“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”

Today’s readings and gospel combine the realities of despair with the joyful hope to which we are called.

Our first reading sounds rather joyous. The exiles are being called home. God is bringing them back:

They departed in tears,
but I will console them and guide them;
I will lead them to brooks of water,
on a level road, so that none shall stumble.

But a quick jaunt into biblical history will show us that Jeremiah spoke these words in the midst of the destruction of Israel and of Jerusalem. The temple had already been partially destroyed. Wars had been ensuing for years. Nothing looked good. The northern tribes were carried off to Assyria. The razing of the rest of Jerusalem was upon the Jewish people and the remnant would be carried off. The Jewish people and their king were entering the Babylonian captivity.

How could Jeremiah speak hope? Here he was, left sitting among the ruins of Jerusalem, like Job among the ashes. The temple was no more and the temple fixtures were the spoils of war.

Not much to be happy about.

Yet Jeremiah proclaimed hope. God spoke through His prophet. He would bring them all back; He would be their Father again.

God always speaks hope. It is hope to which we are called; the hope of everlasting life in God, and the hope of the resurrection on the last day.

Bartimaeus understood hope. Bartimaeus had a clue, and just like the rest of us he was confronted with an opportunity to recognize and act on what was already inside him. He recognized Jesus.

On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth,
he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.
But he kept calling out all the more,
“Son of David, have pity on me.”

Jesus rewarded Bartimaeus’ hope and his faith. He healed him and Jesus said a rather funny thing:

“Go your way; your faith has saved you.”

When Jesus said —Go your way— what did we expect Bartimaeus to do? Should Bartimaeus have run home? Should he have picked up the coins he had been begging for? Should he have run off to the Synagogue to show the priests that he had been healed? What did Jesus’ statement —Go your way— mean?

Bartimaeus was told his faith had not only healed him, but had saved him. Jesus’ words, —Go your way— were Bartimaeus’ next challenge.

Think a moment. Jesus touches you, heals you, and performs one of the millions of small miracles that occur in your every day life. Then He says —Go your way.— What to do? What would we expect to do?

Bartimaeus did it right.

Immediately he received his sight
and followed him on the way.

He followed Jesus with a sight that was greater than the gift of physical sight.

For Bartimaeus the hope of a cure was the door to a greater hope. He recognized that the cure was not enough. He literally saw that his greatest hope was in following Jesus.

It’s Sunday morning. You’re getting up, a little groggy. You prepare yourself and your family to depart for church. Why? What is your attitude? Do you come filled with hope? Do you feel like Jeremiah, seeing the hope despite the obstacles in front of you?

Listen to the crowd:

“Take courage; get up, Jesus is calling you.”

Like Bartimaeus we need to throw aside what we have clung to. We need to spring up, and come to Jesus.

Even in the midst of despair, tiredness, sickness, and want, we need to know where our hope lies, a hope greater than our present reality. A hope in the midst of despair.

The cure of Bartimaeus is a sign for us; a sign of the deeper challenge Christ calls us to. How do we react to Jesus? Once the cure and the good times arrive, how do we react? How do we respond to Jesus’ question of —Go your way?—

Will “Go your way” always mean my way or no way, or will “Go your way” mean following in the footsteps of Christ.

What we sow in our struggles must always be related to the harvest that is to come. Because of Jesus we must leave here changed, ever ready to say yes Lord, and to follow Him.