by Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy

v46They came to Jericho, and as Jesus was leaving with his disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. v47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me!”
v48Many of the people scolded him and told him to be quiet. But he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” v49Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up!” they said. “Get up, he is calling you.” v50So he threw off his cloak, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
v51″What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. “Teacher,” the blind man answered, “I want to see again.” v52″Go,” Jesus told him, “your faith has made you well.” At once he was able to see and followed Jesus on the road. (Mark 10:46-52)
Last Wednesday I preached during the funeral service of a relative who succumbed to the COVID 19 virus. It was her choice not to get vaccinated. After the service I was told that an elderly cousin also opted not to get the vaccine and even campaign against the anti-virus jab. A brother tried to convince him by telling him about the hospitals full of COVID 19 patients and the increasing numbers of virus-related deaths. According to my brother this cousin of ours insist of what he reads from anti vaccination advocates in the social media and what his sect teaches against any medical interventions. So frustrated that my brother just kept quiet to end his nonsensical ranting. The famous blind and deaf American author, Helen Keller has this to say of this kind of person, “There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.”
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Today it is very appalling to observe the spread of a social malady that I call ‘blindness by choice’. This kind of blindness defy logic because it denies the person to see things as they are. Rather they circumvent what is established as truth. Truth seekers are demonized and lie mongers are exalted. While history and testimonies of people who have been violated and of families whose members were tortured and executed during the Marcos dictatorship there are individuals and groups today (who were unborn or too young at that time) who have the temerity to dispute these facts written in ink and blood. They choose to be blind because of convenience and socio-economic and political expediency. Blind comparison of the previous leaders’ failures and ineptness and the present dispensation’s semantics has veiled their eyes of seeing the naked truth during Martial Law. As a result, thievery is now defended and exposers are persecuted. It is blindness by choice!
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His name was Bartimaeus. He occupied the lowest rung on society’s ladder during that time, a poor man of Bethany, who eked out a living begging at the side of the road. In his sightlessness, he was forced to depend on others to guide him to his place of business. So when Jesus passed by his roadside post, it was for blind Bartimaeus the chance of a lifetime. With the desperation of a drowning person going under for the last time, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” We all know what followed.
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Bartimaeus was persistent beneath the frown of rebuke. The detrimental effects of rebuke cannot be minimized. It can have a stultifying impact. It can severely strain persistence, and drive a person to distraction. Rebuke has silenced many a sensitive soul. He was healed of his blindness because of his great faith. “Master, let me see again!” the blind man pleaded Jesus. Experienced doctors say that, when a patient has a strong will to live, he is already half-cured. If, on top of that, he has faith in his doctor’s competence and is ready to obey him in everything, then the chances of recovery are very much increased. Bartimaeus has an overwhelming desire to be healed, and furthermore, his faith in Jesus is complete. This is enough to heal him.
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Helen Keller, so brave and inspiring in her deafness and blindness, once wrote a magazine article entitled: “Three days to see.” In that article she outlined what things she would like to see if she were granted just three days of sight. It was a powerful, thought provoking article. On the first day she said she wanted to see friends. Day two she would spend seeing nature. The third day she would spend in her home city of New York watching the busy city and the workday of the present. She concluded it with these words: “I who am blind can give one hint to those who see: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you were stricken blind.’
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As bad as blindness is in the 20th century, however, it was so much worse in Jesus’ day. Today a blind person at least has the hope of living a useful life with proper training. One day I entered a health clinic at the Rulite Memorial Building at the Cathedral of the Resurrection compound, I knocked and at the same time asked, “Jackson, what are you doing?” The answer came immediately, “Father, we are watching Television!” That’s normal because he recognized my voice then it is not. Jackson is the chief masseur and he is blind! Some of the most skilled and creative people in our society are blind. In this case, Jackson makes a serious situation (his being blind) lightly and with humor. But in first century Palestine blindness meant that you would be subjected to abject poverty. You would be reduced to begging for a living. You lived at the mercy and the generosity of others. Unless your particular kind of blindness was self-correcting, there was no hope whatsoever for a cure. The skills that were necessary were still centuries beyond the medical knowledge of the day. Little wonder then that one of the signs of the coming of the Messiah was that the blind should receive their sight. When Jesus announced his messiah-ship, he said: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has sent me to recover sight to the blind.”
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The fact that we have eyes does not mean that we always see what is most important in life. There is more to sight than merely seeing the light of day. Eyes are of little use if we fail to see the hand of God at work in our lives. At times we all experience such darkness and are solely in need of the light of God. In caring for the blind Bartimaeus, Christ is telling us that there is an even worse state of blindness than physical blindness. We all suffer from spiritual blindness and Jesus is letting us know that he can cure the illness and prevent us from groping around in darkness.
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According to Desmond Knowles, a sermon writer, there are so many ways in which we lack spiritual vision; hatred, pride and jealousy can prevent us from seeing goodness in our neighbors. Refusal to pay our debts or to do an honest week’s work for the wages we are collecting means we are blinded to a sense of justice. Never being satisfied with what we have and always wanting more material goods is an indication that we are blinded by greed. We are all victims of some sort of blindness but to become aware of it and to have the scales removed from our eyes, we must be continually searching and praying for more light. Only prayer and trust in Jesus, who is the light of the world can dispel such darkness and restore our true spiritual vision. The closer we are to Jesus, the more light there is in our lives. The cry of the blind man, ‘Lord, that I may see,’ is a prayer that should be constantly be in our lips especially in these times of darkness due to falsehood and denials.
Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen (ECP-BCP Proper 25 Collect)**