho crumbles again. Jesus not only acknowledges his faith (“your faith has saved you”) but also invites him to move when he tells him, “Go your way”. This man, who was trapped by Jericho’s roadside is now invited to get on the road to Jerusalem. Mark reports, “Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way”. Bartimaeus invites us to rediscover the light that shine in our darkness; throw away the oppressive cloaks of fear, suspicion, ignorance, prejudice, and certainties; shatter our walls of isolation; and get moving. May Bartimaeus inspire our eternal pilgrimage from Jericho to Jerusalem.