What makes you
rejoice?
When the prophet
Jeremiah describes the return of the exiles of the Northern kingdom from
slavery in Assyria, God promises to console
them and guide them and lead them to
brooks of water. It is a promise of restoration
for all people, the blind and the lame,
the mothers and those with children – all will be brought to new life; all
will have occasion to shout with joy and
exult! Psalm 126 gives voice to just such laughter and rejoicing: The Lord has done great things for us; we
are filled with joy! The psalmist
knows that the return from exile will not be easy – the people will sow in tears, weeping – but they can live in trust and confidence that, with
time, the Lord will restore their fortunes, bringing them new life.
The blind man, Bartimaeus experiences
similar restoration in Mark’s Gospel. Hearing that Jesus is passing by, having heard of Jesus’ healing actions elsewhere,
Bartimaeus cries out, Jesus, son of David, have pity on me. Bartimaeus even throws aside his cloak, essentially tossing aside all that he has,
and, symbolically, all that has been, in order to embrace the new life Jesus
can offer him. Bartimaeus’ faith, his trust in the Lord, saves him, though he knows not how. The Book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was called by God to be the great high priest, the representative of the people before
God, to offer gifts and sacrifices
for sins, saving us through his
ultimate sacrifice.
The message here
is that, if we are able to trust in God, and in God’s work through Jesus, then
God will lead us where we need to be, walk with us, restore us, bring us new
life – saving us, as Bartimaeus was
saved. To have faith is to trust that what God has promised will come about, even
if we can’t see or imagine how. May our
eyes, like Bartimaeus’, be opened, that we might see, not only physically but
spiritually, all the great things the Lord has done and will do for us,
that we might rejoice and be glad indeed.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordle.net
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