"Master, I want to see."
Blindness tends to isolate. It takes away some of the immediacy of experience. It makes it more difficult to get direction even when we determine a place we want to go. We tend to insist that our powers of perception are perfect. We claim nothing in common with poor Bartimaeus. But perhaps we share more than we realize.
Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains (see John 9:41).
Like the Pharisees we are reluctant to admit that we need healing. We don't want to tell Jesus that we feel isolated from him and from one another. We keep heading down whatever path we're on, stubbornly not asking for directions. Perhaps we even have the map but are embarrassed that we cannot read it. We don't want to admit that we are lost and alone. But it was precisely the lost that Jesus came to seek and to save (see Luke 19:10).
Jesus told him, "Go your way; your faith has saved you."
Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.
Bartimaeus now knows that Jesus himself is the light of the world. He walks near him, while he has the light, so he doesn't walk in darkness (see John 12:35). We can't take the flame and use it to illuminate our normal lives. Bartimaeus is hardly interested in lighting has usual roadside spot and staying there. But we are more comfortable. Each time we encounter more light there is the risk of stagnation. We go back to where we were before until our candle is again blown out and the darkness returns. The only true place of safety is around Jesus himself.
I will gather them from the ends of the world,
with the blind and the lame in their midst,
the mothers and those with child;
they shall return as an immense throng.
There is a deep overlap between exile and blindness. But the LORD will not leave us exiles. He promises to bring back the captives of Zion. He will bring the remnant of Israel back from the north. Even though those who are led were blind and lame when they follow the Father of Israel they walk on a level road so that none shall stumble.
Jesus is like us in all things but sin. He is the only guide who is not blind. He is the only one it is safe to follow. It is this sight, this clear vision of the Father's heart, that qualifies him to be a priest forever on our behalf. He is able to not only interrupt the cycle of sin, but to break it forever.
Although they go forth weeping,
carrying the seed to be sown,
They shall come back rejoicing,
carrying their sheaves.
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