They came to Jerico; and as [Jesus] was leaving the town, with his disciples and a large crowd, Batimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was seated at the roadside. Hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me!"
Many of the people rounded on him, "Re quiet," they said, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me."
Jesus stopped and said, "Call him;" so they called the blind man and said, "Take heart; stand up; he is calling you."
At that he threw off his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus.
Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do?"
"Master," the blind man answered, "I want my sight back."
Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has cured you."
And at once he recovered his sight and followed him on the road.
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Son of David, Jesus, have pity on me!
This is one of the source texts for the hesychast practice of the Jesus Prayer. A few hundred years later this will become Jesus Christ, Son of God, take pity on me (have mercy on me). It will become a technology for the interior life.
What goes on in the moment though? we have disciples trying to insulate Jesus from the poor the blind the lame the broken-hearted. And if there is a kernel of historical truth here -- it is such as these that swell the ranks of the Jesus movement.
Half an hour a go I was in the grocery store buying ice cream and I met a former client. When I knew him before he was living REAL close to the edge. We helped him look for a job. He has one and despite all dire predictions -- 6 month later he's still there. And he's grateful. And needing to find somewhere to direct that gratitude he has found faith. He's watching all those televangelists I love to hate. But he's find hope and energy and can witness to great things happening -- things I haven't felt in my life for sometime.
So while I can be skeptical -- and must be as that is the gift God has given me -- I also need to remind myself there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt on in my philosophy.
And so, the works of God don't fit neatly into the ready made boxes theology has prepared for them.
Sorry to be picky: You're still in the Book of Mark, though you entitled the post "Matthew"...
Yes, David is on to something about people such as Bartimaeus swelling the ranks of the Jesus movement -- he "followed him on the road."
Hesychasticism makes me think of the song by Robert Fripp and David Byrne, "Under Heavy Manners," in which Byrne chants the name of one ism after another.
-- Chris M.
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