Coming out of Jericho Christ heals the blind man Bartimaeus (Mk 10:46-52) after the question "What do you want me to do for you?". In the midst of blindness and being unable to see Bartimaeus' response is to receive his sight. In looking at this particular pericope one wonders about seeing and sight especially when we look at figures such as Christ. Bartimaeus may have only wanted a return of physical sight, which in itself is a startling proposition, especially for someone who had probably been blind for quite some time perhaps even from birth. With the hindsight of much theological debate over the centuries that this story has been told we probably look at it for a deeper and more profound meaning. The fact that it is put alongside Job 42:1-6 increases this feeling of depth that is perhaps present in the passage. However, we need to constantly remind ourselves that in doing so we are placing layers of interpretation on a story that may not have been intentionally placed by the author, who may have only been talking about the return of physical sight.
Opening our eyes to a new way of seeing can perhaps be likened to having our eyes opened for the first time. Over the last few weeks I have been expanding on how we need to re-look at the things around us and this passage emphasises this for us. Can we really imagine what it means to see for the first time? I think this is pretty impossible considering the person has to take in what their other senses have been telling them in a different way. How can you explain a colour or visual stimulus in words that make sense when you cannot have direct experience of it? There are innumerable videos and stories that talk about or purporting to show someone's reaction to seeing for the first time but these do not tell us of the inner turmoil or sense of awe that the person may be experiencing. Some of them are not about someone seeing for the first time but about seeing after a period of blindness and this is very different. In the Bartimaeus story we are not sure as to his status was he seeing for the first time or seeing once more although more often then not the former is implied.
In looking at ourselves we perceive only what those around us encourage us to see. In other words we only see ourselves as an image of how others see us. Our perceptions are also controlled by how tradition views us. In allowing these things to limit our vision of ourselves we limit how we could become. Let me suggest a possible vision by asking What is a Parish? There are many answers to this but most would probably indicate some sort of boundary encompassed area served by a priest or ordained person. Others might say that it is a designated area for the purposes of planning. Thus, we are constrained by the word itself as to what we think it is. So let us see as God sees and open our blind eyes to the possibilities that are present in God's vision and not be blinded by our own conceptions of what the future could be. Blind Bartimaeus sees, whether for the first time or not, a new way forward and a new life because Christ opened his eyes to the future possibilities that are inherent in God's presence. We are all sometimes blind to possibilities before us because of our circumstances and how the past has formed us. Christ opens our eyes to the possibilities that are ahead of us if we were to open our own eyes.
Job's eyes are also opened to his own blindness in challenging God in the midst of his despair. However, it is in turning towards God and asking for his teaching with a humble heart (Job 42.4) rather than pride that sees Job through. Luis Espinal writes in Gastar la vida that we need God's help to step into an unknown future but we need to do so with our eyes open to God's grace and presence who is ahead of us in the blinding mists of time. We are guaranteed our interlocutor and the presence of God's grace by the presence of Christ who is close to God (Heb. 7:26-27). We in our mortality have to seek God's face and ask him as humbly as Job for guidance and the opening of our eyes to the possibilities that are within our future. It is only when we open our eyes to the contrary possibilities that God grants us are we fully able to see with God's grace and love.
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