“Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”
–Mark 10:49b

For this week’s meditation, please read Mark 10:46-52, and prayerfully consider the following as Bartimaeus.

Called “The City of Palm Trees,” Jericho is located on a beautiful oasis about fifteen miles northeast of Jerusalem. It’s a luxurious and prosperous city, drawing the poor and outcast to its famous Roman roads leading in and out, where they beg for alms. Picture Jesus and his entourage traversing the city. What do they see? What smells surround them as they go past the lush, planted gardens and the markets full of spices and other goods? Imagine them as they make their way through the gates on the far side of the city, heading toward Jerusalem.

You are one of the outcasts consigned to the outside of this lovely city. While the storied walls are long gone, there are indeed still gates that keep you, a blind person, out. Have you ever felt on the “outside,” that other people can see or know something you can’t?

As with many blind people, your hearing has become highly acute. And as you’ve sat at the gates of Jericho, you’ve heard many stories from passers-by about the miracle-working rabbi who restores sight to the blind. Today, as you sit begging alongside the road, you sense a different energy coming from a passing crowd. Then you hear who is leading it: Jesus of Nazareth! Immediately you know that the person who can heal you is passing right in front of you. Can you feel the surprise, the hope, the determination? Wherever you are right now, become aware that Jesus is present right in front of you. Can you cry out to him, asking for mercy where you most need it?

Jesus stops. He does not leave you behind but has his followers call you. Who has helped you hear Jesus call for you? Who can you let know that Jesus is calling them, too? Pray for them, and for yourself.

Knowing that Jesus has called, you throw off the one thing you own, your one item of protection and comfort: your cloak. Are there cloaks of self-protection that you wrap around yourself? Can you throw them aside and come to Jesus?

Hear Jesus ask what you want him to do. We all have blind spots. What might some of yours be? Will you cry out to Jesus to help you see in new ways?

Now hear Jesus say, “Your faith has healed you.” Feel those words wash over you. Look up and see Jesus in front of your newly-opened eyes. As he continues his journey, picture yourself following him, your own journey now forever changed. Let’s continue the journey, together.